THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Michal Lukac (Prince George, 2001-02) signed a one-year contract extension with Kladno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had one goal and eight assists in 36 games with Kladno and was pointless during a three-game loan assignment to Pisek (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) this season. . . .


F Malte Strömwall (Tri-City, 2011-13) signed a two-year contract with Växjö (Sweden, Elitserien). Strömwall, who turns 19 on Aug. 24, is from Luleå, Sweden. He had 21 goals and 45 assists in 66 games with the Americans this season. He put up 27 points, including 11 goals, in his freshman season of 2011-12. . . .

D Craig Schira (Regina, Vancouver, 2003-09) signed a one-year plus option contract with HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 17 goals and 18 assists in 45 games with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen) this season. Schira was the second-leading point-getter among defencemen in GET-Ligaen.
———
The news that Russian forward Dmitri Uchaykin had died after taking a hit to the head during a game in Kazakhstan a couple of weeks ago brought memories flooding back to Barret Kropf.
Kropf, a veteran hockey coach, was coaching Briercrest College in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference “almost 10 years ago” and was part of a group of ACAC, CIS and junior players who made trip to Kazakhstan to play a few games.
“In our third game against their first league pro teams,” he writes, point out that this was prior to the advent of the KHL, “one of our players, Dan Hesje, was violently sucker-punched with a running, full strides haymaker.”
According to Kropf, Hesje “was out before his head smashed on the ice.”
In fact, Kropf writes, “Running from the bench, I thought he was dead . . . blood everywhere.”
How bad was it?
Kropf says that “only a miracle kept him alive that night in hospital.” He adds that the hit ended Hesje’s hockey career and Hesje still feels its affects.
As for the player who delived the below, Kropf says that he “got two minutes for roughing.”
So the ACAC team left the ice in protest.
“After some hallway negotiations,” Kropf recalls, “we agreed to replay the next night” when the arena was expected to be sold out. But the team agreed to play only if the offending player didn’t suit up.
“However,” Kropf remembers, “the next night he was out for the warmup. So we skated right off the ice.”
And that’s when the fun began.
As Kropf recalls it:
“There was a knock on the door and it was a Mafia-looking dude. Through an interpreter, we heard how he dragged their player and coach into the hallway and tore strips offf them . . . left them sitting in the hallway, cowering and in tears.
“These Mafia (businessmen!) then apologized profusely and begged us to play on.”
As the ACAC team made its way to the ice surface, players and coaches had to walk past the other team’s coach and the player in question.
“They were in the hallway crying as we walked by,” Kropf writes.
As for that night’s game, he notes: “We enjoyed a safe, high-skilled, fun game. Both teams took the high road and played a safe game with lots of skill.”
Having been through this so many years ago, having had those memories reawakened and having watched hockey evolve to where it now is, Kropf concludes:
“Maybe North America needs some Russian-styled businessmen to set the tone for headshot punishment!”
———
Mark Lamb, the GM and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, says a change is coming in terms of how the WHL uses video review.
The host Broncos lost Game 4 of a first-round series with the Calgary Hitmen when on-ice officials missed a glove pass in overtime that led to the winning goal by the visitors. That left Calgary with a 3-1 lead in the series and heading home for Game 5, which it won.
"They have to deal with that and they're going to deal with it," Lamb told Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos on The Eagle 94.1 FM. "It was one of the worst things that's ever happened in hockey . . . not just in our league. When you're in overtime and there's a glove pass and there's an overtime goal, it's devastating to the franchise. They're going to acknowledge it and there's going to be some changes."
Mullin’s interview with Lamb, in which they look back and ahead, is right here.
———

The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Edmonton wins, 4-0)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads, 3-1; Game 5, tonight, in Calgary)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Portland wins, 4-0)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Kamloops wins, 4-0)
———
Three series ended in sweeps last night. Yikes! This means that of the 11 series that have been completed this spring, five have ended in four games and three others have gone five.
The Calgary Hitmen are in position to take out the visiting Red Deer Rebels in five games tonight in the only series left standing.
The Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks will open the Western Conference final with games in the Oregon city on April 19 and 20. Yes, they now will enjoy eight days off before they play again.
———
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Medicine Hat, the Edmonton Oil Kings erased a 2-1 deficit with goals 39 seconds apart in the third period and beat the Tigers, 4-2. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored twice for Edmonton and F Dylan Wruck drew three assists. . . . Tigers F Hunter Shinkaruk gave his side its first lead of the series when he scored shorthanded at 5:41 of the first. . . . That also was the first time in these playoffs that Edmonton had trailed. . . . Samuelsson forged a 2-2 tie at 12:40 of the third, and D Griffin Reinhart broke the tie at 13:19. . . . Samuelsson, who also had an assist, later added an empty-netter. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 32 shots, while Medicine Hat’s Cam Lanigan blocked 38. . . . The Oil Kings have outscored their opponents 44-9 in nine playoff games. . . .

In Kamloops, F Kale Kessy scored a PP goal in overtime to give the Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Kessy got his second goal of the game and 11th of these playoffs after Kelowna D Madison Bowey was penalized for delay of game. . . . The Blazers were 3-for-11 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-1. . . . Yes, PPs were 11-1. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford had three assists, giving him nine points in the four-game sweep over the Rockets. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon, who leads the playoff scoring race, had two assists. He remains the only player in the WHL with at least one point in each of his team’s playoff games. Lipon leads the scoring race with 21 points, two more than Portland F Ty Rattie and Ranford. . . . The Rockets trailed 3-1 going into the third after D Marek Hrbas and F Matt Needham scored in the last three minutes of the second. . . . F J.T. Barnett and F Cole Linaker pulled Kelowna even with goals at 5:03 and 9:24 of the the third. . . .Bowey went off 27 seconds into OT and the Blazers fired seven shots at G Jordon Cooke before Kessy scored. . . . Kessy shares the playoff goal-scoring lead with Rattie. . . .

In Spokane, G Mac Carruth stopped 30 shots to help the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-0 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Carruth has two shutouts in these playoffs and five in his career. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored once, giving him 11 goals in these playoffs. That was his 41st career playoff goal, tying him for second with Reg Leach (Flin Flon, 1967-70). The record of 47 goals is held by Mark Pederson (Medicine Hat, 1984-88). . . . F Taylor Peters scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist. . . . Portland outscored Spokane 18-3 in the four games. . . . Among the Chiefs scratches were F Todd Fiddler and F Jackson Playfair. Fiddler had a team-high 42 goals during the regular season. . . . Portland is into the conference final for a third straight season.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (16):
D Madison Bowey, Kelowna

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (5):
None
———

From Paul Buker (@Pnbuker) of The Oregonian: “I asked Travis Green if he was good enough to get traded for 3 players. He shot back, ‘if you ask Medicine Hat, they would probably say no.’ ”
Green, the Portland Winterhawks’ interim GM and head coach, was Spokane’s leading scorer on Jan. 26, 1990, when the Chiefs dealt him to the Tigers for F Mark Woolf, F Frank Esposito and D Chris Lafreniere.


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Dmitri Uchaykin died on Sunday.
A player with HC Eris-Pavlodar in Kazakhstan’s top professional league, Uchaykin, 32, died of a cerebral hemorrhage after having taken a headshot during a game.
For some reason, this hasn’t received a whole lot of attention — certainly not the attention it is due — in the mainstream media. But Stu Hackel of SI.com has put together an excellent look at what happened, including two video links. That package is right here.
This incident is just more proof that the people who control hockey at all levels need to do everything in their power to get any and all contact with the head out of the game.
The death of a player in Kazakhstan, while a long way from North America, is proof that the time has come. It is time to penalize all contact to the head at all levels of hockey. And it is time to stop handing out inconsequential suspensions for deliberate headshots.
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JUST NOTES:
D Harrison Ruopp of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Ruopp had 16 points and 132 penalty minutes in 65 games this season. Ruopp, who turned 20 on March 17, was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round of the 2011 NHL draft. . . . The Penguins acquired the Zehner, Sask., native at the 2012 draft, along with a 2012 third-round pick, for D Zbynek Michalek.

Drew Wilson, the radio voice of the Raiders on CKBI, reports that Prince Albert F Leon Draisatl, who just completed his freshman WHL season, will play for his native Germany at the IIHF U-18 world championship in Sochi, Russia, April 18-28. . . . Draisatl, the Eastern Conference’s rookie of the year, told Wilson: "It's going to be another big tournament and as always our goal is not to play with the big guys (Canada, Russia and USA), it's just to avoid relegation." . . . Prince Albert D Josh Morrissey will be playing for Canada. . . . Wilson has more right here.

G Laurent Brossoit of the Edmonton Oil Kings has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames. A sixth-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft, Brossoit put up 33 victories this season, along with a 2.25 GAA and a .917 save percentage. . . . He will lead the Oil Kings against the Medicine Hat Tigers in a second-round playoff series that opens tonight in Edmonton. . . .

F Adam Lowry of the Swift Current Broncos has signed an ATO with the St. John’s IceCaps, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Lowry, who turned 20 on March 29, was a third-round selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . He had 88 points, including 45 goals, in 72 games this season. Lowry’s father, Dave, is the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals.

According to Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal, Oil Kings F T.J. Foster is back skating and could play during the second round. He has been out with a foot injury and hasn’t played since Feb. 9.


If you’re on the sofa tonight, you should know that Game 2 between the visiting Red Deer Rebels and Calgary Hitmen will be televised by Sportsnet. . . . There’ll be Davis Cup tennis from Vancouver on Sportsnet One, followed by the WHL game. The other Sportsnet channels will show the baseball game between the host Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, with the hockey game on when it ends.

Some interesting numbers going into the series between the Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winterhawks. . . . In the regular-season series, Spokane G Eric Williams was 2-5, 4.34, .884, while Portland G Mac Carruth was 6-1, 2.11, .937. . . . Carruth, by the way, has 37 career playoff victories, one fewer than Cam Ward, who won 38 games with the Red Deer Rebels (2001-04).
———

The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Game 1, tonight, in Edmonton)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads series, 1-0; Game 2, tonight, in Calgary)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Game 1, tonight, in Portland, Veterans Memorial Coliseum)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Game 1, Saturday, in Kelowna)
———
THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Calgary, F Brady Brassart scored three times and F Cody Sylvester had three assists as the Hitmen opened with a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was the second playoff hat trick of Brassart’s WHL career, both of them coming this spring. He had three goals on March 21 when the Hitmen opened with a 6-5 OT victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Hitmen scored four goals on Red Deer G Patrik Bartosak in the game’s first half; in the first round, the Prince Albert Raiders beat Bartosak five times in four games. . . . Calgary was 2-for-5 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-for-3.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (12):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (4):
None
———






From WHLFacts (@WHLFacts): “Apr. 4, 2001 — 12 years ago today, Billy Thompson saved 34 of 37 and Derek Boogaard scored the OT winner as @PGCougars defeated Portland 4-3”
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One more from WHL Facts: “1 — FYI, Boogaard’s OT winner for Prince George was the only playoff goal he scored in his hockey career (WHL, ECHL, AHL, NHL)”

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Dmitri Uchaykin, a 33-year-old forward in the Kazakh league, died Sunday morning after taking a hit to the head in a Saturday game.
Uchaykin played for Ertis Pavlodar. He was taken to hospital after being checked by Donatas Kumeliuskas, a Lithuanian forward who plays for Arystan Temirtau.
According to thehockeyhouse.net, Uchaykin, who leaves a pregnant wife and young daughter, was unconscious when taken to hospital and never regained consciousness before dying of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Uchaykin, according to thehockeyhouse.net, “spent a big majority of his professional career with Amur Khabarovsk in multiple levels of Russian hockey, including the KHL, before getting traded to Gazovik Tyumen (Russia2) mid season in 2008-2009. He would later play two seasons with Yermak Angarsk (VHL/Russia2) before finishing off the last two seasons of his career with Ertis Pavlodar in Kazakhstan.”
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“Hockey accounts for almost half of all traumatic brain injuries among Canadian children and teens taking part in team sports, says a study, which also looks at how and why kids are getting hurt.”
So begins a story by Sheryl Ubelacker of The Canadian Press that takes a look at that study and what it means. That story is right here.
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D Tyler Wotherspoon of the Portland Winterhawks has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames. He was a second-round selection, taken 57th overall, in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . He had 37 points in ?? games during the regular season and finished at plus-62, a number that was behind only Portland F Nic Petan in the entire WHL. . . . Wotherspoon also played for the Canadian national junior team at the 2013 world championship.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Matt O’Dette won’t be back as head coach of the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. O’Dette was told Monday that his contract won’t be renewed, but he finished out the season and told his players after a 5-1 loss to the San Francisco Bulls on Saturday. Asked what he told his players after the game O’Dette told Mike Griffith of the Bakersfield Californian: “To be honest, I let them know I'm not coming back next year. I'm not being renewed. I knew a few days ago. We wanted to finish strong, finish as pros and play right until the end. I faked it all week and didn't tell anybody. There's no point in hiding it now. That's what I told the guys. It was emotional. It was a tough speech to give the guys. That's that. It's disappointing." . . . The Condors finished 24-41-7, the poorest record in the ECHL.
———
Paul Buker of The Oregonian takes a look at what’s happening in the series between the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips. . . . As Buker writes right here: “Everett won’t go away, like those zombies that just seem to keep coming in ‘Walking Dead.’ ”
———
The WHL was quiet on Easter Sunday.
There are three series still alive, all in the Western Conference, with two of them going tonight.
The Victoria Royals, trailing 3-2, play host to the Kamloops Blazers at Bear Mountain Arena. The Royals stayed alive with a 4-2 victory in Kamloops on Saturday.
In Everett, the Silvertips hope to continue their brave stand in front of the Evil Empire tonight. The Silvertips, after winning 3-2 in Portland on Saturday, trail 3-2.
The third series resumes Tuesday with the Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent) meeting in Kent, Wash. Seattle holds a 3-2 edge after dropping a 4-3 decision in Kelowna on Saturday.
———
The WHL’s first-round situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
FIRST ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
(Edmonton wins 4-1)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Medicine Hat wins 4-0)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
(Calgary wins 4-1)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)
(Red Deer wins 4-0)
———
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
(Portland leads series 3-2; Game 6 tonight in Everett)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
(Seattle leads 3-2; Game 5 on Tuesday in Kent, Wash.)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
(Kamloops leads 3-2; Game 6 tonight in Victoria, Bear Mountain Arena)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
(Spokane wins 4-1)


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