THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Simon Ferguson (Lethbridge, Kelowna, 1999-2004) was released by Olimpia Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had three assists in 10 games with Olimpia this season. . . .
F Adam Courchaine (Medicine Hat, Vancouver, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga). He was pointless in three games while on a try-out contract Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) earlier this season. Courchaine played for Duisburg in 2007-08, when the club was in the DEL, the top German league.
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Independence is something all journalists crave.
Why?
Because without independence a journalist doesn’t have credibility. And without credibility, a journalist doesn’t have anything.
Which brings us to the case of Rich Hammond.
Hammond used to cover the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings for the Los Angeles Daily News. In time, the Daily News chose not to cover Kings’ road games.
So the Kings ended up hiring Hammond to write for their website.
The Kings provided him with total independence and Hammond, in his three years there, wrote with honesty and integrity. While he was a Kings’ employee, there was no cheerleading and no dirt swept under the carpet.
Hammond left that job the other day. He will be writing about USC basketball and football for the Orange County Register. No, he didn’t want to leave the Kings. But he felt he had no other choice.
You see, Hammond interviewed Kevin Westgarth, a Kings forward who also is the team’s NHLPA representative, and posted the story on the Kings’ website. Someone from the NHL office saw the posting and told the Kings to take it down.
That’s because Hammond, as an employee of the Kings, was an NHL employee and, as such, was not allowed to be in contact with any players during the lockout.
The NHL makes such rules at times like these. While the NHLPA allows its players to talk to anyone during the lockout, the NHL has muzzled all of its owners and employees, allowing only its leaders, Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, to speak.
The bottom line, though, is that Hammond is gone and the Kings and their fans are the poorer for it.
All because the NHL wants to control the message during a lockout that it has forced upon the hockey world.
For more on the Hammond saga, click right here.
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JUST NOTES:
The Red Deer Rebels trimmed two players from their roster on Thursday. F Scott Feser, 17, is off to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, while D Stephen Hak, 18, is going to the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons. . . .
F Dryden Hunt of the Regina Pats, who has been out with a concussion since Sept. 6, has been cleared and could return tonight against the visiting Swift Current Broncos. Hunt was injuried during an exhibition game with Brandon when he hit his head on the ice late in a scrap with F Rene Hunter of the Wheat Kings. . . .
The WHL returns to Sportsnet tonight with the Edmonton Oil Kings playing host to the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Hitmen (4-0-2) are one of three teams not to have lost in regulation time and they already own two victories over the defending-champion Oil Kings (5-2-1). . . . The Hitmen beat the Oil Kings 6-5 in overtime on Sunday in Calgary. But Edmonton F T.J. Foster almost stole the show with the first four-goal game in the modern history of the Oil Kings.
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THE 20-YEAR-OLD GAME:
As expected, D Connor Cox wasn’t without a team for long. Placed on waivers by the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday, Cox, 20, was claimed by the Everett Silvertips in the WHL’s draft of available 20-year-olds. . . . The Silvertips then released F Cody Fowlie, who turns 20 on Nov. 5, in order to stay at three 20-year-olds. Fowlie, from Airdrie, Alta., had 40 points, including 14 goals, in 72 games last season. . . . Cox joins F Ryan Harrison and D Landon Oslanski as Everetts 20s. . . . The Silvertips open their East Division swing against the Wheat Kings in Brandon tonight. They will play in Saskatoon on Oct. 20, which will be the sixth and final game of the trip. . . .
The Vancouver Giants have released D John Neibrandt, 20. The Giants had acquired Neibrandt from the Kootenay Ice over the summer for a fifth-round bantam draft pick in 2013. . . . The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Neibrandt, who is from Yorkton, Sask., had one goal and was minus-6 in six games. . . . With Neibrandt gone, D Reid Zalitach, 16, is likely to get more playing time. He has played in just two of the club’s first seven games. Zalitach was a second-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. . . .
It’s not that long ago that F J.D. Watt was the Vancouver Giants’ leading goal scorer in a Memorial Cup championship season. Today, Watt’s pro career is over — he’s back in school and playing for the SAIT Trojans in Calgary. Scott Mitchell of the Calgary Sun has that story right here, and it’s one every young hockey player should read.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
D Josh Morrissey (@Morrissey_10) of the Prince Albert Raiders, who is from Calgary: “Hard to believe but for once there is more snow at home than in PA . . . Must be because the Raids are so HOT! #wehavefun.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY II:
D Brandon Underwood (@BUND3RWOOD) of the Red Deer Rebels: “Finally settled into my new billets. Only took 50 days before I could unpack my bags. Hope the Nuge left some skill in his old room!??”

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jaroslav Svoboda (Kootenay, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL). He had five goals and six assists in 41 games with Kometa Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season. . . .
D Craig Schira (Regina, Vancouver, 2003-09) signed a one-year contract with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen). He had four goals and nine assists in 73 games with the Binghamton Senators (AHL) last season. . . .
D Michael Busto (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Kootenay, 2001-07) signed a one-year contract with Angers (France, Ligue Magnus). He had one goal and 12 assists in 65 games with the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) last season. . . .
F Kris Beech (Calgary. 1996-2001) signed a one-year contract with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 15 goals and 20 assists in 59 games for Lukko Raumu (Finland, SM-Liiga) last season. . . .
F Tyler Mosienko (Kelowna, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with Esbjerg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had 13 goals and 26 assists in 36 games for the Nippon Paper Cranes Kushiro (Japan, Asia Hockey League) last season. . . .
Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL) announced that F Eric Schneider (Tri-City, 1995-96) will sit out the 2012-2013 season due to ongoing knee issues. He had 16 goals and 30 assists in 52 games last season while dealing throughout the entire season with what Red Bull called "a serious knee injury." In spite of this, Schneider didn’t miss a game during the regular season, leading the team in goals, assists, and points and finishing 12th in DEL scoring. He signed a two-year contract extension with Red Bull Munich in March 2011.
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There isn’t a prouder father around these days than Bill Stewart, who owns the NAHL’s Wenatchee, Wash., Wild. His daughter, Chelsea, was on the roster when the Canadian women’s soccer team for the London Olympics was named on Monday. . . . Bill Stewart is from The Pas, Man., and, if you aren’t aware, starred as Albert in a Canadian Tire commercial back in the day. . . . “I guess that leaves Albert.” . . . “Boy, I sure wish we had a guy like Albert.”
If you haven’t seen it, or want another look, it’s right here. And it’s a great one!
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The Prince George Cougars have signed F Brad Morrison, who was the seventh overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. Morrison, from Westside, B.C., had 141 points, including 83 goals, for team at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton last season. . . . The Cougars cut a deal with Everett Silvertips in order to move up in the draft and select Morrison, who has family in the Prince George area. . . . The Cougars now have signed their two first-round selections, as they got a deal done with F Jansen Harkins earlier.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have released Slovakian F Juraj Bezuch, 18, so will be using the 17th overall selection in today’s CHL import draft. Bezuch, the 56th pick in last year’s import draft, had 21 points in 67 games with Lethbridge. . . . Lethbridge GM/head coach Rich Preston confirmed yesterday that the Hurricanes are bringing back D Albin Blomqvist, 19, who had three points in 38 games last season.
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Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has his weekly 30 Thoughts right here.
It includes a piece on the New York Islanders apparently offering all of their 2012 draft picks to Columbus for the Blue Jacket’s first selection.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Scott Arniel is the new head coach of the Chicago Wolves, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. He replaces Craig McTavish, who left to rejoin the Edmonton Oilers as vice-president of hockey operations. . . .
According to multiple reports, the Edmonton Oilers are poised to introduce Ralph Krueger as their new head coach today. He would replace Tom Renney, who was dropped after last season. . . . There now are reports that Renney, a former Kamloops Blazers’ head coach, will end up with the ZSC Lions in Zurich, Switzerland. Bob Hartley left the Lions to sign on as head coach of the Calgary Flames. There then were rumours that Krueger, a veteran of the Swiss coaching scene, would be joining the Lions. . . . Instead, it could be Krueger taking Renney’s spot and Renney going to Zurich. . . . The carousel continues. . . . Krueger played three games with the New Westminster Bruins in 1978-79 and had 83 points with the 1978-79 Calgary Wranglers.
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The Kootenay Ice has traded D John Neibrandt to the Vancouver Giants for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Neibrandt is 19 now, but turns 20 on Oct. 9 so is going into his 20-year-old season. . . . In 134 regular-season games with the Ice, the 6-foot-5, 196-pounder from Yorkton, Sask., has 19 points and 83 penalty minutes. . . . The deal leaves the Ice with seven 20-year-olds on its roster, four over the limit. F Max Reinhart (Calgary) and D Luke Paulsen (post-concussion syndrome) aren’t expected to return. F Drew Czerwonka, D Joey Leach, F Dylen McKinlay, F Brock Montgomery and F Elgin Pearce also are on the Ice roster. . . . The Giants’ roster now includes six 20-year-olds, although F Brendan Gallagher (Montreal) and F Jordan Martinook (Phoenix) are eligible to play professionally.  The others are D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, D Tyler Vanscourt and F Taylor Makin.
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The Vancouver Giants have signed D Shaun Dosanjh. From Richmond, B.C., he was a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
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With Joe Sakic, a product of the Swift Current Broncos, going into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Mark Spector of sportsnet.ca mentioned on Twitter (@SportsnetSpec) that he hasn’t seen a wrist shot as good as Sakic’s. . . . A fan tweeting as @AndersonEd27 responded: During the lock out I was playing pickup vs Joe. His wrist shot broke the webbing in my catching. . . . He dropped $300 in my locker after for a new one.#Class.
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If you haven’t seen minor hockey’s latest black eye, it’s right here. Watch as a Vancouver minor hockey sticks out his right foot and trips an opposing player during the handshake line last weekend at the U of British Columbia. . . . The video and story are from CTV News.
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Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald toots his own profession’s horn right here. Hey, someone has to do it.
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And while we’re on that subject, right here is a piece from the Sherman Report that carries this headline: Deford address to sports editors: New media age creating sociery of ‘optionally illiterate people.’ . . . That would be Frank Deford, and this is an interesting read.


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