Thursday, May 31, 2012

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Shawn Limpright (Moose Jaw, 1998-2002) signed a one-year contract with Mulhouse (France, Ligue Magnus). He had 28 goals and 53 assists in 65 games for the Rapid City Rush (CHL) this season, which was good enough for fifth in CHL scoring. . . .
F Lance Monych (Brandon, 1999-2005) signed a one-year contract with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga). He had 29 goals and 30 assists in 27 games with Ratinger Ice Aliens (Germany, Oberliga) this season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former WHL coach John Becanic is back in the game. Becanic, who has WHL coaching experience in Everett, Seattle and Vancouver, spent this season as head coach of the NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild. He left the Wild at the end of the season. . . . He now is the head coach the Team Seattle Major Bantam Team. . . . Team Seattle is the combined rep teams for Seattle Junior Hockey and Sno-King Amateur Hockey. . . .
Ron Gay is the new general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Indiana Ice. Gay takes over from Charlie Skjodt, who is back to being the club’s president. Gay has been with the Ice since September 2011 when he signed on as skills development coach and head coach of the Indiana Jr. Ice U18 team.
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Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun has more right here on the 15-year-old hockey player who drew a suspension from some summer tournaments after he slashed a linesman during a game in Brandon. It turns out he is a draft pick of the Prince Albert Raiders.
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Just in case you don’t yet understand that major junior hockey is a big, big business, check out this piece right here by Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
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Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News notes right here that the agreement between the CHL and NHL is in need of an adjustment. It is time, he writes, that players drafted by NHL teams out of the CHL be provided with the same options as those drafted out of NCAA programs.
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Sean McMorrow, the former Rochester Americans tough guy, was sentenced to 24 months in a federal prison on Wednesday. Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has the story right here.
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“A culture is shifting sharply,” writes Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal. He is referring to football and its culture of violence. He points out that many mothers and fathers are having second thoughts about allowing their children to play football, and if there aren’t any feeder leagues – “those furthest from the paychecks” as Jonah Lahrer of Grantland.com puts it – there won’t be an NFL.
A world without the NFL? Don’t laugh.
Gay’s piece is right here.
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Today is the day for a number of WHL players who were selected in the 2010 NHL draft. If a player from that draft doesn’t sign an NHL contract by today, he becomes eligible for the 2012 draft.
As of late last night, D Alex Theriau, D Troy Rutkowski, D Tyler Stahl, D Brandon Davidson, D Ricard Blidstrand, F Brendan Ranford and F Josh Nicholls had yet to sign.
The Philadelphia Flyers aren’t expected to sign Blidstrand, but have been negotiating with Ranford’s agent, former WHLer Mark MacKay.
The Calgary Flames said Wednesday that they won’t sign Kootenay Ice D Joey Leach, who was a third-round selection.
Check out Alan Caldwell’s blog, Small Things at Large, for a list of who has signed and who hasn’t.
I would suggest the one real surprise here Rutkowski, who was a fifth-round selection by the Colorado Avalanche. Rutkowski had a terrific playoff and is a big-time shotblocker, something that seems to be popular in NHL circles these days.

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