Wednesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Greg Kuznik (Seattle, 1995-98) and G Norm Maracle (Saskatoon, 1991-94) have been released by Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga) for financial reasons. Kuznik had five goals and 13 assists in 37 games; Maracle had a 3.58 GAA and a .901 save percentage in 25 games this season. . . . F David Hruska (Red Deer, 1995-96) has signed with Chomutov (Czech Republic 2.Liga) for the rest of this season. He had seven goals and six assists in 35 games for Slavia Prague (Czech Republic Extraliga) this season.
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The MJHL’s Winnipeg Saints have acquired the junior A rights to former Blazers G Justin Leclerc, 20. The Saints dealt former WHL F Cody Gross, 20, and future considerations to the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires for Leclerc and futures. Leclerc was in his third season with the Blazers when he was released on Nov. 22. He cleared WHL waivers on Nov. 25. . . . Gross, who has played in the WHL with Prince Albert, Regina, Red Deer and Calgary, had 17 points in 16 games with the Saints. . . . In order to make the deal, Melville acquired Leclerc’s rights from the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves for F Aaron Decorby, 20.
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The Tri-City Americans unclogged their goaltending situation Wednesday by trading Brett Martyniuk to the Regina Pats for an undisclosed conditional draft pick. Martyniuk, 18, was one of three goaltenders on the Americans’ roster last season, along with Chet Pickard and Drew Owsley. This season, he fell in behind Owsley and then slid to third on the depth chart with the arrival of Alex Pechurskiy from Russia over the Christmas season. . . . This season, Martyniuk had gotten into only seven games. He was 1-1-0-0 with a 2.73 GAA and a .860 save percentage. He was the Manitoba major midget league’s goaltender of the year for 2007-08 when he was with the Winnipeg Thrashers. . . . The Pats have lost G Damien Ketlo to a shoulder injury, so Martyniuk will back up Dawson Guhle. Ketlo could be gone for another four weeks. . . . Martyniuk will join the Pats in Cranbrook, B.C., for their Thursday night game with the Kootenay Ice. . . . Martyniuk is a second cousin to Ray Martyniuk, who played goal for the Flin Flon Bombers (1967-70).
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D Luca Sbisa of the Lethbridge Hurricanes will play in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Sbisa, 19, has been named to Switzerland’s hockey team. Sbisa presently is playing for Switzerland in the World Junior Championship in Saskatchewan. He began this season with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, who acquired his rights over the summer from the Philadelphia Flyers.
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F Dan Iwanski of the Everett Silvertips won’t play Thursday night against the visiting Saskatoon Blades. He suffered a knee injury during Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the host Tri-City Americans and the extent of the injury isn’t yet known. . . . The Silvertips have brought in F Tyler Giebel, who was a second-round selection in the 2008 bantam draft. He has 36 points in 27 games with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians.
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Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun wonders if there are too many blowouts at the World Junior Championship. That piece is right here.
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A linesman who was working a junior C game in Ontario was in critical condition in hospital Wednesday after getting his neck slashed by a skate. The Toronto Star story is right here.
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WEDNESDAY:
In Vancouver, F James Dobrowolski scored twice as the Prince George Cougars stunned the Giants, 4-1. . . . F Nick Buonassisi added a goal and two assists for the Cougars (8-28-1-1), who are 3-17-1-1 on the road. . . . Cougars F Alex Rodgers assisted on his club’s second and third goals. . . . The Giants (24-13-1-2) had won their last two games. They are 16-10-0-0 at home. . . . Prince George G Hudson Stremmel stopped 30 shots. . . . Vancouver was without F Lance Bouma (ill), while F Craig Cunningham, its leading scorer, missed parts of the game after being hit in the face with a puck and losing five teeth. . . . Attendance was 8,023. . . . The Giants had beaten the Cougars in 13 straight regular-season games. . . . G Mark Segal stopped 24 shots for Vancouver.
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In Lethbridge, F Mitch Maxwell scored his 17th goal of the season in OT to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Tigers actually led this game 2-0 before it was six minutes old on goals by F Matt MacKay, his 15th, and F Emerson Etem, his 28th. . . . Lethbridge (12-21-3-1) forced OT on goals by F Austin Fyten, his 13th, at 3:20 of the second and F Mark Reners, his third, at 12:46 of the third. . . . The Tigers are 4-1-1-0 against Lethbridge this season. . . . The Tigers (23-11-3-4) lost D Mark Isherwood (shoulder) in the second period. . . . Attendance was 3,991. . . . D Austin Bourhis, 17, has joined the Tigers. Bourhis, who has 15 points in 35 games with the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers, once was on the Edmonton Oil Kings’ protected list.
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In Prince Albert, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored two second-period goals and beat the Raiders, 2-1. . . . F Craig McCallum gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the first period. . . . Moose Jaw F Jason Bast tied the score at 1:45 of the second and D Dylan McIlrath got what proved to be the winner at 19:02. It was his second goal of the season. . . . Bast drew an assist on the winner. . . . Bast and McCallum each has 18 goals. . . . Moose Jaw G Jeff Bosch stopped 39 shots, while Prince Albert’s Garrett Zemlak turned aside 24. . . . The Warriors (19-15-1-2) beat the visiting Raiders 6-3 on Tuesday. . . . The Raiders (20-18-1-2) have lost three in a row. . . . Attendance was 2,135.
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In Red Deer, the Rebels scored three times in the second period as they beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-2. . . . Red Deer was 2-for-4 on the PP; the Wheat Kings were 0-for-6. . . . Brandon led 1-0 after one period on a goal by F Shayne Wiebe, his 16th. . . . Red Deer took control in the second on goals from Lane Scheidl, Willie Coetzee and John Persson. . . . F Mark Raedeke, acquired earlier in the day from the Edmonton Oil Kings, scored Brandon’s second goal, his 18th of the season. . . . F Andrej Kudrna iced it for Red Deer with his 17th goal at 19:07. . . . G Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots for Red Deer (20-15-0-3), while Jacob De Serres turned aside 27 for Brandon (25-13-0-2). . . . Attendance was 4,612.
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In Kent, Wash., the visiting Saskatoon Blades built up a 4-0 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Blades (25-7-1-3) opened the scoring with two PP goals just 28 seconds apart early in the first period. . . . The Blades were 3-for-7 on the PP. . . . D Stefan Elliot scored his 12th goal and added an assist for Saskatoon. . . . F Chance Lund scored twice, giving him three this season, for Seattle. . . . F Prab Rai got his 23rd of the season for Seattle. . . . The Thunderbirds (13-20-2-4) have lost three straight. . . . Attendance was 3,001. . . . F Branden Troock, Seattle’s first pick in the 2009 draft, made his WHL debut and picked up an assist.
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In Kelowna, F Dalibor Bortnak scored seven seconds into the first period and the Kamloops Blazers went on to beat the Rockets, 4-1. . . . Kamloops D Josh Caron dumped the puck around the boards and into the Kelowna zone off the opening faceoff. Kelowna G Mark Guggenberger went behind the net to play the puck, which took a funny bounce and went in front of the net where Bortnak tapped it home. . . . The Rockets (18-20-1-0), who have seven regulars out with injuries, have lost four in a row. . . . F Ryan Hanes, who is from Kamloops, scored his first WHL goal for the Blazers (16-18-2-3). It came in his 24th game over two seasons. . . . Last season, the Blazers were 0-8-0-1 against the Rockets; this season they are 3-1-0-0. . . . Kamloops G Kurtis Mucha stopped 27 shots, one fewer than Guggenberger. . . . Attendance was 6,268.