THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Petr Kalus (Regina, 2005-06) was released by Jokerit Helsinki (Finland, SM-Liiga) at the end of his tryout contract. He had one
goal in three exhibition games for Jokerit this month. . . .
F Shay (Red Deer, 2000-04) and D Logan (Tri-City, 2001-06)
Stephenson each signed one-year contracts with Vålerenga Oslo (Norway, GET-Ligaen). Logan had two goals and three assists in 43 games for the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL) last season, while older brother Shay didn’t play. Two seasons ago, Shay had six goals and 13 assists in 36 games with the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) and four goals and two assists in seven games with Vålerenga. . . .
F Josh Bonar (Kamloops, Vancouver, Regina, 2000-03) signed a one-year contract extension with Miskolci Jegesmedve JSE (Hungary, Interliga). He had 29 goals and 30 assists in 31 games for Miskolc during MOL Liga play last season, leading the league in goals and scoring. In Hungarian league play (OB I. Bajnoksag), Bonar had 10 goals and 10 assists in 14 games. The MOL Liga, comprising teams from Hungary and Romania, was renamed Interliga this summer.
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JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats and Evraz Place announced Tuesday that they have agreed on a five-year lease for the Brandt Centre. If you have followed this story, you know that this is like The Rock and Stone Cold reaching a truce back in the day. . . . "We are pleased that we are able to announce a longer term lease agreement with Evraz Place. The process has been long and at times frustrating for both parties but with the help of our legal counsel Neil Tulloch and the co-operation of Neil Donnelly from Evraz we were able to find some common ground," Pats president Brent Parker said in a news release. . . . The previous deal expired on May 31. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here. . . .
The staff at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton includes some names that will be familiar to WHL fans. Blake Wesley, a former Portland Winterhawks defenceman is the director of hockey operations. . . . Robert Dirk, a former Regina Pats defenceman, is the GM and head coach of the junior B team, the Penticton Lakers. . . . Brian Pellerin, who played with the Prince Albert Raiders and has worked as an assistant coach with Portland, is the prep team head coach. . . . Tim Hunter, who played in the WHL with the Seattle Breakers, is the head coach of the varsity Red team. . . . Mike Needham, who was a sniper with the Kamloops Blazers and is on their staff as skills coach, is head coach of the OHA’s bantam Tier 1 team. . . . Former Blazers head coach Barry Smith is head coach of the bantam Tier 2 team. . . .
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The Saskatoon Blades will travel to Prince Albert for an exhibition game against the Raiders tonight. Drew Wilson has all the action on CKBI and you can find it on the Internet.
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A tip of the hat to general manager/head coach Jesse Wallin and the Red Deer Rebels.
D Matt Dumba has yet to skate in the Rebels’ training camp, which is exactly what happened a year ago with F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“Like Ryan, Mathew played hockey all of August,” Wallin told Greg Meachem, the Red Deer Advocate’s sports editor. “After returning from overseas (with the Canadian national under-18 team), he flew to Toronto (for an NHL developmental/orientation camp). We’ll give him a week off to catch his breath and get him skating Friday.”
With the amount of time young players are spending in the gym and on skates during the summer months, more teams should be providing some of these players with more time off.
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Curtis Lazar, the second overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft, is working to make a name for himself with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has more right here on the player they call The Czar.
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For today's good read, we send you to the Sporting News, where Craig Custance has written an entertaining read that carries the headline: NHL watches as colleges wage war with Canadian junior hockey. . . . This is as entertaining a look at the 'war' as I have read. It's right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Silvertips land their man

Doug Soetaert (left), the general manager of the Everett Silvertips,
introduces Mark Ferner as the WHL team's new head coach.
(Photo courtesy Frank Deines III/Everett Silvertips)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Taggart Desmet (Calgary, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy, Serie A). He had 16 goals and 42 assists in 40 games for Brunico (Italy, Serie A) last season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mark Ferner is the new head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Ferner, who spent four years as GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, was introduced to Everett at a news conference there on Wednesday afternoon. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has the story right here. . . .
Guy Carbonneau is out and Marc-Etienne Hubert is in with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Carbonneau, the former NHL player and coach, remains as the club’s president. Hubert is the new head coach after having served as an assistant since 2005. . . . Marc Fortier, a former NHL forward, is the club’s new general manager. . . . Carbonneau had been head coach since February when Richard Martel was fired. . . . Carbonneau’s decision prompted immediate speculation that he would be the next head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils or would be signing on as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He has denied all of that speculation. . . .
Former WHL/NHL D Robert Dirk is the new head coach of the junior B Penticton Lakers. The franchise, which is operated by the Okanagan Hockey Academy, plays in the Kootenay International junior league. Dirk has coaching experience in the United league, as well as the West Coast league and the ECHL. He has been part of the Okanagan Hockey Academy since 2007. . . . Should he so desire, you’ve got to think he will surface in the WHL one of these years. . . .
As was mentioned here on June 14, Sean Gillam (Spokane, 1992-96) is the new head coach of the Southern Professional league’s Fayetteville FireAntz. Gillam was introduced at a Wednesday news conference and Thomas Pope of the Fayetteville Observer was there. His story is right here.
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A Wednesday news release from the ECHL’s Trenton Devils begins:
“Newark, NJ — The ECHL’s Trenton Devils will suspend play beginning with the 2011-12 season. The New Jersey Devils are restructuring the organization’s player development system to be more in line with other NHL franchises. In fact, Trenton was the only ECHL team that was completely owned by an NHL club.
“The Devils purchased a majority interest in the Trenton Titans on Sept. 21, 2006. The team continued to be affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2006-07 season before the Devils took it over as their ECHL – or Class AA – affiliate and changed the name to Trenton Devils.
“Since then, the team has been plagued by steadily declining attendance at Sun National Bank Center. The Trenton Devils finished last in the 19-team ECHL in 2010-11 with an average attendance of just 2,390 in a building that holds 7,605 for hockey. A source said the team has lost money every season since the Devils took over ownership.”
It is somewhat interesting that a press release from a team includes a paraphrased quote from an anonymous source. You don’t see that every day.
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Silvertips have released F Markus McCrea, 19. A native of Canyon Lake, Calif., McCrea had 24 points, including 13 goals, in 175 games over three seasons. . . .
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D Joe Hicketts of Kamloops, who was selected by the Victoria Royals with their first pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft, is the winner of the Hockey Now/B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award. . . . Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has the story right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders report that they have five players scheduled to attend NHL camps. . . . F Mark McNeill, the 18th pick in the NHL’s 2011 draft, will be in the Chicago Blackhawks’ development camp that runs today through Monday. . . . D Harrison Ruopp, a third-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes, is in camp in Peoria, Ariz., from today through Sunday. . . . F Jonathan Parker, 20, is spending this week as an invitee to the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He also has signed an ATO with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. . . . F Brandon Herrod, 20, has been invited to the Coyotes’ camp that opens Sept. 9. . . . D Antoine Corbin has been invited to the San Jose Sharks’ camp that begins Sept. 8.
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Joe Paisley of the Colorado Springs Gazette has the latest on what’s been happening involving U.S. college hockey, including all the rumours of a super league. That piece is right here.
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The AJHL’s Canmore Eagles, under general manager and head coach Andrew Milne, have secured enough capitalization to secure its short-term future.
Daniel Austin of the Canmore Leader has the story right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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