Wednesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Adam Courchaine (Medicine Hat/Vancouver) and F Brad Tutschek (Medicine Hat/Kootenay/Seattle) have signed contract extensions with Dusseldorf (Germany DEL). . . . Courchaine signed for two years and Tutschek for one year. This season, Courchaine has 12 goals and 17 assists in 30 games and Tutschek has eight goals and 10 assists in 45 games for the Metro Stars.
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According to the buzz, the Tri-City Herald’s Best of the West poll will hit the streets — and the Internet Highway — sometime this weekend, if all goes according to plan. . . . And, again according to the buzz, one Western Conference team has chosen not to take part. . . . Stay tuned!
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A nifty note from Jeff Bromley of the Kootenay NewsAdvertiser: “The (Kootenay Ice) had its team picture Tuesday and had to use practice goaltender and local hockey equipment store proprietor and hockey school instructor Terry Dupley as a stand-in for forward Steele Boomer, who didn't make it back from Edmonton in time for the team picture. Boomer's head shot will be super-imposed over Mr. Dupley's in the final product.
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In Regina, the Swift Current Broncos scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Patsd, 6-3. . . . The Broncos got three goals and an assist from Keegan Dansereau. . . . The Pats have lost five in a row and 15 of their last 20. . . . The Broncos are fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Pats trail the Prince Albert Raiders by four points in the hunt for the conference’s last playoff spot. . . . Regina had a 39-28 edge in shots, including 17-9 in the second period, but G Travis Yonkman stood tall. . . . The Broncos have won four of five games from the Pats, who play the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Friday. . . . Broncos D John Negrin (back) returned from a two-game absence.
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In Cranbrook, G Todd Mathews stopped 25 shots to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . It was Mathews’ first WHL shutout. . . . F Kevin King scored the game’s first goal while the Ice was shorthanded early in the first period. . . . Attendance was 4,282, the largest crowd in Cranbrook this season. The Rec Plex seats 4,264.
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In Prince Albert, F Jordan Hickmott scored in overtime to give the Raiders a 6-5 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Hickmott, who played with the Tigers last season, scored with 34 seconds left in extra time. . . . Hickmott has eight goals this season, one more than he scored last season. . . . The Raiders forced OT with three third-period goals. F Justin Bernhardt, who also had two assists, scored twice, at 0:35 and 15:46, with F Brandon Herrod getting his 11th at 5:07. . . . Bernhardt has 31 goals this season. . . . The Tigers were without F Tristan King, who suffered a concussion Tuesday in Saskatoon. He joins D Cody Carlson (shoulder), F Joey Frazer (hand), F Wacey Hamilton (broken leg) and F John Stampohar (shoulder) on the Tigers’ injury list.
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In Vancouver, the Giants scored two PP goals and beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 2-1. . . . C Casey Pierro-Zabotel had a goal and an assist, to run his WHL-leading points total to 96. . . . D Brent Regner also scored for the Giants, who had D Jon Blum playing forward on the PP. . . . The Bruins have lost seven in a row. . . . Pierro-Zabotel’s goal at 19:20 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie. . . . Vancouver had a 41-18 edge in shots, including 21-3 in the second period. . . . F Kevin Sundher scored for the Bruins, at 16:48 of the first period. . . . The Giants are 6-1 against the Bruins this season and 30-2-1-1 all-time, including playoff games. . . . Vancouver, at 47-5-0-3, is just two victories shy of the franchise record it set last season.
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In Red Deer, G Justin Leclerc stopped 38 shots to help the Kamloops Blazers to a 2-1 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Blazers had been outshot 59-17 one night earlier in an 8-1 loss to the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . D Giffen Nyren, who had been a healthy scratch in Calgary, scored the first Kamloops goal and drew an assist on the winner. RW Tyler Shattock was credited with the winner when he cashed in during a scramble. . . . F Carter Smith scored for Red Deer in the second period. . . . All three goals came via the PP. . . . Kamloops head coach Barry Smith, upset with the team’s play in Calgary, sat out freshman C Dalibor Bortnak and veteran D Kurt Torbohm. . . . C Colin Smith, the seventh overall pick in the 2008 WHL bantam draft, played in his third WHL game with the Blazers. He plays for the midget AAA Edmonton CAC Canadians. . . . D Tyler Hansen, a 15-year-old native of Magrath, Alta, who plays for a midget AAA team in Lethbridge, will play for Kamloops on Friday against the Hurricanes. He was a third-round selection, 66th overall, in the 2008 bantam draft.
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In Everett, LW Drayson Bowman scored twice to pace the Spokane Chiefs to a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Chiefs were 1-for-2 on the PP; the Silvertips were 1-for-8. . . . Each team had 37 shots on goal, with Spokane’s Dustin Tokarski recording his 25th victory. . . . Everett LW Daniel Bartek (fractured foot) returned after a month absence but the Silvertips now have lost freshman Tyler Maxwell (cracked kneecap) for up to four weeks.