Saturday . . .

Teams visiting the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops must be forewarned -- the Lethbridge Hurricanes are the next team scheduled to play there, on Feb. 6.
After watching the last couple of games in the facility, I have reached the conclusion that we may be headed for a Dave Winfield, Darrell Waltrip or Randy Johnson moment.
A young bird has taken up residence in the arena and during Friday’s game between the Blazers and Vancouver Giants, it even landed on the ice surface while play was going on. At one point, with the play in the Kamloops zone, this bird -- well I don’t pretend to be an ornithologist, I believe it is a European starling -- was in the faceoff circle to the left of Vancouver G Mark Segal, bouncing around and pecking at the surface.
(The bird also made its way into the press box as though thinking it might find something to eat up there. As if!)
An ill-placed puck could end up putting a Kamloops game on SportsCentre, replacing one of these bird moments.
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THE MacBETH REPORT: D Harlan Pratt (Seattle, Red Deer, Prince Albert, Regina, Portland, 1994-99) was released by Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, plays in Austria Erstee Bank Liga). Pratt had one goal and 14 assists in 33 games for Olimpija this season. . . .
F Michal Lukac (Prince George, 2001-02) was returned to Asplöven Haparanda (Sweden Division 1) from loan to Örebro (Sweden Allsvenskan). He had one assist in seven games with Örebro. Before the loan, Lukac had 10 goals and 10 assists in 12 games for Asplöven. . . .
F Roman Tvrdon (Spokane, 1999-2001) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Bad Tölz (Germany Oberliga). He had been without a team so far this season. Tvrdon had 13 goals and 10 assists in 24 games for Metallurg Zhlobin (Belarus) last season.
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Tyler Metcalfe (Seattle, 1999-05) is one of those rare players to have played in the WHL over six seasons. (He played seven games as a 15-year-old.) Now he is the captain of the Alberta Golden Bears and his university career is winding down. Ashley Prest of the Winnipeg Free Press has a story on Metcalfe right here.
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SATURDAY:
An abbreviated roundup as I’ve got some tennis to watch . . .
In Portland, F Chris Francis had a goal and three assists, while Luke Walker had a goal and two assists as the Winterhawks bounced the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent, 6-2, in front of 10,907 fans in the Rose Garden. Walker also picked up a double minor for head-butting, resulting in Jess Rubenstein of theprospectpark.blogspot.com suggesting that he had scored a WWE hat trick. . . . Portland is 8-0 against the Thunderbirds this season. . . . Portland G Ian Curtis (shoulder) sat for a second straight game. Mac Carruth went the distance with Keith Hamilton on the bench. . . .
In Spokane, D Joey Leach scored his third goal and added two assists as the Kootenay Ice edged the Chiefs, 4-3. Leach’s goal, at 7:34 of the third period, gave the Ice a 4-2 lead. F Kyle Beach scored twice for the Chiefs. . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Jason Bast scored twice to lead the Warriors to a 4-1 victory over the Regina Pats. The teams split their weekend series, as Regina won at home, 3-2, on Friday. . . . Moose Jaw G Jeff Bosch, who used to play for the Pats, stopped 36 shots and now is 6-0 against his former team. . . . There were 2,910 fans in the Crushed Can. . . . The Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak. . . .
In Everett, the Silvertips edged the Kamloops Blazers 2-1 to set a franchise record with their 14th consecutive win. The 2006-07 club held the previous record. Everett has matched the 14-game streak the Kootenay Ice had end earlier in January. F Shane Harper scored one goal for the Silvertips. He has scored in six straight games, tying the franchise record set earlier in this winning streak by F Byron Froese. . . .
In Kelowna, G Adam Brown stopped 35 shots and F Spencer Main had two goals and an assist as the Rockets dropped the Medicine Hat Tigers, 7-2. The Rockets, who struggled through much of early January, now have won five in a row. . . . The Tigers had a six-game winning streak end. . . .
In Lethbridge, F Jordan Hickmott scored twice and the teams took part in one of those multi-fight situations to end the second period as the Prince Albert Raiders beat the Hurricanes, 5-1. . . . The Raiders had lost eight in a row on the road going into this one. . . . The Hurricanes now have lost four straight. . . .
In Red Deer, G Kraymer Barnstable stopped 26 shots as the Rebels bounced the Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-0. . . . The Rebels have won four in a row. . . . Edmonton has lost 16 in a row and has been shutout twice in two nights. . . .
In Swift Current, F Derek Hulak and F Charles Inglis each scored twice as the Saskatoon Blades dropped the Broncos, 7-4. . . . The Blades, who had lost four of five, dropped a 4-3 OT decision to the Broncos in Saskatoon on Friday. . . . Broncos F Cody Eakin scored his WHL-leading 37th goal. . . .
In Langley, B.C., the Vancouver Giants dumped the Prince George Cougars, 7-4, in front of 4,474 fans. The Giants are playing six home games in Langley because the Olympic Winter Games have taken over the Pacific Coliseum. Vancouver used F James Wright, who was returned last week by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, on defence. The Cougars have lost 13 in a row.