Monday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract extension with the Nietigheim Steelers (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He started the season with the Edinburgh Capitals (UK Elite), getting 18 goals and 32 assists in 30 games, before finishing the season in Bietigheim. St. Jacques had seven goals and six assists in 13 games with the Steelers.
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THE VICTORIA TO CHILLIWACK SAGA, Chapter 66:
The ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings will take a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of their second-round series with the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
That game will be held at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
Earlier that day, the WHL will hold a news conference in that same facility at which it is expected to announce that Vancouver-based RG Properties, which manages the SOFMC and owns the Salmon Kings, has purchased the Chilliwack Bruins and is moving the franchise to Victoria.
Yes, the first of the dominoes officially will have fallen.
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Players with the Salmon Kings actually held a news conference in their dressing room on Monday.
Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist writes: “The Salmon Kings — the players as a collective and not the team officially — called a remarkable press conference Monday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre exhorting Victorians to see ECHL playoff hockey off with a bang and full houses through the Kelly Cup playoffs this spring.”
Dheensaw’s story is right here.
And wouldn't it be a great story if the Salmon Kings were to win the ECHL championship in their last season in Victoria? Now that would be one for the ages!
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Just as president and GM Jeff Chynoweth said would happen, the Kootenay Ice sent out its season-ticket renewal notices on Monday, and prices remain unchanged for a third straight season.
An adult season ticket will cost $399 if purchased on or before May 31. A seniors ticket is $299, a student ticket is $249 and a youth ticket is $199, all if purchased on or before May 31.
So . . . you can forget about the Ice relocating to Chilliwack.
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JUST NOTES: Three more WHL players signed three-year NHL contracts on Monday — F Curtis Hamilton with the Edmonton Oilers, D Alex Petrovic with the Florida Panthers and F Jordan Weal with the Los Angeles Kings. . . . Hamilton, from the Saskatoon Blades, was a second-round selection of the Oilers in the 2010 NHL draft. He has joined the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons for the duration of this season. They are down 2-0 to the Hamilton Bulldogs in a first-round series. . . . Petrovic, from the Red Deer Rebels, was selected by Florida in the second round of the 2010 NHL draft. . . . Weal, taken in the third round of the 2010 draft, had 96 points in 72 games with the Regina Pats this season. . . . D Martin Marincin of the Prince George Cougars, a second-round pick by the Oilers in the 2010 NHL draft, also is with Oklahoma City. . . .
Kootenay Ice D Brayden McNabb is the WHL’s player of the week. He had a goal and five assists in two games. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0, 1.00, .965 last week. . . . The Portland Winterhawks are 51-0 when scoring at least four goals this season. That includes 8-0 in these playoffs. . . . Portland is 40-0 when leading after two periods, including 8-0 in these playoffs. . . . So if you want to beat the Winterhawks, all you have to is hold them to three goals and make sure you’re leading after two. . . .
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Andrea Gordon of the Toronto Star has interviewed Peter Jaffe, a professor at the U of Western Ontario who has written to the NHL and its teams to protest against violence in hockey.
Check out her piece right here.
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Bob Duff of the Windsor Star calls Seth Jones “Canada’s worst nightmare.” Jones was selected by the Everett Silvertips with the 11th pick of the 2010 bantam draft. He has yet to commit to school or the WHL. Duff’s piece is right here.
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Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald writes about “a landmark University of Calgary study published today in the Canadian Medicial Association Journal” that deals with NHL players and concussions.
That story is right here.
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Derek Abma of Postmedia News writes:
“It's a no-brainer; eliminate bodychecking in all but the most elite levels of youth hockey, where players are at least 16 years old to reduce concussions and other serious injuries.
“That's the conclusion of a new academic review of existing research by Syd Johnson, a bioethicist from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Her report was published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.”
The complete story is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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