D Ray Macias (Kamloops, 2002-07) has signed a two-week tryout contract with Székesfehérvár (Hungary, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite), he had two goals and three assists in eight games. . . .
F Martin Podlešák (Tri-City, Lethbridge, 2000-02) was granted his release by the Nottingham Panthers (England, UK Elite) for personal reasons. Last season, with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had three goals and four assists in 23 games. He also had a goal in three games with Litoměřice (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). . . .
F Clinton Pettapiece (Tri-City, Medicine Hat, 2003-06) was released by Tingsryd (Sweden, Allsvenskan). Last season, with the Dordrecht Lions (Netherlands, Eredivisie), he had 61 points, including 22 goals, in 36 games. . . .
F Tomáš Troliga (Calgary, 2003-04) signed a one-year-plus-option contract with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga) after a successful tryout. Last season, with Dukla Trenčín (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had 24 points, including 13 goals, in 46 games.
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The Vancouver Giants have settled on their three 20-year-olds, at least for now. They placed F Travis McEvoy on waivers on Tuesday, leaving them with F Matt Bellerive, F Joel Hamilton and F Dalton Sward. . . . McEvoy, from Thorsby, Alta., has 49 points, 23 of them goals, in188 regular-season WHL games. He played 111 of those with the Giants, after starting his career with 77 games with the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Bellerive, from North Vancouver, is with the Giants for a second go-round. He played 98 games with them through the end of 2011-12, when he was dealt to the Red Deer Rebels. Last season, the Rebels traded him to the Kamloops Blazers, who sent him to the Giants this summer. In 227 games, he has 97 points, 43 of them goals. . . . Hamilton put up 46 points, including 13 goals, in 70 games with the Giants last season. From Cochrane, Alta., he played his first two seasons with Red Deer, recording 57 points, 14 of them goals, in 114 games. . . . Sward, from Abbotsford, is entering his fifth sesaon with the Giants. He has 96 points, including 48 goals, in 237 games.---
The Swift Current Broncos released veteran F Justin Spagrud, 19, on Tuesday. Spagrud, from Gull Lake, which is just west of Swift Current, was pointless in 39 games last season. In 2012-13, he had three goals and two assists in 39 games.---
F Carson Perreaux, who turns 20 on Dec. 28, has left the Prince Albert Raiders, choosing to end his WHL career in order “to pursue education and work opportunities,” according to a news release. . . . In 186 games with the Raiders, the Brandon native had 58 points, including 32 goals. . . . “He’s decided it’s time for him to step away,” Raiders GM Bruno Campese told Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. “He’s been a great citizen. He and his family have been very dedicated to the Raiders organization and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.” . . . The Raiders, who now are carrying 29 players, still have four 20-year-olds on their roster -- F Calder Brooks, F Dakota Conroy, F Jayden Hart and D Sawyer Lange. . . . The Raiders also are down to two goaltenders -- Nick McBride, 17, and Rylan Parenteau, who turns 18 on Nov. 6. McBride, from Maple Ridge, B.C., was 12-7-2/2.95/.908 as a freshman last season. Parenteau, from Saskatoon, has played 69 minutes with the Raiders over the last two seasons.---
The Kamloops Blazers have signed F Garrett Pilon, 16, who has been returned to the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Pilon, the son of former NHL/WHL D Rich Pilon (Prince Albert, 1985-88), was a seventh-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Last season, Garrett had 29 points, including 10 goals, in 43 games with the contacts.---
If you were one of the viewers who stayed up into the wee hours of Tuesday morning to watch No. 6 Milos Raonic and No. 11 Kei Nishikori play in the U.S. Open, Juan Jose Vallejo of Rolling Stone has his take right here.
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Magnus Carlsen is a 23-year-old Norwegian who already is being billed as perhaps the best chess player in history. He’s in St. Louis these days and Dave McKenna of Deadspin takes a look right here.
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that F Ty Mappin, who suffered a brain injury last week, has resumed skating but hasn’t been cleared for contact. . . . The Blades released F Nick Gomerich, 18, on Tuesday. Last season, as a freshman, he had five points in 44 games. From Nanaimo, B.C., he was a sixth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . The SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds have added Bear Trapp to their staff as an assistant coach. He will work alongside GM/head coach Clint Mylymok. Trapp is the son of former WHL F Doug Trapp (Regina, 1982-85) and the grandson of former WHL coach and longtime scout Barry Trapp.
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The most interesting part of the interview comes at the end.
gotten the job ahead of former Saskatoon Blades head coach Dave Struch. . . . Struch now may end up as the general manager and head coach of the Humboldt Broncos. Dean Brockman, their former GM/head coach, now is an assistant coach with the Blades. . . . Paddock, from Oak River, Man., has played in the WHL, with the Brandon Wheat Kings (1972-74), but has never coached junior hockey. He has a 589-438-98 record as an AHL head coach and has been a member of that league’s hall of fame since 2010. Paddock also has NHL coaching experience with the Winnipeg Jets (1991-95) and Ottawa Senators (2007-08). . . . For the past five seasons, Paddock has been in the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization, either as an assistant GM or assistant coach. The Flyers announced on June 18 that he wouldn’t be back with them. . . . With Regina, Paddock replaces Malcolm Cameron, who was fired by the Pats’ new owners on June 22. . . . The Pats, who are scheduled to open training camp on Aug. 21, are the only one of the WHL's 22 teams without a head coach at this point. When they get a coach signed, they will be the 10th WHL team to have done so this off-season.
F Rudolf Cerveny (Regina, 2007-09) and F Martin Podlesak (Tri-City, Lethbridge, 2000-02) signed one-year plus option contract extensions with Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). . . . Cerveny had three goals and two assists in 33 games with Ceske Budejovice and four assists in 11 games on loan to Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). . . . Podlesak had five goals and two assists in 32 games with Ceske Budejovice this season. . . .
The USHL held Phase II of its draft last night. If you’re a fan of drafts, you have to love the USHL round-by-round. It’s right here, and if you click on a player’s name you will get his stats. Great stuff!
F Chris Wilkie was the second overall selection, going to the Tri-City Storm, in the the USHL draft on Tuesday evening. Wilkie, who turns 17 on July 10, has committed to North Dakota and has said he is leaving the U.S. National Team Development Program. . . . His WHL rights belong to the Victoria Royals, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 bantam draft. . . . The Storm plays out of Kearney, Nebraska. Wilkie is from Omaha and would become the first Nebraska native to play for the Storm should he, as expected, sign with there.
Still with the USHL draft, F Tyson McClellan, the son of San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McClellan, was picked by the Waterloo Black Hawks in the sixth round, 84th overall. Tyson, 17, has twice been in training camp with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . 
F Ryan Gropp of Kamloops was taken in the eighth round, 108th overall, by the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL’s draft on Tuesday evening. Gropp, who turns 17 on Sept. 16, played this season with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. His WHL rights belong to the Seattle Thunderbirds, who selected him sixth overall in the WHL’s 2011 draft. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has yet to publicly declare whether he will play in the WHL or take the NCAA route.
G Dawson MacAuley, whose WHL rights were acquired Thursday by the Regina Pats, was taken by the Lincoln Stars in the 22nd round, 326th overall. . . . MacAuley, who turns 19 on June 14, is from Prince Albert. He has some WHL experience with t he Medicine Hat Tigers, but played most of this season with the SJHL-champion Yorkton Terriers. The Pats acquired MacAuley from the Calgary Hitmen for a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
In Edmonton, F Ty Rattie tied the WHL record for career playoff goals as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Oil Kings, 3-1. . . . Rattie scored his WHL-leading 17th goal to give Portland a 2-0 lead in the first period. That was his 47th career playoff goal, tying him with F Mark Pederson (Medicine Hat, 1983-88). . . . Rattie has played in 73 career playoff games; Pederson played in 71. . . . Rattie also leads the WHL with 33 points, in 18 games. Last season, he put up 33 points in 21 games, finishing one point behind then-teammate F Sven Baertschi. . . . The Winterhawks dominated the first period, getting goals from F Taylor Leier (8:39), Rattie (8:14) and F Oliver Bjorkstrand (15:48). . . . Portland G Mac Carruth, who lost his shutout bid when F Michael St. Croix scored at 9:13 of the second, stopped 38 shots. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit turned saide 24. . . . The Oil Kings remain without F Trevor Cheek, who has an undisclosed injury and may not play at all in the series, and D Griffin Reinhart, whose season was ended by a skate cut to a foot that required surgery.
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