Tuesday . . .

Slightly more than 20 years have passed since former Saskatoon Blades D Duncan MacPherson, then 23 and a first-round NHL draft pick of the New York Islanders, went missing on an Austrian glacier while on vacation.
He was skiing in Austria before heading for Scotland and his new job as player-coach of the Dundee Tigers.
It wasn’t until 14 years later that his body was discovered. But there are questions, lots of them, and his mother and father, Lynda and Robert, have been all over this like a starving dog with a pork chop.
They have been fighting to get answers right from the start.
“Some people ask why we do this,” Lynda wrote in a letter to islandersesoteric.blogspot.com a couple of years ago, “why we put ourselves through the work, frustration, stress, etc. I would say as much as anything, it is Duncan’s spirit that drives it. I remember during his hockey-playing days, and how I’d always tell him that I wished he would not get into fights. His response was that I did not understand that there were times when you had to fight — to stand up for yourself, or your teammates; and that whether you ‘won’ the fight was irrelevant, but it was important that you ‘show up.’
“So, while I recognize I am taking on the entire Austrian tourist industry, and my chances of ‘winning’ against these formidable forces are slim, I feel it is important to ‘show up.’ As Duncan used to say, ‘The only time you fail, is if you don't try.’ ”
Because of the MacPherson family’s perseverance this story just won’t go away. And now it seems it is back in the headlines in Austria.
You should take time to read Lynda’s latest letter and the story, translated from an Austrian newspaper, that are right here.
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D Nick Holden (Chilliwack, Chilliwack, 2006-08) is at home in Edmonton, battling mononucleosis and hoping to get better in time to head for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ training camp, which opens Sept. 12. Holden, who has been ill for almost two weeks, played last season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
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The Vancouver Giants play host to the Kelowna Rockets tonight in Ladner as the exhibition season resumes. Don Hay, the Giants’ head coach, got ejected in the third period of his club’s first game but managed to see the end of Game 2. Will he make it to game’s end tonight? Will Sean Raphael be the referee again? . . . And, yes, Hay has been fined $500 by the WHL office. . . . The Giants will be without F Evander Kane, who has left for the Atlanta Thrashers’ camp, while F Todd Kennedy (knee) is at home in Kamloops working on getting healthy. D Ryan Funk (shoulder) and F Sebastian Svendsen (shoulder) are skating but not taking part in contact drills.
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D Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs was back on skates Tuesday in Ottawa. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Cowen, 18, has been out since February when he had reconstructive knee surgery. Cowen actually began skating in June but took some time off in August. . . . The Ottawa Senators selected him with the ninth pick of the NHL’s 2009 draft. He was skating with a group of Senators who are preparing for training camp. Cowen will be returning to the Chiefs one of these days and there have to be smiles of relief in Spokane because it would appear that his rehab is on schedule. “Everything’s what we thought it would be right now,” Cowen told the Ottawa Citizen. “I don’t even watch the scrimmages anymore, because I just want to get out there. Obviously, I can’t do that, but it’s getting to be long right now. It’s dragging out a bit.”
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The Tri-City Americans have signed F Zach McPhee and D Drydn Dow to WHL contracts. . . . The 6-foot-3, 180-pound McPhee, a sixth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is from Vernon, B.C. He had 34 points and 30 penalty minutes in 32 games with the midget Vernon Renegades last season. . . . The 5-foot-8, 160-pound Dow, a list player, had 22 points and 54 penalty minutes with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes last season. He was an Alberta midget league all-star. . . . Both players are presently in the Americans’ main camp.
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And this just may be your big chance. The Americans are holding auditions for potential anthem singers on Friday (Sept. 4) at the Toyota Center from noon through 6 p.m. According to a release, “Candidates will be asked to perform either the American and/or the Canadian anthems as part of their auditions. All individuals, as well as groups, are encouraged to apply. To reserve a spot or for more information on the audition process, please contact the Americans' offices at 509-736-0606.
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Darrell May, fired as general manager of the Chilliwack Bruins in January, has been hired by the Chicago Blackhawks as a western regional scout.
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Two of the Subway Super Series’ six games will be played in Barrie and Windsor. The OHL team will play a touring Russian side in Barrie on Nov. 19 and in Windsor on Nov. 23. . . . The series used be known as the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge. . . . Dates and host cities for two games in each of the QMJHL and WHL have yet to be revealed.
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Spotted this piece while surfing on Tuesday . . .
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- PetroChina Co. and Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. have signed agreements allowing the Chinese energy giant to purchase a 60 per cent working interest in two oil sands projects in western Canada for 1.9 billion Canadian dollars ($1.7 billion), writes V. Phani Kumar of MarketWatch.
The two projects, Athabasca's MacKay River project and Dover oil sands project, have been "independently assessed to contain about five billion barrels of best-case contingent bitumen resource," the Canadian company said.
So, you ask, what’s the big deal? Bill Gallacher, the majority owner of the Portland Winterhawks, is the chairman of Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. That’s the big deal.