THE MacBETH REPORT:
Frölunda Gothenburg (Sweden, Elitserien) announced they won’t offer a new contract to F Fredrik Sjöström (Calgary, 2001-03). Sjöström had five goals and five assists in 50 games this season. . . .



Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) announced that they won’t offer new contracts to D Craig Weller (Kootenay, 2000-02) and D Chris Heid (Spokane, 1998-2003). Weller had one assist in 34 games and Heid had one goal in 38 games for Ingolstadt this season.
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F Kale Kessy of the Kamloops Blazers has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Kessy, 20, was a fourth-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft. The Oilers acquired him last week in exchange for F Tobias Rieder of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. . . . This season, his fifth in the WHL, Kessy has played with the Medicine Hat Tigers (two games), Vancouver Giants (27) and Kamloops (31). He finished with 41 points, including 21 goals. . . . He scored seven goals, including two hat tricks, in the Blazers’ six-game first-round playoff victory over the Victoria Royals.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Edmonton leads, 1-0; Game 2, today, in Edmonton)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads, 2-0; Game 3, Monday, in Red Deer)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Portland leads 2-0; Game 3, Tuesday, in Spokane)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Kamloops leads 1-0; Game 2, today, in Kelowna)
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Kelowna, F Brendan Ranford scored two first-period goals and the Kamloops Blazers went on to a 4-2 victory over the Rockets. . . . It was the first time in these playoffs that Kelowna lost in regulation time. Kelowna lost three times in OT during a seven-game first-round victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Ranford opened the scoring 30 seconds into the first period and the Blazers were never caught. . . . Kamloops outshot the Rockets 18-3 and outscored them 3-0 in the first period. . . . Kelowna’s penalty kill, which was 27-for-27 against Seattle, surrendered two PP goals in the first period. . . . Kamloops lost F Colin Smith, who was its leading regular-season scorer with 106 points, after he took a hit from F Tyson Baillie two minutes into the second period. Smith went to the dressing room and didn’t return. He will be re-evaluated today. . . . Baillie wasn’t penalized. . . . The Rockets had D Mitchell Wheaton back in the lineup. He had been out since Jan. 25 with a shoulder problem. Originally, it was though that he would need surgery, but that obviously hasn’t happened. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon drew two assists and now leads the playoff scoring race with 16 points, one more than Portland F Ty Rattie. . . . The Blazers also got two assists from Matt Needham. . . . Kamloops F Aaron Macklin, a freshman from High River, Alta., who turned 18 on Jan. 17, scored his first WHL playoff goal on a first-period PP. He had one goal in 62 regular-season games. . . . F Henrik Nyberg had a goal and an assist for Kelowna. . . . Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave stopped 21 shots, eight fewer than Kelowna’s Jordon Cooke. . . . The entire Kamloops-Kelowna series is being televised by Shaw. . . .

In Portland, G Mac Carruth stopped 27 shots as the Winterhawks blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 3-0. . . . Carruth set two records with the shutout and the victory. He had been tied with former Red Deer Rebels G Cam Ward for the record for most playoff victories. Carruth now holds that record, with 39. . . . This was Carruth’s fourth career playoff shutout, giving him Portland’s franchise record. He had been tied with Lanny Ramage. . . . F Chase De Leo’s goal at 13:17 of the first period stood up as the winner. . . . F Brendan Leipsic had a goal and an assist, with F Ty Rattie getting two assists. . . . Spokane G Eric Williams made 40 saves. . . . Paul Buker of The Oregonian was there and his report is right here.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (12):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (5):
None
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Three observers with comments after Kamloops-Kelowna game . . .

Patrick King (@SNPatrickKing): “So Bowey gets a penalty I can’t comprehend and Baillie doesn’t for a late hit on Smith? Having a hard time seeing some consistency here . . .”
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From Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge): “same refs from the RDR/CGY game last night. The ones who needed video replay to see a major penalty that wasn’t there.”
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From Regan Bartel (@Reganrant): “I’m not a fan of Matt Kirk. Seems to stick it to team that dispues a call. Veteran guy with no feel for the game.”

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Cam Lanigan, here in a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday in
Everett, is one of five goaltenders still in camp with the Portland Winterhawks.
Lanigan was claimed off waivers from the — you guessed it — Kamloops
Blazers over the summer.
(Christopher Mast / Mastimages.com)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Craig Weller (Kootenay, 2000-02) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after a successful tryout. Weller was with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) last season, getting five goals and six assists in 45 games.
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Best wishes to Rob Morphy, a veteran hockey scout, who is in a Vancouver hospital after having received a visit from a scalpel-wielding surgeon or two. . . . Rumour has it the NHL season is on hold and won’t start until you’re up and around, big guy.
Morphy, who is from Kamloops, signed on in June to work as the director of scouting and head scout for the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
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The biggest hockey story of Wednesday had nothing to do with the NHL’s impending lockout. No, it had everything to do with a report out of Boston on the Boston University Terriers’ hockey team.
The report came out of an internal investigation and showed, according to an Associated Press report, that “a culture of ‘sexual entitlement’ exists among some BU men’s hockey players.
The university’s president commissioned a task force after two alleged sexual assaults occurred last season.
The AP report is right here, and there’s a bit more right here from boston.com.
Anyone involved in the management of any team at a level where players are idolized in their community needs to take a good look at this report for obvious reasons.
———
The Prince George Cougars have signed F Aaron Boyd, a Winnipegger who was a second-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He had 35 points in 30 games with the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks last season. Boyd played in two victories at the Edmonton Oil Kings’ tournament in St. Albert, Alta., last weekend. In other words, the Cougars are 2-0 with him in the lineup. . . . Boyd will play midget AAA this season, for either the Winnipeg Hawks or Winnipeg Thrashers.
———
Jason Peters of the Prince George Citizen reports that the Cougars are down to two goaltenders — Devon Fordyce, 18, and Brett Zarowny, 17. . . . Ty Edmonds, 16, was released from camp after the Cougars finished play in St. Albert. . . . Fordyce backed up starter Drew Owsley last season, going 2-8-1, 4.30, .875. Owsley played out his eligibility last season. . . . Zarowny played for the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings. . . . "It will be a good battle between the two of them to see who can earn the right to start most of the games," Cougars head coach Dean Clark told Peters. . . . Fordyce was a sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft; Zarowny was taken in 2010’s third round.
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The Victoria Royals have dealt F Justin Spagrud, 17, and a conditional second-round bantam draft pick to the Swift Current Broncos for F Evan Richardson, 18. . . . Spagrud, a third-round pick by the Tri-City Americans in the 2010 bantam draft, is from Gull Lake, Sask., which is just a stone’s throw from Swift Current. In fact, I can’t mention Gull Lake without pointing out that it is the hometown of Roger Aldag, the Hall of Fame offensive lineman who had such a great career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. . . . Last season, Spagrud had 36 points and 48 penalty minutes in 31 games with the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires. . . . A year ago, Victoria acquired Spagrud and a second-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft from Tri-City for D Mitch Topping. . . . The Broncos selected Richardson, who is from Nanaimo, with the 15th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, but he has yet to play in the WHL. Last season, he had 55 points in 48 games with the BCHL’s Powell River Kings. He also has played for the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies and Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . . The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Richardson has committed to Boston College. The conditional draft pick the Broncos received pays off only if Richardson plays in Victoria.
“Evan is not expected to report to our camp, but if he has a change of heart, we’d welcome him,” Cam, Hope, the Royals’ GM, told Ron Rauch of the Victoria Times Colonist. “Everybody’s plans do change and he is just the type of player that is worth having on your list.”
———
The Calgary Hitmen have dealt D Keaton Lubin, 18, to the Regina Pats for a conditional sixth round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Lubin, from Okotoks, Alta., was a third-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He had one goal in 36 games with the Hitmen in 2010-11 and one assist in 14 games with Calgary last season.
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Former NHL F Jeremy Reich is into the coaching game. He has signed on as assistant GM/assistant coach with the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Reich, 33, is from Craik, Sask. He played in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos (1995-2000). While in Swift Current, he was teammates with Andrew Milne, who is the Eagles’ GM/head coach. . . . “I’ve known Jeremy for the past 15 years and he will be a huge addition for the Canmore Eagles hockey club this year,” Milne said in a press release. “He’s played at the highest level possible and knows what it takes to be successful in hockey. His professional experience will be a great asset on the practice rink, in the dressing room and on the bench.” . . . Reich last played in the NHL in 2007-08 when he was in 58 games with the Boston Bruins. Last season, he played in Germany. . . . Kurtis Jones, a four-year assistant, remains with the Eagles. However, Jones also works as an electrician so hasn’t been able to give the Eagles as much as he would have liked.
———
The Portland Winterhawks are down to four 20-year-olds after having released F Jason Trott. . . . Trott, from Anmore, B.C., had five points in 36 games with Portland last season, after getting three pints in 32 games in 2010-11. . . . His departure leaves the Winterhawks with G Mac Carruth, G Cam Lanigan, D Troy Rutkowski and F Taylor Peters as the four 20-year-olds in camp. . . . Carruth, however, has signed with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and may well start the season in their organization. . . . The Winterhawks still have three other goaltenders in camp, as Carruth and Lanigan are joined by holdover Brendan Burke, 17, Brendan Jensen, 19, and Jarrod Schamerhorn, 17. . . . G Adin Hill, 16, was the sixth netminder in camp but has returned home to Calgary where he is expected to play for a midget AAA team.
———
F Jesse Mychan, 20, of the Tri-City Americans is expected to play his first game of the exhibition season on Friday against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. Mychan, who joined Tri-City in a trade from the Everett Silvertips last season, suffered a severed Achilles tendon during the first round of last spring’s playoffs and subsequently underwent surgery.
“He is back and healed up,” Tri-City head coach Jim Hiller told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “You can see the work he has put in in the meantime. He’s dropped 23 pounds and that ties into his frame of mind. He’s into it fully.”
Mychan is one of five 20-year-olds on the Americans’ roster, the others being D Drydn Dow, F Justin Feser, F Jordan Messier and D Derek Ryckman.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that the Vancouver Giants will salute Joe Sakic on Feb. 1 when the Kelowna Rockets visit Pacific Coliseum. . . . Sakic, 43, is a native of Burnaby, B.C., who won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche. He will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Nov. 12. . . . Sakic played two seasons (1986-88) with the Swift Current Broncos. He survived the Dec. 30, 1986 bus crash that claimed the lives of four teammates.
———
Here is the start of an Associated Press report that was filed on Wednesday:
“A study of former NFL players finds they were unusually prone to dying from degenerative brain disease, the latest indication that repeated blows to the head may cause serious trouble later on.
“The death rate from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease combined was about three times what one would predict from the general population, researchers reported.”
That story is right here, and it includes a comment from Dr. Robert Cantu, the co-director of the center at Boston University that studies CTE.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Hollweg (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had five assists in 43 games with the Portland Pirates (AHL) last season. . . .
D Craig Weller (Kootenay, 2000-02) signed a try-out contract with Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL). He had five goals and six assists in 45 games with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) last season. The try-out contract lasts until Aug. 31. . . .
G Chet Pickard (Tri-City, 2005-09) signed a one-year contract with Djurgården Stockholm (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had a 3.12 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 32 games with tje Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) last season. Pickard joins former NHL G Steve Valiquette between the pipes for the 16-time Swedish champions. The club opens training camp Wednesday and will be trying to win promotion back to the top level, Elitserien, after being relegated to Allsvenskan in April. . . .
F Chris Herperger (Swift Current, Seattle, 1990-95) signed a one-year contract extension with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had 16 goals and 23 assists in 49 games to lead the Scorpions in scoring last season. This will be Herperger's sixth season with Hannover.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Brent Maranto takes a look right here at the Western States Hockey League and its teams’ coaching situations. Maranto is the WSHL’s director of communications, and the report is from juniorhockey.com.


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Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Craig Weller (Kootenay, 2000-02) signed a one-year contract with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had 16 goals and 36 assists in 41 games for the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite) last season and was named UK Elite Ice Hockey League Player of the Year, Defenceman of the Year, and a first team all-star.
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CRAIG HARTSBURG

As of early, early this morning, Craig Hartsburg still was the head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. That was according to the WHL team’s website.
However, at least one media outlet was reporting that he had quit.
“Craig Hartsburg, who has stepped down as head coach of the WHL's Everett Silvertips,” read a report at sportsnet.ca, “is a top candidate to become right-hand man to head coach Brent Sutter, according to a member of the (Calgary) Flames staff. The spokesperson said there is work to be done but Hartsburg is of interest.”
Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun wrote it this way:
The Calgary Flames have nothing to announce just yet.
But a reunion for Craig Hartsburg and Flames head coach Brent Sutter doesn’t sound far off.
“Craig Hartsburg is a top candidate for a coaching job with the Calgary Flames,” Flames vice-president of communications Peter Hanlon said Thursday after TSN’s Bob McKenzie told the Twitterverse earlier in the day he expected Hartsburg to be named associate coach in Calgary sooner than later.
“However, there is work to be done before any official announcement.”
That complete story is right here.
As for Hartsburg leaving Everett, well, you know what they say about where there’s smoke. . . .
———
For all the Kyle Beach fans out there, Cody Pugh, a contributor to bleacherreport.com, takes a look back to see what the enigmatic former WHLer has accomplished to date and where he’s at in terms of making the roster of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
That piece is right here.
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The Portland Winterhawks have dealt G Keith Hamilton, 19, to the Victoria ???? for third-, fourth- and eighth-round selections in the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
Hamilton, a second-round selection by Portland in the 2007 bantam draft, was 17-6-2, 2.91, .914 in backing up Mac Carruth last season.
It would seem that the Winterhawks got decent return for a goaltender who would have been in tough at training camp with Carruth, also 19, the No. 1 guy at this time.
The Winterhawks also have signed G Brendan Burke, the son of former NHLer Sean Burke, and G Jarrod Schamerhorn, and needed to make room for one of them as the backup for next season.
Burke was a third-round selection in the 2010 draft; Schamerhorn, who played for the major midget Kootenay Ice last season, was added to Portland’s list after the 2010 training camp.
Coincidentally, Hamilton and Schamerhorn both are from Kelowna.
Victoria, which finished the season as the Chilliwack Bruins, had Lucas Gore and Braden Gamble on its roster at season’s end. Gore was 20, so played out his eligibility. Gamble, now 20, was 2-8-1 in 19 games during the regular season.
Hamilton “will push for the starting job this year, and has solidified our goaltending corps as we now have three quality goaltenders at different age ranges in Hamilton, Braden Gamble and Jared Rathjen,” Marc Habscheid, Victoria’s GM/head coach, said in a press release.
Rathjen is a list player who is from Prince George. He played last season for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of P.G.
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Before you start thinking that the ???? paid a steep price for a 19-year-old goaltender with minimal experience at the WHL level, here’s a note from Alan Caldwell at Small Thoughts At Large, which is linked over there on the right:
“An eagle-eyed reader has just pointed out to me that Portland traded their own 2012 3rd, 4th, and 8th round picks to Victoria back at the draft in return for Victoria's 2nd round pick, which the Hawks used on Zach Patterson. So it looks like this deal was just to get the picks back, essentially making the deal Hamilton for the 2nd rounder. Since Portland was still playing at the time of the draft, they couldn't actually trade Hamilton at that time.”
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If you missed Game 2 of the NBA final on Wednesday night, well, you cheated yourself. A game like this is why we watch. And here’s hoping you didn’t change channels when the Miami Heat held a 15-point lead.
Dwyane Wade made a three from in front of the Dallas bench for an 88-73 lead with 7:14 to play, and he posed for three or four seconds.
Whoops!
(The pose came after some big-time strutting by LeBron and Chris Bosh after put-back dunks. Yes, the Heat makes it awfully easy to dislike it.)
Because the Dallas Mavericks went on a 20-2 run and eventually won when, with the score tied at 93, Dirk Nowitzki romped past defender Chris Bosh and laid in the winning points. With the Heat out of timeouts, it had to inbound from under its basket and Wade missed a desperation three at the buzzer.
Bruce Arthur of the National Post went back and looked at the game’s last seven minutes a second time. He came up with this:
“Heat misses last 7:15: Chalmers 3; LBJ layup; CB J; LBJ fade J; CB TO; UH J; LBJ pullup shot-clock 3 (twice); Wade pullup 3; Wade running 3.”
So it’s 1-1 heading to Dallas for three games, with the first on Sunday. You won’t want to miss it.
I have turned into something of an NBA watcher after being unable to watch NHL playoffs in a hotel in Mt. Vernon, Wash., a few weeks ago. Instead of watching Game 7 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks — the hotel didn’t provide access to Versus (or CBC) — I watched NBA playoff action. And I haven’t stopped.
Thank you, Mr. Bettman.
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The afore-mentioned Bruce Arthur has today’s good read, too. It’s a farewell of sorts to Shaq.
And it’s right here.
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Condolences to the family of Tom Mangan, a member of the Kamloops Blazers’ board of directors (2003-06), who died Thursday afternoon after battling prostate cancer. He was 64. . . . Mangan was active in the Kamloops sporting world. . . . He also served on the board of the Kamloops Blazers Sports Foundation, which handed out more than $1 million in grants before the WHL franchise was sold over the summer of 2007. And he was on the committee that backed the 2010 World Masters athletics championship that was in Kamloops.
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There are a couple of comments posted on the blog after yesteday’s comment about Game 1 of the Stanley Cup not being televised by Seattle’s NBC outlet.
A couple of hockey fans — and friends — from the Seattle area also emailed me to point out that it really isn’t a big deal.
“KING5, the NBC affiliate, never shows prime-time NHL games,” noted one fan. “Because they would rather show the news.
“So they have a sister station, KONG, which they move the game to. KING is channel 5, KONG is channel 6.
“The problem used to be that Comcast didn’t carry KONG in HD. But they have added to it.
“But, as I always point out . . . Anyone with basic Comcast cable still gets CBUT on channel  99. And if they have Comcast HD, they get the HD feed. And who the heck would want to watch NBC when you can have CBC.”
The second fan wrote:
“No big deal here – Everyone watches HNIC anyway. Can’t miss Coaches Corner.”
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Chris Rumble, a defenceman with the NAHL’s Wenatchee, Wash., Wild, is working on a 90-minute documentary that should be worth a watch. He spent the 2010-11 season getting video and audio — he even had referees mic’d up in four gmes — for the doc that he is editing more than 80 hours of video right now. The hopes to have two shows — one PG, the other uncensored — ready in August.
Corey Voegele of the Wenatchee World has the story right here.
By the way, Rumble is the son of former NHL D Darren Rumble, who spent last season on the coaching staff of the QMJHL’s Lewiston Maineiacs. That franchise, of course, folded earlier this week, meaning Rumble is available. He was shortlisted for a couple of QMJHL head-coaching spots and has been in contact with at least one WHL team.
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The Saskatoon Blades and Credit Union Centre have agreed in principle on a three-year lease. Why just three years? Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME: The SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves have signed GM/head coach Bob Beatty to a five-year contract extension. Beatty has completed seven seasons as the Ice Wolves’ head coach. They have won the last two SJHL championships. . . . I mentioned here yesterday that Wes Werhun, a new assistant coach with the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel, had been with the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders. It turns out he was with the St. Albert Merchances of the Capital Junior B league. Thanks to the sharp-eyed reader for the note on that one. . . . The BCHL’s Langley Rivermen have hired Steve O’Rourke, 36, as their general manager and head coach. He had been an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat for two seasons. Assistant coaches will be Bobby Henderson, a son of co-owner Roy Henderson, and Jordan Emmerson. Bobby Henderson, who was on the coaching staff of the junior B Mission, B.C., Ice Breakes last season, played with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chief before attending the U of Nebraska-Omaha. Emmerson, who is form Abbotsford, played for hte BCHL’s Penticton Panthers before going on to the U of Alaska-Fairbanks.
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Four of the 16 goaltenders invited to Hockey Canada’s sixth annual goaltending camp are from the WHL. Tyler Bunz (Medicine Hat), Calvin Pickard (Seattle) and Kent Simpson (Everett) are among the 10 who will attend the under-20 camp, while Chris Driedger (Tri-City) is on the under-18 list. . . . If you’re at the U-20 camp, you are at least on the radar of the Canadian national junior team’s scouting staff. . . . The camp is scheduled fro the Norma Bush Arena in Calgary, June 9-12. . . . F Taylor Stefishen, who had 67 points in 68 regular-season games with the Prince George Cougars last season, had his NHL rights traded on Thursday. Stefishen, who played two seasons at Ohio State before joining the Cougars for his 20-year-old season, was a fifth-round selection by the Nashville Predators in the 2008 NHL draft. On Thursday, the Preds dealt him to the Washington Capitals for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft. Nashville gets the pick if Stefishen appears on the Capitals’ reserve list during either of the next two seasons.

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