Former WHL player Ladislav Scurko, a Slovakian, is back in the news. Using stories from more than three years ago and running some Monday stories I found on the Internet through Google translator, I have tried to piece it together.
Here’s what I have come up with . . .
Scurko, 26, was convicted of murder in Kosice court on Monday and sentenced to eight years in a medium surveillance facility.
Immediately after sentencing, Scurko said he will appeal.
Originally, he was convicted of murdering referee Marek Liptaj, 28, in January 2008 on a highway between Kosice and Presov. Liptaj was stabbed 19 times and his body was then buried.
Scurko, who played two seasons (2004-06) with the Seattle Thunderbirds and 12 games with the Tri-City Americans in 2006-07, was a sixth-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL’s 2004 draft. He never played in the NHL. He spent 2008-09 with Kosice in the Slovakian Extraliga, picking up 12 points in 52 games. He also had 19 points in 11 games with Treviso (Slovakia, 2.Liga).
Scurko pleaded guilty to murdering Liptaj but later changed his story. He was released from jail in November 2011 after serving 2½ years in prison. He then signed with his hometown team, Slovan Gelnica (Slovakia, 3.Liga). He had 20 points, including 14 goals, in only eight games there, then added 24 points, 15 of them goals, in 10 games with HK Trebisov (Slovakia, 2.Liga). It would seem that Scurko still has some game.
Topky.sk reported Monday that Scurko originally admitted to the murder but "his story changed only after the lawyer has changed."
According to Scurko’s new story, he didn’t murder Liptaj but took the blame because he was threatened by Mafia members who control betting.
Hnonline.sk reported that Judge John Poprock didn’t believe the hockey player who claimed that "the act (was) committed by two unidentified men from the so-called betting mafia."
Topky.sk also reported that Scurko, according to the judge, admitted to being in a normal state "and not under the influence of drugs and alcohol, as the defense."
"The amount of the sentence took into account the fact that according to experts," topky.sk continued, "Scurko committed (the act) in anger, was unmanageable and therefore his court imposed an annual psychiatric outpatient treatment."
In sentencing Scurko, the judge said the accusesd three times had admitted to the murder "and accurately described the commission of an act." The judge added that it was "unrealistic" that someone should admit an "act of penitence" three times and then recant it all.
Scurko apparently listened to the sentence without emotion, but told reporters later that he was disappointed and that he will appeal.
Alexander Farkasovsky, Scurko’s lawyer, also expressed disappointment, telling topky.sk that he is "convinced" of his client’s innocence and that he "defended him as his own son."
According to topky.sk, Scurko changed his story in July 2010, bringing two other men into it and claiming they killed Liptaj and put the body in the trunk of Scurko’s car.
"One of them sat down to him and commanded him to go towards Kežmarok," topky.sk reported. "The second of the men followed in their off-road car. . . ."
Scurko later said he changed his story because after fearing for his life he now had "found the courage to resist," topky.sk reported. "Plus he was in his own words in interviews stressed out because investigators had to convince him that all the evidence to go against him."
If I have read all of this correctly, Scurko returned home after saying he will appeal, although the court imposed psychiatric outpatient treatment.
Also, should the appeal fail, Scurko, because of time served, would be eligible to apply for parole in less than three years.
For half-a-dozen photos, some of Scurko taken Monday, visit this site right here.
Right here is what appeared on this blog on April 25, 2009, after Scurko first was arrested.
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JUST NOTES:
Zoran Rajcic, the Everett Silvertips’ assistant GM, has been promoted. He now is executive vice-president of the Silvertips and their parent company, CSH International, Inc. Rajcic, who has been with the Silvertips since their inception in 2002, had been assistant GM since October. According to a news release, he will continue to oversee business operations for the Silvertips while expanding his role with other CSH properties. CSH owns four Americans junior teams – the Silvertips, Amarillo Bulls (NAHL), Texas Tornado (NAHL) and North Iowa Bulls (NA3HL). CSH also owns the Peoria Pines Golf Course in Peoria, Ariz., and has acquired a West Coast League summer collegiate baseball franchise in Medford, Ore.
Mike MacCulloch, Everett’s director marketing/corporate sales, now will handle all corporate sales efforts after sharing those responsibilities with Rajcic. MacCulloch is another original staff member. . . . Kevin Danford, the ticket sales manager, now is the director of ticket sales as he prepares for his sixth season with the Silvertips.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Matt MacDonald, 29, is the new assistant coach with the Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. . . . MacDonald, who retired as an active player after last season, played three seasons with the Cyclones. . . . With the Cyclones, he replaces former NHLer Andrew Cassels on the coaching staff. MacDonald will work alongside head coach Jarrod Skalde.

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A note about fighting majors from a follower of this blog . . .
“Kerry Toporowski had 58 fighting majors in 90-91 in Spokane. He had 506 PIMs going into the last game in Portland. Brantt Myhres was 16 and wanted to fight him and he declined. At the time he didn’t want the record of 511 by Brent Gogol. Years later, he told me he wished he had.
“Remember . . . Gogol’s numbers included misconducts which Topper’s didn’t include. If you did, he would have had that year 871 PIMs. My source . . . you! You wrote it several years ago! LOL!!!”
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JUST NOTES: The 2013 Ford World men’s curling championship will be decided in the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. The event runs from March 30 through April 7, 2013, so the WHL’s Victoria Royals will be out of their home arena for a couple of weeks should they qualify for the playoffs next season. . . . The Everett Silvertips have promoted Zoran Rajcic, their longtime director of business operations, to assistant general manager. Rajcic is in his ninth season with Everett. Yes, he has been with the Silvertips since Day 1. . . . The Silvertips now have company in Comcast Arena in Everett. The Everett Raptors, an Indoor Football League team, will play out of the facility in the 2012 season. The league schedule should be released in the near future. . . . Rich Preston, the GM/head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has been nicked by the WHL office for a grand for “comments to officials” after a 2-1 loss to the host Kootenay Ice on Friday. The referees were Chris Crich and Pat Smith. . . .
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D Austin Connor, who was acquired by the Vancouver Giants from the Prince Albert Raiders on Monday, has a shoulder injury. He was injured Oct. 7 as the Raiders beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0. Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Connor will be examined Friday by the Giants’ medical staff and that, if he is hurt badly enough, the deal may have to be redone. Pap’s story is right here.
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D Dane Phaneuf, who was released by the Prince George Cougars prior to this season starting, is skating with the QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket. Marcel Vander Wier of the Charlottetown Guardian has the story right here.
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SOME TUESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Swift Current, F Victor Rask scored three times to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 7-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . Tickets were $2. Hamburgers were $2. Soft drinks were $2. And beer $2.25. . . . There were 2,521 people in the 2,879-seat iPlex. . . . The Broncos gave up the game’s first goal for the seventh straight game. . . . Swift Current t6ook 86 of the game’s 142 penalty minutes. . . .
In Medicine Hat, F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 14th goal and G Tyler Bunz stopped 31 shots as the Tigers edged the Kootenay Ice, 2-1. . . . Etem gave the Ice a 2-0 lead at 12:16 of the first period. . . .
In Portland, the Winterhawks scored three times in the shootout and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 7-6. . . . The Blades, who got four goals and two assists out of F Josh Nicholls, held a 6-4 lead with 10 minutes left in the third period. . . . Portland D Troy Rutkowski scored on the PP at 10:33 and D Joe Morrow tied it at 14:31. . . . F Brad Ross had two goals and two assists for Portland. . . . Nicholls, who also had the Blades’ lone shootout goal, had never had four goals or six points in a game; in fact, he had never scored more than two goals in a game. He had five points in one game last season. . . . The Winterhawks leave today on a nine-game road trip. They’ll play six games in the Central Division, then stop in Kamloops for one and Kelowna for a doubleheader. Portland won’t play at home again until Nov. 11. . . .
In Kent, Wash., G Brandon Anderson stopped 31 shots and F Darian Dziurzynski had a goal as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-1. . . . Both players were acquired in trades on Sunday and were making their first appearances with their new team. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had an assist to run his season-opening point streak to 10 games. . . . Seattle G Daniel Cotton stopped 45 shots in his first WHL start. . . . Seattle had won three in a row. . . . Brandon lost F Bruno Mraz to a suspected head injury in the second period.
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So . . . you’re wondering how things are doing in Chilliwack, the former home of the WHL’s Bruins and now the home of the BCHL’s Chiefs.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has that story right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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