THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jamie Lundmark (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had eight goals and eight assists in 47 games with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) this season.
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MAX ADOLPH

In a column that appeared in The Daily News today and also is on this blog, I write about the retirement of Kelowna Rockets F Max Adolph.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix spoke with Adolph on Tuesday and his story is right here.
“Although the Saskatoon native hasn't taken to the ice since suffering his latest concussion in a pre-season contest last September,” Nugent-Bowman writes, “he still can't jump around or move his head suddenly without suffering a headache.
“He won't be permitted to wakeboard at the lake this summer either.”
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Former NFL star running back Eric Dickerson, who is a Hall of Famer, has joined in a lawsuit against the NFL.
Dickerson, according to The Associated Press, is “the lead plaintiff among 15 men named in the suit filed Monday in federal court in Houston. Other plaintiffs include former Minnesota Vikings player John Randle and the estate of Ernie Stautner, a long-time Dallas assistant coach and former player in Pittsburgh.”
This is another lawsuit in a number that have been filed against the NFL over head injuries. Those lawsuits involved more than 1,000 former players.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Philadelphia Flyers fired Joe Paterson, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms, on Tuesday. The Phantoms were 37-35-4 this season and didn’t make the playoffs. . . . Patterson took over from interim head coach John Paddock in the middle of last season and was 62-55-8 overall. Paddock had replaced the fired Greg Gilbert early in 2010-11. . . .
Todd Gill, the head coach of the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs, has been named head coach of Canada's under-18 team that will play in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament that is , scheduled from Aug. 13-18, 2012 in Piestany, Slovakia, and Breclav, Czech Republic. The assistant coaches will be Yanick Jean of the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres and Scott Walker of the OHL's Guelph Storm. Canada has won the Hlinka event each of the last four seasons.
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JUST NOTES:
D Benjamin Gallacher was the fifth overall selection, going to the Green Bay Gamblers, in the USHL‘s entry draft on Tuesday. Gallacher, who turns 20 on Sept. 11, is the son of Portland Winterhawks owner Bill Gallacher. The younger Gallacher has committed to attend Ohio State and play for the Buckeyes. . . .
F Peter Quenneville, a fourth-round selection by the Prince George Cougars in the WHL’s 2009 bantam draft, was taken 13th overall by the Dubuque Fighting Saints. . . .Quenneville, 18, played this season with the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders and was the league’s MVP. He has committed to Quinnipiac. . . .
In the sixth round, the Fighting Saints took D Matt Benning, who played for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. You may recall that Bob Tory, the GM of the Tri-City Americans, acquired Benning’s WHL rights from the Kootenay Ice for a couple of conditional bantam draft picks. That deal was made on Aug. 10. Benning, the son of former NHL/WHL D Brian Benning, never agreed to join the Americans. . . .
D Griffin Foulk, who finished this season with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, has signed with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Foulk, 17, was an eighth-round selection by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 2010 bantam draft. The Oil Kings dealt Foulk and a 2012 third-round bantam pick to Everett for F Tyler Maxwell, 20, on Nov. 24. . . . Foulk, who is from Broomfield, Colo., began the season with the major midget Colorado Thunderbirds (23-1-2—3) before joining the Storm in January. He had three assists and 26 penalty minutes in 29 games with the Storm. . . . He is represented by Turning Point Sports Management. . . .
The U of Alberta is down to a shortlist of four candidates in its search for a hockey coach. The new head coach of the Golden Bears is likely to be announced early next week. . . . A source told me Tuesday that Kootenay Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch, who attended the U of A and played there, isn't on that short list. . . .
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The Ottawa Senators have signed F Darren Kramer, who played the last two seasons with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. Kramer was the Chiefs’ captain last season as he played out his eligibility. Ottawa selected him in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL draft. In 139 regular-season games, he had 54 points and 506 penalty minutes. . . . He led the WHL in fighting majors in each of the last two seasons. Kramer was involved in 26 fights this season, which was 20 fewer than the previous season. . . . He also went from eight to 22 goals, and from 14 to 40 points. . . .
Two former Chiefs stars helped the Norfolk Admirals reach the AHL final on Tuesday night. G Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots and F Tyler Johnson scored the game’s second goal as the Admirals blanked the host St. John’s, Nfld., IceCaps, 4-0. The Admirals swept the best-of-seven series and now will play the winner of a series between the Toronto Marlies and Oklahoma City Barons. The Marlies lead that series, 2-1. . . . The Admirals are affiliated with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Marlies are with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Barons with the Edmonton Oilers. . . .
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Mendel Dubuisson “represents the first American of Haitian heritage to be drafted by the WHL and could be the first Haitian-American to reach the NHL,” writes Rich Bolas of the West Valley News in Sun City, Ariz. . . . Dubuisson was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the sixth round of the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft.
Bolas’s complete story is right here.
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Chad Jassman used to be Rroary, the Medicine Hat Tigers’ child-loving mascot. That was before he was left a paraplegic after a 2004 car accident. Now he’s an international-calibre wheelchair basketball player. Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald has his story right here.

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Patrick Holland of the Tri-City Americans fights through traffic in an attempt to get a shot off on Saskatoon Blades
goaltender Andrey Makarov on Wednesday night in Kennewick, Wash.
(Photo by John Allen / AridAcres.com)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Derek LeBlanc (Brandon, Calgary, 2003-07) requested and was granted his release by the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, UK Elite) for personal reasons. He had four goals and nine assists in 12 games for the Giants this season. . . .
G Dusan Salficky (Tri-City, 1990-91) has been loaned by Litomerice (Czech Republic, 1.Liga) to Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for at least one game. Salficky has yet to appear in a game this season. Last season, he had a 3.88 GAA and a .885 save percentage in 12 games with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga), a 2.73 GAA and a .927 save percentage in nine games with Litomerice, and a 1.14 GAA and a .963 save percentage in six games with Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic, 1.Liga).
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F Austin Connor, who was acquired by the Vancouver Giants from the Prince Albert Raiders on Monday, has chosen to retire. The Raiders, instead, have sent the Giants a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. The Raiders got F Teal Burns and F Tyler Hart in the deal, with D Arvin Atwal going to Vancouver.
Connor, who is from Beechy, Sask., has decided he would rather farm than play hockey.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has that story right here.
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Rob Vanstone, in the Regina Leader-Post: “The WHL is transmitting mixed messages. While vowing to crack down on headshots, with the laudable goal of reducing concussions, the league refuses to provide specific injury information on its website. Instead, the site typically refers to upper- and lower-body injuries. In this case, the WHL’s collective big brains should give their heads a shake.”
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Vanstone, continued: “Let’s amend that: They should give their upper bodies a shake.”
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I am told that D Matt Benning of the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints has been offered a scholarship to Minnesota-Duluth, starting with the 2013-14 season. Benning is the son of Brian Benning, a defenceman with the Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers for parts of two seasons (1983-85). The younger Benning was a second-round bantam draft pick by the Kootenay Ice in 2009. His rights were dealt this summer to the Tri-City Americans, but he chose not to report as he wanted to keep his NCAA options open. It would seem that the NCAA option now has materialized.
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JUST NOTES: The Tri-City Americans have assigned F Justin Gutierrez to the NAHL’s Wichita Falls Wildcats. Gutierrez, who turns 16 on Dec. 22, was pointless in one game with the Americans. He is the younger brother of former WHLer Moises Gutierrez. . . . Rick Brodsky, who owns the Prince George Cougars, is a co-owner of the Wichita Falls franchise. . . . Head coach Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants will be the head coach of the WHL team that will meet a touring Russian side in the annual Subway Super Series. He will be assisted by Ryan Huska of the Kelowna Rockets and Lorne Molleken of the Saskatooon Blades. Of course, Hay also is head coach of Canada’s national junior team, and Huska is one of his assistants. . . . The WHL team will meet the Russians in Regina on Nov. 16 and in Moose Jaw on Nov. 17. . . . Greg Mayer of the Regina Pats, Curtis Amiot of the Moose Jaw Warriors and Jamie LeBlanc of the Swift Current Broncos will serve as the WHL team’s training staff.
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Some Wednesday highlights:
In Edmonton, D Griffin Reinhart scored his first two goals to lift the Oil Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Reinhart forged a 1-1 tie at 13:20 of the second period, while on the PP, then got the winner at 18:28 of the third. . . . F Michael St. Croix assisted on both Edmonton goals. . . . Moose Jaw took 50 of 82 penalty minutes. . . . Edmonton held a 42-18 edge in shots. . . .
In Red Deer, the Rebels scored the game’s last three goals, the final one into an empty net, and beat the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . All three goals were unassisted efforts, with F Tyson Ness and F Chad Robinson erasing a 2-1 deficit with goals 24 seconds apart early in the third period. . . . F Turner Elson got the empty-netter at 19:41. . . . Red Deer’s Patrik Bartosak, the CHL’s goaltender of the week, stopped 30 shots. . . .
In Everett, the Brandon Wheat Kings got two goals and an assist from each of F Darian Dziurzynski and F Paul Ciarelli and beat the Silvertips, 8-2. . . . There have been reports that Dziurzynski scored three goals, but the online scoresheet shows him with two. . . . F Brenden Walker and F Michael Ferland each had a goal and two helpers. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 30 shots. He’s 2-0 since being acquired Sunday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Dziurynski has three (or four) goals in two games since being acquired from the Saskatoon Blades, also on Sunday. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal as he ran his season-opening point streak to 11 games. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Bruno Mraz, who left Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Thunderbirds after hitting his head on the boards. . . . The Silvertips had three players leave with injuries — D Ryan Murray, F Josh Birkholz and F Ryan Harrison. . . . Murray, one of the WHL’s top defencemen, left in the first period after taking a hit from Stone. Murray was on crutches after the game. . . . The Wheat Kings next play Friday in Medicine Hat against the Tigers. That game will mark the second time the Clouston brothers have clashed as head coaches. Cory is in his first season as Brandon’s head coach; Shaun is the Tigers’ second-year head coach. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun notes that the two met on Jan. 3, 2003, when the Kootenay Ice, with Cory running things, beat the Tri-City Americans, with Shaun as head coach, 4-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . It’s believed that the only other brothers to have opposed each other in the WHL was the Sauters, Doug with the Calgary Wranglers and Mike with the Lethbridge Broncos, in 1979-80. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Justin Feser scored twice and set up another as the Tri-City Americans got past the Saskatoon Blades, 5-2. . . . Feser’s second goal, at 18:00 of the third, gave the Americans a 4-2 lead and F Brendan Shinnimin iced it with an empty-netter 38 seconds later. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 33 shots, three fewer than Saskatoon’s Andrey Makarov. . . . The Blades have lost three in a row in the U.S. Division after opening the swing with a victory in Everett. . . . The Americans will spend the weekend in Prince George. Tri-City won last season’s series 2-1-0-1, but the Americans hold a 20-3-0-1 edge since 2005-06.
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Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has been following the impending sale of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, is hoping to purchase the Stars out of bankruptcy and there is an important deadline arriving on Saturday.
Heika’s latest piece is right here.
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A report in the Estevan Mercury indicates that the four western Canadian junior A leagues are seriously considering abandoning the RBC Cup and starting up their own championship.
Why?
“According to the document,” the newspaper reports, “a major reason for the change is to get away from Hockey Canada’s overbearing rules for hosting tournaments, which restrict profit for the host community by forcing them to change most or all of their advertising to Hockey Canada sponsors.
“The document cites ‘Hockey Canada exclusivities’ and ‘administrative fees for event management’ among the reasons for taking this initiative.”
The Mercury’s complete story is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tyler Mosienko (Kelowna, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with the Nippon Paper Cranes (Japan, Asia Hockey League). He had 15 goals and 32 assists in 43 games with the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) and one goal and one assist in 22 games with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL) last season. The Paper Cranes play out of Kushiro, Hokkaido. . . .
F Barry Horman (Spokane, Everett, Swift Current, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with Herentals (Belgium, Netherlands Eredivisie). He had 13 goals and 22 assists in 28 games with Mount Royal University (ACAC) last season. . . .
F Tyler Metcalfe (Seattle, 1999-2005) signed a one-year contract with Arystan Temirtau (Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Vyschaya Liga). He had 24 goals and 22 assists in 29 games with Dunaujvaros (Hungary, MOL Liga) last season.
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The Tri-City Americans have acquired D Matt Benning, 17, from the Kootenay Ice for conditional third- and sixth-round picks in the 2012 bantam draft. Benning, the son of former NHLer Brian Benning, played with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints last season. He had seven assists and 65 penalty minutes in 43 games. Benning was selected by the Ice in the second round of the 2009 bantam draft. . . . “Matt is an intelligent defenceman who brings a wealth of potential,” Bob Tory, the American’s general manager, said in a news release. “This deal gives us tremendous young depth on our blueline and sets us up for the future. I hope to be able to sit down with Matt and Brian and complete the recruiting process so we can see Matt in our training camp in a few weeks.” . . . Tory has made three trades in the last few days. Of the latest deal, Tory told me: “Needed to add some depth to my blue-line, fix age groups and up the ante at training camp.” In other words, he feels his training camp is looking a whole lot more competitive today than it was 10 days ago.
Benning chose not to report to the Ice’s camp prior to last season, presumably wanting to keep the NCAA option alive. So now it will be up to Tory to persuade the 6-foot-0, 205-pound Benning to report to the Americans’ camp.
“While we are disappointed Matt did not commit to our program, we felt it was best for both the player and the organization to have a fresh start,” Ice general manager Jeff Chynoweth said in a news release.
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The Swift Current Broncos have folks buzzing after issuing a press release on Wednesday evening.
“The Swift Current Broncos Hockey Club will be holding an open press conference to announce a new addition to the Broncos organization,” the release reads. “Photo opportunities and interviews will be available.”
The news conference is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 11:15 a.m. CST.
Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, and Jordan Wall, the director of business operations, will be in attendance.
Let the guessing begin!
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Stuart Ballantyne is leaving his position as chief operating officer with the Vancouver Giants on Friday. According to a Giants new release, “He will be moving on to a new opportunity, which will be announced in the coming weeks.” Ballantyne has been a sporting fixture in Vancouver for a while now, having been involved with the late Molson Indy Vancouver and having run Hockey House during the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2009 World Police and Fire Games, 2007 Memorial Cup, and the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championship. . . . The Giants have moved Peter Toigo from hockey operations (as director of team services) to the front office as vice-president, operations.
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JUST NOTES: F Tyler Maxwell of the Everett Silvertips will play for the Minnesota Wild team that will play in the annual eight-team tournament in Traverse City, Mich. Maxwell, 20 is preparing for his fourth season in Everett. . . . Also on that Wild rookie team will be F Dylan Willick, 19, of the Kamloops Blazers, who wasn’t selected in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . Everett F Campbell Elynuik, 18, will go to camp with the Philadelphia Flyers. . . . Pat Siedlecki, the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, reports over there on the right taht the club has released F Neil Tarnasky and F Ryon Moser, both of whom are going into their 19-year-old seasons. Tarnasky has seven points in 112 games over two seasons, while Moser has 20 points in 115 games. GM/head coach Rich Preston told Siedlecki that both players have been invited to camp with other WHL teams, but did not identify those teams. . . . Ryan Pinder is the new radio voice of the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. He replaces Dave Sheldon, who left in order to play host to a weekend show on Vancouver radio station CKNW. Pinder spent the last four seasons as director of broadcasting and media relations with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees.
Hockey Canada has named its coached for the 2011 World Junior A Challenge, which is to be played Nov. 7-13 in Langley, B.C. According to the Hockey Canada news release: “Jason Nobili (Bolton, Ont./Toronto, OJHL) and Greg Walters (Toronto, Ont./Georgetown, OJHL) have joined the Canada East staff as assistant coaches, working with head coach Curtis Hodgins (Courtice, Ont./Whitby, OJHL), who was introduced as Canada East head coach during the 2011 RBC Cup. Kent Lewis (Powell River, B.C./Powell River, BCHL) will serve as Canada West head coach, along with assistant coaches Dean Brockman (St. Benedict, Sask./Humboldt, SJHL) and Andrew Milne (St. Albert, Alta./Canmore, AJHL).” . . . Lewis replaces Mark Ferner who was announced as head coach — he then was the GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers — but has since signed on as head coach of the Everett Silvertips.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Anthony Noreen is the new general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. He had been an assistant coach under Curtis Carr, who left for an assistant’s position with the Merrimack College Warriors. . . .
Former NHLer Stéphane Matteau has signed on as an assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Its head coach is J.F. Houle.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter