Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D/F Rod Sarich (Calgary, 1997-2002) has signed a one-year contract extension with the Sheffield Steelers (UK Elite). He has six goals and 25 assists in 30 games with the Steelers this season. . . .
Brothers Greg and Brad Leeb have signed one-year contract extensions with Nuremberg (Germany DEL). F Greg (Spokane, 1994-98) has 12 goals and 23 assists in 46 games; Brad (Red Deer, 1995-99) has 19 goals and 18 assists in 46 games this season with Nuremberg.
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Travis Green, the Portland Winterhawks’ assistant GM/assistant coach, will be running the squad as it plays a doubleheader against the Cougars in Prince George. The Winterhawks, with the exception of GM/head coach Mike Johnston, will head for Prince George after a Wednesday game against the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Johnston plans to spend the weekend scouting and recruiting, including visiting a few list players and their families. “Last year I thought it was important to head out and see some key players and visit their families while they’re still playing, and this year I think it is as well,” Johnston said in a press release. “I think it’s important for next year to add a couple of really good players to our lineup, and I thought the appropriate time (to make a recruiting trip) was now, when I could line up a schedule where all the players are playing and I have an opportunity to meet the families, and sit down and evaluate where they fit in to our long term plans.” . . . Johnston will be back behind the bench Monday when the Moose Jaw Warriors visit Portland.
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F Chad Hinz (Moose Jaw, 1995-99) will miss the rest of the season with a fractured vertebrae. Hinz, who was playing for the Central league’s Arizona Sundogs, was injured Saturday against the visiting Rapid City Rush. The Sundogs had acquired Hinz, 30, from the Missouri Mavericks on Jan. 20. There’s more on Hinz right here.
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F Brady Calla (Everett, Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Spokane, 2003-09) has been reassigned by the NHL’s Florida Panthers from the AHL’s Rochester Americans to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. Calla, 21, has six points and 14 penalty minutes in 32 games with the Americans this season. He was a third-round pick by the Panthers in the NHL’s 2006 draft.
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The Fraser Valley Bruins of the B.C. major midget league are in Prince George this week, playing two games against the Cariboo Cougars that were to have been played Dec. 12 and 13. The Bruins didn’t make it to those games, you’ll recall, because their bus crash south of Williams Lake. . . . There were a lot of bumps and bruises after the accident and G Mackenzie Skapski suffered head and facial injuries and hasn’t yet returned to action. However, he has started dryland training and hopes to be back in March. . . . "It's been tough," Bruins head coach Pat Ansell told the Prince George Citizen. "It's been a little bit of a challenge. It has interrupted our season ... and our roster. It's one of those things that you deal with. Today, it doesn't seem like such a big issue. The kids seem pretty happy. They're pretty resilient at the best of times and I think that's exactly what's happening right now. Overall, I think we're OK."
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Pro hockey is returning to Oklahoma City after a one-season absence. The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that they will operate an AHL franchise in Oklahoma City in time for the 2010-11 season. The Oilers will let their agreement with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons expire and revive their dormant AHL franchise, which last operated as the Edmonton Roadrunners. . . . Oklahoma City was home to a Central league franchise, the Blazers, since 1972 but the franchise suspended operations prior to this season. . . . Doug Sauter, a former WHL player, coach and general manager, was the Blazers’ head coach for a number of years. He remains in Oklahoma City where he is employed by the Funk family. Bob Funk Jr. is the president of Prodigal Hockey, which cut the deal with the Oilers to bring the AHL franchise to Oklahoma City. Funk Jr. also is president of Express Sports, the parent company of the now-defunct Blazers. Last summer, when it became known that Prodigal Hockey was in the market for an AHL franchise, Funk Jr. told newsok.com blogger Bob Przybylo: “(Sauter) will always be a part of our organizations. Whether it’s helping with the hockey team or doing other stuff, he’ll always be a part. As for the coaching, I’m not in a spot to comment on that.” . . . There is more on this story right here.
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Meanwhile, the Albany River Rats, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, are about to change hands, something that likely will result in a move to Charlotte, N.C. There’s more on that right here.
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Major junior hockey’s big three — David Branch, Gilles Courteau and Ron Robison — were in Brandon on Tuesday to check out the work that has been done to date to prepare for the 2010 Memorial Cup. Branch is the CHL commissioner and OHL president, while Courteau is the QMJHL’s commissioner and Robison is the WHL commissioner. . . . In an interview with Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings on radio station CKLQ, Branch said the major junior leagues are in the process of setting up a concussion-management system. Branch said that this is “going to be a front-burner item.” . . . Branch also indicated that the CHL will continue to allow smaller communities to play host to the Memorial Cup. “We can’t forget who we are,” Branch said. “We can’t lose sight of who we are and we understand that.”
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If you click right here you will get to read a terrific story involving Canadian Olympic women’s team goaltender Shannon Szabados and a friend from her days in the AJHL.
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THE PLAYOFF CHASE
Teams in the running for playoff spots, showing games remaining (d — denotes division leaders, who are seeded one-two):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
d-Brandon (14) 38-16-1-3-80
d-Calgary (17) 38-16-1-1-76
Saskatoon (18) 36-12-3-3-78
Kootenay (15) 35-17-3-2-75
Medicine Hat (14) 32-18-3-5-72
Red Deer (16) 31-21-0-4-66
Prince Albert (16) 28-23-3-2-61
Moose Jaw (18) 26-20-5-3-60
Swift Current (15) 28-26-0-3-59
Regina (15) 24-26-3-4-55
Tuesday: Regina 2 at Brandon 6; Moose Jaw 2 at Kootenay 5; Lethbridge 0 at Red Deer 1; Calgary 6 at Swift Currrent 1.
Wednesday: Prince Albert at Medicine Hat; Calgary at Regina; Swift Current at Saskatoon; Moose Jaw at Spokane.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (18) 39-13-0-2-80
d-Vancouver (15) 33-20-1-3-70
x-Everett (17) 34-18-2-1-71
x-Portland (15) 34-20-2-1-71
Spokane (17) 31-20-3-1-66
Kelowna (15) 28-25-2-2-60
Kamloops (15) 26-25-2-4-58
Chilliwack (16) 24-26-1-5-54
x — clinched playoff spot.
Tuesday: Seattle 2 at Tri-City 3.
Wednesday: Kelowna at Everett; Tri-City at Portland; Kamloops at Prince George; Moose Jaw at Spokane.
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TUESDAY;
In Brandon, the Wheat Kings broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in a span of 2:39 in the second period and went on to beat the Regina Pats, 6-2. . . . D Alexander Urbom scored twice for Brandon. He has 10 on the season. . . . F Brayden Schenn drew three assists for Brandon. . . . Brandon F Matt Calvert scored his 37th of the season. . . . Brandon F Toni Rajala had a goal, his 19th, and two assists. . . . D Myles Bell, the 17th pick in the 2008 bantam draft, scored his first WHL goal for the Pats. . . . Referees Derek Zalaski and Brett Montsion called three minor penalties, all to Regina. . . . Brandon is 15-0-0-1 in its last 16 home games. . . . Brandon has won four of five with Regina this season. . . . Attendance was 4,063.
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In Cranbrook, B.C., F Dustin Sylvester had two goals and an assist to lead the Ice to a 5-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Sylvester now has 236 career regular-season points, good for third spot on the Ice’s franchise list. He passed Dale Mahovsky and Steve DaSilva with this performance and now trails only Jarrett Stoll (286) and Nigel Dawes (272). . . . Sylvester now has 78 points, three shy of Vancouver Giants F Craig Cunningham, who leads the WHL. . . . The Warriors held a 2-1 lead 48 seconds into the second period, as F Spencer Edwards scored his 15th goal. . . . The Ice tied it on D Ryan Molle’s second goal of the season at 3:07 and went ahead on Sylverster’s second of the game, and 31st of the season, at 5:49. . . . Ice G Todd Mathews made 28 saves, eight more than Moose Jaw’s Jeff Bosch. . . . Attendance was 2,595. . . . The Ice had lost its last two games. . . . The Warriors have lost eight of nine as they head into the U.S. Division.
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In Red Deer, G Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots to lead the Rebels to a 1-0 victory over the lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Kuemper has three shutouts this season and six in his career. This was the second time this season that he blanked Lethbridge, 1-0. . . . Red Deer D Justin Weller scored the game’s only goal, his third of the season, unassisted at 3:29 of the second period. . . . The Hurricanes have lost nine in a row. . . . Red Deer was 0-for-7 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 0-for-4. . . . Attendance was 4,033.
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In Swift Current, the Calgary Hitmen ran their winning streak to five games as they beat the Broncos, 6-1. . . . The Hitmen scored the game’s first three goals and the last three. . . . F Mackenzie Royer scored twice, his third and fourth of the season, for Calgary. . . . The Hitmen were 2-for-6 on the PP; the Broncos were 1-for-7. . . . Swift Current F Cody Eakin got his 39th goal of the season, tying him for the WHL lead with Regina Pats F Jorden Eberle. . . . Calgary G Michael Snider stopped 25 shots, while Swift Current’s Morgan Clark turned aside 32. . . . Attendance was 2,070.
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In Kennewick, Wash., F Jordan Messier broke a 2-2 tie at 10:50 of the third period and the host Tri-City Americans went on to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent. . . . The victory allowed the Americans to stay tied for first place overall with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . F Charles Wells had given the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 12:45 of the second period. Wells has 15 goals this season. . . . Tri-City D Jarrett Toll tied it with his sixth goal of the season at 19:07 of the second. . . . Messier won it with his 17th goal. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost 12 in a row. . . . The Americans were 1-for-6 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-for-8. . . . Seattle G Michael Salmon, making a rare start in place of Calvin Pickard, made 30 saves, three more than the Americans’ Drew Owsley. . . . Attendance was 3,766. . . . Tri-City F Kruise Reddick left in the first period after taking a puck off one foot. He didn’t return.