A few Friday notes . . .

Former WHL F Ladislav Scurko, 23, is reported to have confessed to murdering a referee.
According to a story posted at www.hockeysverige.se, Scurko, a Slovakian, was arrested Thursday by Slovakian police.
According to the website, he is “suspected of the murder of referee Mark Liptaje, in December 2007. (It is) a deed which Scurko later pleaded guilty to the police during questioning.”
According to police spokesman Karol Raven, Scurko “cut the victim in the chest with an unknown object several times.” The body was dumped in a forested area outside Poprad and was not found for a year.
The website reported that “according to police, the attack” wasn’t “premeditated” but was “done impulsively.” Scurko could receive 15 years to life if he is convicted.
Scurko played two seasons (2004-06) with the Seattle Thunderbirds and 12 games with the Tri-City Americans in 2006-07. He played this season with Kosice, which won the Slovakian championship. . . . He was a sixth-round selection by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL’s 2004 draft.
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JUST NOTES: D Chad Erb of the Brandon Wheat Kings is waiting to hear whether he will be joining the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Erb, 20, had hoped to join them over the weekend but now is waiting and hopes to hear from them by Monday. The Admirals are into the second round after sweeping the Rockford Ice Hogs. Lane Lambert, a former WHL player and coach, is the Admirals’ head coach, while Brad Lauer, who also played and coached in the WHL, is the assistant coach. . . . The Spokane Chiefs have announced that 1510 KGA will continue to carry their games through the 2011-12 season. The station also carries Spokane Indians baseball games, and the broadcast agreement covers both teams, both of which are owned by Brett Sports and Entertainment. there is a three-year mutual option on the agreement. . . . The U of Alberta has removed the interim from head coach Eric Thurston’s title. Thurston, a former WHL defenceman, had been the Golden Bears’ interim hockey coach for four seasons, ever since Rob Daum took a leave of absence. Daum, who finished this season as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Springfield, has told the school that he won’t be returning. Last summer, Thurston was on the Kamloops Blazers’ short list of candidates for their head-coaching vacancy before withdrawing his name. Under Thurston, the CIS’s 2008-09 coach of the year, the Golden Bears have never been ranked worse than second. . . . F Carson McMillan of the Calgary Hitmen has signed with the NHL's Minnesota Wild. McMillan, 20, was selected by the Wild in the seventh round of the 2007 NHL draft. . . . Gerard Gallant, a former NHL player and once the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, is the new head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs. Former Brandon Wheat Kings head coach Mike Kelly was signed as associate coach and director of hockey operations. Both men signed three-year deals.