Thursday notes . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Kirby Law (Saskatoon/Lethbridge/Brandon) has been released by Nizhnekamsk (Kontinental Hockey League). The release was by mutual agreement as he had appeared in only 10 out of 21 games this season. He had one goal and two assists in those 10 games. . . . F Konstantin Pushkarev (Calgary) signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Kontinental Hockey League). . . . F Colin Forbes (Portland) signed a one-year contract extension with Adler Mannheim (Germany DEL). This carries him through the 2009-10 season with Mannheim. He has three goals and three assists in 13 games with the club this season.
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The Kelowna Rockets have received some help from the NHL’s New York Rangers, who have returned D Tysen Dowzak, 20, to the WHL team. Dowzak, a native of Fergus Falls, Minn., will start his fourth WHL season on Saturday when the Rockets entertain the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Dowzak actually has signed with the Rangers, and played one game with the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack and four with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers. . . . The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Dowzak joins 6-foot-7 Tyler Myers on the Rockets’ back end.
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Former WHL D Lucas Alexiuk, who played with the Portland Winter Hawks and Lethbridge Hurricanes, has landed with the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers. They acquired his rights from the Winkler Flyers in a multi-player deal. The rights to F Jesse Paradis, 17, who is with the Kelowna Rockets, were included in the package that moved to Winkler. Alexiuk, 19, joins former Seattle Thunderbirds F Josh Schappert with the Steelers. Both players are from Winnipeg.
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JUST NOTES: The Medicine Hat Tigers, preparing to play 13 games in 23 days, might have C Bretton Cameron, 19, and freshman D Tomas Kundratek, who turns 19 on Dec. 26, back in their lineup this weekend. Both have recovered from fractured hands. . . . Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay goes for victory No. 400 on Saturday against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. The Giants might have D Curtis Kulchar, 18, back in the lineup. Kulchar, who has yet to play this season because of knee woes, practised Thursday for the second day in a row. . . . Saskatoon C Travis Toomey won’t play again until sometime in January after suffering a broken collarbone Wednesday. Calgary Hitmen D Keith Seabrook picked up an interference major on the play and is under suspension pending an investigation by Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president hockey, who handles discipline.