G Norm Maracle (Saskatoon, 1991-94) signed a one-year contract extension with Starbulls Rosenheim (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had a 2.56 GAA in 45 games for Starbulls this season. . . .
F Lukas Kralik (Victoria, 2011-12) signed a try-out contract with Olomouc (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). He had two goals and four assists in 42 games with the Royals this season. Kralik, 19, was selected by Victoria with the 36th pick of the CHL’s 2011 import draft.
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THE MacBETH REPORT, Part 2:
WHL alumni in the IIHF World Hockey Championship that is being decided in Helsinki and Stockholm . . .
Belarus (1) – Sergei Drozd (Tri-City, 2009-10).
Canada (14) – Jamie Benn (Kelowna, 2007-09), Jay Bouwmeester (Medicine Hat, 1998-2002), Devan Dubnyk (Kamloops, 2001-06), Jordan Eberle (Regina, 2006-10), Ryan Getzlaf (Calgary, 2001-05), Evander Kane (Vancouver, 2006-09), Duncan Keith (Kelowna, 2002-03), Andrew Ladd (Vancouver, Calgary, 2001-05), Ryan Murray (Everett, 2008-12), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer, 2008-11), Dion Phaneuf (Red Deer, 2001-05), Luke Schenn (Kelowna, 2005-08), Cam Ward (Red Deer, 2000-04), head coach Brent Sutter (player Lethbridge Broncos, 1979-82; general manager/head coach Red Deer, 1999-2007).
Czech Republic (2) – Tomas Mojzis (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 2000-03), Petr Nedved (Seattle, 1989-90).
Denmark (2) – Jannik Hansen (Portland, 2005-06), Kirill Starkov (Red Deer, 2006-07).
Italy (2) – Pat Iannone (Kootenay, Tri-City, Regina, 1999-2003), Trevor Johnson (Kootenay, Seattle, Tri-City, 1998-2003).
Kazakhstan (1) – Konstantin Pushkaryov (Calgary. 2004-05).
Norway (1) – Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Brandon, 2002-04).
Slovakia (6) – Ivan Baranka (Everett, 2003-05), Milan Bartovic (Brandon, Tri-City, 1999-2001), Mario Bliznak (Vancouver, 2005-08), Zdeno Chara (Prince George, 1996-97), Marcel Hossa (Portland, 1998-2001), Tomas Kopecky (Lethbridge, 2000-02).
Sweden (1) – Fredrik Pettersson (Calgary, 2005-07).
Switzerland (3) – Nino Niederreiter (Portland, 2009-11), Luca Sbisa (Lethbridge, Portland, 2007-10), Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2004-06).
USA (1) – Nate Thompson (Seattle, 2001-05).
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ON THE MOVE:
The Seattle Thunderbirds have traded F Jake Doty, 19, to the Medicine Hat Tigers for F Riley Sheen, who turns 18 on Dec. 21. . . . Sheen, a 5-foot-9, 150-pounder from Edmonton, had three points and 13 penalty minutes in 46 games as a freshman with the Tigers. . . . Doty, who apparently had requested a move, is from Billings, Montana. A 6-foot-3, 220-pounder, he had seven points and 107 penalty minutes in 55 games this season. . . . This deal in a nutshell: The Thunderbirds add some speed, while the Tigers get bigger.
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Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail takes a look right here at a proposal made a few years ago by veteran hockey coach Pierre Pagé. It would have hockey go to a system that would include something similar to three-second violations in basketball.
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Dave Trimmer, who used to cover the Spokane Chiefs (among other things) for the Spokane Spokesman-Review, is enjoying semi-retirement these days.
Yes, he got caught up in the down-sizing that has seized the newspaper business by the throat and won’t let to.
But he isn’t spending all of his time sitting on a patio watching the sun set.
Next weekend, for example, he will be climbing up on his bicycle and riding for diabetes as part of Tour de Cure.
“I love any excuse to be on my bike,” he says. “It used to be a stress reliever when I was a newspaper guy, now it is just pure enjoyment!”
For more details or to donate, check this out right here.
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F Justin McRae (Saskatoon, Spokane, 2004-09) now is playing for the UBC Thunderbirds. He and some present and former teammates have joined the fight against cancer by forming T-Birds for the Cure, a team that will cycle from Vancouver to Seattle to raise money for the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
The team will head for Seattle via bicycle on June 16. There will be an over-night rest stop and the journey is to be completed on June 17.
Each rider of the team has pledged to raise $2,500. You are able to help the cause right here.
McRae is riding in support of Kathleen McAllison, his billet in Spokane.
He calls McAllison, who is still battling the disease, his second mom.
“Kathleen is a strong-willed, single mother, who makes everyone smile,” McCrae said in a UBC news release. “At times she worked three different jobs and always made sure her family was the most important aspect of her life.
“She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in 2009 and given six months to live. She has had two major abdominal surgeries over the course of a year and was put through multiple intense sessions of chemotherapy. I was blown away by her attitude through all this.
“Even when she was lying on her hospital bed in excruciating pain, she was able to fight this disease with a positive attitude.”
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Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has his weekly entry 30 Thoughts right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Dale Purinton, a former WHL and NHL player, won’t be back as associate coach of the BCHL’s Cowichan Capitals. The team made the announcement on Wednesday. Purinton worked alongside Jim Ingram, the general manager and associate coach, and assistant coach Aaron Plumb. Ingram and Plumb both will be returning. . . . Stew Gordon, the majority owner of the Capitals, told Don Bodger of the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial that the franchise simply couldn’t afford to keep Purinton on the payroll. “No one can afford what’s going on in the league,” Gordon said, referring to rising costs and shrinking revenues. . . .
Gordon also is majority owner of the junior B Kerry Park Islanders of the Vancouver Island junior league and has hired Trent Brandvold to coach that squad. The 35-year-old Brandvold, a former Central league and ECHL player, spent this season coaching a midget team at the Victoria Racquet Club. Brandvold takes over from Brad Scafe, who is a minority owner of the Islanders. . . .
The AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines have named Joey Bouchard as their general manager and head coach. Bouchard had been head coach of the junior B Wolverines, who have folded in order to make room for the junior A team. The AJHL’s Wolverines have moved to Whitecourt from St. Albert where the franchise was known as the Steel.
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Jim Beseda of The Oregonian takes a look ahead to tonight’s fifth game of the WHL’s championship final. That piece is right here.
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John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal writes right here about the excitement level that both teams have brought to the WHL’s championship final.
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Here is the schedule for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: Edmonton 4 at Portland 3 (OT) (10,947)
Thursday, May 10: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
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