THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Björn Svensson (Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, 2003-06) was released from his tryout contract by Eisbären Berlin. He was pointless in six exhibition games for Eisbären during the tryout. . . .
F Justin Taylor (Red Deer, 2003-04) signed a two-month tryout contract with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 10 goals and 19 assists in 51 games with the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign (both ECHL) last season.
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On a day when Peter Chiarelli, the general manager of the Boston Bruins, said forward Marc Savard’s career may be over because of post-concussion syndrome, the OHL announced that all of its players will wear soft cap shoulder and elbow pads this season.
According to the OHL, its board of governors is adamant that stiffer penalties will be handed out to repeat offenders when it comes to checks to the head.
This all is most admirable and a definite step forward in the drive to cut down on concussions — and it is a move the WHL announced it was making on June 15.
However, as one Twitterer tweeted: “What about fists to the face/head? Where's that crackdown?”
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The Kootenay Ice will have eight players off its roster attending NHL camps. That includes six drafted players — D Brayden McNabb and G Nathan Lieuwen (Buffalo), F Drew Czerwonka (Edmonton), F Cody Eakin (Washington), and F Max Reinhart and D Joey Leach (Calgary). As well, D James Martin (Calgary) and F Joe Antilla (San Jose) have accepted training camp invitations. . . . The Ice, the WHL’s reigning champion, opened training camp on Wednesday. Their annual Blue-White game ends camp on Sunday at noon.
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D Ben Fanelli is returning to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers after not playing at all last season. The Rangers will hold a news conference today with Fanelli in attendance. Fanelli, 18, hasn’t played since Oct. 31, 2009, when he suffered a fractured skull and various facial fractures after being hit from behind by D Mike Lambas of the Erie Otters.
Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports has a good look at what Fanelli has been through — and the good things he has accomplished of late — right here.
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JUST NOTES: The Tri-City Americans have signed D Clint Filbrandt, 16, who was a 10th-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. Hehad 29 points and 86 penalty minutes with the CNHA Blazers of the Alberta Minor Midget league last season. Filbrandt attended the Americans’ rookie camp and now is in main camp. “Clint had an excellent rookie camp and continued his strong play into main camp,” Americans GM Bob Tory said in a news release. “He will participate in both the Everett and Tri-City tournaments and then return home to Calgary to play this season with his AAA Midget club.” . . . The Prince George Cougars have signed D Marc McNulty of Medicine Hat. The 6-foot-5, 181-pounder was a 10th-round bantam draft pick in 2010. He played last season with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Alberta Midget league. “He might be the most improved player in our entire camp,” Wade Klippenstein, the Cougars’ assistant general manager, said in a news release. “Initially, he was a 10th-round draft-pick. If the bantam draft was held again tomorrow, I guarantee you he wouldn’t be a 10th round pick.” McNulty will be in the Cougars’ lineup for games in St. Albert, Alta., this weekend. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers have signed F Devin Oakes, 16, and D Tyler Bell, 17, both of whom are listed players. Oakes, from Prince Rupert, B.C., played last season for the midget AAA Pursuit of Excellence prep team in Kelowna, putting up 24 points, including 10 goals, in 41 games. Bell, who is from Regina, is another listed player. Bell has played two seasons with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. He had 22 points, including five goals, and 58 penalty minutes in 44 games last season. . . . G Jamie Tucker, who played last season with the Prince Albert Raiders, has cleared WHL waivers and will play this season with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Tucker, now 20, is from Victoria. . . .
TSN made it official on Wednesday. Dennis Beyak, a former radio voice of the Flin Flon Bombers, Saskatoon Blades, Victoria Cougars and Seattle Thunderbirds, will call the play of Winnipeg Jets games on TSN Jets and on Sports Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. . . . Beyak also did a turn as GM of the Tri-City Americans and the Thunderbirds. . . . Brian Munz, a former radio voice of the Prince Albert Raiders on CKBI, will call Jets games on Sports Radio 1290 when Beyak is providing the TV call. . . . Shane Hnidy (Swift Current, Prince Albert, 1991-96) has retired from playing and joined the Jets broadcast crew as an analyst. . . . The Victoria Royals drew a crowd of 1,756 fans to their intrasquad game Wednesday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed Dusty Imoo as their goaltending coach. Imoo played in the WHL (New Westminster, Lethbridge, Regina, 1987-91) before moving on to play in the IHL, ECHL and Japan for a total of 15 seasons. He also played for Japan in the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Imoo takes over from Paul Fricker in Seattle. . . .
The Victoria Times Colonist is reporting that owner Len Barrie is expected to name himself head coach of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies on Friday. Barrie stepped behind the bench late last season, with then-head coach coach Vic Gervais stepping down to assistant coach, a position he continues to hold.
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Here’s a note from a story written by Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News:
“Though the Tigers don't release their training camp rosters publicly, they did cut a dozen or so players between Monday and Tuesday night and had 46 players between the two teams that played Tuesday. Most of the cuts were 15- and 16-year-olds.”
The Tigers don’t release their training camp rosters publicly? And the WHL office allows this to happen?
Hey, WHL, this is 2011. Isn’t it time all of your teams started to treat their fans with the respect that most businesses give to paying customers?
The Tigers don’t release their training camp rosters publicly? Do they have something to hide? You wouldn’t suppose one of your teams would have an undrafted European practising with it, do you? Nah, that would never happen.
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F Trevor Moore, whose WHL rights are held by the Tri-City Americans, has committed to attend Denver U and play for the Pioneers beginning with the 2013-14 season. The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Moore will play this season for former WHL player/coach Drew Schoneck with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. The Storm selected Moore with the eighth overall pick in the USHL’s 2011 futures draft. Moore, who was listed by the Americans, is from Thousand Oaks, Calif. He had 41 points in 35 games with the L.A. Selects last season.
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Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star has a call for action following Wednesday’s startling death of former WHLer/NHLer Wade Belak. That piece is right here.
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F Matt Kassian hopes to crack the lineup of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild this season. He is an enforcer who played with the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers. He also is highly intelligent and great conversationalist. And, despite recent happenings, he isn’t about to change his game, nor does he feel there is a need to. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has that story right here.
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Today’s good read comes from Tim Panaccio of csnphilly.com. He writes about former WHLer Todd Fedoruk and the demons he battles on a daily basis. Fedoruk, an NHL enforcer, didn’t play at all last season as he worked to regain his health. He will attend the Vancouver Canucks’ camp as a free agent. Panaccio’s story is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Wednesday . . .

Goaltender Luke Siemens of the Everett Silvertips thwarts forward Justin Feser
of the Tri-City Americans from in close last night at the Toyota Center
in Kennewick, Wash.
(Photo by John Allen/AridAcres.com)

Kim Davis is the commissioner of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Davis, who played in the WHL (Flin Flon, 1974-77), has dropped some big numbers on a couple of teams — like 86 games in suspensions and $4,000 in fines.
Jesse Enns of the Swan Valley Stampeders drew a 40-game suspension after he took a lengthy run at an opposing player with three seconds left in a playoff game with the Portage Terriers on Saturday night.
The kerfuffle took place as the Terriers were finishing off the Sher-Wood Division playoff series.
Two assistant coaches — Dallas Anderson of Swan Valley and Jim Tkachyk of Portage — each drew a 22-game sentence. Their sin? They duked it out at the benches following the game’s conclusion. Each coach also was fined $1,500.
As well, Swan Valley head coach Dwayne Kirkup drew a two-game suspension and a $1,000 fine for picking up a gross misconduct and for not having control of his bench.
So there you have it . . . 86 games and $4,000 in fines and only four people are involved. That has to be some kind of record.
If you haven’t seen the video, it’s right here.
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F Mitch Fadden’s days with the Tampa Bay Lightning are done.
Fadden (Seattle, Lethbridge, Tri-City, 2003-09) has been placed on waivers by the Lightning and managements intends to release him.
The move comes after Fadden, 22, was arrested earlier this month in Salmon Arm, B.C., and charged with impaired driving, failing to provide a breath sample, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and obstructing a peace officer. The Salmon Arm Observer report is right here.
Fadden was with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, an affiliate of the Lightning’s, but hadn’t played since January because of a blood clot in one leg. When he played, though, he was effective, witness 51 points in 37 games.
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In Saskatoon last night, the Blades got shootout goals from F Brayden Schenn and F Marek Viednesky as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 in a shootout. . . . The Blades now have at least a point from each of their last eight games (7-0-1). . . . F Torrin White forced the OT with his first WHL goal at 10:29 of the third period. White, from Balzac, Alta., was the 21st overall selection in the 2010 bantam draft. His father, Terry, scouts for the Prince George Cougars. . . . Saskatoon lost F Jake Trask on the game’s first shift. Apparently, he may have a concussion. . . . The Blades will finish first in the overall standings; the Warriors are headed for a fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. . . .
In Calgary, G Jamie Tucker stopped 34 shots to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . .With the victory, the Raiders clinched at least a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Lethbridge Hurricanes are ninth, four points back with two games to play. A tie for the last playoff spot would necessitate a sudden-death playoff game. . . .
In Portland, the Winterhawks scored the game’s first four goals and went on to beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-3. . . . F Brad Ross scored his 30th goal and added two assists for the Winterhawks. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 28 shots. . . . Portland remains atop the Western Conference, one point up on the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Giants, who have lost seven in a row, slipped a spot to sixth, one point behind the Chilliwack Bruins. . . .
In Spokane, Chilliwack G Lucas Gore put on perhaps the best display of goaltending in the WHL this season, but his Bruins still lost to the Chiefs, 2-1 in a shootout. . . . Gore stopped 77 shots — that’s right, 77 shots — through overtime. He turned aside 11 shots in the first period, 32 in the second and 29 of 30 in the third. . . . F Tyler Johnson and F Blake Gal outscored the visitors 2-0 in the shootout. . . . F Ryan Howse gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with his 51st goal at 19:57 of the second. . . . F Matt Marantz tied it with his 19th at 8:52 of the third. . . . The victory kept the Chiefs within a point of the conference-leading Portland Winterhawks. . . . The loser point lifted the Bruins into fifth, one point ahead of the Vancouver Giants. . . . The fifth-place finisher will meet the Tri-City Americans in the first round; finish sixth and you get Portland or Spokane. . . .
In Kelowna, G Calvin Pickard stopped 23 shots to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-0 victory over the Rockets. . . . The shutout was the first of the season for Pickard. . . . Kelowna, which had won five in a row, has been blanked seven times. . . . The Rockets will finish first in the B.C. Division and be the conference’s second seed in the first round. . . . The Thunderbirds moved into a tie for ninth with the idle Kamloops Blazers, three points behind the Prince George Cougars. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., G Luke Siemens stopped 35 shots to lead the Everett Silvertips to a 2-1 victory over the host Tri-City Americans. . . . F Ryan Harrison broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 9:17 of the third period. . . . Siemens, who is 7-10-2, was starting in place of Kent Simpson (ankle). Siemens last won Jan. 7 when he beat the Americans in Everett. . . . Everett ended a seven-game losing streak and moved past the idle Prince George Cougars and into seventh place in the Western Conference. . . . The Americans have dropped five of their last home games after earlier winning 13 in a row. . . . The Americans will finish fourth in the conference.
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WEDNESDAY’S CFB COUNT:
One minor:
Chilliwack D Brandon Manning
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JUST NOTES: D Tanner Sohn, 19, is back with the Saskatoon Blades. Sohn, a 13th round pick of the Blades in the 2006 bantam draft, began this season with the Vancouver Giants and finished it with the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. In between, he was dealt to the Blades, who wanted him as a depth defenceman in the playoffs. . . . Capgeek.com has reported the terms of the three-year contract that F Wacey Hamilton of the Medicine Hat Tigers signed with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Hamilton, a 20-year-old free agent, gets US$67,500 per season in the AHL, with his NHL salaries pegged at $690,000, $715,000 and $740,000. He got a $270,000 signing bonus, at $90,000 per year. . . . The New York Rangers have signed D Dylan McIlrath of the Moose Jaw Warriors. He was the 10th overall pick in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . The Kamloops Blazers have signed 6-foot-3, 205-pound F Dallas Calvin, 16, to a WHL contract. Calvin was placed on the Blazers’ protected list in September. Calvin, who is from Trail, played this season with the junior B Beaver Valley Nitehawks, picking up 40 points in 40 regular-season games. In the playoffs, he had 17 points in 12 games. . . . F Josh Cowen of the Red Deer Rebels, out since Feb. 19 with a broken hand, may be back halfway through the first round of playoffs.
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If you are of the opinion that there is too much violence in hockey these days, you may be interested in signing this online petition. Check it out right here.
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Monday's stuff . . .

There isn’t anything to report on the Chilliwack-to-Victoria front, at least not as of late Monday night.
Except that Oren Koules says he isn’t interested.
Koules, a former co-owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, told me via email that he “was shocked to read my name . . . I have never inquired about a WHL team . . . huge fan of the league . . . fan not owner.”
Koules is a former WHL player (Portland, Great Falls, Medicine Hat, Spokane, Calgary, Brandon, 1979-82) who went on to make his mark in the entertainment world.
Among other things, he has been the executive producer of 161 episodes of, yes, Two and a Half Men.
Check out his IMDB right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders are involved in a scrap for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot and are getting back G Jamie Tucker in time for the last two weeks of the regular season. He has been out a month with a badly cut thumb. That’s the good news for Raiders fans. The bad news is that F Charles Wells now is out with a separated shoulder. . . . Raiders radio voice Drew Wilson also reports that the club has added D Josh Morrissey, the sixth pick in the 2010 bantam draft, to their roster. His midget AAA team in Calgary is done, so he’ll finish up the season with the Raiders. . . .
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Should the Regina Pats qualify for the playoffs, they will play first-round games in the Queen City, after all.
The Brandt Centre, the Pats’ home arena, won’t be available due to the World men’s curling championship, so the team will move into the Co-operators Centre, which is on the grounds at Evraz Place.
Seating capacity will be 1,278, plus standing room, so season-ticket holders will get the first crack at tickets.
Games 3 and 4 of the first-round series would be played in Regina, with tentative dates of march 29 and 30.
The Pats are 10th in the Eastern Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.
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The Portland Winterhawks are 20-6-0 since Jan. 8. Why is that date relevant? It was on that day that the Winterhawks had access to all of their players for the first time in more than a month.
Since that date, Portland has outscored its opponents 128-81.
Graham Kendrick, their crack director of media and public relations, came up with a neat chart on Monday. Here is the Winterhawks’ record, showing their one six-week slump with players going to and coming from Christmas tournaments:
Sept. 25 - Nov. 20: 20-3-0-1
Nov. 21 - Dec. 31: 5-9-0-2
Jan. 8 - Present: 20-6-0-0
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JUST NOTES: As was reported Friday by Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Tampa Bay Lightning has signed Spokane Chiefs C Tyler Johnson, 30, to a three-year NHL deal. Johnson, who is tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead and is second in points, was a free agent. . . . Johnson also is a native of Spokane. . . . F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points, including seven goals, in four games last week. . . . Lucas Gore of the Chilliwack Bruins is the WHL’s nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He was 4-0-0, 1.00, .968 last week.
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According to the Prince Albert Herald, G Jamie Tucker of the Prince Albert Raiders will be out for “at least two weeks” after he suffered a cut to his right thumb during a 5-4 loss to the Pats in Regina on Saturday night.
Tucker was injured in a collision with Regina F Garrett Mitchell. Tucker left the game in the first period and didn’t return.
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Super Bowl Sunday wasn’t so super for Dave MacQueen.
MacQueen was fired Sunday as the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. The Sting (18-26-6) is fourth in the Western Conference’s West Division, 19 points behind the Windsor Spitfires and three ahead of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Assistant coach Trevor Letowski, a former NHLer, is the new interim head coaches. The general manager’s duties will be split up among front office staff.
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According to reports, including from RDS, former NHLer Guy Carbonneau will take over as head coach of the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens today.
Carbonneau, who played and coached in the NHL, is part of Chicoutimi’s ownership group, and serves as president and governor.
The Sagueneens fired head coach Richard Martel last week. Marc-Etienne Hubert has been serving as the interim head coach.
The Sagueneens have won all three games they have played since Martel was released.

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