Wednesday . . . early

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Mike Card (Kelowna, 2002-06) has been released at the end of his tryout contract by Ingolstadt. Ingolstadt head coach Jim Boni said: “Mike has told me himself that he was not happy with his performance. It's important for him that he gets a lot of game time this season and thus regain his confidence." Card played only 44 games over the past two seasons with Portland (AHL) and Rochester (AHL) due to injuries.
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The Swift Current Broncos have dealt D Ryan Molle, 20, to the Kootenay Ice for a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick. Molle was a second-round selection by the Vancouver Giants in the 2004 bantam draft. He played three games with the Giants, one in 2004-05 and two in 2005-06. On Sept. 20, 2006, he was traded to the Broncos for a third-round pick in the 2007 draft. . . . He played three full seasons with the Broncos. . . . The Ice now have two 20-year-olds, the other being forward Dustin Sylvester, the team captain.
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The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays have signed D Lyon Messier (Kelowna, 2007-08). Messier, 22, joined the Stingrays in February, after playing for the Charlotte Checkers. He also played last season with the Central league’s New Mexico Scorpions. Yes, he is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier.
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Dennis Hextall is the new commissioner of the International Hockey League. He played for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 1960s before going on to a pro career that included 681 NHL games. He is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Hextall Sr., the brother of former NHLer Bryan Sr., and an uncle to former NHL goaltender Ron, who now is the assistant GM with the Los Angeles Kings.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have signed six players – F Neal Tarnasky, 17; D Reid Jackson, 16; D Drew Graham, 16; F Michael Sofillas, 16; F Ryley Bennefield, 15; and D Adam Henry, 15. . . . Tarnasky is a younger brother to former WHLer Nick Tarnasky (Vancouver, Kelowna, Lethbridge (2001-04). Neal, from Caroline, Alta., was an eighth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft. He had 24 points and 90 penalty minutes in 30 games with the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings last season. . . . Jackson, from Weyburn, Sask., was a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He played last season with a U-16 team at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the Minnesota prep school. In 35 games, he had 15 assists and 40 penalty minutes. . . . Graham, a third-round pick in 2008, had 11 points in 16 games with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins on B.C.’s Lower Mainland. . . . Sofillas is a list player who had 37 points in 44 games with the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks, who play out of his hometown of Morden, Man. . . . Bennefield was the Hurricanes’ first pick, 33rd overall, in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 57 points and 59 penalty minutes for the bantam AAA Leduc, Alta., Oil Kings last season. . . . Henry, the 55th pick in 2009, had 17 points and 52 penalty minutes for the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks.
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The Kamloops Blazers reassigned two players on Wednesday. . . . D Kiefer McNaughton, 16, will play junior B with the Squamish Wolf Pack of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League. . . . D Jordan Beveridge, 16, will join the B.C. major midget league’s Vancouver-Northwest Chiefs. . . . Beveridge was a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, while McNaughton went in the fourth round. . . . The Blazers’ roster now is at 30, including two goaltenders and 10 defencemen.