Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Rod Sarich (Calgary) signed a one-year contract extension with the Sheffield Steelers (UK Elite). He had 11 goals and 40 assists in 64 games with the Steelers last season. . . . F Aki Seitsonen (Prince Albert) signed a one-year contract with HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland SM-Liiga). He had four goals and two assists in 45 games with Quad City (AHL) last season. Seitsonen played midget hockey for HPK before coming to Prince Albert.
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As expected, the Swift Current Broncos have named Mark Lamb, 45, as their new general manager and head coach. According to a club press released, Lamb signed “a multi-year deal.”
Lamb spent the last seven years, one of them the NHL’s lockout season, as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. He replaces Dean Chynoweth, who left the Broncos to work as an assistant coach with the NHL’s New York Islanders.
A former WHL and NHL player, Lamb has been coaching since 2001 when he was an assistant with the Edmonton Oilers.
Lamb was born and raised in the Swift Current area and played junior A in the city in the early 1980s.
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Former WHL D Keith McCambridge has joined the AHL’s Manitoba Moose as an assistant coach under head coach Scott Arniel. McCambridge resigned as head coach of the ECHL’s Alaska Aces in order to join the Moose. McCambridge was the Aces’ head coach for the last two seasons. All told, he spent seven seasons with the Aces. With the Moose, McCambridge replaces Jay Wells. Former NHL G Rick St. Croix, the father of Edmonton Oil Kings prospect Michael St. Croix, also is on the Moose’s staff. . . .
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The Portland Winterhawks have announced that Todd Vrooman, the 20-year-old son of former play-by-play voice Dean (Scooter) Vrooman, is joining their broadcast team. Todd will work the club’s home games, alongside play-by-play man Andy Kemper. Vrooman takes over from Mark Ertle, now the executive director of the Winterhawks Amateur Hockey Association. . . . If Dad is Scooter, is Todd's nickname Tricycle? . . .
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F Partik Bhungal, who played the last three seasons with the Chilliwack Bruins, will attend the U of Regina and play for the Cougars. Bhungal, one of the original Bruins, played out his WHL eligibility as a 20-year-old last season. . . .
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The Edmonton Oilers have signed F Tony Rajala, a fourth-round pick in last month’s NHL draft, to a three-year contract. Rajala’s WHL rights belong to the Brandon Wheat Kings and all signs point to him playing there this season. But Wheat Kings GM/head coach Kelly McCrimmon says, despite various reports, that is far from a sure thing. “I don’t know at this point what impact that (signing) may have with respect to him playing in Brandon this year,” McCrimmon told the Brandon Sun’s James Shewaga. “I really don’t know much more . . . I think that any of the speculation that might be out there right now can’t be certain based on the fact that the process hasn’t moved ahead far enough for it to be known where Toni’s going to play next year.” The Wheat Kings have to get Rajala’s release from his Finnish team, Ilves Tampere, before he could play for them. “I’ve talked with the NHL club on a number of occasions and I’ve talked to his representatives and I think there’s lots of positives about Brandon and yet there’s a lot of things that have to be still answered in terms of his availability,” McCrimmon said.
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C Tristan King of the Medicine Hat Tigers has accepted a free-agent tryout deal from the NHL’s Dallas Stars. King, 19, will report Sept. 8 in Traverse City, Mich. King had 36 points in 47 games of an injury-plagued 2008-09 season. He wasn’t selected in last month’s NHL draft. . . .
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In the early days of my writing career, I got to cover the CFL and one of the players who commanded a lot of attention in those days was Ray Nettles. If ever there was a man who was born to be a linebacker, it was the mustachioed, Harley-riding Nettles. These days, he’s looking death square in the face; his story is right here.