Friday's stuff . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) has signed a one-year contract with Tilburg (Netherlands). He had 17 goals and 43 assists in 70 games with Victoria (ECHL) last season. . . . F Mike Maneluk (Brandon, 1991-94) has signed a one-month contract with Lausanne (Swiss NL B). He had 12 goals and 19 assists in 37 games split between Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL), Langenthal (Swiss NL B), and Lugano (Swiss NL A) last season. Lausanne's head coach is Terry Yake (Brandon, 1984-88), who had seven goals and 18 assists in 20 games playing for Lausanne last season.
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F Radim Valchar of the Portland Winterhawks is said to be a wanted man . . . by the ECHL, that is. Valchar, 20, is a Czech who is going into his third season with the Winterhawks. Valchar came into his own last season, with 41 points, including 21 goals, in 67 games. As a 20-year-old import, he is what is known in the WHL as a “two-spotter;” should the Winterhawks keep him, he would be one of their three allotted 20-year-old players and fill one of their two import slots. . . . But there are rumblings that three or four ECHL teams are highly interested in Valchar and would sign him right now should the Winterhawks leave him hanging in the wind.
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Valchar is one of three imports presently on the Winterhawks’ roster, but he is the lone veteran. Swiss F Nino Niederreiter was the second pick in the CHL’s 2009 import draft, while F Jacob Berglund, who turns 18 in November, was taken in the second round.
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Early indications are that the Winterhawks have a keeper in Niederreiter, a 17-year-old who was the second overall pick in the CHL’s 2009 import draft. Portland dealt a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick and a 2011 sixth-round pick to the Moose Jaw Warriors in order to swap first-round import selections. The Winterhawks then grabbed Niederreiter, who had 34 points, including 20 goals, for an elite league junior team in Davos last season. He also had 12 points in six games with a Davos U-18 team before he moved up to the U-20 side. He also played for Switzerland at the IIHF’s U-18 world championship, where the Canadian team was coached by Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM and head coach. Having watched Niederreiter with Portland, one observer opined: “This guy is real . . . he’s the real deal. He’s physical . . . he’s big . . . he’s got moves.”
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There was an interesting matchup Friday night as the junior B Kootenay International league opened its regular season. In Chase, B.C., the Chiefs played host to the Revelstoke Grizzlies, who ended up with a 3-2 overtime victory. The Grizzlies are coached by Troy Mick, while Tyler Boldt guides the Chiefs. In 2002-03, Mick was the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers and Boldt was one of his defencemen.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has some interesting Pats-related trade speculation involving the 20-year-old and the goaltending situations. Check it out over at Slap Shots. There's a link over there on the left.
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Looking for a recap of the prospects tournament that was held in Traverse City, Mich.? You will find one right here.
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Thanks to the anonymous caller who left a message informing me that D Brandon Manning of the Chilliwack Bruins has been held over for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ main camp. Manning, who is from Prince George, played for the Maple Leafs' team in a prospects tournament this week. The 19-year-old Manning got a free-agent tryout deal from the Leafs after putting up 29 points and 140 penalty minutes in 72 games as a WHL freshman last season.
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The Kamloops Blazers got their roster to 28 by reassigning F Neil Landry, 17, a fifth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, on Friday night. From Saskatoon, he likely will join the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. . . . The Blazers are carrying 10 defencemen and 16 forwards. . . . That total includes F Tyler Shattock, who is in the main camp of the St. Louis Blues, and F Jimmy Bubnick, who is with the Atlanta Thrashers.
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The Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that D Travis Hamonic had an interesting time getting to the New York Islanders’ training camp. The Isles are training in Saskatoon this time around. Hamonic, however, wasn’t able to simply go to Saskatoon. Instead, he had to get to New York (drive to Regina, fly to Minneapolis and then to the Big Apple) for testing and then fly to Saskatoon with the rest of the team.
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Among the WHL players who have been returned from NHL teams are:
Kamloops: D Giffen Nyren (Minnesota Wild), D Zac Stebner (Dallas Stars), F C.J. Stretch (San Jose).
Medicine Hat: D Mark Isherwood (Boston), F Tristan King (Dallas), D Matt Konan (Anaheim).
Moose Jaw: F Matt MacKay (Minnesota).
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From the department of hmmmmm! . . . In Kamloops on Friday night, Blazers GM Craig Bonner spent a lot of time chatting with Prince George GM Dallas Thompson. . . . Meanwhile, Jesse Wallin, the vice-president of hockey operations and head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, and Edmonton Oil Kings GM Bob Green were in Kelowna watching the Rockets and Vancouver Giants. . . . Let the trade speculation begin!
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F Killian Hutt left the Portland Winterhawks and is at home pondering his hockey future. Hutt, 18, who is from Edmonton, was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers with the 126th pick in the 2006 WHL bantam draft. Portland acquired him from the Tigers on May 7, 2008, giving up F Tristan King, then 18, in exchange. Hutt had 35 points, including 13 goals, in 57 games last season. But he suffered an offseason injury, arrived at training camp about 10 pounds overweight — the Winterhawks’ website shows him at 5-foot-8, 179 pounds at the end of last season — and apparently was struggling to crack the top four forward lines. Despite Hutt's departure, the Winterhawks don't sound as though they have given up on him. In fact, GM/head coach Mike Johnston said via email Friday that Hutt “made a hasty decision to leave but wants to be in the league and he has a great scoring touch.” . . . You have to think Hutt will be back in Portland before too long.
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FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: F Shayne Wiebe had two goals and four assists to lead the host Kamloops Blazers (2-3-0-1) to an 8-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars (1-2-0-1). Wiebe, paired on the point on the PP with D Bronson Maschmeyer, had four points with the man advantage as the Blazers went 4-for-13. Maschmeyer had a goal and two assists. . . . In Swift Current, the Medicine Hat Tigers scored the game’s last two goals and beat the Broncos, 6-4. The Tigers, who play host to Swift Current on Saturday, are 3-3, the Broncos are 1-4. . . . In Brandon, the Wheat Kings scored four power-play goals and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-4. The fourth PP goal, from Jesse Sinatynski, was the winner. The teams meet again Saturday in Moose Jaw. The Warriors are 3-2; Brandon got two goals and an assist from F Jay Fehr. . . . F Antonin Honejsek had a goal, his fourth, and two assists for the Warriors, while F Spencer Edwards scored his fifth goal in as many games. . . . The Warriors were without F Cody Smuk, who has been suspended for three games after incurring a checking-from-behind major in a game against Swift Current. . . . In Saskatoon, the Prince Albert Raiders edged the Blades, 4-3. Both teams are 2-2. P.A. G Steven Stanford stopped seven shots and left shortly after taking one off the collarbone. Jacob Edwards took over and stopped 22 of 25 shots. . . . Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that the Blades had two goaltenders playing in the same NHL exhibition game Friday. Braden Holtby went the distance for the Washington Capitals and Adam Morrison played half the game for the Philadelphia Flyers in a prospects game played in Voorhees, N.J. The Flyers won, 7-3, with Holtby seeing 27 shots and Morrison giving up two goals on 17 shots. . . . In Kelowna, the Vancouver Giants beat the short-staffed Rockets, 3-2. The Rockets, with seemingly everyone but radio voice Regan Bartel in an NHL camp, even dressed injured players Kyle Verdino and Aaron Borejko, although neither is ready to play. James Henry had three assists for Vancouver. The Rockets finished 3-2 in the exhibition season. . . . Cody Gross had two goals to help the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Barrhead, Alta.
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TRI-CITY TOURNAMENT: F Chris Francis scored three first-period goals and the Portland Winterhawks went on to a 6-4 victory over the Tri-City Americans. The game was delay 30 minutes due to what an Americans’ release referred to as “transportation issues.” . . . Francis completed his hat trick at 17:18 of the first period. . . . Markus McCrea’s goal with 3:42 left in the third period gave the Everett Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.