THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Stepan Novotny (Kelowna, Swift Current, 2008-11), released last week by Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga), signed a one-year contract with Kosice (Slovakia, Extraliga). He was pointless in six games with Liberec.
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In the past, I have written here about the relationship between the Tri-City Americans and Jessi Smith, a young superfan who has had more than her share of medical problems brought on by Down Syndrome. Along the way, these problems claimed her sight.
And through it all she has had an amazing relationship with Tri-City players. Oh, she also is a member of the Tri-City Hockey Booster Club.
Here is the latest, from teacher Dawn Johnson:
“As you may remember, I've written you for the last few years about Adam Hughesman and Kruise Reddick mini-putting with blindfolds to mimic Jessi's first attempt after losing her sight.
“Then last year, I was touched by Kruise texting Justin Feser to ensure that Jessi had a partner since Kruise had graduated, and Adam was at an NHL camp. Justin asked Mitch Topping to join him, and the two made sure that Jessi had a wonderful day.”
Which bring us to this year, Dawn writes.
“The dates of the event are picked with about a month's notice, and Jessi and her family were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to attend as they had scheduled their vacation at that time (it was held on Sept. 9). That just wasn't good enough for Justin and Mitch, so last weekend Justin and Mitch played a second time — four weeks later the two players went to Golf Universe and met Jessi there to ensure she was able to play a round with ‘her hockey boys.’
“I definitely think that Justin and Mitch deserve to be recognized for going above and beyond!”
This is a terrific story, one that just keeps on giving.
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D Seth Jones, who at this point is looked at as potentially one of the first two selections in the NHL’s 2013 draft, is doing just fine in the early going of his first season with the Portland Winterhawks. . . . “It has been pretty good,” Jones told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post after a 3-2 OT loss to the host Regina Pats on Tuesday. . . . At that point, Jones had two assists in eight games. . . . “My numbers aren’t really showing how good I think I’m playing right now,” Jones added. “I think I’m playing very solid. I’m moving the puck pretty well. I think my time with the puck has been exceptional. I obviously expected it to be a little tougher than what I came from. Now I’m really starting to get a feel for the level and the skillset in this league. Hopefully, I can produce a little bit more for my team but I think I’m playing pretty well right now.” . . . Jones had a goal and an assist in a 4-0 victory over the Blades in Saskatoon last night.
Harder’s complete story is right here.
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First, they assigned him; then they signed him.
The AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs assigned D Antoine Corbin, 20, to the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday morning. Later in the day, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate announced that it had signed Corbin to a one-year AHL contract.
Corbin had been in Hamilton’s training camp on a free-agent tryout.
The Raiders had acquired Corbin from the Kelowna Rockets on Nov. 18, 2010, for a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
In 118 regular-season games with the Raiders, Corbin had 52 points, including 20 goals.
The Raiders are left with three 20-year-olds — D Davis Vandane, who was acquired last week from the Spokane Chiefs, F Anthony Bardaro, who came over from Spokane last season, and G Luke Siemens, an offseason acquisition from the Moose Jaw Warriors.
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The Saskatoon Blades have placed D Connor Cox on waivers in order to get down to three 20-year-olds. Cox led Saskatoon defencemen in assists (38) and plus-minus (plus-26) last season. This season, he had three assists in seven games. . . . The Blades got Cox from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Nov. 11, 2010, for a second-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . In 219 regular-season WHL games, Cox has 86 points. . . . The move leaves Saskatoon with F Adam Kambeitz, F Josh Nicholls and F Brenden Walker as its 20s. . . . The Blades also brought back D Kyle Schmidt, 19, who was in training camp with Saskatoon before being assigned to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars.
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The Kelowna Rockets have dealt F Austin Ferguson, 17, to the Red Deer Rebels for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . Ferguson, from Abbotsford, B.C., has four points in 58 career regular-season games. He was a 10th-round pick by Kelowna in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Ferguson had been one of 15 forwards on Kelowna’s roster. . . .
The legendary Bob Ridley (@BobRidley_CHAT) let his twitterverse know yesterday that the Medicine Hat Tigers continue to be without F Jayden Hart “due to an unspecified illness. Will be examined by specialists this week.” . . .
As mentioned here previously, G Tyler Fuhr of the Vancouver Giants is from Sherwood Park, Alta., but he isn’t related to Grant Fuhr, the former Edmonton Oilers goaltender. It seems, however, that the two have met. Earlier this summer, the younger Fuhr was headed to Palm Springs, Calif., to visit grandparents when he spotted Fuhr, the elder, in an airport. "I went over,” Tyler tells Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, “and said, ‘Hi,' and told him, 'My name is Tyler Fuhr and I'm a goalie, too.’ He laughed. I thought it was pretty cool."
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WEDNESDAY’S STUFF:
G Mac Carruth earned the shutout as the visiting Portland Winterhawks beat the Saskatoon Blades, 4-0. . . . Carruth, 20, made his first start of the season for Portland since returning from the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. . . . G Cam Lanigan, 20, was scratched by Portland for a second straight game. . . . Carruth stopped 26 shots, including just one in the third period, in recording his fifth career shutout. . . . The Blades now have lost four in a row and been outscored 23-5 in the process. They are 0-4-0 at home. . . . Portland F Preston Kopeck scored his first two WHL goals 25 seconds apart to break a scoreless tie early in the second period. . . . Winterhawks D Seth Jones scored his first WHL goal. . . . Portland plays the red-hot Raiders in Prince Albert on Friday. . . . The Blades head out on the road for three in three nights. They’ll play Friday in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice, Saturday in Lethbridge and Sunday in Medicine Hat. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers ran their record to 6-0-1 with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals. . . . The Blazers, leading 1-0 after one, took control in the second period, outshooting the Royals 17-0 and outscoring them 2-0. . . . D Sam Grist, acquired by Kamloops from the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday, wasn’t in the Blazers’ lineup. He is expected to play Friday against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. . . . Kamloops D Tyler Hansen (concussion), who hasn’t played since Sept. 22, also is expected in the lineup for that one. . . .

The Edmonton Oil Kings were excellent on the penalty kill as they doubled the host Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-2. . . . Edmonton successfully killed eight of nine Medicine Hat power plays, including four 5-on-3s. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit made 34 saves, showing that he is closer to regaining last season’s form. . . . D Keegan Lowe (foot) returned to Edmonton’s lineup after missing four games. . . .

F Mitch Holmberg scored twice to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 6-4 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna. . . . Holmberg leads the WHL with nine goals and has scored in each of his club’s six games. Last season, he had 27 goals in 66 games. . . . Kelowna’s Myles Bell, a defenceman who is playing on a forward line, had three assists. With 14 points, he shares the WHL scoring lead with Kamloops F JC Lipon. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke made his eighth straight start. . . . Kelowna F Carter Rigby (shoulder) left the game in the first period. . . . Spokane (5-1-0) has won three in a row. The Chiefs are in Kamloops on Friday. . . .

The Prince George Cougars were credited with only two assists as they scored a 5-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook. . . . F Brett Roulston broke a 3-3 tie at 17:20 of the second period with his first WHL goal, an unassisted effort. . . . Kootenay D Joey Leach tied it at 2:49 of the third with his second goal of the game. . . . F Jari Erricson got the winner, unassisted, at 10:39. . . . The Cougars successfully killed off a major penalty to F Zach Pochiro for checking from behind shortly after Erricson’s goal. . . . The Ice held a 39-17 edge in shots. . . . The Cougars now are 5-1-1 as they head for Lethbridge and a Friday date with the Hurricanes.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Jeff Hubic, Kootenay
F Zach Pochiro, Prince George (major)
F Henrik Nyberg, Kelowna

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
D Griffin Reinhart (@GriffinReinharrt) of the Edmonton Oil Kings sometimes calls for questions from his Twitter followers. He was doing that yesterday afternoon.
“@RKENNY93: @GriffinReinhart who do you like more Sam or Max? Neither . I like my dog mojo the most.”
And a question from Sam Reinhart (@SamsonReinhart): “@GriffinReinhart I have a quick question for you. Are you this rude in person or am I mistaken by your tone over the screen?”
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For today’s good read, check out this piece right here by Bonnie D. Ford of espn.com.
She pretty much lays bare the myth of Lance Armstrong.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ladislav Kohn (Brandon, Swift Current, 1993-95) signed a three-month contract through the end of December with Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had five goals and 14 assists in 37 games with Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season before moving on to Ambri-Piotta, where he had one goal and three assists in eight games. . . .
D Zdeno Chara (Prince George, 1996-97) signed a lockout contract with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 12 goals and 40 assists in 79 games with the Boston Bruins last season.
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F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers was one of nine players released outright from the camp of the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night. Ranford, 20, is expected to return to the Blazers and could play Friday against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Ranford was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round of the 2010 NHL draft, but never did sign with the Flyers. He went back into the 2012 draft but wasn’t selected. He agreed to a tryout deal with the Montreal Canadiens, the Bulldogs’ parent club, but that went by the wayside with the lockout. . . . D Antoine Corbin, 20, of the Prince Albert Raiders was not among the players released or assigned by the Bulldogs. . . . Swedish D Sebastian Owuya, who played with the Medicine Hat Tigers in 2010-11, also was released outright from the Bulldogs’ camp. He played 35 games last season with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. . . . Also released by Hamilton was F Spencer Bennett (Portland, Vancouver, 2009-11).
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A couple of weeks into the hockey season and fans in some OHL cities have noticed that the goal judges are gone. It seems that the OHL’s board of governors voted to eliminate them at its AGM in August. “Now that we have video and four on-ice officials, they’re redundant,” Conrad Hache, the OHL’s director of officiating, told John Matisz of Metro Canada. . . . Some OHL teams have kept them in place, simply because of tradition, but in other arenas the goal judges are no more. . . . With video replay at every major junior game now, you can understand why there really isn’t any need to continue with goal judges, who surely have the worst seats in the house. . . . Matisz’s story is right here.
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The Regina Pats had planned on saluting former star F Jordan Eberle by retiring his number on Oct. 9 with the Portland Winterhawks in town. . . . That was before the NHL lockout came along and the Edmonton Oilers assigned Eberle to the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons. . . . With Eberle in OKC, the Pats have had to postpone the festivities. . . . It will be rescheduled at a day yet to be determined.
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F Dylan Wruck, 20, is expected to return to the Edmonton Oil Kings’ lineup tonight as they play host to the Prince Albert Raiders. Wruck, who had 80 points in 66 games last season, suffered a shoulder injury in Game 4 of a second-round series against the Brandon Wheat Kings in the spring and later underwent surgery for a torn labrum. . . . “It’s a relief to get back playing,” Wruck tells Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal, “because I haven’t been able to do a lot of that for the last five months, so it’s good to get back in there and battle with the guys.” . . . Daum’s complete story is right here.
The Oil Kings also are without D Keegan Lowe, who blocked a shot in a 3-0 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Sept. 26 and spent some time in a walking cast. . . . Edmonton goes into tonight’s game having lost 4-1 to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Friday. The Oil Kings last lost two straight games on Nov. 11 and 12 when they fell in Kelowna and Kamloops. . . . They haven’t lost two in a row at home since January 2011 when they dropped four straight.
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F Marty Standish (Portland, 1995-99) has decided to retire from hockey. He had signed to play one more season with the Central league’s Tulsa Oilers but has decided the time is right to walk away. He will be going to work for a construction company in Oklahoma City. . . . He played 13 seasons of pro hockey, seven of them with the now-defunct Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central league. . . . "I don't know if there ever really is a right time to walk away,” Standish said in an Oilers news release, “but I really want to be around my family more and I made this decision for them. Now is as good a time as any, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. I know once the season gets going, I'm really going to miss being around the guys, I'm going to miss the Oilers staff, and I'll especially miss all the fans who treated me so well." . . . Standish’s wife, Jenifer, is expecting their second child. . . . The 5-foot-6, 160-pound Standish, from Kelvington, Sask., leaves having scored 12 points in his final 10 games last season. . . . In his final season with Portland, Standish put up 66 points, including 26 goals, and 192 penalty minutes. That latter figure may be a record for a 5-foot-6 WHLer.
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James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail begins a piece from today’s paper like this:
“It’s a problem that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
"Minor hockey registration is either flat or down in this country depending on what age range you look at, with just an estimated 10 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 5 and 19 playing the game.”
In an interesting piece, Mirtle goes on to explain how Bauer is getting involved in a program that it hopes will learn why parents aren’t putting their children into hockey and, ultimately, will bring 1 million new youngsters to the game.
Check it out right here.
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WEDNESDAY:
The Regina Pats scored three PP goals and one while shorthanded to beat the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1. . . . F Morgan Klimchuk scored twice, giving him five this season. . . . The first game this season between the rivals drew 3,962 to the Brandt Centre. . . . Regina head coach Pat Conacher was back behind the bench after missing three games while dealing with a family situation in Calgary. . . .

F Matt Bellerive drew three assists as the visiting Red Deer Rebels beat the Saskatoon Blades, 5-3. . . . Bellerive, who turns 18 on Dec. 7, was a recent acquisition from the Vancouver Giants. He has a goal and five assists in four games with Red Deer. . . . Red Deer D Brandon Underwood scored his sixth career goal in his 209th game. He had a career-high three goals last season with the Regina Pats. . . . Saskatoon F Brent Benson played in his 200th regular-season game. . . . G Andrey Makarov started his 15th straight game for the Blades — 11 in the regular season and four in last spring’s playoffs. . . . Among the crowd was Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. Gotta wonder if his brother, Ken, was alongside him for this one? . . . The Cheveldayoffs are from Blaine Lake, Sask. Ken is the MLA for Saskatoon Silver Springs and is the Minister of Environment, among other things, in the governing Saskatchewan Party. . . .

G Eric Comrie stopped 35 shots as the Tri-City Americans beat the host Everett Silvertips, 2-0. . . . This was the first shutout this season and the fourth of his career for Comrie, a 17-year-old sophomore. . . . F Matte Strömwall scored his fourth goal in five games for Tri-City. He had 11 goals in 64 games last season. . . . Tri-City F Tyson Dallman was back in the lineup after missing the first four games with a concussion. . . .

G Jordon Cooke stopped 28 shots to help the host Kelowna Rockets to a 7-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Cooke, a 19-year-old from Leduc, Alta., posted his first career shutout. It came in his 49th appearance. This is his first season as the Rockets’ starter; he played behind the graduated Adam Brown the last two seasons. . . . Kelowna scored five third-period goals. . . . F Colton Sissons had two goals and two assists for the Rockets. . . . The most surprising number may have been 5,064, which was the announced attendance in a building where 6,000-plus has long been the norm. . . . The Giants are 1-4-0 and have given up 23 goals while scoring only 12. . . . It’s early but Vancouver has the WHL’s worst winning percentage (.200). . . . Vancouver head coach Don Hay had been expected to give freshman Tyler Fuhr his second straight start, but went with veteran Liam Liston instead. Liston gave up seven goals on 28 shots. . . .

D Brett Cote scored at 3:04 of OT as the host Victoria Royals overcame a 3-0 deficit and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-3. . . . Cote, an 18-year-old from Oakbank, Man., had one goal in 65 games last season. He has two in five games this season. . . . F Trevor Cox scored twice for the Tigers, giving him four snipes in five games. He had 10 goals in 57 games last season. . . . Victoria G Patrik Polivka, a Czech freshman, ran his record to 4-0-0 with 17 saves. . . . Victoria D Tyler Stahl, in his second game after serving a six-game suspension, had two assists in a span of 4:15 late in the second period. Last season, the 20-year-old from Drumheller, Alta., totalled two assists in 20 games.
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CHECKING FROM BEHIND COUNT:
F Lucas Grayson, Everett
F Jessey Astles, Saskatoon
D Sam Grist, Tri-City
F Riley Kieser, Vancouver
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CHECKING TO THE HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Trevor Crawley (@tcrawls) of the Cranbook Daily Townsman: “Just judget @WHLKootenayICE’s Iron Chef contest featuring the entire team as contestants. #kitchen chaos #disheseverywhere”


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