Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Chris Schmidt (Seattle, 1992-96) has been told he won’t be re-signed by Alder Mannheim (Germany DEL). Schmidt had one goal and five assists in 51 games for Mannheim this season. He also had one assist in four games for Germany at the Olympics in Vancouver. . . .
F Mike Wirll (Brandon, Prince Albert, Prince George, Lethbridge, 1997-2003) signed a one-month try-out contract with Västerås (Sweden Allsvenskan). The contract begins in August. He had 19 goals and 12 assists in 18 games for Gislaved (Sweden Division 1) this season.
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The NHL’s New York Rangers have reassigned D Tysen Dowzak (Kelowna, 2005-09) from the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Dowzak has split this season between the Checkers and the Central league’s Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. In 35 games with Charlotte, the 22-year-old native of Fergus Falls, Minn., scored one goal and had three assists. In 16 CHL games with the Mudbugs, Dowzak registered two assists. The Rangers signed him as a free agent on Oct. 9, 2008. . . . The Wolf Pack also announced Tuesday that it has signed F Roman Horak of the Chilliwack Bruins to an ATO. Horak, 18, was a fifth-round selection (127th overall) by the New York Rangers in the 2009 NHL draft. A native of Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, he had 47 points, including 21 goals, with the Bruins.
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The OHL’s Peterborough Petes have named Mike Oke as their interim manager of player personnel. The move comes after the club dumped general manager Jeff Twohey last week. Oke will handle player personnel while the club searches for a replacement for Twohey. Oke is the son of John Oke, who is one of the Petes’ directors. Mike Oke most recently served as the general manager and a scout for International Scouting Services.
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Mike Foligno has resigned as general manger and head coach of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. According to a press release, “Foligno will remain with the team in a managerial and player development role by becoming the Wolves' director of hockey development.” . . . Foligno was quoted in the release: “I requested a meeting with Wolves' owner Mark Burgess recently and I advised him that I felt it was time for a change. After seven years at the helm of the Sudbury Wolves, I feel that the time is right to take a step back and give someone else a chance to run this team."
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Derek Laxdal (Portland, Brandon, New Westminster, 1982-86) has been named the ECHL’s coach of the year. Laxdal, who gets the John Brophy Award, is in his fifth season as head coach of the Idaho Steelheads. Laxdal, 44, led the Steelheads to a 48-17-7 record, setting team records for most victories and most points in a season, while also capturing the team’s first Brabham Cup as ECHL regular-season champion.
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The Idaho Statesman reports that the Steelheads left F Ashton Rome (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Kamloops, 2002-06) off its playoff roster. Rome has five points in seven games since being recalled by the AHL’s Hershey Bears. "They're going to sign him through next year," Idaho head coach Derek Laxdal told the newspaper. Rome had 36 points, 17 of them goals, in 39 games with the Steelheads.
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Stan Matwijiw, a former WHL goaltender (Prince Albert, Lethbridge, 1991-94), now is helping out the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers as their goaltending coach. He is a native of Windsor, Ont., who played in the WHL, and now is trying to help the Whalers get past the defending Memorial Cup-champion Windsor Spitfires There’s more right here.
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F Matt Glowa, a second cousin to former WHLer Kelly Glowa (Brandon, 1980-84) had 14 goals and 14 assists as his Selkirk Fishermen swept a team from Cross Lake in Manitoba junior B playoffs. Selkirk outscored Cross Lake, 48-2, in the series. . . . Glowa had 27 points in 10 regular-season games with the Fishermen and added another 44 in his first 14 playoff games. . . . The Fishermen lost the first three games of the league final to the Arborg Ice Dawgs and then came back to win the next four. The Fishermen won Game 7, 5-4, on Tuesday night to qualify for Keystone Cup, the western Canadian junior B championship, that runs in Kamloops, April 15-18. . . . Glowa was a seventh-round pick of the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft.
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Jeff Blashill, the head coach of the USHL’s Indiana Ice for two seasons, has been named head coach of the Western Michigan University Broncos, who play out of Kalamazoo. Blashill will begin his new position once the Ice’s season is over. He takes over from Jim Culhane, who was fired in February.
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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 2-1)
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 at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
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 2-0)
Friday: Brandon 6 at Saskatoon 5 (6,418)
Saturday: Brandon 4 at Saskatoon 1 (5,353)
Wednesday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7 p.m.
Friday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
x-Saturday: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
x-Monday: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7 p.m.
x-April 14: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7 p.m.
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tri-City (1) vs. Kelowna (6)
(Tri-City leads series 2-1)
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 at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
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 2-0)
Saturday: Vancouver 9 at Portland 6 (5,849)
Sunday: Vancouver 7 at Portland 4 (3,757)
Wednesday: Portland at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Friday: Portland at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
x-Saturday: Portland at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
x-April 14: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
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TUESDAY:
In Medicine Hat, F Emerson Etem’s goal at 8:26 of overtime gave the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Hitmen lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 on Wednesday in Medicine Hat. . . . Emerson redirected a shot by D Tomas Kundratek for the winner. . . . The Tigers came back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to force OT. . . . Calgary led 2-0 on PP goals from D Giffen Nyren, midway through the first period, and F Joel Broda, at 12:39 of the second. . . . D Mark Isherwood got the Tigers on the board at 6:52 of the third period and F Linden Vey tied the score at 11:53, on the PP. . . . Broda restored Calgary’s lead, with his sixth goal of the playoffs, at 14:04. . . . Etem forced the OT with his fifth playoff goal at 14:50. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 28 shots, one fewer than Calgary’s Martin Jones. . . . Calgary was 2-for-4 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 1-for-5. . . . Attendance wasn’t 4,006. . . . Attendance was 3,832.
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In Kelowna, G Drew Owsley stopped 31 shots to earn the shutout as the Tri-City Americans dropped the Rockets, 2-0. . . . The Americans lead the series 2-1; they’ll play Game 4 in Kelowna on Wednesday. . . . The shutout was the first in playoff action for Owsley. . . . Tri-City got goals from F Sergei Drozd, his fifth, at 15:04 of the first period, and F Johnny Lazo, his third, at 15:51 of the second. . . . Kelowna G Mark Guggenberger stopped 22 shots. . . . The Americans were 0-for-2 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-4. . . . The Rockets moved D Tyson Barrie up front in the third period but, although they outshot the visitors 13-5, weren’t able to get back in the game. . . . Attendance was 5,231.
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PLAYOFF NOTES: The Vancouver Giants have yet to lose in these playoffs, meaning they take a 6-0 record into tonight’s game against the visiting Portland Winterhawks. Vancouver’s longest winning streak during the regular season was four games. . . . Portland goes into the game having lost the first two contests at home. The Winterhawks are 0-5 at home and 4-0 on the road in these playoffs. . . . The Saskatoon Blades are in Brandon on Wednesday but the Wheat Kings haven’t announced which goaltender will start Game 3. Brandon won Game 1 with Jacob DeSerres in goal and took Game 2 with Andrew Hayes going the distance. . . . The Blades will go again with Steven Stanford. Adam Morrison, their other veteran goaltender, is out with an undisclosed injury -- it is believed to be a concussion -- suffered last week in practice. Adam Iwan, a 16-year-old from Winnipeg, will be backing up Stanford again. . . . The Wheat Kings, who closed the regular season with eight straight victories, have won their first six playoff games. . . . Brandon F Jordan Hale has served a three-game suspension left over from a first-round sweep of the Swift Current Broncos and is eligible to play in Game 3. However, Brandon F Jay Fehr will serve the second of a three-game suspension for a hit from behind on Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton in Game 1. Hamilton suffered a shoulder injury and isn’t likely to play again this season. . . . Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken is eligible to return for Game 3. He has served the four-game suspension he received after Game 2 of a first-round sweep of the Red Deer Rebels. That leaves Saskatoon F Randy McNaught, who has one game of his five-game suspension left, as the only player still sitting out after that schmozzle.