Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Ryan Kinasewich (Medicine Hat, Tri-City, 1998-2004) signed a one-year contract with Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). Kinasewich had 48 goals and 55 assists in 59 games for Utah (ECHL) this season. He also spent time in the AHL, getting two goals and two assists in five games with Bridgeport and no points in five games with Hamilton. . . .
F Curtis Huppe (Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Tri-City, 1995-2000) has decided not to return to the Hull Stingrays (UK Elite) next season. He had 21 goals and 23 assists in 57 games for Hull this season. Huppe also was assistant coach of the Stingrays. . . .
F Jade Galbraith (Saskatoon, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract extension with the Nottingham Panthers (UK Elite). He had 24 goals and 70 assists in 66 games for the Panthers this season, finishing fourth in league scoring. . . .
The Cardiff Devils (UK Elite) announced that D Gerad Adams (Regina, Kelowna, 1995-99) has been re-signed as head coach for next season. As playing head coach, Adams had five goals and 13 assists in 44 games for the Devils. . . .
D Patrick Baum (Swift Current, 1997-98) signed a one-year contract extension with Heilbronner Falken (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He had five goals and eight assists in 51 games for Heilbronn this season.
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The WHL’s annual camp for U.S. prospects runs from Friday through Sunday in Anaheim. All told, 80 players have been invited to attend and that includes at least two with WHL ties -- F Daniel Nachbaur and D Daniel Sosa, both of whom have late 1995 birth dates and who are the best of friends. . . . Nachbaur, who plays for the bantam Spokane Chiefs, is the son of former WHL player and coach Don Nachbuar, who now is head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. . . . Sosa, from the bantam Seattle Admirals, is the son of Carlos Sosa, a lawyer who represented the WHL for years in legal immigration issues and also served as an analyst on radio broadcasts for the Seattle breakers and thunderbirds in the 1980s. The elder Sosa has been a player agent since 1989 and represents former WHLers like Darcy Tucker, Bryce Salvador, Paul Gaustad, Brad Lukowich and Cody McLeod, along with present players such as Luke Walker, Stefan Schneider and T.C. Cratsenberg. . . . At the Anaheim camp, the players will be split into four teams and will scrimmage, with the benches controlled by WHL head coaches Bruno Campese (Prince Albert Raiders), Dean Clark (Prince George Cougars), Mark Holick (Kootenay Ice) and Rich Preston (Lethbridge Hurricanes).
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D Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs made his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday in a 4-3 shootout loss to the host Tampa Bay Lightning. Wearing No. 48, Cowen played six minutes 46 seconds. He picked up one minor penalty, for hooking, and was in the penalty box when Tampa Bay F Steven Stamkos scored his 48th goal of the season. . . . Cowen, 19, was selected by Ottawa with the ninth pick of the 2009 NHL draft. He got into Ottawa’s lineup when D Anton Volchenkov was given the night off.
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Todd Ford (Swift Current, Prince George, Vancouver, 2000-04) has been named the ECHL’s Reebok goaltender of the year. The 25-year-old Ford, who plays with the South Carolina Stingrays, went 18-7-2 with the Stingrays this season. He ranked fifth in the ECHL with a 2.79 GAA and second with a .910 save percentage. He also was named to the first all-star team.
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The AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack has released F Roman Horak from his ATO. Horak, who played this season with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins, joined the Wolf Pack on April 2 but didn’t get into any games. He was selected by the New York Rangers in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL draft.
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F Tyler Ennis (Medicine Hat, 2005-09) is the AHL’s rookie of the year and, as such, the recipient of the prestigious Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award. The award is voted on by coaches, players and media. Ennis led all AHL rookies with 65 points in 69 games for the Portland Pirates. He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres with the 26th pick of the 2008 NHL draft. Garrett was a promising player who was killed during the Second World War while serving in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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WHL PLAYOFFS
SECOND ROUND
(Best-of-7)
(x — if necessary)
(All times local)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Calgary (1) vs. Medicine Hat (5)
(Calgary leads series 3-1)
Friday: Medicine Hat 2 at Calgary 5 (8,431)
Sunday: Medicine Hat 0 at Calgary 4 (6,976)
Tuesday: Calgary 3 at Medicine Hat 4 (OT) (3,832)
Wednesday: Calgary 4 at Medicine Hat 1 (4,006)
Friday: Medicine Hat at Calgary, 7 p.m.
x-Sunday: Calgary at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Medicine Hat at Calgary, 7 p.m.
———
Brandon (2) vs. Saskatoon (3)
(Brandon leads series 2-1)
Friday: Brandon 6 at Saskatoon 5 (6,418)
Saturday: Brandon 4 at Saskatoon 1 (5,353)
Wednesday: Saskatoon 5 at Brandon 4 (4,026)
Friday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
x-Monday: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7 p.m.
x-Wednesday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7 p.m.
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tri-City (1) vs. Kelowna (6)
(Tri-City leads series 3-1)
Friday: Kelowna 3 at Tri-City 5 (3,977)
Saturday: Kelowna 4 at Tri-City 1 (3,812)
Tuesday: Tri-City 2 at Kelowna 0 (5,231)
Wednesday: Tri-City 3 at Kelowna 2 (5,368)
Friday: Kelowna at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
x-Sunday: Tri-City at Kelowna, 5 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Kelowna at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
———
Portland (5) vs. Vancouver (2)
(all Portland games at Memorial Coliseum)
(Vancouver leads series 2-1)
Saturday: Vancouver 9 at Portland 6 (5,849)
Sunday: Vancouver 7 at Portland 4 (3,757)
Wednesday: Portland 3 at Vancouver 2 (7,088)
Friday: Portland at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: Portland at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
x-Wednesday: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
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PLAYOFF NOTES:
The Saskatoon Blades are convinced that F Matt Calvert of the Brandon Wheat Kings tried to kick a player during Game 3 of their series on Wednesday in the Wheat City. Calvert was penalized for cross-checking after Saskatoon F Marek Viedensky was hit as the third period ended. Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that “the Blades say that video evidence shows a kicking infraction, too.” . . . “We hope that the league would review it at some point, especially when we saw some kicking,” Blades assistant coach David Struch told Wolfe. “But I don’t think anything is going to come of it.” . . . Could the Blades simply be playing mind games? In the playoffs. Nah, that would never happen, would it? . . . The Wheat Kings will be without F Jay Fehr for Game 4 on Friday as he serves Game 3 of a three-game suspension for a Game 1 hit on Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton, who likely won’t play again this season because of a shoulder injury. . . . Brandon D Darren Bestland, who has sat out the last three games with an undisclosed problem, may return Friday night. He took part in a full practice on Thursday. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports: “The Wheat Kings shook up their top three lines (at Thursday’s practice), with C Brayden Schenn skating with LW Toni Rajala and RW Mark Stone, C Scott Glennie paired with LW Matt Calvert and RW Brenden Walker, while C Brent Raedeke was matched with LW Shayne Wiebe and RW Aaron Lewadniuk.” . . . Mind games? In the playoffs? Nahhh!
The Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans can advance to conference finals with victories on home ice on Friday night. The Hitmen hold a 3-1 lead on the Medicine Hat Tigers, while the Americans hold that same lead on the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Hitmen went into Medicine Hat with a 2-0 lead and split two games. The Americans went into Kelowna in a 1-1 tie and took two games from the Rockets. . . . A year ago, the Rockets lost the first two games of a second-round series with the Americans and then won four in a row. It’ll be Drew Owsley in goal for the Americans and, one would think, Mark Guggenberger for the Rockets.
In Vancouver, the Portland Winterhawks will look to run their postseason road record to 6-0 in these playoffs. They trail the Giants 2-1 in games. . . . Portland went seven games with the Spokane Chiefs in Round 1. Portland lost all three home games but won four times in Spokane. In this second-round series, Portland has lost twice at home while winning once in Vancouver. . . . You have to think that Portland will start G Ian Curtis, who won Game 3 in his first start of these playoffs, with Vancouver coming back with Mark Segal, who has played all of the Giants’ playoff games this spring.