THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ty Morris (Swift Current, Vancouver, Red Deer, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with the Landshut Cannibals (Germany 2. Bundesliga). He had one goal in two games with the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, 2. Bundesliga) and three goals and five assists in 40 games with Munich (Germany, DEL) this season. . . .


D Juraj Valach (Tri-City, Vancouver, Regina, Red Deer, 2006-08) signed a one-year plus option contract with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had two goals and five assists in 46 games with Kometa Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga) this season. . . .




F Mikhail Yakubov (Red Deer, 2001-02) signed a one-year contract with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia, KHL). He had one goal and seven assists in 52 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia, KHL) this season. . . .




D Ales Cerny (Swift Current, 2000-02) signed a one-year contract with Nice (France, Division 1). He had two goals and four assists in 20 games with Mulhouse (France, Ligue Magnus) this season. . . .

F Radim Valchar (Portland, Lethbridge, 2007-10) signed a one-year contract with Gap (France, Ligue Magnus). He had 13 goals and 25 assists in 43 games with Bardejov (Slovakia, 1. Liga) this season.
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A little of this and some of that . . .
1. With one game left in the round-robin at the Memorial Cup, the Saskatoon Blades still can win this thing. And would you have said that after they had been swept from the first round of the WHL playoffs? . . . Of the four teams in the tournament, the Blades have put in the most consistent effort to this point.
2. On Saturday night, this was shaping up as a Memorial Cup to remember. Now . . . who knows? We’ve had a one-goal game, two games decided by three goals and one with a seven-goal differential.
3. We do know that the Halifax Mooseheads, who hammered the London Knights 9-2 last night, are through to the semifinal, at least. . . . We also know that there will be a tiebreaker on Thursday.
4. Dave Hunchak, the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers, tackled the subject of goaltending on 92.9 The Bull’s pre-game show at the Memorial Cup on Tuesday. If you haven’t noticed, there is a dearth of quality goaltending in Canada these days. . . . “A guy you can take to world juniors and he’s got your back . . . do we have those guys in our system right now?” Hunchak asked. . . . Hunchak then pointed out that Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov is from Russia, while Portland Winterhawks starter Mac Carruth is from Minnesota. . . . “Half (the starters) aren’t even from Canada,” he said of the Memorial Cup goaltenders. “It’s a concern not just in Western Canada but right across the board.”
5. Listening to Hunchak providing so much insight and raising so many valid points on The Bull’s pre- and post-game shows has me wondering why he isn’t a regular on Sportsnet’s intermission shows.
6. Here’s hoping Hunchak doesn’t lose his voice when he returns to Kamloops and gets down to work as the Blazers’ head coach.
7. If you’re a regular at Memorial Cups, who can plan on being in Vancouver in May 2016. That’s because Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, wants the 2016 Memorial Cup for his city. Jeff Paterson has that story right here.
8. Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press writes right here that organizers in Saskatoon, including Blades governor Jack Brodsky, aren’t disappointed with attendance figures. Nor should they be. . . . Attendance was announced as 9,237 for last night’s game between Halifax and London. . . . Keep in mind that Credit Union Centre can seat 15,195 fans, which means there is never a demand for tickets. This is something the Blades battle all the time — there always are tickets available, so there is never a rush to purchase. . . . It will be interesting to see how many fans show up for tonight’s game between the Blades and Portland. If you’re wondering, prices at Ticketmaster in the wee hours of today ranged from $37.50 to $113.75 per ticket. I would suggest that’s too much for junior hockey, even at the bottom end, and especially when the game is being televised live.
9. Should we believe London head coach Dale Hunter when he says he wasn’t the least bit upset that his Halifax counterpart, Dominique Ducharme, had his big guns out on the PP with an 8-2 lead and two minutes left in the third period? . . . From a journalist’s perspective, I wish more WHL coaches would do that in regular-season games. It would guarantee that there would be lots about which to write.
10. A Saskatoon victory tonight sends the Blades right to the final, leaving London and Portland to play in Thursday’s tiebreaker, with the winner moving on to play Halifax in the semifinal on Friday. . . . A Portland victory tonight, means Halifax is in the final, with London and Saskatoon to meet in the tiebreaker, with the winner going against Portland in the semifinal.
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The Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, practised Monday in Moore, Okla., just three hours before a tornado laid waste to much of the community. Terry Jones of the Edmonton Journal writes about that right here.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed Matt Recchi, the director of player personnel, and head scout Ken Fox to what a news release says are “multi-year” contract extensions. . . . Recchi and Fox have been in their positions since July 2008. . . . Recchi works out of Kamloops, while Fox lives in Hodfast, Sask.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jason Brooks won’t be returning as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. Brooks, who had been with the IceDogs through two seasons, said he is leaving because of back problems. He had surgery in March. According to an IceDogs news release, Brooks will return to Listowel, Ont., “where he will join the family business.” . . .


The BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers announced Tuesday that Michael Olson won’t be back as an assistant coach. Olson, the captain of the Clippers when they won the BCHL title in 2003-04, cited personal reasons in leaving the club. He spent the last three seasons on the team’s coaching staff.
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From Thomas Miller (@Thomas_Miller): “Just saw a city bus with ‘go blades go’ on it. This is offensive to other teams and fans... I am taking this to human rights.”
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From Darryl Wolski (@darrylwolski): “The official Chilli of the OHL and WHL....im all about sponsor dollars but.... an official Chilli??? #bizarre”
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From Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood): “Prince George, BC was so great tonight! Thank you for making our next-to-last show so amazing! You rock!”
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From Kamloops Blazers F/D Josh Connolly (@jconnolly02): “Hey @mikefisher1212... Would you mind it if we traded lives for a day? Good god you're a lucky man. #carrie”

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Blazers trim forward from roster

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Jesse Sinatynski experiment is over . . . at least for now.
The WHL’s Kamloops Blazers released Sinatynski, an 18-year-old forward, from their roster on Thursday, although he will stay on their protected list.
The Blazers gave the Brandon Wheat Kings a 2011 fifth-round draft pick in exchange for Sitanyski on Oct. 13. He played in three games with the Blazers, scoring one goal, and was a healthy scratch in the other.
A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Sinatynski is expected to end up with an AJHL team. He was a 13th-round pick by the Wheat Kings in the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft.
“I made the deal the day before the waiver draft,” Blazers general manager Craig Bonner explained, referring to the day when each WHL team had to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-old players. “I didn’t think (Shayne) Neigum was going to be available.”
Neigum, 20, was placed on waivers by the Chilliwack Bruins and the Blazers claimed him.
“I thought we needed one more forward,” Bonner said. “When Neigum became available, we ended up with too many guys again.”
In Sinatynski, Bonner was looking for the player he had watched total 64 points and 154 penalty minutes with a midget AAA team in Fort Saskatchewan two seasons ago.
“He played with a lot of passion,” Bonner said. “I knew he wasn’t a great skater, but he was a real competitive guy.
“The one thing I really liked about him was his passion for the game. He was that kind of player and he made up for his deficiencies with that. It just seems that that has been lost. That happens to some players.”
Last season, with the Wheat Kings as the host team for the Memorial Cup, Sinatynski got into just 27 games, putting up 10 points and six penalty minutes.
“After his year in Brandon, it seems he lost a bit of that competitive edge that we were looking for,” Bonner said. “After watching him, it seems the passion is gone.”
Bonner, now with 24 players on his roster, didn’t want to have an 18-year-old who was in and out of the lineup.
“For his own sake he needs to go back to junior A and play and try to find that passion again,” Bonner said. “Hopefully,  he can go and have some success and we’ll see.
“It’s in his hands what he wants do do.”
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When the Blazers opened training camp in late August, they were faced with a real lack of depth at the goaltending position.
That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.
The Blazers now hold the rights to nine goaltenders, including Jeff Bosch, 20, and Jon Groenheyde, 19, who are on their roster, and Josh Thorimbert, 18, who is a freshman with the Colorado College Tigers.
Also on the Kamloops protected list are Cole Cheveldave, 17, of the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons; John Keeney, 17, with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers; Braden Krogfoss, 15, who is playing midget AAA in Cloverdale; Scott Lapp, 15, who is playing midget AAA in Semiahmoo; Troy Trombley, 16, who is with a midget AAA team in Fort Saskatchewan; and, Taran Kozun, 16, with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos.
The Blazers placed Cheveldave on their list following the AJHL’s Showcase Weekend early in October, while Lapp earned a spot on the list with a strong performance in the Blazers’ training camp.
“The plan was to draft two goaltenders,” Matt Recchi, the Blazers’ director of player personnel, said. They were only able to draft one — Krogfoss — so a decision was made to “list the best one out of camp.”
“Lapp was real good at camp,” Recchi said, noting that “we kept him through to main camp. He was that good.”
Keeney, who is from Twin Peaks, Calif., is 2-1 with a 1.92 GAA and .927 save percentage in three games with Omaha. He now is partnered with Todd Mathews, 20, who was dropped by the WHL’s Kootenay Ice at the 20-year-old deadline. Mathews, from Covina, Calif., lost his only start with the Lancers.
Thorimbert, from Saskatoon, is one of three goaltenders with the Tigers, the others being sophomore Joe Howe and senior Tyler O’Brien. Howe has started five of the Tigers’ six games and is 2-2-1, 1.99, .928. Thorimbert gave up three goals on 19 shots in winning his one start.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers are at home Saturday, 7 p.m., to the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Matthew Needham, the Blazers’ first pick in the 2010 WHL bantam draft, has 19 points, including nine goals, in 18 games with the Penticton-based Okanagan Hockey Academy U-18 prep team. He picked up nine points in his last three games. . . . F Cody DePourcq, who is on the Blazers’ list and also is at OHA, has 21 points, including 13 goals, in 19 games.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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