THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) signed a one-year contract extension with Skellefteå (Sweden, Elitserien). The contract has an out-clause should he sign an NHL contract. Holloway was named Elitserien Most Valuable Player, winning the league scoring championship with 20 goals and 51 assists in 55 games. Skellefteå beat Luleå four games to none to win their second-ever Elitserien championship — the first was in 1977-78. There is an interview video (in English) with Holloway on the club website, which you can find right here. . . .

F Ryan Kinasewich (Medicine Hat, Tri-City, 1998-2004) signed a one-year plus option contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and seven assists in 14 games with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) and 16 goals and 10 assists in 25 games for Milan Rossoblu (Italy, Serie A) this season. . . .

D Jame Pollock (Seattle, 1995-99) signed a one-year contract extension with the Nuremburg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had eight goals and 18 assists in 46 games this season. Nuremburg also announced that it won’t offer contracts for next season to seven players, including D Sven Butenschön (Brandon, 1993-1996). Butenschön had two goals and one assist in 50 games for the Ice Tigers this season. . . .

F Nathan Rempel (Saskatoon, 1994-98) won’t be offered a contract for next season by the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). He had 19 goals and 20 assists in 43 games for the Flames this season.
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It will be interesting to see what kind of welcome is afforded F Chase Souto and the Kamloops Blazers tonight in Portland.
The Blazers trail 3-1 in the Western Conference final with the Winterhawks.
After being beaten 3-0 in Game 4 in Kamloops on Wednesday night, Souto was quoted by Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week as saying: “We did it last year. I think we're going to go in their barn, cause a ruck and shut their fans up. Bunch of losers down there. … just gonna give it our all."
A year ago, in the second round, the Blazers were trailing 3-1 when they went into Portland and won, 7-2.
Souto’s comment was met with a predictable response.
Portland F Nic Petan told Paul Buker of The Oregonian: “We kind of heard it on the bus today. Not much you can do about it, just let it go. Our focus is on winning the game, and not making comments like that.”
D Derrick Pouliot added: “He can say whatever he wants. We’ve got amazing fans here. They’re loud, and proud.”
The loudest stuff, as usual, came from the fans.
Among the comments on the Winterhawks Booster Club’s Facebook page, where the graphic at the top of this entry was posted, were these:
“Wow, what a great example of terrible sportsmanship. Even if the Hawks lost, the fans would never shut up — Hawks' fans aren't fair weather fans.”
“No one shuts up we just shutout.”
“If your going to the game boo him enough for me please.”
“Suoto literally has a face only a mother can love. Go Hawks!!! Skates To Asses tomorrow night from the first puck drop till the final horn!!!”
“Chase Souto mouthing off, down 3-1? Shocker. Someone forgot to lock the chicken coop…”
“We should boo him every time he touches the puck. Just to remind him of his comment and how loud we can really be!”
There also was this:
“As much as it was pretty classless for Souto to make this statement... in my opinion it was wrong of the Winterhawks to create this and share it on their Facebook page. Seriously. Be the better team and show them on the ice...not on social media. This is a professional organization and posting this on their page is completely unprofessional.”
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, there was this:
From WinterhawksEgo (@WinterhawksEgo): “Way to stay classy @blazer hockey, chase souto. You're still losing Saturday night, don't fools yourselves.”
Uhh, someone may want to tell WinterhawksEgo that the game is tonight and tonight is Friday. Uhh, there isn’t a game scheduled for Saturday. So, WinterhawksEgo, don’t fools yourself into thinking there is a game on Saturday.
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And then there was Portland freelance writer Scott Sepich (@SSepich), who noted: “If the Winterhawks want to get casual PDX sports fans outraged, they should point out that Chase Souto is from CA and prob. a Lakers fan.”
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In the WHL, we get chirping. In the QMJHL, they get really down and dirty.
You have to love the QMJHL. You watched video of the the post-game donnybrook between the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Baie-Comeau Drakkar and you go to bed. You wake up Thursday morning and the suspensions and fines already have been handed out. No wasting time. Everyone knows where they stand. Wonderful! . . . All told, 12 players, including all four goaltenders, drew suspensions, which means you may be on the bench as a backup goaltender for one of the teams. . . . There’s more on the suspensions and fines right here. . . . The series is 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Baie-Comeau tonight. . . . After Game 2, the Armada dropped F Stefane Matteau, who was a first-round selection by the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 NHL draft. Provided with a plane ticket home from Baie-Comeau, he chose to ride home on a fan bus. His father, former NHLer Stephane, is an assistant coach with the Armada, although he now is on leave from the team.
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Former NHLer Jim Peplinski suggests bodychecking be banned from all levels of hockey until players are at least 16 years of age. . . . “I’d question whether I’d have kids in hockey as it’s currently organized,” Peplinski said. “I don’t think I would. The image, the money, it completely fogs people’s judgments.” . . . Mark Howell, the head coach of the U of Calgary Dinos, says hitting shouldn’t be introduced until players are 13 to 15 years of age. . . . “Kids cannot learn to hit,” Howell said. “Kids need to learn the game of hockey without the fear of body contact at a young age.” . . . Dawn Walton of The Globe and Mail has more right here.
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It would appear that D Griffin Reinhart’s season is over. That being the case, his WHL career may be over. The Edmonton Oil Kings announced Thursday that Reinhart has undergone surgery to repair a torn tendon in a foot and won’t play for perhaps six weeks. . . . Reinhart suffered a cut to one foot during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference with the Calgary Hitmen. Reinhart, 19, was a first-round selection, fourth overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2012 NHL draft. . . . Edmonton D Cody Corbett (knee), who missed Games 3 and 4, is back skating. . . . With the series tied 2-2, Game 5 of the conference final is tonight in Edmonton. . . . The Hitmen will get back F Jake Virtanen, who served a two-game suspension for the hit that injured Corbett.
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D Landon Oslanski, who played out his junior eligibility with the Everett Silvertips, has joined the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. He made his pro debut last night, picking up an assist in a 5-3 playoff victory over the visiting Anchorage Aces.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jerry Bancks is the new general manager/head coach of the junior B Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International Junior League. Bancks had been an assistant coach with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. In the past, Bancks has done two stints on the Dynamiters’ coaching staff, both times as an assistant. . . .
Aaron Wilburn has resigned as head coach of the junior B Richmond Sockeyes, who won the Keystone Cup as Western Canadian champions last week. Wilburn, 32, told Mark Booth of the Richmond News that his business interests have become too all-encompassing. Among other things, Wilbur is president of The Coaches Site and organizes coaching clinics. . . . Booth’s story is right here.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Calgary (3)
(Series tied 2-2; Game 5 tonight in Edmonton; all games on Shaw TV, with Dan Russell calling the play.)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Portland leads series, 3-1; Game 5 tonight at the Rose Garden in Portland.)
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (20):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (6):
None
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From Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell): “Have to wonder where parity has gone in Jr. hockey. In OHL, QMJHL, WHL there have been 36 playoff series, only one has gone seven games.”


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Pam and Jim Duquette want only for their 10-year-old daughter Lindsey “to be a normal kid.”
Hopefully, their wish will come true now that Jim, a long-time baseball executive who now is a broadcaster, has had one of his kidneys surgically transplanted into Lindsey.
The New York Daily News has a story right here.
Kevin Kaduk of Big League Stew has more right here.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Nathan Rempel (Saskatoon, 1994-98) signed a one-year contract extension with the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). He had 43 goals and 30 assists in 47 games this season with the Flames. Rempel was named to the First All-Star Team in the English Premier league and was the Flames leading scorer this season. . . .
F Mikhail Fisenko (Vancouver, Calgary, 2008-11) signed a two-year contract with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL). He had one goal and two assists in 27 games for Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Russia, KHL), one goal and five assists in 13 games for Yermak Angarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), and one goal and one assist in three games for Kuznetskie Medvedi (Russia, MHL) this season.
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Dr. Charles Tator, the foremost concussion expert in Canada, will be honoured for his work by USA Hockey on Wednesday in Colorado Springs. Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail has the latest with Dr. Tator right here.
According to Dr. Tator, MacGregor writes: “There is currently zero treatment for concussions” that can be proven effective, apart from time itself. Much of the treatment there is in today’s sports medicine is, in his learned opinion, “worthless” and needs to be“discarded.”
“Research is sadly lacking,” Tator says. “It has been a neglected issue in medical research.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
Peter Schaefer, who was honoured as the WHL’s top player in 1996-97, has joined the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles as an assistant coach and also will work in the area of player development. Schaefer, from Yellow Grass, Sask., played nine NHL seasons. In Surrey, Schaefer will work with GM/head coach Matt Erhart. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades have added Curtis Leschyshyn as a full-time assistant coach. He will work alongside GM/head coach Lorne Molleken and assistant coach David Struch. . . . Leschyshyn worked with the Blades on a part-time basis this season. . . . Leschyshyn played 127 regular-season games with the Blades (1985-88) before going on to a pro career. He was selected by the Quebec Nordiques with the third overall pick in the 1988 NHL draft. . . . The Blades are to be the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament. . . .
The QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles have signed Jean Francois David as a new assistant coach. He replaces Kevin Higo, whose contract wasn’t renewed. . . . David, who will work alongside head coach Ron Choules, played five seasons in the QMJHL before going on to a nine-year pro career. . . . Higo worked in the AJHL before spending two seasons as an assistant coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Higo now is the director of hockey operations and head coach, varsity boys hockey, at Rothesay Netherwood School in Rothesay, N.B. . . .
Steve Martinson has signed on as head coach of the Central league’s Allen Americans. The signing was announced Monday night as minority owners Ed Belfour, Mike Modano and Craig Ludwig, along with assistant coach Richard Matvichuk, all took part in a press conference that was open to the American’s fans. . . . Martinson was the head coach of the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals (2007-10) and was the head coach of the ECHL’s Chicago Express this season. The Express ceased operations after the season.
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JUST NOTES:
D Max Mowat, who played one game with the Kamloops Blazers in 2009-10 but has since been dropped from their list, has been involved in a BCHL transaction. Mowat, who will turn 19 on June 23, has been dealt by the Vernon Vipers to the Trail Smoke Eaters as the future considerations in a deal that was made on Jan. 10. Mowat, who is from Coldstream, B.C., had 15 points in 46 games with the Vipers this season.
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John Branch of The New York Times has written a devastating piece about the late Derek Boogaard and the ease with which he was able to obtain prescription drugs. . . . Len Boogaard, Derek’s father and a long-time RCMP officer, did a lot of digging into his son’s death, wanting to know why it had to happen.
Branch writes: “Len Boogaard knows that his son supplemented his drug habit with purchases of pills from dealers in Minneapolis; New York; and Regina, Saskatchewan. But he has found no sign of abuse until injuries sustained in fights were followed by steady streams of pills provided by team doctors.”
At one point, Len Boogaard tells Branch: “Derek was an addict. But why was he an addict? Everyone said he had ‘off-ice’ issues. No, it was hockey.”
You won’t want to miss this. It’s right here. All of it.
Just the other day, I was listening to an interview with an NHL player who talked of not being able to unwind on game nights until after the "adrenaline and Sudafeds" have worn off.
And I can't help but wonder if there is a connection from the use of Sudafeds to the abuse of prescription drugs.


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Saturday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Nathan Rempel (Saskatoon, 1994-98) signed a one-year contract extension with the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). He had 59 goals and 32 assists in 54 games for the Flames last season and was named to the English Premier League First All-Star Team. . . .
F Dylan Stanley (Tri-City, 2000-05) signed a one-year plus option contract with Bad Nauheim (Germany, Oberliga). He had 14 goals and 23 assists in 53 games with the Colorado Eagles and Texas Brahmas (both Central Hockey League) last season. . . .
F Carsen Germyn (Kelowna, Red Deer, 1998-2003) signed a one-year contract with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had 18 goals and 27 assists with Olten (Switzerland, NL B) last season.
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If you’re a fan of the Portland Winterhawks and eagerly are awaiting renovations to Memorial Coliseum, don’t hold your breath. This one is going to take a while. Brad Schmidt of The Oregonian has the latest right here.
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According to John MacNeil of the Brandon Sun, F Paul Van De Velde (Everett, Brandon, 2008-10) has decided to attend the U of Toronto and play hockey for the Varsity Blues. He played last season for the MJHL’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

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