THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Stone (Brandon, 2001-05) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL) after his release by mutual agreement by TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) earlier in the day. He had six goals and four assists in 25 games for TPS this season.
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Former WHL player Tyson Sievert died in a single-vehicle accident near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., on Tuesday at around 2:45 a.m. RCMP found Sievert dead at the scene when they responded. Sievert, 25, was from Earl Grey, Sask. A forward, he played for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats (2004-06), totalling 11 goals and 16 assists in 114 regular-season games. He also incurred 166 penalty minutes. . . . He played for the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs as a 20-year-old and then went on to play one season with the U of Regina Cougars.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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With a number of WHL players taking part in Christmas tournaments, teams are adding all kinds of younger players to their rosters.
For starters, F Jake Virtanen, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, will make his debut with the Calgary Hitmen tonight against the Cougars in Prince George.
Virtanen, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., has 33 points in 24 games with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins this season. . . .
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With G Eric Comrie at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, the Tri-City Americans have brought in G Brett Teskey, 18, from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings to back kup Ty Rimmer. . . .
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The Regina Pats have recalled F Nils Moser, 18, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles . . . Regina is without F Morgan Klimchuk and D Kyle Burroughs, both of whom are with Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Regina also is without D Brandon Underwood (ankle) and F Chandler Stephenson (knee). . . . D Tyler Borstmayer, who had been with the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings, also remains with the Pats. . . .
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The Kootenay Ice has brought in D Tanner Faith, 16, from the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds, and F Luke Philp, 16, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Both are expected to stay for the next five games. . . . Faith has eight points in 21 games with the Hounds. . . . Philp has 33 points in 30 games with Canmore. . . .
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will take a third goaltender on the road with them as they head into the U.S. Division. Justin Paulic, a 16-year-old from the midget AAA Norman Northstars, will join fellow goaltenders Luke Siemens and Spencer Tremblay as he gets a taste of life in the WHL. . . . The Warriors also have added F Brandon Potomak, 16, and F Wheaton King, 19, just to give them 12 forwards for their road swing. . . . F Quinton Howden is with Canada at the World Junior Championship, while F Carter Hansen (Team West) and F Torrin White (Team Pacific) are at the WHC. . . . Potomak has 28 points in 22 games with the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks. . . . King, who played 38 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, has 30 points in 35 games with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. King was in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers prior to this season. . . .
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As something of a Christmas present, the WHL is providing free webcasts of its games through Thursday night. . . . With all of the absent players, perhaps the WHL teams should be slashing ticket prices or add an extra week to the Christmas break. . . .
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The WHL trade freeze that began before Christmas went away at midnight Tuesday. So it’s open season between now and Jan. 10. . . .
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G Curtis Honey, who left the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs and has joined the Brandon Wheat Kings, and F Connor Honey, who left the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers for the Seattle Thunderbirds, are twin brothers. . . . The 17-year-olds are from Edmonton. . . .
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F Curtis Lazar of the Edmonton Oil Kings has been named captain of Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that is being held in the Windsor area. . . . The alternates are D Macoy Erkamps of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Tyson Baillie of the Kelowna Rockets.
Team Pacific arrived in Windsor on Monday, about 9:30 p.m. ET following a four-hour bus ride from Toronto. They had a 6:15 a.m. wakeup call — that’s 3:15 PT. They were on the ice at 9 a.m. ET, or 6 a.m. PT. . . . Team Pacific will play an exhibition game against Sweden this afternoon. . . .
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The Moose Jaw Warriors claimed F Charles Wells, 20, on waivers from the Portland Winterhawks before Christmas. However, the Warriors said Tuesday that Wells has decided not to return to the WHL. “He’s a great kid,” Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “The conversation was very good. He’s just looking at other options at the CIS level and utilizing his WHL scholarship. I think under other circumstances he would have loved to have been a Moose Jaw Warriors, but his heart wasn’t in playing in the league right now.” . . . With that, the Warriors remain with two 20-year-olds on their roster, so have room to add one.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Edmonton Oil Kings became the first Eastern Conference team to reach the 50-point plateau as they whipped the Blades, 7-2. . . . Edmonton forwards Klarc Wilson, Michael St. Croix and Tyler Maxwell each had a goal and two assists. . . . St. Croix’s PP goal at 1:30 of the second period gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. . . . Maxwell has 22 points in 12 games with the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 43 shots in winning for the 21st time this season, a franchise single-season record. The previous record had been held by Torrie Jung (2008-09). . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie made his WHL debut as he came on in relief of Adam Todd, who gave up six goals on 26 shots over two periods. Moodie was beaten once on nine shots. . . . The Blades had F Brent Benson back from injury — he hadn’t played since Nov. 30 — but F Matej Stransky sat this one out. . . . Injured Blades F Josh Nicholls (knee) joined the coaches behind the bench. . . . G Brendan Jensen, 18, whose rights belong to the Vancouver Giants was on the Oil Kings’ bench. Jensen is backing up Laurent Brossoit with Tristan Jarry away at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Jensen has been playing for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . The Oil Kings also had D Ryan Aasman and F Braeden Johnson, 19, in the lineup to help fill some vacancies. . . . Aasman 19, was a first-round selection by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2007 bantam draft. He also has played for Seattle, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. Aasman now is with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . Johnson has 47 points in 37 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Jonas Knutsen, fresh off a stint with Norway’s national junior team, scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Prince Albert Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Broncos. . . . The Raiders nursed a 2-0 lead into the third period only to have the Broncos tie it on goals by F Graham Black, at 1:51, and F Brad Hoban, at 18:12. . . . Prince Albert G Cole Holowenko stopped 40 shots, 20 more than Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde. . . . The Raiders have won four in a row. . . . The Broncos had F Jordan Wittman, 15, from the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires, and F Zac Mackay, 16, also from the Legionnaires, in the lineup. . . . Swift Current F Adam Lowry had surgery on Tuesday to repair a fractured wrist. Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos, reports that Lowry will be in a cast for two months and may miss the remainder of this season. . . . Lowry, one of the WHL’s top power forwards, had 37 points and 90 penalty minutes in 36 games. He also was plus-4 on a team that came out of the break having surrendered 31 more goals than it had scored. . . .
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In Red Deer, G Tyler Bunz stopped 36 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 2-0 victory over the Rebels. . .. Bunz has three shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . He also won his 20th game (20-8-2). He has won at least 20 in each of his last three seasons and has 96 regular-season victories in his career. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-6 on the PP, with D Matthew Konan and D Patrik Parkkonen getting the goals. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice got 17 saves from Mackenzie Skapski and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . F Brock Montgomery broke a 1-1 tie at 2:16 of the second period and the Ice went on to build a 4-1 lead. . . . The Hurricanes were able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum, and that included F Harper Harrison, 17, who was brought in from the junior B Airdrie Thunder. . . . Harrison was a ninth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The teams combined for 90 penalty minutes, 48 to the Ice. But Lethbridge was only 1-for-9 on the PP. . . .
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In Vancouver, Russian F Alex Kuvaev paid dividends in his first game with the Giants, scoring in regulation and getting the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Kuvaev, 18, played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes; he had 24 points in 58 games. He chose to start this season in Russia. . . . The Giants, who have won three in a row and four of six with Glen Hanlon running the bench, held 2-0 and 3-2 leads before F Dylan Willick tied it at 17:41 of the third. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 35 shots, three more than Kamloops’ Cole Cheveldave. . . . Kamloops has lost its last two games 4-3 in shootouts. It closed out the pre-Christmas schedule with a loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . Vancouver F Nathan Burns scored the game’s first goal. He had missed 15 games with an ankle injury. . . . The Giants were missing seven players between injuries and Christmas tournaments. They have added F Brodyn Nielsen, 17, from the junior B North Vancouver Wolf Pack, and F Logan Harland, 16, from the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs, to their roster. . . . The Blazers added D Jordan Thomson, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, to their roster. Thomson made his WHL debut by playing on a forward line. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Kamloops. . . .
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In Kelowna, the Spokane Chiefs scored two PP goals and went on to dump the Rockets, 4-1. . . . F Mitch Holmberg and F Marek Kalus scored PP goals to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead by 14:18 of the second. . . . Holmberg finished with two goals, giving him 12, and an assist. . . . D Myles Bell was back in Kelowna’s lineup after not playing since Nov. 12. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., F Colin Jacobs scored in the shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Jacobs, Seattle’s first shooter, was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . . Everett is 1-6 in shootouts this season. . . . The seven shootouts is a WHL high. . . . They play again tonight in Everett.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Dalton Thrower, Saskatoon.
D Neil Manning, Vancouver.
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If you haven’t seen Don Cherry’s Piano Desk, you are in for a real treat . . . not to mention a real chuckle. Check it out right here.
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If you click right here, you will find an interesting letter to the editor that appeared on the Vancouver Sun’s website on Tuesday. It is from a mother who took her eight-year-old daughter to the Vancouver Giants’ Teddy Bear toss game.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Stone (Brandon, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 11 goals and 14 assists in 51 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
F Jamie Lundmark (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL). He had six goals and 12 assists n 34 games with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) and three goals and seven assists in 18 games with Timrå (Sweden, Elitserien) last season. . . .
F Jordan Knackstedt (Red Deer, Moose Jaw, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract with Bolzano (Italy, Serie A). He had 12 goals and 14 assists in 66 games with the Providence Bruins and Rochester Americans (both AHL) last season.
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Post-concussion syndrome has halted the career of yet another hockey player. Dave Scatchard (Portland, 1993-96) revealed Monday via Twitter that his career is over.
Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star talked with Scatchard and began his story like this:
Hockey journeyman Dave Scatchard can’t push his three young kids on the swing because of post-concussion symptoms.
He can’t remember anything from his final hockey game in April, when he was knocked unconscious for five minutes by a late hit while playing for the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen and woke up frightened in an ambulance because he didn’t know where he was.
Starkman’s complete story is right here.
Scatchard offers up some interesting thoughts on the late Rick Rypien and on concussions in hockey. But it is the last paragraph of Starkman’s piece that is the most haunting.
He quotes Scatchard, whose decision was made while at the Mayo Clinic, as saying:
“That’s something that the doctors at the Mayo Clinic are going to try to work with me on to see if we can get some of the symptoms to go away. I don’t know the treatment yet, but he promised me that he’d try to figure out something that could help me with that.”
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JUST NOTES: The Edmonton Oilers have added Duane Sutter to their staff of pro scouts. Sutter (Lethbridge, 1976-80) had been the Calgary Flames director of player personnel (2008-11). He was relieved of his duties following last season. He is the father of F Brody Sutter of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings announced Monday that they have received transfers for their two selections in the 2011 CHL import draft. Swiss F Alessio Bertaggia and Slovkian F Bruno Mraz are expected to arrive in Brandon this week and should be on the ice when training camp begins next week.
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THE COACHING GAME:
J.P. Hoornstra of the San Bernardino Sun reports that the ECHL’s Ontario Reign was “set to extend an offer to Jason Christie to become the team's next head coach Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.” . . . Christie (Saskatoon, 1986-90) was the Central league’s coach of the year last season while with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. . . . The Reign is looking to replace Karl Taylor, who now is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. . . . Hoornstra’s story is right here.
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And now for something completely different. . . .
If you haven’t yet heard about what happened to outfielder Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, check it out right here.

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

Friday's stuff . . .

Alan Millar, the director of hockey operations with the Moose Jaw Warriors, and Dave Hunchak, the team’s ex-head coach, have taken issue with something that appeared here on Friday.
That bit, which dealt with the Warriors’ decision not to renew Hunchak’s contract despite the club’s having won 40 games this season, included this bit:
“It also seems that Millar and Hunchak, 37, perhaps didn’t see eye-to-eye. That became obvious late in February when the two engaged in a morning yelling match deep in the bowels of the Crushed Can that was overheard by a handful of folks.”
A source had told me that the incident to which I referred occurred on Feb. 20, one day after the Warriors had dropped 3-2 decision tot he visiting Prince Albert Raiders.
“The information about Dave Hunchak and I having a screaming match . . . is completely false,” Millar told me Friday afternoon. “It never happened. . . . it’s completely not true. Never happened. . . . All my dealings with Dave, including my meeting (Thursday) morning with him, were always professional.”
As for my source, who indicated that at least two others had heard the dispute, Millar said: “they have their information wrong. They’re full of (bleep).
“I’m just telling you that it never happened. . . . I don’t really care about the date because I can honestly tell you it did not happen.”
Hunchak also said “that stuff never happened.”
Asked who it might have been, Hunchak said: “I have no idea. It wasn’t us. I guarantee it wasn’t us.
“We have never had an altercation like that. We never got into it . . . ever.”
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During our conversation, Millar also provided some information on the club’s two assistant coaches — Trevor Weisgerber and Mike Vandenberghe.
Millar said Weisgerber “had not been told he’s not coming back.”
The club holds an option on Weisgerber until July 15, while Vandenberghe’s contract expires on April 17.
Millar said both coaches “have been told there’s a process that we’re going to go through. They will get a strong recommendation from me to be part of the organization. I want to give the new head coach some flexibility in the hire. I’ve also told both of those guys that we understand other opportunities may come their way and we may lose them.”
Millar also said Vandenberghe “has some other things on the go to. I also think we’ll probably interview Mike for the head coaching job.”
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The hockey community in Spokane is mourning the death of Novelli (Nels) Venerus, who played for two Allan Cup winners in that city.
Steve Bergum of the Spokane Spokesman-Review has more right here.
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In the final game of the WHL’s regular season, Brandon Wheat Kings F Shayne Wiebe put a hit on Moose Jaw F Quinton Howden and found himself in a bout with Warriors D Dylan McIlrath.
McIlrath, a first-round pick by the New York Rangers in the NHL’s 2010 draft, has a three-year NHL contract in his pocket and is finishing the season with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale.
Wiebe signed an ATO (amateur tryout) deal with the Whale earlier this week.
So . . . guess who is rooming together with the Whale?
You got it.
“It’s kinda  funny,” Wiebe told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun. “But he’s a really good guy.”
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Portland Winterhawks F Brad Ross has been handed one of those ‘tbd’ suspensions after he was hit with a charging major for a first-period check on F Zach Franko of the visiting Kelowna Rockets in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal on Thursday night.
Franko left the game and didn’t return. He is believed to have a concussion and is doubtful for Game 2 on Sunday. You can look for Ross to at least sit out Sunday’s game as well, and perhaps one more after that.
“He’s a hard-hitting guy,” Portland GM/head coach Mike Johnston told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune after Game 1. “Those type of players, that’s their job — to deliver hits and play physical. He never intended to catch (Franko) like that. He was coming in from the side and caught the guy leaning into his shot. At the NHL level, all those hits are under scrutiny nowadays.
“Brad is a key player for us. He played so well for us in the first series. You don’t want him to take a penalty like that, you don’t want a hit like that, but there’s a fine line. If the guy were turned one more step to the left, (Ross) would have been fine on that hit.”
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F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders has joined the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors for the remainder of the season. Parker, 19, is from Solana Beach, Calif. He had 86 points, including 45 goals, in 71 games with the Raiders this season. . . . F Tyler Johnson, the WHL’s second-leading scorer in the regular season, is expected to play tonight as his Spokane Chiefs open their series against the visiting Tri-City Americans. Johnson (concussion) missed the last two games of the Chiefs’ five-game victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . F Ryan Stone (Brandon, 2001-05) set a franchise single-game record with five points Friday night to lead the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat to a 6-0 victory over the host Grand Rapids Griffins. Stone had two goals and three assists. G Leland Irving (Everett, 2003-08) stopped 27 shots for his 30th victory and eighth shutout of the season.
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ON THE ICE:
Yikes! What’s going on here? The visiting teams are 3-0 in the second round of the playoffs, and have outscored the home teams 18-3. . . .
In Saskatoon, G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 35 shots as the Kootenay Ice dropped the Blades 4-1 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. . . . Game 2 is in Saskatoon tonight. . . . The Blades had beaten the Ice four times as many meetings in the regular season. . . . F Matt Fraser scored twice for the Ice, the second into an empty net. He has seven goals in seven postseason games. . . . Ice F Kevin King scored his first goal of these playoffs, at 11:57 of the second period, to break a 1-1 tie. . . . The Ice was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Blades were 0-for-3. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 29 shots. . . . Each member of the Blades’ big line — Curtis Hamilton, Brayden Schenn and Jake Trask — was minus-2. . . . Kootenay had F Sam Reinhart, the 15th pick in the 2010 bantam draft, in the lineup. . . . Attendance was 7,612. . . . The Ice had D Luke Paulsen (shoulder) back in the lineup after a six-week absence, but F Drew Czerwonka (upper body) was scratched. . . . Saskatoon remains without F Ryan Olsen (upper body). . . .
In Red Deer, F Linden Vey, the reigning WHL scoring champ, had two goals and two assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers skated to a 9-1 victory over the Rebels. . . . Game 2 in the Eastern Conference semifinal is scheduled for Red Deer tonight. . . . The Tigers, who finished 6-for-11 on the PP, scored three goals in the first half of the first period and never looked back. . . . D Matthew Konan had four assists for the visitors, while F Wacey Hamilton had a goal and three assists, D Jace Coyle was two and one, and F Emerseon Etem was one and two. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz made a triumphant return with 36 saves. He missed his club’s last five games with a concussion. . . . Vey now has a WHL-leading 16 playoff points, two more than Kelowna Rockets F Shane McColgan. . . . Attendance was 5,926.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton.
Red Deer F Brett Ferguson.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter