Friday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Mike Maneluk (Brandon, 1991-94) has signed a tryout contract through Jan. 31 with Ambri-Piotta (Swiss NL A). He had two goals and four assists in five games for Lausanne (Swiss NL B) earlier this season as an injury replacement. . . .
F Josh Holden (Regina, 1994-98) signed a four-year contract extension with Zug (Swiss NL A). The contract now runs through the 2013-14 season. Holden has 26 goals and 26 assists in 39 games for Zug this season. . . .
F Mike Green (Edmonton/Kootenay, 1996-2000) signed a one-year contract extension with Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (Germany DEL), extending the contract through next season. He has 12 goals and 13 assists in 36 games for the Grizzly Adams this season.
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Things are continuing on the upswing in Portland where the ownership/management of the Winterhawks is only in its second season of working to clean up the mess that it purchased. Kerry Eggers, a longtime columnist in the Portland area who now writes for the Portland Tribune, likes what they're doing and he details that right here. Hey, so do I. Remember that I'm driving the bus! . . . By the way, the Winterhawks director of player personnel is Garry Davidson, a man who was despised throughout the WHL when he was a wheel in the BCHL. He is an astute judge of talent.
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The Portland Oregonian is reporting that D Luca Sbisa, 19, is expected to join the Portland Winterhawks on Monday and make his debut with his new team Friday against the Silvertips in Everett. The Winterhawks acquired Sbisa’s rights from the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Jan. 10 trade deadline. He suffered an abdominal injury while playing for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship. He also was named to th Swiss Olympic team and has been in Switzerland getting treatment for the injury.
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F Casey Pierro-Zabotel, the WHL’s defending scoring champion, has been moved by the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins from the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. . . . Pierro-Zabotel, 21, has 33 points, including 24 assists, in 38 games with the Nailers. He has 20 points over his last 18 games, including a nine-game point streak. . . . He had 115 points with the Vancouver Giants last season. . . . Pierro-Zabotel was a third-round pick by Pittsburgh in the 2007 NHL draft. . . . At the same time, the AHL Penguins returned F Tyler Spurgeon (Kelowna, 2001-06) to the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. Spurgeon had been in the AHL since Dec. 1. He had a goal and two assists there.
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FRIDAY:
In Calgary, F Joel Broda returned from a three-game absence to score three times and help the Hitmen to a 5-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 23 shots for the shutout, his third of the season and 11th of his career. . . . Broda, who was acquired from Moose Jaw last season, missed three games with a concussion. . . . Broda, who led the WHL in goals last season, scored the game’s last three goals, giving him 24 this season. . . . It was Western Night in the Saddledome and Broda, after being named first star, skated out wearing a cowboy hat, rode his stick like a horse and then tossed the hat into the crowd. . . . The Hitmen were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 9,169. . . . The Hitmen are 31-15-1-1 . . . The Warriors (25-16-2-3) had gone 10 games with a regulation-time loss. . . . The teams split the season series 2-2.
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In Brandon, the Wheat Kings scored the game’s first six goals as they beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-2. . . . The Wheat Kings got first-period PP
goals from F Brayden Schenn, his 17th, and F Aaron Lewadniuk, his 22nd, and never looked back. . . . Schenn finished with a goal and two assists, as did F Scott Glennie, who has 18 goals. . . . Brandon F Toni Rajala drew three
assists. . . . Brandon was 3-for-3 on the PP; the Raiders, who beat the
visiting Wheat Kings 4-1 on Wednesday, were 0-for-2. . . . Brandon G Jacob De Serres stopped 32 shots, two more than P.A.’s Jamie Tucker. . . . Brandon (31-16-0-3) is 12-0-0-1 in its last 13 home games. . . . The Raiders (25-22-1-2) had won five of six. . . . After the fireworks of Wednesday night — Raiders G Garrett Zemlak left on a stretcher after being involved in a goal-mouth collision — there were 48 penalty minutes handed out, including four fighting majors. . . . Brandon was without LW Shayne Wiebe, who drew a three-game suspension after Zemlak was injured. . . . The Raiders revealed Friday that Zemlak has been diagnosed with a concussion so he will have to sit out until he is symptom-free for seven days. . . . Attendance was 4,425. . . . The Wheat Kings are four points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Saskatoon Blades. The teams meet Saturday night in Saskatoon.
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In Kamloops, G Kurtis Mucha stopped 29 shots to lead the Blazers to a 4-3 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Mucha preserved the victory with a stunning, diving stop on a shot by Bruins C Kevin Sundher with under eight seconds left in the third period. . . . The Blazers (23-22-2-3) leapfrogged the Bruins (22-23-1-5) into sixth place in the Western Conference. The Blazers take their one-point lead into a Saturday rematch in Chilliwack. . . . C C.J. Stretch had two goals, giving him 19, and LW Brendan Ranford had two assists for Kamloops. . . . Attendance was 4,431.
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In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-1 in a game that included only two minor penalties, both to the home side. . . . The
Hurricanes got a goal and two assists out of each of F Jacob Berglund, F Cam Braes and F Graham Hood. . . . D Brennan Yadlowski didn’t garner a point but was plus-4. . . . Edmonton was 0-for-2 on the PP. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 25 shots, while Edmonton’s Torrie Jung turned aside 28. . . . Edmonton got its goal from D Adrian Van de Mosselaer, his first of the season. . . . Attendance was 3,277. . . . The Hurricanes (16-26-3-2) had lost their last three games. . . . The Oil Kings (10-28-4-7) have lost 12 in a row.
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In Prince George, F Brandon McMillan had two goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 4-1 victory over the Cougars. . . . McMillan has 12 goals this season. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie broke a 1-1 tie with his ninth goal at 15:05 of the second period. . . . F Brett Bulmer, who is from Prince George, set up two Kelowna goals, including Barrie’s. . . . McMillan’s second goal was an empty-netter. . . . The Rockets (20-25-2-2) snapped a seven-game losing streak. . . . The Cougars (9-36-1-1) have lost eight in a row. . . . Attendance was 1,925.
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In Regina, the two Jordans scored in the shootout to give the Pats a 6-5
victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Pats trailed 2-0 in the first period, 4-2 in the second and 5-3 in the third before winning it by scoring the game’s last three goals. . . . With Regina shooting first in the circus, F Jordan Eberle and F Jordan Weal scored for the Pats, while Swift Current F Cody Eakin and F Brad Hoban were stopped. . . . F Matt Strueby had three assists for Regina. . . . F Michael Stickland scored twice for the visitors. . . . Regina forced OT on third-period goals by D Matt McColm, at 5:02 of the third period, and F Cass Mappin, at 7:18. Strueby drew assists on both goals. . . . Pats G Damien Ketlo stopped 27 shots, while the Broncos’ Mark Friesen turned aside 29. . . . Regina was 2-for-4 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-for-4. . . . Eberle scored his 35th goal of the season,
moving into a tie for the WHL lead with F Ryan Howse of the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Attendance was 4,381. . . . The Pats (21-24-3-1) are 10th in the Eastern Conference, seven points out of a playoff spot. . . . Swift Current, loser of five of six, is 24-22-0-3 and a point out of eighth place. . . . The teams play again Saturday in Swift Current.
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In Saskatoon, the Kootenay Ice scored three third-period goals to beat the Blades 5-4 and run its winning streak to 14 games. . . . The Ice is 6-0-0-0 in its last six road games. . . . F Matt Fraser scored three times for the Ice, giving him 22 on the season. He scored Kootenay’s last two goals, at 15:47 and 18:59 of the third period. The last one was into an empty net and turned into the winner when the Blades got a goal from F Randy McNaught at 19:30. . . . F Dustin Sylvester scored twice for the Ice, the second one coming on a shorthanded penalty shot at 4:06 of the third period and tying the score 3-3. . . . Sylvester has 27 goals this season. He also has a franchise-record 12 career shorthanded goals. . . . Kootenay G Todd Mathews stopped 44 shots, while Saskatoon’s Adam Morrison turned aside 16. . . . The Ice was 2-for-4 on the PP; the Blades (32-10-2-3) were 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 3,986. . . . Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton returned to the lineup after sitting out 21 games with a broken collarbone. But he left before this one was over and it appears to be the collarbone again. Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “It looks like he’s rebroken his collarbone, but in a different spot. “He’ll see the specialist again (today) . . . and they’ll determine what the next step is.” There is speculation that Hamilton’s season is over.
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In Kennewick, Wash., G Alex Pechurskiy came on in relief and helped the host Tri-City Americans to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Pechurskiy replaced starter Drew Owsley after the Giants scored two PP goals on four shots in the game’s opening five minutes. . . . Pechurskiy, who is 6-1-0-1, stopped all 25 shots he faced. . . . The Americans scored the game’s last three goals, equalizing on F Sergei Drozd’s PP goal, his ninth, at 7:56 of the first period and taking the lead on F Justin Feser’s 22nd about four minutes later. . . . F Johnny Lazo, with his 30th, provided the insurance at 16:17 of the second. . . . D Neil Manning had both Vancouver goals. He has 12 on the season. . . . The Americans were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Giants were 2-for-6. . . . Vancouver opened with Mark Segal in goal but head coach Don Hay replaced him with Derek Tendler just 42 seconds into the first period. Tendler was beaten by D Tyler Schmidt just five seconds later. Tendler finished with 22 saves. . . . Attendance was 5,185. . . . The Americans (36-11-0-1), who are 3-0 against the Giants, have won six in a row and now lead the overall standings by four points over the Saskatoon Blades. Tri-City is 22-4-0-0 at home. . . . The Giants (29-18-1-2) are 4-4-0-0 on a 10-game road swing.
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In Portland, the Everett Silvertips beat the Winterhawks 4-3 to run their winning streak to 11 games. . . . Everett was 3-for-4 on the PP. Only its first goal, F Shane Harper’s 30th just 16 seconds into the game, came at even strength. . . . The Silvertips got goals from D Ryan Murray, his third, and D Alex Theriau, his second, in the second period. Theriau’s goal, at 19:59, broke a 2-2 tie. . . . F Byron Froese’s 19th goal, at 17:27 of the third, broke a 3-3 tie. . . . Portland C Chris Francis got his 20th goal. . . . The Winterhawks were 1-for-6 on the PP. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 28 saves, two more than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . Attendance was 3,156. . . . The Silvertips (30-16-2-1) are third in the Western Conference. They actually have two more points than Vancouver, but the Giants are second in the standings because they lead the B.C. Division standings. . . . The Winterhawks (28-19-1-1) are fourth, five points behind Everett.