The Vancouver Canucks have gone from Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider as their goaltending tandem to Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom, and you may want to think about how that happened. . . . You also may want to ponder what sank quicker, the Canucks or the Titanic. . . . Is it just me, or have the Sedin twins all but lost their games in less than a year? Did they grow old in hockey years before we knew it? Does head coach John Tortorella’s shot-blocking, grinding style disagree with them that much? . . . BTW, the Canucks owe each of the Sedin boys four more seasons at $7 million per. . . .

“Kazakhstan finished last in the medal count with one bronze at Sochi,” writes Richmond blogger TC Chong. “Richard Petty said they would have won it all if no one else showed up.” . . . Shades of O.J.: In South Africa, a 24-hour TV channel dedicated to Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial went on the air last Sunday. . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “My feeling on LeBron’s mask: Hey, aren’t Marvel superheroes supposed to LOOK like Marvel superheroes?” . . .

Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “Word around the Olympics was that Rogers is targeting CBC star George Stroumboulopoulos to host its NHL broadcasts next season after it couldn’t secure James Duthie. And it’s all but been confirmed that Paul Romanuk will be Rogers’ second play-by-play man, after Jim Hughson in the No. 1 chair.” . . . Romanuk, a former TSN hockey play-by-play voice, has been in London, England, for the past few years. . . . I haven’t got my hands on a copy yet, but you can bet that I’ll read His Ownself: A Semi-Memoir, from the legendary Dan Jenkins. The book hit the shelves on Tuesday. . . .

“Don't really understand the mass appeal of outdoor hockey games,” tweeted Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as the Penguins and Blackhawks played in a Chicago snowstorm last weekend, “but assume it has nothing to do with the exceptional quality of play.” . . . Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register chimed in with: “Good job, Bettman. Let's don't have Olympic hockey. Let's have fiasco hockey in a snowstorm instead.” . . . I really need someone to explain to me just how it is that Toronto’s mayor is still in office. . . . And while they’re at it, they can explain to me how Russia rattles sabres in Ukraine and the price of gas in Kamloops jumps from $1.20.9 to $1.33.9. . . .

Here’s Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, writing about Tiger Woods before the final round of last week’s Honda Classic: “Now, however, the familiar refrain for Woods is one of a player grasping at straws, one of a player who is reluctant to accept his new reality. Woods, in bad times and in good, now sounds a lot more like the masses of weekend amateurs who are in constant search of their elusive game, never knowing what’s coming with the next swing.” . . . Former San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds is working with the Giants as a hitting coach during spring training. “Let’s just hope all of that attention and power doesn’t give Barry a big head,” offered comedy writer Alex Kaseberg. . . .

During the recent NFL Combine, Auburn defensive end Dee Ford, speaking on Sirius XM radio, took a shot at South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. “People are just looking at the fact that he is a physical specimen,” Ford said. “Honestly, if you watch the film, he plays like a blind dog in a meat market, basically.” . . . How did Clowney react to that? “I just feel like he’s trying to build his stock up or something,” Clowney told the NFL Network. “It doesn’t bother me, but I told him, ‘I’m still better than you.’ ” . . . Hey, Capital One, it’s time to retire that commercial with Martin Short in it. Please! . . .

So . . . Larry Brooks of the New York Post wrote about 10 days ago that the Rangers had attempted to get forward Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for their captain, Ryan Callahan. . . . That prompted this response from Phil Esposito, a Lightning broadcaster, who was appearing on The Next Sports Star: "Some (bleep) in New York that writes for the New York Post, and we all know who he is, decided, 'Let me put something out there so maybe we can start some controversy.' It's a bunch of (bleep). It's been going on for as long as I've been in the game of hockey . . . Don't give me this (crap) you're going to trade Marty St. Louis, who has a no-movement clause, he doesn't want to leave, for Callahan, who's a kid, I like him, he's a heart-and-souler, but he couldn't score more than 25 or 30 goals in his (bleeping) lifetime, and he doesn't play all the time because he gets hurt, because he plays like he's 6-foot-5." . . . Of course, Brooks fired back: “If Phil Esposito feels obligated to talk about me on the radio, perhaps he would like to tell the story about the time he spent an elevator ride in the Garden kicking me in the back of the legs because he was upset with something I had written the previous day. At least that would be accurate.” . . . And then, come Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, guess what happened? Yes, St. Louis ended up with the Rangers, with Callahan going the other way. . . . Atta boy, Espo! . . .

“Men’s curling in Saskatchewan is at an all-time low. Again,” writes Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express. “Pat Simmons, our best curler, plays in Alberta. And two Albertans have twice come to our province to cherry pick a pass to the Brier. It worked once. A handful of provinces are sending pros and we are sending the equivalent of good club teams. We’ve won seven Briers in 75 years. Not good enough. Maybe the Richardsons will consider a comeback.” . . . The Los Angeles Dodgers will have Larry King (yes, that Larry King) playing host to a show on their 24/7 TV network. The show will be called Larry King At Bat. “Presumably,” notes Janice Hough (aka the Left Coast Sports Babe), “Larry hopes to get as a regular guest that nice young man Vin Scully.” . . .

When the Canucks dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to Florida on Wednesday, it looked for a while as though Luongo and protagonist Tim Thomas would be the Panthers’ goaltenders. Asked how the two of them would get along, Luongo responded: “I always get along with my backups.” . . . Thomas was later dealt to the Dallas Stars. . . . “Just woke up in a cold sweat from the ultimate Sochi nightmare,” writes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “As in, tennis scream queen Maria Sharapova decided to take up curling.”

(Gregg Drinnan is a former sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post and the late Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears here on weekends, except when it doesn’t.)

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a one-year plus option contract with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga) after his release by Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A) on Sunday. Genève-Servette released Duda because they wanted to keep import space available for NHL players who might become available due to the lockout. The club filled Duda's roster spot with San Jose F Logan Couture on Tuesday. Duda finished second in scoring in the Czech Extraliga last season with 24 goals and 35 assists in 52 games with Plzen. . . .
D Andrew Ference (Portland, 1994-99) signed a lockout contract with Ceske Budejovice (Czech Repuiblic, Extraliga) and is scheduled to arrive in Ceske Budejovice the first week of October. He had six goals and 18 assists in 72 games with the Boston Bruins last season. Ference played 19 regular-season games and seven playoff games for Ceske Budejovice during the last lockout in 2004-05.
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As expected, the OHL on Wednesday announced a new approach to players who are involved in more than 10 fights during a season.
Here is the new rule:
    1. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 11th to 15th time during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.
    2. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 16th time or more during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension and the hockey club is fined $1,000 for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.
    3. If a player is deemed to be the instigator in any of the fights above the 10-game threshold, such player would be assessed an automatic four-game suspension in addition to any other penalties assessed.
    Note: If a player is instigated upon, the fighting major is not included in the player’s total number of fights.
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Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the situation right here.
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN and TSN has his take on it all right here, and it includes some interesting reaction from the NHL’s Colin Campbell.
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A tweet from Paul Romanuk (@paul_romanuk), a former TSN hockey play-by-play man who now works and lives in London, England: “Commish Dave Branch showing, yet again, why he is one of the most enlightened leaders in the game.”
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Somewhere in what I read on Wednesday, I saw some figures attributed to OHL commissioner David Branch.
Over the last five seasons, he said, 92 per cent of OHL players have been involved in fewer than 10 fights. Last season, the OHL had 25 players with at least 11 fights.
If you are wondering, according to hockeyfights.com, the WHL had 28 players with 11 or more fights last season, with 11 more right at 10.
In 2010-11, there were 34 WHLers involved in at least 11 fights, with seven others at 10.
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The London Free Press, in an on-line poll, asked: “Do you agree with new penalties for frequent fighters in OHL?” . . . Early this morning, the poll had drawn 1,327 responses, with 51.24 per cent (680) voting YES and 48.76 per cent (647) voting NO.
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The OHL also made a couple of other changes . . .
Video Replay Rule 38.4:
    The following situations have been added to those areas subject to review by the Video Goal Judge:
    The puck is hand-passed to a teammate in the offensive zone who subsequently scores.
    The puck is high-sticked to a teammate in the offensive zone who subsequently scores.
Refusing to Play the Puck - Rule 72:
    In order to accentuate the speed and skill of the players, if in the opinion of the referee it is deemed that the game has come to a standstill due to no advancement of the puck, the whistle shall be blown with the resulting faceoff at centre ice with it understood that the teams are not permitted to make a line change.
    Note: Not advancing the puck shall include, but is not limited to a player remaining behind his net with the puck for an extended period of time or regrouping behind his net without moving the puck on more than two (2) consecutive occasions.
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Meanwhile, the WHL has adopted what perhaps should be called the Facebook Rule as it deals with staged fighting that occurs right off a faceoff. There have been times in the recent past when such fights apparently were arranged somewhere in the social media world.
Whatever. The WHL wants them out of its game.
Here is the WHL rule:
    1. Should a fight occur following a face-off, it will be considered a staged fight. Should a staged fight occur during a pre-season, regular season or playoff game, the players involved shall each receive an automatic game misconduct in addition to the major penalty. Should one player clearly initiate or instigate the fight, only that player will receive the game misconduct in addition to a minor penalty for instigating the fight.  Should the linesmen intervene and prevent the fight from starting, the players involved will each receive misconduct penalties.
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The WHL also has reminded folks of a couple of rules that were announced earlier in the summer:
    1. A delay of game penalty will be assessed any time a player places his hand over the puck while it is on the ice in order to conceal it from an opponent or to prevent an opponent from playing the puck.
    2. A delay of game penalty will be assessed to any player taking a face-off who uses his hand to direct the puck in any direction.
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The Tri-City Americans have signed D Brandon Carlo, 16, to a WHL contract. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Carlo is from Colorado Springs, Colo. He played last season for the U-16 Colorado Thunderbirds, putting up 17 points in 40 games, and will return to them for this season. Carlo was a 10th-round selection by the Americans in the 2011 bantam draft.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed F Matt Revel, 16, who actually began this season with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, picking up a goal in four games. The Blades listed Revel, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., in October as he was starting his season with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins. He finished with 51 points in 40 games with the Bruins. . . . Revel is expected to play Friday against the host Prince Albert Raiders. . . . He chose not to attend the Blades’ training camp in order to maintain his NCAA eligibility, but changed his mind because of the opportunity to play in the Memorial Cup with the Blades. Saskatoon is the host team for the 2012 Memorial Cup.
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The Portland Winterhawks have settled on their goaltenders. Brendan Jensen’s name disappeared from their roster and he apparently is off to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. That leaves Portland with sophomore Brendan Burke, 17, and veteran Cam Lanigan, 20. . . . Burke is the son of former NHL G Sean Burke, who now works with the Phoenix Coyotes. . . . Lanigan was acquired on waivers from the Kamloops Blazers. Interestingly, Lanigan was the backup in Kamloops last season and, after starter Cole Cheveldave was injured, started the last six games of a seven-game second-round playoff series with Portland. The Winterhawks won Game 7, 2-0, behind G Mac Carruth, who has signed with the Chicago Blackhawks and will report to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. . . . Depending on how things unfold, though, Carruth, 20, could end up back in Portland.
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The Swift Current Broncos have trimmed two players from their roster. . . . The Broncos’ news release stated that F Adam Smith, 18, will be joining the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. Smith, however, tweeted that he will play for the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Broncos got him from the Portland Winterhawks in October for F Dillon Wagner. Smith, who is from Nanaimo, had 34 penalty minutes in 20 games with the Broncos last season. . . . They also released F Adam Rossignol, 19, who came over from the Kootenay Ice for D Tanner Muth in January. A native of Surrey, B.C., he had 21 points in 71 games split between the Broncos and Ice last season.
With those moves, the Broncos appear prepared to open the season with four Saskatchewan freshmen on their roster — F Dakota Odgers, 16, of Spy Hill, F Tanner LeSann, 17, of Yorkton, F Zac Mackay, 17, of Swift Current, and F Justin Spagrud, 17, of Gull Lake.
I really liked something that Broncos GM/head coach Mark Lamb told Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos.
"They're on the team," Lamb told Mullin. "I really like the way our training camp went but that's just one stage of the season. The date when you really made the team is Jan. 10. That's when the final trade deadline is."
That is something that all WHL players need to keep in mind.
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The Regina Pats trimmed G Adam Beukeboom and D Nathan Zimbaluk from their roster on Wednesday. . . . Beukeboom, 18, played in 19 games with Regina last season, going 5-6-2, 3.08, .898. . . . The 6-foot-3 Zimbaluk played 16 games for the Pats last season before joining the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. He will be rejoining the Mustangs. . . . Dropping Beukeboom means the Pats will open the season with Matt Hewitt, 20, and  freshman Teagan Sacher, 18, who finished the exhibition season with a 0.66 GAA and a .980 save percentage.
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Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal caught up with Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, this week.
“Regrets? Surely Jeff Chynoweth has a few, but the firing of Kris Knoblauch in the offseason isn’t one,” Daum writes right here.
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D Martin Gernat of the Edmonton Oil Kings has yet to play because of a shoulder injury. Head coach Derek Laxdal told Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal that Gernat is day-to-day.
“Hopefully, that’s true,” Matheson writes, “but so far it’s been week to week.”
Gernat isn’t expected to play tonight as the WHL season opens with the Oil Kings, the defending champions, playing host to the Kootenay Ice, who won the WHL title in 2010-11.
The Oil Kings also are without F Dylan Wruck, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.
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A Wednesday afternoon tweet from James Shewaga, the sports editor of the Brandon Sun: “Brandon Wheat Kings have now sold 2,489 season-ticket packages and 3,196 total tickets for Friday night’s season opener versus Regina.”
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Head Games, a movie that details the struggles faced by some athletes who have suffered concussions, debuted Wednesday at the Boston Film Festival.  Jesse Spector of sportingnews.com writes about the documentary right here, and, yes, there is ample mention of hockey players.

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