Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: G Kevin Nastiuk (Medicine Hat, 2001-05) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Eisbären Berlin (Germany DEL). He had a 2.59 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 26 games with Corpus Christi (CHL) this season. Nastiuk also appeared in one game with Idaho (ECHL) earlier in the season, giving up two goals on 24 shots. . . .
F Frank Banham (Saskatoon, 1992-96) has signed a contract with Lausanne (Swiss NL B) for the rest of this season. He had 30 goals and 32 assists in 43 games for Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga) this season. . . .
F Shay Stephenson (Red Deer, 2000-04) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Vålernga Oslo (Norway GET-Ligaen). He had three goals and 12 assists in 33 games for Las Vegas (ECHL) this season.
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Mitchell Blair, who blogs The Blair Necessities and has been around the Regina sports scene for a long time, took one look at the crowd shots from Saskatoon as the Blades beat the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sportsnet on Wednesday night and away he went. Oh, such fun! His take on it is right here but be forewarned — nothing is more fun than Regina versus Saskatoon, so make sure you dig into the comments section.
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Craig MacTavish was in Swift Current on Thursday where he was the keynote speaker at the Special Olympics Breakfast — Training for Life — at the Living Sky Casino.
MacTavish, who was dismissed as head coach of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers after last season, is buddies with Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ GM and head coach. They have been teammates and also coached together over the last while.
So MacTavish arrived in Swift Current in time to help with practice on Wednesday.
"It's just fun. Sometimes you need a break from the regular routine," MacTavish told swiftcurrentonline.com. "We just wanted to come out and have a little fun, and talk a little about hockey, and pass on some things. We weren't out here trying to split the atom or anything (laughing), but it was a good, fun day."
The Broncos next play Friday when they meet the Blades in Saskatoon.
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The Vancouver Giants visit the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday and then return to play a ‘home’ game in the Langley Events Centre. The Giants will play six ‘home’ games there between now and mid-March because of the Olympic Winter Games having taken over Pacific Coliseum. . . . The Giants will have F James Wright and F Milan Kytnar in their lineup in Kamloops. Wright, 19, returned this week from the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, while Kytnar has missed nine games with a shoulder injury. . . . Interestingly, I was told earlier this week — and it was subsequently reported by Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province — that Hockey Canada told the Lightning in early December that it would guarantee Wright a spot on the Canadian national junior team roster if the NHL team would assign him. The Lightning refused, but with Wright’s icetime diminishing, chose to return him late last week. He had five points in 48 games. . . . Ewen also has reported that the Prince George Cougars hope to have F Brett Connolly back from a hip injury on Feb. 10. Connolly has played in only 12 of the Cougars’ 50 games this season because of the hip injury. He hasn’t played since Dec. 5 when a left a game in Kamloops.
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There is a home-and-home series scheduled for this weekend that will be worth watching. The Moose Jaw Warriors meet the Pats in Regina on Friday and the teams play again Saturday in Moose Jaw. Going into the weekend, the Warriors are sixth in the Eastern Conference, nine points ahead of the 10th-place Pats. Regina, with 22 games left, is seven points behind the eighth-place Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Warriors have won the first five games in the season series with Regina. Former Pats G Jeff Bosch has been in goal for all five Moose Jaw victories, three of which have come in Regina. . . . It is going to be interesting to see how loser points figure into the playoff chase as the Pats try to get into the postseason. . . . The Warriors have lost their last four games, but picked up loser points in two of them.
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I am an unapologetic sucker for hockey history, which is why I find it neat that the Portland Winterhawks will hold their annual Salute to the Buckaroos on Feb. 5 when the Seattle Thunderbirds visit the Rose Garden.
According to a Winterhawks’ press release:
“Fans can come and pay tribute to the stars of the Buckaroos teams that finished first eight times and won three championships in their 14 years of existence from 1960-74. Among the former players who will be in attendance on Feb. 5 are Norm Johnson, Art Jones, Connie Madigan, Tom McVie and team founder Harry Glickman.
“In addition, the Winterhawks will have the Lester Patrick Cup on display at the game, the WHL championship trophy the Buckaroos won in 1961, 1965 and 1971. The trophy resides at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. This will be the first time many of the Buckaroos will have seen it since their last championship in 1971.”
For more info, visit the Winterhawks’ website.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades are keeping the medics busy. . . . Curt Gogol, who has played up front and on the back end since being acquired from the Kelowna Rockets on Jan. 10, has undergone surgery to repair a thumb injury. He’ll be out up to six weeks. . . . “He was playing with a playing cast, but it kept popping in and out because he dislocated his thumb,” Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM and head coach, told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “We thought it would be better to get (surgery) done now so that he’s 100 per cent for playoffs.” . . . Gogol was injured during a fight with Calgary Hitmen F Ian Schultz in Saskatoon on Jan. 13. . . . Earlier in the month, D Teigan Zahn had surgery to repair a broken leg and F Curtis Hamilton had a broken collarbone repaired. Both players are gone for the season unless the Blades get deep, deep into the playoffs. . . . The Blades, who now are carrying only 20 healthy players, are at home Friday night to the Swift Current Broncos.
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When Tri-City meets the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Friday, the Americans will be without their leading scorer. F Brendan Shinnimin, who has a team-high 64 points, has been suspended for one game for a game misconduct he incurred at the end of the Americans’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Wednesday. The WHL’s online game sheet shows the penalty as a misconduct, but it apparently was a game misconduct, and WHL vice-president Richard Doerksen, who handles discipline, deemed the discretion worthy of a one-game sentence. . . . I am checking to see just what happened here, though, because Shinnimin did take part in the shootout.
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And here’s one for the Tyson Gillies fans out there. The Philadelphia Daily News has a feature on the outfielder and it’s right here. Note, however, that the photo with the story isn’t of Gillies.
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There is a new hockey movie in the works. Uhh, it is going to star, among others, Olivia Newton-John.
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The Kelowna Rockets are going to be willing participants in a study to determine the economic and social impacts of the franchise on the city. That story is right here. That report, which the story indicates will be be released in April, should prove interesting.