Some early Monday stuff . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Mark Smith (Saskatoon/Tri-City) signed a one-year contract with Cardiff Devils (UK Elite). He had 17 goals and 29 assists in 39 games with Ritten/Renon (Italy Serie A) this season.
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THE COACHING GAME: Bob Motzko, the head coach of the St. Cloud, Minn., State University hockey team for four seasons has signed a new contract. What is interesting about this deal is that it is for six seasons. That’s right. Motzko got a deal that runs through 2014-15. In his four seasons at SCSU, Motzko twice has been the Western Collegiate Hockey Association coach of the year. So we’re not talking here about chopped liver. But the length of the contract is interesting because it seems almost forever that most coaches have ended up with contracts that called for two seasons with a team option on a third season. Which meant that if a team started slowly in that second season, the organization might start thinking about how much it would cost them to make a change. The answer: Not much. . . . But that may be starting to change. You’ve got Motzko with a six-year deal. In the WHL, veteran coach Dean Clark, who had been away from the league for almost two full seasons, signed a five-year contract with the Prince George Cougars. In Kamloops, first-time GM Craig Bonner is one year into a five-year deal, a contract he wanted because he knew he wasn’t going to be able to turn around the Blazers in one or two seasons. . . .
Jay Varady, the associate head coach of the Everett Silvertips, has been named to the coaching staff of the U.S. national junior team. The 2010 world junior championship will be decided in Regina and Saskatoon, Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. Varady, 32, will work as USA Hockey’s video coach under U.S. head coach Dean Blais. Varady also will be involved in the team’s evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., Aug. 6-15. Varady has been on Everett’s staff since the Silvertips entered the WHL for 2003-04. The U.S. will be in a pool with Canada, Latvia, Slovakia and Switzerland at the 2010 tournament. It opens against Slovakia in Saskatoon, Dec. 26.
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Three WHLers are among 43 players who have been invited to the U.S. national junior team’s evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., Aug. 6-15. F Tyler Maxwell of the Everett Silvertips, who is from Manhattan Beach, Calif., will be joined there by two members of the Spokane Chiefs – C Tyler Johnson of Spokane and Mitch Wahl of Seal Beach, Calif. The complete roster is available right here. . . .
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The Brandon Wheat Kings, the host team for the 2010 Memorial Cup, are on the verge of setting a franchise record for season-ticket sales. They are closing in on 2,700 after selling a record 2,780 last season. (Of those almost 2,700 season tickets, more than 400 have been purchased by ‘new’ fans.) Those fans who renewed their season tickets have until Oct. 15 to purchase Memorial Cup packages. The Memorial Cup is scheduled for May 14-23.
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JUST NOTES: The 2011 Allan Cup has been awarded by Hockey Canada to Kenora, Ont. . . . Interesting news from Brown University in Providence, R.I., where they are looking for a men’s hockey coach to replace Roger Grillo, who resigned on June 2. It seems that Digit Murphy, the longtime coach of the Brown women’s team, has applied for the men’s job. Yes, Digit Murphy is a woman. The Bears are a Division 1 team that plays in the ECAC.