THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jonas Johansson (Kamloops, 2002-04) signed a one-year contract with Alleghe (Italy, Serie A). He had 21 goals and 26 assists in 41 games with Cortina (Italy, Serie A) last season. . . .
D Deryk Engelland (Moose Jaw, 1998-2003) signed a lockout contract with Rosenborg (Norway, GET-Ligaen). He had four goals and 13 assists in 73 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. Rosenborg's press release notes that Engelland is drawing no salary from the club. Rosenborg is covering only his insurance premiums, travel expenses, and accommodations in Norway. Engelland is scheduled to arrive in Rosenborg on Monday. . . .
F Dale Weise (Swift Current, 2005-08) signed a lockout contract with the Tilburg Trappers (Netherlands, Eredivisie). He had four goals and four assists in 68 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season. . . .
F Jesse Schultz (Tri-City, Prince Albert, Kelowna, 1999-2003) was released by Milan Rossoblu (Italy, Serie A). He had two goals and two assists in eight games with Milan this season. No reason was given by the club for the release. . . .
D Tyler Myers (Kelowna, 2005-09) signed a lockout contract with Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had eight goals and 15 assists in 55 games with the Buffalo Sabres last season. Myers is
scheduled to arrive in Austria on Tuesday. Klagenfurt's director of hockey operations is former Prince Albert Raiders and Minnesota North Stars D Emanuel Viveiros, father of Portland D Layne Viveiros. . . .
F Marek Curilla (Kootenay, Medicine Hat, 2005-06) was released at the end of his try-out contract with Most (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). He had four assists in 10 games during his try-out. Last season, Curilla had one goal in seven games with Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic 1.Liga) and eight goals and nine assists in 41 games on loan to Zvolen (Slovakia, Extraliga).
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A story from the press box that illustrates what today’s junior hockey coaches are up against. . . .
Someone from the visiting team always comes into the press box about 90 minutes before game time and sets up a laptop computer that is hooked into the home team’s video gear.
At one game in Kamloops this season, one of the visiting team’s assistant coaches was doing just that when he discovered that he was going to need a power bar in order to get plugged into the nearest electrical outlet.
Just then, one of the players who was scratched from the lineup walked into the press box.
The assistant coach promptly asked the player to return to the dressing room area and bring back a power bar.
And that, said the assistant coach, would be an electrical power bar, not the PowerBar that you eat.
A nearby reporter digested that and burst out laughing.
Don’t laugh, offered the assistant coach, admitting that at a previous game he had requested a power bar and been presented with a PowerBar.
Ahh, the challenges of coaching in today’s game!
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You will recall reading here yesterday that, according to the online scoresheet, Seattle Thunderbirds F Brendan Rouse had been credited with three goals in a 6-4 victory over the host Vancouver Giants on Friday night.
But a news release from the Thunderbirds indicated that Rouse had scored twice, with the other goal going to Luke Lockhart.
Well, if you click right here and scroll down a few pictures, you will see Lockhart’s goal. No idea how that could end up being credited to Rouse. (As of 1:30 a.m. PT, Rouse still had three goals on the online scoresheet.)
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SATURDAY’S STUFF:
The Tri-City Americans opened their six-game East Division swing with a 4-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Tri-City F Jesse Mychan (bruised thigh) returned to the lineup for the first time since Sept. 29 and drew two assists. . . . Tri-City F Lukas Walter, who didn’t score in 49 games last season, scored his first WHL goal in his eighth game this season. . . . The Wheat Kings lost three games to visiting U.S. Division teams in an eight-day span, as they also lost to the Portland Winterhawks (2-1) and Everett Silvertips (3-2, OT). . . . The Wheat Kings (5-3-1) leave Monday on a seven-game swing into the Western Conference. . . . The Americans are in Moose Jaw tonight, where they have won four straight . . . .

The Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last three goals and beat the visiting Red Deer Rebels, 4-2. . . . Calgary F Cody Sylvester tied the game 2-2 at 12:39 of the second period on a PP and got the winner at 10:54 of the third. He’s got seven goals. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields stopped 17 shots in earning his first WHL victory. . . . This result sets up this afternoon’s game between the only two teams who have yet to lose in regulation time. The Kamloops Blazers (7-0-1) will meet the Hitmen (6-0-2) in Calgary today. . . . The Blazers (.938) and Hitmen (.875) also own the WHL’s top two winning percentages. . . .

F Brett Stovin scored three times as the Saskatoon Blades snapped a five-game losing streak, winning 5-2 over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . These were Stovin’s first goals this season. He had 13 in 69 games last season. . . . Saskatoon F Travis McEvoy had three assists. . . . Saskatoon enjoyed its first two-goal lead of the season. . . . Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower was ejected for a check to the head of Lethbridge D Axel Blomqvist. . . .

F Sam Fioretti scored three times as the Moose Jaw Warriors whipped the visiting Prince Albert Raiders, 9-0. . . . G Daniel Wapple stopped 32 shots for his first WHL shutout. . . . Fioretti has a WHL-leading 10 goals, one more than Spokane Chiefs F Mitch Holmberg. . . . Fioretti, who also had two assists, has two WHL hat tricks, both in the last two weeks. . . . Fioretti has 17 points, one behind F JC Lipon of the Kamloops Blazers, who leads the WHL with 18. . . . Moose Jaw F Tanner Eberle (shoulder) played in his first game this season. . . . Moose Jaw D Morgan Rielly had five assists and was plus-5. . . . Moose Jaw D Kendall McFaull was pointless and plus-5. . . . Prince Albert F Tim Vanstone picked up a match penalty for attempt to injury at 13:31 of the first. . . . The Raiders have followed a seven-game winning streak with two straight losses. . . .

The Steph/venson boys struck late to carry the Regina Pats to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips. . . . F Colton Stephenson scored at 13:35 of the third period on a PP to forge a 3-3 tie. . . . F Dyson Stevenson scored at 14:41 for the victory. . . . Everett led this one 3-1 midway through the second period. . . . Regina F Dryden Hunt was shaken up after taking a hit to head from Everett F Lucas Grayson who was tossed. . . . Hunt, who was playing in his second game after returning from a concussion, left the game and didn’t return. . . . Regina G Teagan Sacher stopped 21 shots in earning his first WHL victory. . . .

F Ty Rattie struck for four goals to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the host Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Winterhawks went 4-1-1 on their East Division swing. . . . Rattie, who has seven goals, also drew on assist. . . . The Winterhawks improved to 7-3-1 and moved into a tie for first in the Western Conference with the idle Kamloops Blazers. Kamloops holds three games in hand as it opens a Central Division swing in Calgary today. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke stopped 28 shots, with Mac Carruth on the bench as the backup. . . .

F Boston Leier drew four assists to help the host Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Prince George Cougars, 7-2. . . . Medicine Hat F Hunter Shinkaruk scored his fifth goal — it stood up as the winner — on his 18th birthday. . . .

F Colin Valcourt scored three times in the third period to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Spokane F Mitch Holmberg, who had a six-game scoring streak snapped Friday in a 5-1 loss in Kamloops, drew three assists. . . . Spokane F Dylan Walchuk also had three assists. . . . The Giants slipped to 2-7-0 and have the WHL’s poorest winning percentage (.222). . . .

G Coleman Vollrath made 30 saves for his first WHL victory as the host Victoria Royals beat the Kelowna Rockets, 3-2. . . . It was Vollrath’s first career start. . . . Vollrath is one of three goaltenders on the Royals’ roster, along with Czeck Partik Polivka and Jared Rathjen. . . . The Royals scored the game’s last two goals, with D Jesse Zgraggen’s first goal tying it at 6:16 of the third and F Ben Walker winning it on a PP at 17:44. . . . Walker scored twice and added an assist. . . . Zgraggen, 19, went into the game with three goals in 134 regular-season games. . . . Victoria F Steven Hodges (undisclosed) missed his eighth straight game. . . . The Rockets were without F Zach Franko, who suffered an undisclosed injury in Friday’s 4-1 victory over the Royals.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Tim Vanstone, Prince Albert (match, intent to injure)
D Dalton Thrower, Saskatoon
D Kyle Burroughs, Regina

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Dalton Thrower, Saskatoon (major)
F Lucas Grayson, Everett (major)
F Ryan Olsen, Kelowna (major)
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Former Kamloops Blazers F Ryan Hanes (@HANESR13), now with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals: “Holy smokes, I love to see @_JLipon on the top of the leading board in the whole WHL! Get him to the show, ima live in guesthouse #beauty.”
Hanes leads the Capitals in goals (8) and points (12) in 11 games.

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Wednesday . . .

A note arrived Wednesday from the Portland Winterhawks' Booster Club, stating that season-ending awards will be handed out prior to a March 5 game. The Booster Club presents one award, as it turns out. That would be the Donald Ickes Most Popular Player of the Year. . . . The award is voted on by members of the Booster Club. . . . It is believed that Kurtis Mucha is not eligible.
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If you are a hockey player who has experienced the agony of a concussion, or concussions, or if you are the parent of such a player, you may want to check out The Messier Project, if you haven’t already. You can do that right here.
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The Everett Silvertips have signed G Andy Desautels, a fifth-round pick (95th overall) in the 2009 bantam draft. Desautels, from White City, Sask., is 7-8-2 with a 3.59 GAA and a .884 save percentage with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians.
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According to this story, former Kelowna Rockets D Tyler Myers just missed being selected to play for Canada in the Olympic Winter Games.
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THE PLAYOFF CHASE
Teams in the running for playoff spots, showing games remaining (d — denotes division leaders, who are seeded one-two):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
d-Saskatoon (17) 37-12-3-3-80
d-Calgary (16) 38-16-1-1-78
Brandon (14) 38-16-1-3-80
Kootenay (15) 35-17-3-2-75
Medicine Hat (13) 33-18-3-5-74
Red Deer (16) 31-21-0-4-66
Prince Albert (15) 28-24-3-2-61
Moose Jaw (17) 26-21-4-4-60
Swift Current (14) 28-26-0-4-60
Regina (14) 24-27-3-4-55
Wednesday: Prince Albert 0 at Medicine Hat 6; Calgary 6 at Regina 2; Swift Current 1 at Saskatoon 2 (SO); Moose Jaw 3 at Spokane 6.
Thursday: No games scheduled.
Friday: Swift Current at Brandon; Prince Albert at Calgary; Kootenay at Edmonton; Saskatoon at Medicine Hat; Regina at Red Deer; Moose Jaw at Seattle.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (17) 39-14-0-2-80
d-Vancouver (15) 33-20-1-3-70
Everett (16) 35-18-2-1-73
Portland (14) 35-20-2-1-73
Spokane (16) 32-20-3-1-68
Kelowna (14) 28-26-2-2-60
Kamloops (14) 26-26-2-4-58
Chilliwack (16) 24-26-1-5-54
x — clinched playoff spot.
Wednesday: Kelowna 0 at Everett 4; Tri-City 3 at Portland 5; Kamloops 2 at Prince George 4; Moose Jaw 3 at Spokane 6.
Thursday: No games scheduled.
Friday: Spokane at Everett; Kelowna at Kamloops; Portland at Prince George; Chilliwack at Tri-City.
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WEDNESDAY:
In Regina, F Brandon Kozun scored three times to spark the Calgary Hitmen to a 6-2 victory over the Pats. . . . After a scoreless first period, Kozun scored twice, at 2:27 and 6:07 of the second. . . . Kozun completed his hat trick at 16:50 of the second, giving the Hitmen a 4-1 lead. . . . Kozun has 27 goals. . . . Calgary F Misha Fisenko had a goal, his ninth, and two assists as he was in on the game’s first three goals. . . . Calgary F Ian Schultz had three assists. . . . F Carter Ashton had a goal, his 23rd, and an assist for Regina. . . . The Hitmen were 1-for-5 on the PP; the Pats were 0-for-2. . . . Attendance was 5,527. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 33 shots. . . . Regina G Damien Ketlo turned aside 32 shots. . . . The Pats have lost six of seven but have points in 11 of their last 14 games. . . . Calgary has won six in a row and swept the four-game season series from Regina. . . . The Pats held a players-only meeting after the game. D Colten Teubert emerged to tell Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post: “We have to get our heads out of our asses or else we’ll be going home pretty soon. Individually we called ourselves out. We have to be accountable to ourselves first and not really point fingers because we have to be a tight-knit group and continue to work. Our season is not over yet.” . . . The Pats lost D Cody Carlson after he took a shot to the head in the second period. . . . Regina was without F Garrett Mitchell, who has concussion-like symptoms after taking a hit in a game in Brandon on Tuesday.
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In Medicine Hat, G Tyler Bunz, who turns 18 Thursday, stopped 25 shots to help the Tigers to a 6-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The shutout was the first of Bunz’s career. It also was the first of the season for the Tigers; it was the second time this season the Raiders have been blanked. . . . F Wacey Hamilton had a goal, his 20th, and two assists for the Tigers, who had lost three straight. . . . F Emerson Etem got the game’s first goal, his 33rd. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-for-7 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-for-3. . . . Raiders G Garrett Zemlak stopped 39 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,006.
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In Edmonton, F Cam Braes broke a 3-3 tie at 18:19 of the third period to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The Hurricanes, who were playing their sixth road game in nine nights, snapped a nine-game losing streak. . . . The goal was t he second of the game for Braes, who has 17 this season. . . . Lethbridge took a 3-2 lead into the second period. . . . Edmonton F Garry Nunn tied it on the PP at 10:46. He has 14 goals. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 37 shots, 10 fewer than Edmonton’s Torrie Jung. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix scored the game’s first goal, his 13th. He has nine points, including five goals, over his last five games. . . . The Oil Kings (12-34-4-8) were 1-for-1 on the PP; the Hurricanes (17-35-3-2) were 1-for-5. . . . Attendance was 3,375
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In Everett, G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 36 shots to help the Silvertips to a 4-0 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Heemskerk has three shutouts this season and six in his career. . . . F Shane Harper and F Kellan Tochkin each had two assists for the Silvertips, who were 1-for-5 on the PP. . . . The Rockets were 0-for-5. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 30 shots. . . . The Rockets had won nine straight games, but only one of those was against a team with a record above .500. . . . Attendance was 4,119. . . . The Silvertips continue to be without Dan Iwanski (knee), who was injured on Dec. 29. He is skating on his own and hasn’t yet been cleared to practice.
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In Portland, G Mac Carruth stopped 38 shots to lead the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . With the victory, the Winterhawks clinched their first playoff spot since the spring of 2006. . . . Carruth, 17, was making his seventh straight start as Ian Curtis continues to recover from a shoulder injury. . . . Carruth, who is 5-1-1-0 in those seven starts, stopped F Patrick Holland on a second-period penalty shot with Portland leading 3-0. . . . Portland freshman F Nino Niederreiter opened the game’s scoring with his 32nd goal. . . . Portland was 1-for-7 on the PP, that goal, from D Joe Morrow, coming on a 5-on-3 with 15 seconds left in the first period. . . . According to the WHL’s online scoresheet, Tri-City G Drew Owsley scored the game’s last goal, at 11:58 of the third period. . . . Owsley started in goal for the Americans, stopping 12 of 15 shots before being lifted at 3:20 of the second period after Portland’s third goal. Reliever Alexander Pechurskiy turned aside nine of 11 shots. . . . Attendance was 1,844.
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In Prince George, F Alex Rodgers had a goal and three assists to lead the Cougars to a 4-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Rodgers, who is from Salmon Arm, B.C., played the first 157 games of his WHL career with Kamloops. It was the first four-point game of his WHL career, coming in his 241st regular-season game. . . . The Cougars won for the 11th time in 55 games. Three of those victories have been against the Blazers. . . . Cougars G Hudson Stremmel stopped 34 shots. . . . Kamloops G Jon Groenheyde stopped 17 of 20 shots and left after Prince George’s third goal. Kurtis Mucha came on to stop 11 of 12 shots. . . . Kamloops C C.J. Stretch was hit with a slashing major and game misconduct at the end of the third period. . . . Attendance was 1,884.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades tied the game late and then scored twice in the shootout for a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Jeremy Boyer and F Marek Viedensky had the circus goals for the Blades, while Swift Current F Cody Eakin and F Justin Dowling were blanked. . . . F Matt Tassone scored a PP goal at 18:48 of the second period for the Broncos. . . . F Josh Nicholls tied it at 15:21 of the third. . . . Both players have 12 goals this season. . . . The Broncos were 1-for-2 on the PP; the Blades were 0-for-3. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 22 shots, 10 fewer than the Broncos’ Morgan Clark. . . . Attendance was 3,685. . . . The Blades have won four of five.
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In Spokane, F Mitch Wahl had a goal and three assists to lead the Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Chiefs were 4-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Warriors held a 2-0 lead when F Jason Bast scored his 27th goal on the PP at 11:17 of the first period. . . . The Chiefs tied it before the end of the period, on goals by F Tyler Johnson, his 25th, and F Levko Koper, his 22nd. . . . After a scoreless second period, the Chiefs opened the third by scoring four times. That included F Kyle Beach’s 37th and Wahl’s 25th. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 24 shots, while Moose Jaw’s Jeff Bosch turned aside 30. . . . Moose Jaw, which has lost four in a row, was 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 3,545.