F Sergei Drozd (Tri-City, 2009-10) signed a two-year contract extension with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL). He had three goals and two assists in 50 games with Dinamo last season. . . .
F Clarke Breitkreuz (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) signed a one-year contract with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga). He had 15 goals and 26 assists in 29 games to lead Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga) in scoring last season.
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A number of undrafted WHLers have signed deals to attend NHL development and/or rookie camps. Among those players are D Zach Yuen, Tri-City (Dallas); F Miles Koules, Medicine Hat (Minnesota); G Troy Trombley, Tri-City (Edmonton); F Jacob Doty, Medicine Hat (Edmonton); F Reid Petryk, Everett (Edmonton); F Boston Leier, Medicine Hat (Washington); F Matt Needham, Kamloops (Dallas); F Brady Brassart, Calgary (Tampa Bay); D Macoy Erkamps, Lethbridge (Ottawa); and F Beau McCue, Tri-City (Toronto).
F Chance Braid of the Prince Albert Raiders has been invited to a pair of Washington Capitals’ camps. He is scheduled to attend the Caps’ development camp next week and also is to go to their rookie camp later in the summer. . . . Meanwhile, F Jayden Hart of the Raiders will attend the Boston Bruins’ rookie camp later in the summer. . . . F Connor Rankin of the Tri-City Americans will go to camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins in September.
A number of players who used up their eligibility last season also will attend development camps, among them D Daniel Johnston, Lethbridge (Vancouver); G Ty Rimmer, Lethbridge (Dallas); and F Brendan Ranford, Kamloops (Dallas). . . . F Cam Braes (Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, 2007-12) will be in Arizona’s development camp. He played last season with the U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. . . . Doty, Rimmer, Braes and Johnston are clients of Turning Point Sports Management.
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F Luke Lockhart, who played out his junior eligibility last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, is decided to attend the University of British Columbia and play for the Thunderbirds. . . . Lockhart, from Burnaby, spent five seasons with Seattle.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have released F Austin Daae, 20, after he had eight points in 30 games with them last season. Daae is planning to spend the 2013-14 season with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. . . . Josh Lewis of the Estevan Mercury has more right here.
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It doesn’t appear that Garry Davidson, the general manager of the Everett Silvertips, agrees with the decision to keep European goaltenders out of the CHL. . . . “Personally, I struggle with that decision a little bit,” Davidson told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald. “I really think the CHL is the best junior league in the world, and it should have the best players. If that means European goalies, I'm fine with that. (Hockey Canada) feels development of goalies is an issue, but I'm not sure having one or two high-end European goalies makes that much difference. The development is needed at the younger levels. But that's just my personal opinion.”———
From Wade Murphy (@wmurphy93): “Great to see my boy @Gropper8 here at North Dakota last night, kid is sorta a beauty #stallmate #mitts #swag”
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D Pavel Kubina (Moose Jaw, 1996-97) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A). He had three goals and 12 assists in 69 games with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia last season. Switzerland has a transfer deadline of Feb. 15. Kubina is represented by former Tri-City F Vladimir Vujtek Jr. . . .
F Garrett Festerling (Portland, Regina, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract extension with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL). He has 12 goals and 21 assists in 43 games for the Freezers this season. Festerling also has made five appearances with the German National Team this season, getting one goal and one assist. Festerling was under contract with Hamburg through the 2013-14 season, so this extension keeps him under contract through the 2014-15 season.
A couple of interesting items from the Kootenay Ice’s weekly news update. . . . Ryan McGill became the second head coach in franchise history to win 200 regular-season games. He got there with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday. . . . The other Ice head coach with 200 victories? Cory Clouston, with 209. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski has stopped 24 out of 25 shootout attempts this season.
In Moose Jaw, D Morgan Rielly and F Justin Kirsch each scored twice as the Warriors dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-1. . . . Moose Jaw G Justin Paulic stopped 29 shots. . . . Rielly has nine goals. . . . Kirsch got his 20th of the season into an empty net. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports: “The Warriors were without defenceman Kirk Johnson who has returned home to tend to a personal matter. Fellow defenceman Spencer Morse was out of the lineup due to a coach’s decision.” . . . The Warriors continue to be without G Daniel Wapple (concussion) and have Zachary Sawchenko, who turned 15 on Dec. 30, backing up Paulic. . . . The Warriors are 12 points out of a playoff spot with 15 games to play. . . . The Raiders have lost two straight. East Division leaders for most of this season — that’s worth the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference — the Raiders now are fourth in the conference, and they’re just three points ahead of the fifth-place Red Deer Rebels. . . . 
In Regina, F Jacob Doty broke a 3-3 tie at 7:50 of the third period and the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Pats, 4-3. . . . Tigers F Hunter Shinkaruk, in his first game after missing three with a knee injury, had a goal and an assist. . . . Doty’s goal was his 11th; Shinkaruk has 31. . . . The Pats erased a 3-1 third-period deficit on goals by F Marc McCoy at 4:16 and F Morgan Klimchuk, his 28th, just 40 seconds later. . . . Regina, with 15 games remaining, now trails the Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes by 13 points. The Tigers and Hurricanes hold down the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . 
In Saskatoon, the Blades ran their winning streak to nine games with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Blazers F Josh Nicholls forced OT with a goal, his 36th, with 28.8 seconds left in the third period and then got the winner in the circus. . . . The victory lifted the once-struggling Blades into a tie with Prince Albert atop the East Division standings. The Blades hold a game in hand. . . . One supposes there is no more Internet ramblings about yanking the Blades out as the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup. . . . F Graham Black had two goals and two assists for the Broncos. . . . Swift Current F Colby Cave gave his guys a 4-3 lead with his 15th goal, shorthanded, at 11:49 of the third. . . . The Broncos erased a 3-1 deficit on goals by F Chance Lund, Black and Cave. . . . Saskatoon F Matej Stransky got his 30th goal and ran his point streak to nine games. . . . Saskatoon F Michael Ferland also has a nine-game streak going. He had an asist last night. . . . Nicholls was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Victor Rask scored three times as the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Tri-City Americans, 6-2. . . . Rask has 10 goals. . . . The Hitmen scored the game’s first four goals. . . . F Brooks Macek had a goal, his 27th, and two assists for Calgary. . . . Calgary scored four goals on eight shots in the second period. . . . Tri-City starter Luke Lee-Knight gave way to Troy Trombley in the second period. Trombley made his second appearance since joining the team after Eric Comrie (hip) was shut down in mid-January. . . . Tri-City has lost three in a row. . . . The Hitmen are 4-0 on a five-game U.S. Division swing that ends tonight in Spokane. . . . Calgary has played its last eight games on the road, going 5-3-0. It returns home Saturday against Victoria.
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