Wednesday, May 23, 2012

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jamie Lundmark (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had eight goals and eight assists in 47 games with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) this season.
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MAX ADOLPH
In a column that appeared in The Daily News today and also is on this blog, I write about the retirement of Kelowna Rockets F Max Adolph.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix spoke with Adolph on Tuesday and his story is right here.
“Although the Saskatoon native hasn't taken to the ice since suffering his latest concussion in a pre-season contest last September,” Nugent-Bowman writes, “he still can't jump around or move his head suddenly without suffering a headache.
“He won't be permitted to wakeboard at the lake this summer either.”
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Former NFL star running back Eric Dickerson, who is a Hall of Famer, has joined in a lawsuit against the NFL.
Dickerson, according to The Associated Press, is “the lead plaintiff among 15 men named in the suit filed Monday in federal court in Houston. Other plaintiffs include former Minnesota Vikings player John Randle and the estate of Ernie Stautner, a long-time Dallas assistant coach and former player in Pittsburgh.”
This is another lawsuit in a number that have been filed against the NFL over head injuries. Those lawsuits involved more than 1,000 former players.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Philadelphia Flyers fired Joe Paterson, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms, on Tuesday. The Phantoms were 37-35-4 this season and didn’t make the playoffs. . . . Patterson took over from interim head coach John Paddock in the middle of last season and was 62-55-8 overall. Paddock had replaced the fired Greg Gilbert early in 2010-11. . . .
Todd Gill, the head coach of the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs, has been named head coach of Canada's under-18 team that will play in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament that is , scheduled from Aug. 13-18, 2012 in Piestany, Slovakia, and Breclav, Czech Republic. The assistant coaches will be Yanick Jean of the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres and Scott Walker of the OHL's Guelph Storm. Canada has won the Hlinka event each of the last four seasons.
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JUST NOTES:
D Benjamin Gallacher was the fifth overall selection, going to the Green Bay Gamblers, in the USHL‘s entry draft on Tuesday. Gallacher, who turns 20 on Sept. 11, is the son of Portland Winterhawks owner Bill Gallacher. The younger Gallacher has committed to attend Ohio State and play for the Buckeyes. . . .
F Peter Quenneville, a fourth-round selection by the Prince George Cougars in the WHL’s 2009 bantam draft, was taken 13th overall by the Dubuque Fighting Saints. . . .Quenneville, 18, played this season with the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders and was the league’s MVP. He has committed to Quinnipiac. . . .
In the sixth round, the Fighting Saints took D Matt Benning, who played for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. You may recall that Bob Tory, the GM of the Tri-City Americans, acquired Benning’s WHL rights from the Kootenay Ice for a couple of conditional bantam draft picks. That deal was made on Aug. 10. Benning, the son of former NHL/WHL D Brian Benning, never agreed to join the Americans. . . .
D Griffin Foulk, who finished this season with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, has signed with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Foulk, 17, was an eighth-round selection by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 2010 bantam draft. The Oil Kings dealt Foulk and a 2012 third-round bantam pick to Everett for F Tyler Maxwell, 20, on Nov. 24. . . . Foulk, who is from Broomfield, Colo., began the season with the major midget Colorado Thunderbirds (23-1-2—3) before joining the Storm in January. He had three assists and 26 penalty minutes in 29 games with the Storm. . . . He is represented by Turning Point Sports Management. . . .
The U of Alberta is down to a shortlist of four candidates in its search for a hockey coach. The new head coach of the Golden Bears is likely to be announced early next week. . . . A source told me Tuesday that Kootenay Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch, who attended the U of A and played there, isn't on that short list. . . .
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The Ottawa Senators have signed F Darren Kramer, who played the last two seasons with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. Kramer was the Chiefs’ captain last season as he played out his eligibility. Ottawa selected him in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL draft. In 139 regular-season games, he had 54 points and 506 penalty minutes. . . . He led the WHL in fighting majors in each of the last two seasons. Kramer was involved in 26 fights this season, which was 20 fewer than the previous season. . . . He also went from eight to 22 goals, and from 14 to 40 points. . . .
Two former Chiefs stars helped the Norfolk Admirals reach the AHL final on Tuesday night. G Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots and F Tyler Johnson scored the game’s second goal as the Admirals blanked the host St. John’s, Nfld., IceCaps, 4-0. The Admirals swept the best-of-seven series and now will play the winner of a series between the Toronto Marlies and Oklahoma City Barons. The Marlies lead that series, 2-1. . . . The Admirals are affiliated with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Marlies are with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Barons with the Edmonton Oilers. . . .
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Mendel Dubuisson “represents the first American of Haitian heritage to be drafted by the WHL and could be the first Haitian-American to reach the NHL,” writes Rich Bolas of the West Valley News in Sun City, Ariz. . . . Dubuisson was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the sixth round of the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft.
Bolas’s complete story is right here.
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Chad Jassman used to be Rroary, the Medicine Hat Tigers’ child-loving mascot. That was before he was left a paraplegic after a 2004 car accident. Now he’s an international-calibre wheelchair basketball player. Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald has his story right here.

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