Wednesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Cam Severson (Kamloops, Swift Current, Lethbridge, Prince Albert, Spokane, 1993-99) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Steaua Bucharest (Romania). He started this season with the Mississippi Riverkings (Central Hockey League), where he had eight goals and five assists in 18 games. Last season, Severson had 24 goals and 17 assists in 29 games for Steaua.
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A note from the Seattle Thunderbirds, who are offering four free tickets to all police officers for Saturday’s game against the visiting Everett Silvertips:
The Seattle Thunderbirds organization appreciates all that the law enforcement community does to keep citizens safe and secure. The entire Thunderbirds organization was shocked and saddened by the tragic events that unfolded in Lakewood on Sunday.
The Lakewood Police Independent Guild will be in attendance at the game against the Everett Silvertips on Saturday at ShoWare Center accepting monetary donations for the Guild. All donations and proceeds that the Guild obtains go to the children of fallen officers in a trust.
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It is about now where one begins to wonder if the Kelowna Rockets cut a deal with the devil in exchange for last season’s WHL championship. How else to explain the run of injuries this season? . . . The latest to go down is F Lucas Bloodoff, the team captain, who will miss up to six weeks after spraining an MCL in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Kootenay Ice on Saturday. . . . The Rockets also are without F Evan Bloodoff (knee), F Brett Bulmer (shoulder), G Mark Guggenberger (sports hernia surgery) and F Kyle St. Denis (head). . . . As well, there are at least eight other players who have missed playing time with injuries, and that includes F Max Adolph, D Tyson Barrie and D Mitchell Chapman, all of whom were injured within minutes of each other during the first period of an early-season game in Kamloops. Perhaps that was only an omen.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Erik Bonsor, 18, from the Calgary Hitmen for a 2010 sixth-round bantam draft pick. Bonsor was selected by Calgary with a fourth-round pick in the 2006 draft. A sophomore, he has three assists and 20 penalty minutes in 26 games this season. Last season, he had 11 points in 51 games.
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F Drew George, 18, is skating with the Regina Pats while he ponders his future. George was traded by the front-running Vernon Vipers to the cellar-dwelling Cowichan Valley Capitals in a Tuesday BCHL trade. George has so far chosen not to join the Capitals. He had 17 points in 24 games with Vernon. George was heavily recruited prior to this season when he chose to go to Vernon. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has the story on his blog, Slap Shots, over there on the left.
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F Jason Reese (Vancouver, Moose Jaw, Tri-City, 2003-09) was part of a Central league trade on Wednesday. He was dealt from the Texas Brahmas to the Arizona Sundogs as part of a two-for-two deal. Reese had nine points in 16 games with Texas.
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The Kootenay Ice as added D Jagger Dirk, 16, to its roster for the remainder of the season. Dirk, the son of former WHL D Robert Dirk (1983-86), had been with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks for whom he had 17 points in 29 games. The Ice selected him in the 11th round of the 2008 bantam draft. . . . The Ice now is carrying 24 players, including nine defencemen.
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Dave Waddell of the Windsor Star has more on the impending recruiting war between the NCAA and the major junior teams. That piece is right here.
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There is an interesting read right here on the Tiger situation. It’s by Charles Piece, who a few years ago wrote a profile for Esquire that caused something of a stir at the time. Of course, that wasn’t the kind of stir that we’re now witnessing.
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And for another good read on the Tiger situation, check out this right here. The New York Post report about Tiger's handlers cutting a deal a couple of years ago with the National Enquirer to keep this kind of news out of its pages is especially interesting.
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WEDNESDAY:
In Brandon, the Wheat Kings unleashed a 50-shot attack and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 7-2. . . . The Wheat Kings (18-11-0-2) got two goals from F Matt Calvert, who now has 20 scores, as they closed to within five points of the Blades (20-5-0-3). . . . The Blades are tied with the Calgary Hitmen (21-8-1-0) for first place overall, but Saskatoon holds two games in hand. . . . F Aaron Lewadniuk had a goal and two assists for Brandon. . . . G Jacob De Serres stopped 30 shots for Brandon. . . . Saskatoon G Adam Morrison stopped 45 shots. He left for the last 2:23 of the second period because of problems with a contact lens. Steven Stanford stopped five shots in his absence. . . . Brandon F Brayden Schenn picked up two assists to run his point streak to 11 games. He has 22 points, including 17 assists, in that stretch. . . . Saskatoon got both its goal on the PP, scoring eight seconds apart late in the second period, to get to within a goal at 3-2. . . . Brandon F Toni Rajala gave Brandon a 4-2 lead with a PP goal at 6:19 of the third and the Wheat Kings took it from there. . . . Brandon was 2-for-7 on the PP; Saskatoon was 2-for-4. . . . Attendance was a soldout 5,321. . . . Brandon now leads the season series 2-1, with all three games having been played in the Wheat City.
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In Kamloops, G Kurtis Mucha stopped 25 shots as the Blazers beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-0. . . . Mucha was making his second start since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks on Nov. 22. . . . Kamloops (12-14-2-2) got two goals and an assist from C C.J. Stretch. . . . The Blazers had lost seven of their last eight games. . . . The Oil Kings (8-14-4-4) have lost six in a row. . . . Attendance was 3,893.
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In Prince Albert, F Dustin Cameron and F Brandon Herrod each scored three goals to lead the Raiders to a 7-4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Herrod also set up one goal, while F Craig McCallum had four assists. . . . Cameron has 15 goals, while Herrod has 17. . . . It was the second time this season that teammates have had three-goal games in the same game. On Oct. 31, three Medicine Hat Tigers — Emerson Etem, Bretton Cameron and Matt MacKay — had three each in an 11-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Broncos (15-13-0-2) got two goals from F Adam Lowry and three helpers from D Joel Rogers as their two-game win streak came to an end. . . . P.A. G Garrett Zemlak stopped 36 shots. . . . The Broncos started G Morgan Clark, but replaced him with the recently acquired Mark Friesen after two periods. Clark stopped 14 of 18 shots, while Friesen was 10-for-12. . . . The Raiders (16-12-1-2) have won four in a row and five of six. They are 10-1-0-1 in their last 12 home games. . . . Attendance was 1,759. . . . The Broncos, with Clark and Friesen, both 19, to compete for playing time, have assigned G Alexandre Sirard, 18, to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks.
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In Prince George, F Brandon Kozun and F Joel Broda each scored twice and set up two others as the Calgary Hitmen edged the Cougars, 6-5. . . . Broda’s second goal, on the PP at 7:14 of the third period, gave Calgary (21-8-1-0) a 5-3 lead. . . . The Cougars (4-21-1-1) tied it on goals by D Bruin McDonald, his first in 72 WHL games, at 10:58 on the PP, and F Alex Rodgers, at 12:15. . . . Kozun, who leads the WHL with 55 points, won it on the PP at 16:57. . . . Calgary was 3-for-6 on the PP; Prince George was 3-for-7. . . . Attendance was 1,879. . . . F Ian Schultz had a goal and two assists for Calgary. . . . Prince George F Brett Connolly had a goal and two assists. He has seven points in three games since returning from a hip problem and strep throat.
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In Vancouver, the Kootenay Ice won their fourth game in a row, all on the road, by beating the Giants, 6-2. . . . The Ice (15-13-1-1), which also won in Kamloops, Kelowna and Chilliwack on this swing, wraps it up Friday in Prince George. . . . F Dustin Sylvester and F Brock Montgomery had two goals each for the Ice. . . . Sylvester, who also had an assist, has nine points in the four victories. . . . Vancouver (18-9-1-2) had a three-game winning streak end. . . . Attendance was 5,568. . . . The Giants are 12-7-0-0 at home. Last season, the finished 30-4-0-2 on home ice. . . . Kootenay is 10-2-1-1 since Oct. 30. . . . The Giants were without F Milan Kytnar (shoulder) and D Kevin Connauton (abdominal strain).
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In Everett, F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan scored two goals and assisted on two others as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Silvertips, 6-2. . . . It was Kelowna’s first victory over a U.S. Division opponent in 10 tries. . . . Callahan figured in four straight goals, starting with his eighth goal of the season that broke a 1-1 tie at 7:10 of the first period. . . . Everett (16-9-1-0) had won three of its last four games. . . . Kelowna improved to 14-14-1-0. . . . Attendance was 3,825. . . . F Shane Harper scored No. 20 for Everett. . . . Later, Everett head coach Craig Hartsburg told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald that he isn’t impressed with his team. “They have a real arrogance about them, this group right now,” Hartsburg told Patterson. “I think they think they're a lot better than they are, and that's a big problem here. When you're arrogant in this game it's going to catch you, and it's catching us right now. We have some players who don't understand that the work and compete level has to be high every game, and this is the result of that."