Taking Note

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) was released by Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) at the end of his tryout contract. . . .
D Ross Lupaschuk (Lethbridge, Prince Albert, Red Deer, 1996-2001)
signed a tryout contract with the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had two goals and one assist in 15 games with Cologne (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
F Clarke Breitkruez (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) signed a one-year contract with Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga). He had 31 goals and 37 assists in 51 games for the Yorkton Terriers (SJHL) last season.
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The Everett Silvertips got down to three 20-year-olds on Saturday when F Scott MacDonald was one of the players released from training camp. MacDonald, from Surrey, B.C., has played three WHL seasons, one with the Chilliwack Bruins and two with the Silvertips. Last season, he had 22 points and 40 penalty minutes in 69 games with Everett. . . . His departure leaves Everett with F Josh Birkholz, F Tyler Maxwell and D Brennan Yadlowski as its 20-year-olds.
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The Regina Pats have acquired F Campbell Elynuik, who will turn 19 on Dec. 25, from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. A seventh-round pick by Everett in the 2007 draft, Elynuik had five points and 54 penalty minutes in 28 games last season, which was shortened by injury. In 76 games with the Silvertips, he had eight points and 135 penalty minutes. Undrafted, he attended the Philadelphia Flyers’ development camp earlier this summer and will attend their training camp next month. His father, Pat, played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders (1984-87) and also split 506 NHL games between the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
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The Victoria Royals have signed F Logan Nelson, an 18-year-old product of Rogers, Minn. He’s a 6-foot-1, 187-pounder who had 15 points and 69 penalty minutes in 43 games with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers last season.
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If you haven’t yet heard about a concussion-related experiment in which the Saskatoon Blades are involved, check out this story by Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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The Thunderbird Community Sports Foundation, which is supported by fans of the Seattle Thunderbirds, has made a lot of people happy by handing out almost US$65,000 in grants. Steve Hunter of the Kent Reporter has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Brent Hughes is out as head coach of the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays. The club announced Saturday that it “has decided not to retain” his services. Assistant coach Justin Quenneville has been named the interim head coach. . . . Hughes, a former NHL player, had been the IceRays’ head coach since February 2009. . . . Quenneville, who played four seasons in Corpus Christi, spent last season as director of hockey operations and assistant coach.
The Prince George Cougars have hired Phil Guenter as their goaltending coach. Guenter, 31, is based in Lethbridge and has been coaching goaltenders for 12 years. In 10 of those years, he has worked with Prince George G Drew Owsley, 20, who was acquired this summer from the Tri-City Americans. . . . “We want to make Drew's transition to Prince George as easy as possible and Phil has been his goalie coach for a long time, and this will help make things easier,” Cougars head coach Dean Clark said in a news release. "We look forward to also having Phil work with our younger guys." . . .
The WHL-champion Kootenay Ice has picked up the option years on the contracts for Garnet Kaziuk, the director of scouting, head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant coaches Todd Johnson and Jerry Bancks. All four now are signed through 2012-13. . . . “The success we have maintained over the past 13 years both on and off the ice can partially be attributed to having good people in key positions,” Jeff Chynoweth, the franchise’s president and general manager, said in a news release. “Stability and continuity are the keys to any successful organization and these four gentlemen are a big part of what we are all trying to achieve.” . . . Kazuik has been with the Ice through four seasons. Knoblauch joined the Ice as an assistant coach four years ago and is coming of his first season as head coach, having led the team to its third titlein 11 WHL seasons. Johnson and Bancks both signed on to the coaching staff a year ago.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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