THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Kris Russell (Medicine Hat, 2003-07) has returned to Finland and TPS Turku (SM-Liiga) after recovering from an undisclosed injury suffered in the first shift of his second game with TPS on Sept. 30. Video highlights showed that he had a shot go off the inside of his right foot. Russell was expected to arrive in Turku on Tuesday and will play in Friday's game against Jokerit Helsinki. He has one goal and one assist in the two games he has played with TPS this season. . . .
D Nick Ross (Regina, Kamloops, Vancouver, 2004-09) has signed a one-year contract with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He started the season with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), where he had one goal and three assists in nine games. Ross is scheduled to join Augsburg in time for practice today.
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The Swift Current Broncos have assigned F Dakota Odgers, 16, to the midget AAA Yorkton Harvest. Odgers was the 24th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. He had 12 penalty minutes in six games with the Broncos. Last season, in 43 games with the Harvest, he had 36 points, including 19 goals, and 35 penalty minutes.
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According to Brian Wiebe, who keeps close tabs on the BCHL, G Adam Todd, 18, who got into 11 games last season with the Saskatoon Blades, was involved in a trade on Tuesday as he moved from the Alberni Valley Bulldogs to the Trail Smoke Eaters. . . . The Smokies then dropped G Braden Krogfoss, 17, from their roster. Krogfoss was an eighth-round selection of the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft. He had a good camp with the Blazers prior to this season before going to Trail.
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TUESDAY’S STUFF:
The Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals as they opened a seven-game road trip with a 7-6 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock got his side to within one, at 6-5, at 8:38 of the third and D Ryley Miller tied it at 10:28. . . . Pulock got the winner just 22 seconds after that and that was the first time Brandon led in this one. . . . F Alessio Bertaggia also scored twice for Brandon. . . . F Elgin Pearce had two goals for the Tigers. . . . Brandon trailed 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4 in this one. . . .

In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Everett Silvertips, 5-2. . . . F Torrin White had two goals and two assists, with three of his points coming via the PP. . . . White, a 17-year-old sophomore from Balzac, Alta., has eight points in 10 games. He had 17 points in 62 games last season. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers remained the only WHL team not to have lost in regulation time as they dumped the Rebels 4-0 in Red Deer. . . . Freshman G Taran Kozun stopped 32 shots for his first WHL shutout. . . . F Colin Smith had a goal and two assists. F Tim Bozon added two goals and F JC Lipon had two assists, giving that line a seven-point night. . . . The Blazers improved to 9-0-1 as they ran their winning streak to seven. They meet the Oil Kings in Edmonton tonight. . . . Lipon, who has won back-to-back WHL and CHL player of the week honours, now has a WHL-leading 24 points, three more than Smith. . . . The Smith-Bozon-Lipon line has combined for 60 points in 10 games. . . . With 19 points, the Blazers are off to the best 10-game start in franchise history. . . . The Rebels have followed a three-game winning streak with two straight losses. . . .

The Tri-City Americans won their fourth straight game, beating the host Prince Albert Raiders 2-1 in a shootout. . . . According to the WHL’s online scoresheet, Tri-City F Jesse Mychan pulled the visitors into a 1-1 tie at 2:02 of the third period. However, according to an Americans news release, F Connor Rankin got the equalizer. . . . F Brian Williams and Rankin then scored in the circus, while Prince Albert was blanked. . . . Tri-City D Brodie Clowes (shoulder) played his first game with the Americans. He was acquired from the Victoria Royals on Sept. 12. . . . However, the Americans were without D Mitch Topping (undisclosed) and F Ryan Chynoweth (shoulder). Topping was injured Saturday in Brandon. Chynoweth went down Sunday in Moose Jaw. . . . The Americans, who have won three in a row on their East Division swing and five straight on the road, face the Blades in Saskatoon tonight. Tri-City is 1-14 in Saskatoon, with that lone victory in 1995-96. . . . The Raiders are off until Friday when they play host to the Everett Silvertips. . . .

G Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-0 victory over the Cougars in Prince George. . . . Driedger has one shutout this season and four in his career. . . . F Zane Jones scored twice for Calgary. . . . G Mac Engel, acquired by the Cougars from the Spokane Chiefs on Monday, came in at 13:59 of the second period, with his side trailing 5-0, and stopped all 20 shots he faced. . . . Prince George started G Brett Zarowny, meaning G Devon Fordyce was a scratch. In fact, he is headed home to Cochrane, Alta., to await a move. . . . Calgary F Brooks Macek drew three assists, running his point streak to 10 games. . . . The Hitmen set a franchise record for shots in one period, when they had 27 in the second. . . .

Russian F Alex Delnov had two goals and two assists to lead the host Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Delnov has four goals. . . . Seattle has won three in a row and four of five. . . . F Connor Sanvido, with his first two goals of the season, and F Luke Lockhart also had two goals for Seattle. Lockhart’s second was an empty-netter. . . . F Mitch Holmberg scored his 10th of the season for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane D Brenden Kichton had two assists, giving him a career total of 147 points. That broke the Chiefs’ franchise record of 146 assists by a defenceman that had been held by Frank Evans (1988-92). Kichton also holds the franchise career records for goals (48) and points (195) by a defenceman.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Joey Santucci, Prince Albert
F Matt Needham, Kamloops

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F JC Lipon, Kamloops
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Portland Winterhawks G Brendan Burke (@bburke_1): “First time ever watching a debate not gonna take sides on twitter because I don’t feel like being criticized right now #debate”


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jamie Benn (Kelowna, 2007-09) signed a lockout contract with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL). He had 26 goals and 37 assists in 71 games with Dallas Stars last season. Benn will meet with the German media today in Hamburg. . . .
D Kris Russell (Medicine Hat, 2003-07) has returned to North America after suffering an undisclosed injury while playing for TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) in Sunday's game against the Espoo Blues. He was injured on the first shift of Sunday's game. Video highlights show that Russell blocked a shot with the inside of his right foot and did not return. Russell played his first game in Finland on Saturday, a 4-3 TPS victory in overtime against HIFK Helsinki. He had a goal and an assist, both on the power play, in just under 25 minutes of action.
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If you haven’t seen the TSN feature on Brandon Wheat Kings D Ryan Pulock that ran Tuesday night, you will find it right here, and it’s well worth five minutes of your time. . . . The reporter is Leah Hextall, who works for CTV out of Winnipeg. Yes, she is part of hockey’s Hextall family. She is the daughter of Randy Hextall, who won the Centennial Cup with the MJHL’s Portage Terriers in 1973.
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CH-CH-CHING!
The WHL’s coffers sweeled for the first time this season as the Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes were dinged for a “multiple-fight situation” in Cranbrook on Saturday.
In the end, the tally was $1,750. (Yes, the Christmas shopping season is almost upon us.)
Each team was fined $500 for the fights, with the Hurricanes being hit up for an extra $500 and the Ice for $250 for “actions of player” during the situation.
There also were a couple of notable suspensions out of that game.
Lethbridge F Brady Ramsay, a 19-yer-old from Calgary, was hit with a five-game suspension, while Kootenay F Jon Martin, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg, got three games.
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, noted on the WHL website that Ramsay “entered the ice during a stoppage and initiated an altercation with an opponent.”
During the game, which Lethbridge won 4-2, Martin picked up 11 minutes in penalties — two roughing minors, a charging minor and one of the six fighting majors that were handed out at 18:49 of the third period.
Ramsay wasn’t penalized at any point in the game.
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The Swift Current Broncos have trimmed their roster by two as they have moved out D Eric Walker, 19, and G Steven Myland, 18. . . . Walker is expected to join the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Walker, from Castlegar, B.C., had been acquired from the Vancouver Giants in January for an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He was pointless, with five penalty minutes, in three games this season. . . . Myland is off to the junior B North Delta Devils of the Pacific International Junior League. The Broncos acquired Myland from the Kootenay Ice as part of the January 2011 deal in which F Cody Eakin went the other way. From Cloverdale, B.C., he got into three exhibition games with the Broncos. His departure leaves the Broncos with two freshman goaltenders — Eetu Laurikainen, 19, of Jyvaskyla, Finland, and Landon Bow, 17, from St. Albert, Alta. . . . The Broncos’ roster is at 23 players, including 14 forwards and seven defencemen.
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The Prince Albert Raiders are down to 24 players after assigning F Spencer Meyer, 16, to the junior B Grandview Steelers of the Pacific International Junior League. . . . Meyer was a fourth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . He got into regular-season game with the Raiders this season. . . . The Raiders’ roster now includes nine defencemen and 13 forwards.
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Things have been somewhat interesting in Saskatoon where D Duncan Siemens, last season’s captain, is neither the captain nor an alternate this season. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix gives his thoughts on that situation right here.
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JUST NOTES:
F Ryan Graham, 16, of the Saskatoon Blades has received medical clearance and took part in a full practice Tuesday. He has been out with back problems and now is day-to-day. . . . The  Blades are at home tonight to the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Saskatoon is 2-2-0 but has yet to win in regulation time. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix also points out that the Blades “have led for just 16 seconds so far this season.” . . . Regina Pats head coach Pat Conacher is expected back behind his club’s bench tonight for a game against the host Moose Jaw Warriors. Conacher has missed three games while tending to a family situation in Calgary. Conacher missed three road games, with the Pats going 1-2-0. . . .
The week’s hot ticket may be Friday night’s game in Brandon between the Wheat Kings and Portland Winterhawks. For sure, Westman Place will contain a whole lot of NHL scouts, there to see two defencemen — Ryan Pulock of the Wheat Kings and Seth Jones of the Winterhawks. “I’ve talked to a number of people (from NHLteams) that are coming to the game Friday and it’s a great opportunity to see two of the top defencemen in this year’s draft play on the same sheet of ice,” Brandon /owner/GM Kelly McCrimmon told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun. “So from a comparative standpoint, I think that’s valuable for scouts and as well it’s Portland’s only trip to the Prairies this season, so it’s a good opportunity for the scouts that are based in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to get in and watch their team play as well.” . . .
Brenden Kichton, the new captain in Spokane, has broken the Chiefs’ career scoring record for defencemen. He now has 185 points, including 140 assists, in 265 regular-season games. That is one more point than Bryan McCabe put up in 152 games during the live-puck era. McCabe played with the Chiefs from early in 1992-93 to late in 1994-95. He started with the Medicine Hat Tigers and finished with the Brandon Wheat Kings. In 254 regular-season games, he finished with 243 points. . . .
F Ryan Harrison of the Everett Silvertips has served a four-game suspension left over from last season and is eligible to play tonight against the visiting Tri-City Americans. Harrison, 20, took a charging major in Everett’s last playoff game in the spring and was later hit with a four-game suspension. A bout of mononucleosis kept him out of the club’s exhibition games.
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During my time covering the WHL and its teams, I don’t know that I have come across any one player who was as mature as Chris Phillips. A defenceman with the Prince Albert Raiders who finished up his WHL days with the Lethbridge Hurricanes (1995-97), he really was mature beyond his years . . . well beyond. . . . Don Brennan of the Ottawa Citizen has more right here on Phillips and his father, Garth, who died on the weekend.
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TUESDAY’S GAME:
There was one game, with the host Prince Albert Raiders beating the Red Deer Rebels, 5-4, in a shootout. . . . F Mark McNeill, the Raiders’ captain, scored the only goal of the shootout, after scoring his first two goals of the season in regulation time. . . . McNeill is 2-for-2 in the circus this season, having also scored against the Saskatoon Blades. . . . McNeill had a Gordie Howe hat trick in the second period. He had a goal, an assist and a scrap, the latter with D Mathew Dumba. Both were first-round NHL draft picks — McNeill by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011, Dumba by the Minnesota Wild in 2012. . . . Red Deer F Charles Inglis scored the game’s first goal on a PP with 7.7 seconds left in the first period. . . . That was Inglis’s fifth goal this season, all of them coming in the last  three games. . . . Inglis later added a second goal, giving him three straight two-goal outings. . . . He also has five PP goals on Red Deer’s last eight opportunities. . . . The Raiders scratched F Mike Winther with the dreaded lower-body injury. . . . Prince Albert F Anthony Bardaro, 20, scored a goal in his 200th regular-season game. . . . Prince Albert D Evan Morden drew an assist on Bardaro’s goal, his fourth assist in three games. Last season, Morden had three assists in 58 games with the Everett Silvertips. . . . Former Raiders player and coach Bob Lowes was in the Art Hauser Centre for the game. He now scouts for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . Must have been some stories told at this one, what with Lowes joined there by Lorne Molleken and Daryl Lubiniecki of the Saskatoon Blades, Peter Anholt, who now scouts for the Seattle Thunderbirds, and longtime NHL scout Darwin Bennett.
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A tweet from WHL Facts (@WHLFacts): 6 — In his last 6 games vs. Red Deer, @PARaidersHockey Marc McNeill (@McNeill9) has scored 4 Goals, 9 Assists, & is a +6.
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CHECKING FROM BEHIND COUNT:
F Adam Kambeitz, Red Deer.
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CHECKING TO THE HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From George Bowditch (@55golfman): “Sask. Hockey Hall of Fame now open 1-5 p.m. Tues-Sat. Broncos game days 1-4 p.m. and 6-7 p.m. Check out heroes of yesterday.”
The Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the iPlex in Swift Current.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Kris Russell (Medicine Hat, 2003-07) signed a lockout contract with TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had six goals and six assists  in 55 games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues last season. Russell is scheduled to arrive in Finland today and will make his debut either in tonight's game at HPK Hämeenlinna or in TPS' game at home on Saturday against HIFK Helsinki. The TPS press release ends with the club thanking two of their major sponsors for helping them sign Russell. . . .
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) has signed a contract until the end of November with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga) after a  successful try-out. Rumpel, who started his try-out last weekend, had one assist in one game with Trnava (Slovakia, 1.Liga) to start the season. Last season, Rumpel had three assists in two games with Trnava before signing with Frederikshavn (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga), where he had seven goals and 12 assists in 30 games.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, brought down the hammer on Wednesday afternoon.
Now we’ll see if the players are paying attention.
Kale Kessy, a forward with the Medicine Hat Tigers who turns 20 on Dec. 4, provided Doerksen with the opportunity in a game against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Kessy drew a major and game misconduct for a headshot on Lethbridge D Ryan Pilon, who is listed as being out indefinitely.
With Kessy already having served 14 games in suspensions from six separate incidents, Doerksen had a repeat offender with whom to deal. And he did just that, as he suspended Kessy, a fourth-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft, for a dozen games.
Doerksen wrote in his reasons that “the checking to the head penalty was for an elbow to the head” and pointed out that “the opponent was injured on the play.”
Kessy met with Doerksen in the WHL’s Calgary office for 45 minutes before the decision was announced.
“I respect the league’s decision and what they have done,” Kessy told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “At the end of the day, they are the ones making the decisions. You just have to be responsible for your actions.”
Kessy will be eligible to return on Oct. 26 for a game in Calgary against the Hitmen.
Here’s the rest of Kessy’s rap sheet:
One game for a game misconduct at Lethbridge, March 10, 2012.
Four games for a checking-from-behind major at Red Deer, Nov. 26, 2011.
Five games for a checking-from-behind double minor at Victoria, Oct. 6, 2011.
One game for a checking-from-behind double minor vs. Brandon, March 26, 2011.
Two games for a checking-from-behind double minor vs. Lethbridge, Dec. 18, 2010.
One game for a boarding major vs. Seattle, Oct. 31, 2009.
If you were wondering, this is the longest suspension handed out by the WHL office since it hit Tri-City Americans F Brendan Shinnimin with 12 games for an ugly hit on Saskatoon Blades F Josh Nicholls on Oct. 6, 2010.
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In the same game as Kessy’s hit on Pilon, Lethbridge D Spencer Galbraith was given a headshot major and game misconduct for a hit on Medicine Hat F Hunter Shinkaruk.
The WHL has since changed that to a charging major for which there won’t be a suspension.
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The Vancouver Giants have acquired F Trevor Cheek, 20, from the Calgary Hitmen for two bantam draft picks — a fourth-rounder in 2013 and a fifth-rounder in 2014. . . . Cheek, from Vancouver, Wash., is into his third WHL season. He had 49 points, including 23 goals, and 75 penalty minutes with Calgary last season. . . . Cheek is expected to play Friday when the Giants entertain the Everett Silvertips. . . . The move gets each team to the maximum three 20-year-olds. Cheek joins D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen and D John Neibrandt in Vancouver. . . . The Hitmen have F Brooks Macek, F Cody Sylvester and D Spencer Humphries on their roster.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have picked up F Dakota Conroy, 18, from the Victoria Royals for a seventh-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Conroy, an Edmonton native, was dealt to Victoria by the Brandon Wheat Kings last season in a swap that had F Kevin Sundher go the other way as the centrepiece. . . . Conroy had 10 points, including seven goals, in 30 games with the Royals after putting up eight points, four of them goals, in 37 games with Brandon.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have assigned F Ryley Lindgren, 16, to the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. Lindgren, from East St. Paul, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . Brandon now is carrying 25 players, including eight defencemen and 15 forwards. . . .
James Shewaga of the Brandon Sun reports that the Wheat Kings “have sold 2,540 season tickets, down from last season’s total of 2,973.” . . .
The Kootenay Ice had a familiar face on the ice with them at practice on Wednesday. Tom Renney, who is from Cranbrook, was helping head coach Ryan McGill keep things moving. Renney is the associate coach with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, so has nothing but time on his hands these days. . . .
D Austin Adam, 17, of the Everett Silvertips is out for up to six weeks with a broken hand. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Adam “suffered a freak injury during practice Tuesday when his hand got caught in the partition between two panels of glass.” . . .
The AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm has acquired the rights to F Mike Forsyth, 20, from the Camrose Kodiaks for future considerations. Forsyth, who is from Calgary, had 15 points in 72 games with the Victoria Royals last season. . . . 
The Spokane hockey community is in mourning following the death Wednesday of Bob LaRue, the father of former WHL referee Dennis LaRue. Bob was a retired U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer. In fact, Dennis, the oldest of five children, was born in Savannah, Ga., in the Hunter AFB hospital. Bob was a long-time supporter of the Spokane hockey community. . . .
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NOTES FROM WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
F Brenden Walker, 20, of the Saskatoon Blades played in his 200th career regular-season game last night in Brandon. The Blades dropped a 9-6 decision to the Wheat Kings in what was Walker’s first game against his old team. He was dealt to Saskatoon in May. . . . You just know that both coaches, Brandon’s Dwayne Gylywoychuk and Saskatoon’s Lorne Molleken, were saying the same thing after this one: “We have a lot of things to work on.” . . . The Blades actually tied the game 6-6 when F Josh Nicholls scored at 6:46 of the third period while his guys were two-men short. . . . Late in the second period, Nicholls came up empty on a penalty shot against G Corbin Boes. . . .
G Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots for his first WHL shutout as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Hurricanes 3-0 in Lethbridge. . . . G Ty Rimmer stopped 57 shots for the Hurricanes, who trailed just 1-0 after two periods, despite being outshot 43-14. . . . Jarry, who backs up Laurent Brossoit, was making his first appearance this season. He got into 14 games last season, going 8-2-1, 2.93, .894. . . .
F Morgan Klimchuk’s second goal of the game, at 2:09 of OT, gave the visiting Regina Pats a 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos have played three games this season and have led 3-0 in each of them. However, they have lost two of those games, both in OT.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Brad Hornung (@Bradhornung): “Had a ‘brush with greatness’ today as I was cruising through Wascana Park. A chance meeting with NHL legend Mike Bossy.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
It seems that lightning has hit the outhouse in Invermere, B.C., where GM/head coach Marc Ward and assistant coach Jan Kascak have resigned from the junior B Columbia Valley Rockies of the Kootenay International Junior League. . . . The Rockies picked up seven points in 52 games last season under Ward, but are off to a 3-2-0-1 start (W-L-T-OTL) this season. . . . Ross Bidinger, the director of hockey operations, has taken over as GM/head coach, and there now are four assistant coaches – Kirk, Scott and Wade Dubielewicz and Dave Tomalty. . . . "We wish both (Ward) and (Kascak) well … but we have no reservations about what we've put into place over the last 24 hours,” Rockies vice-president Graeme Anderson told Steve Jessel of the Invermere Valley Echo. "I'm extremely confident that you're going to see the Rockies performing as well as they have done, and better."
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You may be aware that the family of the late Derek Boogaard has filed a lawsuit against the NHLPA. Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times writes that the lawsuit “could lead to some novel and tumultuous territory for the sport.” . . . Read this right here in its entirety and perhaps you will gain some understanding as to why some people like David Branch are moving to cut down on, if not completely eradicate, fighting in hockey.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.