Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Robby Sandrock (Spokane/Swift Current/Medicine Hat/Kelowna) signed a one-year contract with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 11 goals and 28 assists in 46 games with Villach (Austria Erste Bank Liga) last season. . . . F Anders Lövdahl (Calgary/Moose Jaw/Lethbridge) signed a one-year contract with Borlänge (Sweden Division 1). He had no points in 11 games with Mora (Sweden Allsvenskan) and four goals and 20 assists in 26 games split between Borlänge and Tingsryd (Sweden Division 1) last season. . . . D Kenton Smith (Calgary) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy Serie A). He had nine goals and 38 assists in 67 games with Manchester (UK Elite League) last season.
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As expected, the Lethbridge Hurricanes introduced Rich Preston as their GM and head coach at a Tuesday news conference. Preston, who turns 57 on Aug. 5, is a veteran NHL assistant coach, having worked with the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames. He also spent two seasons (1995-97) as head coach of the Regina Pats. . . . Preston replaces Roy Stasiuk, who was fired as GM, and Michael Dyck, whose contract as head coach wasn’t renewed.
It's interesting that Preston got a five-year deal, which seems to have replaced what used to be the standard two or three years with a one-year club option. Kamloops Blazers GM Craig Bonner got a five-year deal last summer and Dean Clark signed a five-year contract as head coach of the Prince George Cougars this offseason. I have a feeling that Marc Habscheid's deal as GM/head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins is for five years (Darryl Porter, the co-owner/governor, has only said it is in excess of three years). . . Interesting!
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When Kelly McCrimmon played for the Brandon Wheat Kings, he was one of the WHL’s top penalty-killing forwards.
But his stickhandling performance during Tuesday’s import draft may have been better than anything he did during his playing days.
McCrimmon went into the draft without a first-round selection, but it wasn’t long before had two of them.
To start, he acquired the Medicine Hat Tigers’ first-round selection (44th overall) in exchange for a 2011 sixth-round bantam draft pick or a flip of 2011 first-round import picks.
McCrimmon then dealt the 44th selection, along with veteran D Nathan Green, 20, to the Red Deer Rebels for the 14th overall pick. McCrimmon used that pick to take RW Toni Rajala, an 18-year-old from Finland.
After that, McCrimmon traded a 2011 third-round bantam draft pick to the Chilliwack Bruins for a 2011 eighth-round bantam draft pick and the 23rd overall pick in the import draft. He used that selection to take D Alexander Urbom, a 19-year-old Swede who was taken by the New Jersey Devils in the third round of the weekend’s NHL draft.
Rajala, 5-foot-10 and 163 pounds, was a fourth-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL draft. He played for Finland at the world junior championship in Ottawa and also represented his country at the under-18 championship in Fargo, N.D., in the spring. He set a tournament scoring record – it had been held by Alex Ovechkin – with 19 points in six games and was named the event’s top forward.
Having dealt away Green, Brandon is down to four 20-year-olds, all forwards – Matt Calvert, Del Cowan, Jay Fehr and Aaron Lewadniuk.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors had the second overall selection in the import draft. But that was before Jeff Truitt, their new director of hockey operations, made his first WHL trade.
Truitt dealt the second pick to the Portland Winterhawks for a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick, a 2011 sixth-round bantam pick and the fifth overall pick in Tuesday’s import draft.
Portland moved up three spots in order to take Swiss F Nino Niederreiter.
The Warriors, picking fifth, grabbed LW Antonin Honejsek from HC Zlin in the Czech Under-20 Extraliga. According to the Warriors, he had “21 goals and 23 assists in 40 games for HC Zlin. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound left winger also tallied four goals and added two assists in six games at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Fargo, N.D., in the spring.” Honejsek is a late-1991 (Dec. 19) so is eligible for the 2010 NHL draft.
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The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs acquired the first overall pick from the Halifax Mooseheads and used it on Russian F Stanislav Galiev, who played last season for the USHL’s Indiana Ice.
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Veteran coach Dave Allison has signed on as head coach of the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. He replaces former NHLer J.P. Parise, who remains as general manager and director of hockey operations. Allison has been a head coach in the AHL, ECHL, OHL and UHL and also had a stint as head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators in 1995-96.
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Former Vancouver/Regina C Tim Kraus has signed for a second season with the ECHL’s Ontario, Calif., Reign. He led the team with 33 assists as he put up 48 points last season and was named to the National Conference all-star team.
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The Charleston, S.C., Post and Courier is reporting that Jared Bednar is stepping down as head coach of the ECHL-champion South Carolina Stingrays to accept a job with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. Bednar will work as an assistant coach alongside head coach Jim Playfair. Bednar, 37, played three seasons in the WHL (Saskatoon, Spokane, Medicine Hat, Prince Albert, 1990-93). Bednar had been with the Stingrays since 1995, serving as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
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The ECHL’s Los Vegas Wranglers have named Ryan Mougenel as their new GM/head coach. He replaces Glen Gulutzan (Moose Jaw, Brandon, Saskatoon, 1986-92), who signed on as head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars. What makes Mougenel’s signing interesting is that the Wranglers, due to financial reasons, won’t be hiring an assistant coach. Mougenel, 33, was an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder last season after three seasons with the Freson Falcons.