Court news (maybe) . . . Maple Leafs sign Ice d-man

D Dylan Yeo (Prince George, Calgary, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). Last season, with the Toronto Marlies (AHL), he had a goal and two assists in 14 games. In four games with the with Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), Yeo had one assist. . . .
The KHL’s 2014-15 schedule was released on Tuesday. Spartak Moscow is not on the schedule. The team is out for this season due to financial reasons. . . . The schedule includes three new teams: Jokerit Helsinki, Lada Togliatti and Sochi. Three other teams are on "administrative” leave: Donbass Donetsk, Lev Prague and Spartak Moscow.
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1. The Grapevine, Part 1: I have been told that the WHL’s board of governors, at its annual meeting last month, decided to make an adjustment to one of the rules involving its education packages. Apparently, a player now is allowed to sign an AHL contract and play one season in that league without losing his education credits.

2. The Grapevine, Part II: It’s my understanding that two lawsuits involving WHL teams have been settled. Perhaps the teams involved will be issuing news releases in the near future. Or perhaps not.

3. Brian Sandy, a former chief marketing officer and senior vice-president with the Tri-City Americans, is the new president of the Portland Thunder, an Arena Football League franchise. Sandy resigned Thursday as president of the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. Sandy spent one season with Stockton. According to the Stockton Record, Sandy cited a “desire to move closer to his family in Oregon” when he resigned. He has three children in the Portland area. Sandy also spent 13 seasons in the front office of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. He also has worked with soccer’s Portland Timbers and baseball’s Portland Beavers.

4. The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed D Rinat Valiev of the Kootenay Ice to a three-year entry-level contract. Valiev, a 19-year-old Russian, was the 68th overall selection in the NHL’s 2014 draft. He had 28 points, including five goals, in 55 games with the Ice last season, his first in the WHL. He played with the USHL’s Indiana Ice in 2012-13, putting up 13 points, six of them goals, in 36 games.

5. The AHL has decided to use a seven-minute overtime period in an attempt to decide games that are tied after three periods. For 2014-15, the AHL will start with four minutes of 4-on-4 play. If the teams are still tied at that point, they will play three minutes of 3-on-3. . . . If a game remains tied after seven minutes of OT, a shootout will be held with each team opening with three shooters. . . . The AHL also has decided to give a game misconduct to any player who gets two fighting majors “or three major penalties for any infraction in the same game.” . . . Unfortunately, for people like Dan Russell and me, the AHL hasn’t decided to give three-points for a regulation-time victory.

6. If you have a few minutes, dig into this piece right here from a writer who spent a weekend in Barcelona watching the LeBron James/Nike publicity machine in action. For some reason, Nike killed this story that was to have been published in a startup magazine.

7. Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, who is Canada’s No. 1 shot putter, finished fourth at the 2010 World Indoor championship. But he was moved up to third when Belarusian Andrei Mikhnevich tested positive. Armstrong finally was presented with his bronze medal at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby on Thursday night. . . . Now Armstrong is waiting to see if he will end up with a bronze medal from the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. Armstrong finished fourth there, with the afore-mentioned Mikhnevich third there, too. . . . In the meantime, Armstrong is dealing with an elbow problem that has short-circuited this season. . . . There’s more right here.
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My daughter's off to her 1st Stampede. Alert to all cowboys: hands off or it's shirts off in the parking lot. #JustGottaGetThatFirstOneIn
— Dave Lumley (@lummer20) July 10, 2014

So tired of that fathead LeBrown James and his decision dramas. Wish he'd go play in Turkey & spare us all the B.S.
— Jack Todd (@jacktodd46) July 10, 2014

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A Royal time at camps

THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Barry Brust (Spokane, Calgary, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract with Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). He had a 2.50 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 35 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
D Spencer Humphries (Tri-City, Calgary, 2008-13) signed a one-year contract with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL), after Lev traded a second-round pick in the 2014 KHL draft to Traktor Chelyabinsk in return for Humphries' KHL rights. Humphries, a fifth-round pick by Traktor in the 2012 KHL junior draft, had five goals and 33 assists in 70 games for the Hitmen last season.
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Brian Sandy, who spent six seasons in the front office of the Tri-City Americans, has been named president and alternate governor of the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. . . . Sandy was the Americans’ chief marketing officer and senior vice-president, business operations with the Americans (2005-11). . . . Most recently, he served IMG College as associate general manager for the athletic department of the University of Arizona. . . . Sandy replaces Dan Chapman, who has accpeted the associate athletic director’s position with the University of the Pacific.
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Swedish F Andre Burakovsky was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2013 NHL draft. And he was taken by the OHL’s Erie Otters with the fifth pick of the CHL’s 2013 import draft. But he apparently isn’t too happy about that. In fact, he seems he might prefer to play for the Windsor Spitfires. Too bad. “This isn’t free agency,” Erie general manager Sherry Bassin tells Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports. “This is a draft.”
There’s more right here.
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The Victoria Royals have five players in NHL development camps this week. . . . F Austin Carroll, 19, is with the Calgary Flames as a free-agent invitee. . . . F Steven Hodges, 19, was selected by Florida in the third round of the NHL’s 2012 draft, and is in the Panthers’ development camp. . . . D Keegan Kanzig, 18, taken by the Flames in the third round of last month’s draft, is in Calgary’s camp. . . . F Logan Nelson, who is preparing for his 20-year-old season, is with the Buffalo Sabres. hey took him in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL draft. . . . F Ben Walker, who turned 20 on June 21, is from Edina, Minn., and is in the Minnesota Wild’s camp as a free-agent invitee.
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THE COACHING GAME:

Tim Branham is the new general manager and head coach of the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. Branham, 32, spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with the Reading Royals, who won the ECHL championship in 2012-13. . . . With Utah, he replaces Kevin Colley, who left Utah to take over as head coach of the Central League’s Arizona Sun Dogs.

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BRIAN SANDY

Brian Sandy is leaving the Tri-City Americans for Portland . . . for the NBA’s Trail Blazers, that is.
Sandy, the Americans’ chief marketing officer and senior vice-president of business operations, is to become the Trail Blazers’ senior director of premium seating sales and service. With the NBA season to open on Christmas Day, Sandy is to start in his new position on Thursday.
Sandy was one of Top Shelf Entertainment’s first hires after taking ownership of the Americans in June 2005 and he played no small role in helping turn around the franchise off the ice. By averaging more than 4,700 fans per game last season, the team once again posted an increase in attendance, as it did in each of his seasons in Tri-City.
According to an Americans’ news release, “Season-ticket sales topped the 2,600 mark for the first time since the club was relocated to the Mid-Columbia.  And, within the community, Sandy and the club have helped raise over $1.5 million for local charities through integrated fundraising nights and promotions.”
The Americans close out their preseason schedule this weekend with a home-and-home series with the Seattle Thunderbirds. They’ll play Friday in Kennewick, Wash., and finish up Saturday in Kent, Wash.
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D Brandon Underwood of the Regina Pats has a hairline crack in his left ankle and is expected to be out of action for a month. “If there’s any time to get hurt it’s around the Christmas break when you get an extra week without missing any time,” Underwood, 19, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. . . . Underwood was injured when he blocked a shot in a 2-0 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Dec. 4. . . . Underwood, who had 13 points and 44 penalty minutes in 29 games, has missed four games. He will wear a protective boot for up to four weeks. . . . The Pats have filled the roster spot by bringing in D Tyler Borstmayer from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings.
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F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs will play for the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship that opens Dec. 26 in Calgary and Edmonton. Uher, 19, has 21 points in 24 games with the Chiefs. He was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft. He will leave the Chiefs on Saturday and will miss Spokane’s final pre-Christmas game. The Chiefs are scheduled to play host to the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday and then take off for nine days. . . . First, though, Spokane will go home-and-home with the Everett Silvertips. They’ll play tonight in Spokane and Friday in Everett. . . .
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For the second time in recent games, the Everett Silvertips have had a player escape a suspension despite taking a major penalty and game misconduct. First, F Josh Birkholz wasn’t suspended after taking a check-to-the-head major and game misconduct in a game against the host Kamloops Blazers. Now, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that F Cody Fowlie, who was tossed with a major and game misconduct for a hit on D Michal Plutnar of the visiting Tri-City Americans on Saturday, won’t be suspended. . . . “I talked to Tips coach Mark Ferner about the hit after practice (Tuesday),” Patterson writes, “and he said after watching the video he wasn't sure it even warranted a penalty. Apparently the reason why Plutnar was injured is because the visor of his helmet came down and cut him across the bridge of the nose after Fowlie rubbed him out into the boards.” . . . Patterson reports that F Vladimir Dolnik will play against Spokane tonight and then leave for Slovakia’s pre-World Junior Championship camp. . . . F Jesse Mychan of the Silvertips completes a 10-game WHL suspension by sitting out tonight.
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If you’re not aware, the BCHL’s Penticton Vees are on quite a roll. The put up their 16th straight victory on Tuesday night when they beat the Centennials 4-1 in Merritt. . . . The Vees are 28-3-2 (that would be two ties) and hold an 18-point lead over Merritt in the eight-team Interior Conference. . . . Penticton’s next game is Friday when they play host to the Westside Warriors.
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TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, the Red Deer Rebels ended their franchise-record 13-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rebels last won on Nov. 12 when they beat the Royals 7-4 in Victoria. . . . They had been 0-11-2 since then. . . . F Colten Mayor scored twice for Red Deer, while F Chad Robinson had three assists. . . . G Deven Dubyk, in his first game with the Rebels, stopped 31 shots. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba and Kootenay F Max Reinhart both played after being released by Canada’s national junior team earlier in the day. . . . “It’s nice to get that off our back and get rewarded for our effort,” Jesse Wallin, the Rebels’ general manager and head coach, told the Red Deer Advocate. “This is a tough building to come into, always a tough building to play in. And coming in here against a very good hockey team with a full lineup was a little bit intimidating from the outset. But we really dug in and got a solid effort and played a very, very good hockey game tonight.” . . .

In Prince Albert, F Kellan Tochkin scored twice as the Raiders beat the Kamloops Blazers 5-2 . . . . The Raiders have won four in a row at home. . . . Raiders F Mike Winther, the WHL’s reigning player of the week, had a goal and two assists. . . . G Cole Holowenko stopped 29 shots for the Raiders in winning his second straight start. He blanked the Rebels 5-0 in Red Deer on Sunday. . . . Kamloops is 1-2-0 on its East Division tour. . . .

In Brandon, F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and an assist to help the Wheat Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Wheat Kings won their 20th game, improving to 20-13-2. . . . Swiss freshman F Alessio Bertaggia notched his 17th goal for Brandon before leaving with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Health permitting, Bertaggia is to join the Swiss national junior team in Calgary on Saturday. . . . Dziurzynski now has 21 goals. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 37 shots, two more than Kelowna’s Adam Brown. . . . The Rockets are 0-2-1 on their East Division swing. . . . With G Corbin Boes out with a broken hand, the Wheat Kings had Justin Holder from the midget AAA Wheat Kings on the bench backing up Anderson. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that the Rockets are hurting. “Already without six regulars including RW Brett Bulmer (Canadian junior camp), C Cody Chikie (upper body), C/RW Spencer Main (upper body) and D Myles Bell (lower body), the Rockets lost D Damon Severson and LW Tyrell Goulbourne to injuries during last night’s game.” . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-0. . . . What’s that? You thought Pickard was in camp with Canada’s national junior team? Maybe this was his answer to Don Hay, the Vancouver head coach who also is Canada’s head coach. . . . It was Pickard’s second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. . . . Pickard is 13-12-1, 3.31, .915. . . . Interstingly, each of Seattle ‘s scorers — F Branden Troock, Justin Hickman and Luke Lockhart — has six goals this season. . . . Troock scored the game’s first goal at 15:27 of the third period. . . . The Giants have been blanked twice this season.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Antoine Corbin, Prince Albert.
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For today’s good read we turn to old friend Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail. He writes today about, yes, the puck. Seriously! And he does it as only he can. That piece is right here.
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