THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ivan Dornic (Portland, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with VEU Feldkirch (Austria, Inter-National Liga). He had nine goals and seven assists in 25 games with Metallurg Zhlobin (Belarus, Extraliga) and six goals and six assists in 10 games with Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga) last season. . . .
F Layne Ulmer (Swift Current, 1997-2001) signed a one-year contract extension with Asiago (Italy, Serie A). He had 19 goals and 22 assists in 45 games with Asiago last season. . . .
F Ryan Watson (Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with Pontebba (Italy, Serie A). He had eight goals and eight assists in 18 games with Val Pusteria (Italy, Serie A) last season.
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F Andrew Rieder, who had off-season shoulder surgery, has not yet been cleared to return to action so won’t be on the ice when the Regina Pats open camp on Friday. . . . Rieder told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that he hopes to be ready by opening night (Sept. 21). . . . Rieder was injured in the playoffs and had surgery on May 11. . . . Harder has more on Rieder right here.
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D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen is the new captain of the Vancouver Giants. Vannieuwenhuizen, 20, is in his third season with the Giants. He takes over as captain from Brendan Gallagher, who is expected to play in the Montreal Canadiens’ organization this season.
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The Kamloops Blazers signed D Cameron Reagan on Tuesday. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Kamloops now has signed its top three 2012 bantam picks. F Jayden Halbgewachs, a first-rounder from Emerald Park, Sask., and F Nick Chyzowski of Kamloops, who was taken in the second round, signed earlier in the summer. . . . Regan, from Sherwood Park, Alta., played bantam in his hometown last season and likely will play midget AAA there this season. He had 27 points in 30 games with the bantam team last season.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors announced the signings of nine players on Tuesday.
D Logan Hermus, from Big Valley Alta., played for the midget AAA Red Deer Northstar Chiefs last season. The Warriors selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 bantam draft.
D Dustin Perillat played for his hometown Saskatoon Outlaws, a bantam AA team, last season. He was a fourth-round selection in the 2012 antam draft.
D Dallas Valentine, a 16-year-old list player, spent last season with the midget AAA Red Deer IROC Chiefs.
F Ben Duperreault, from Wilcox, Sask., was an eighth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. If he doesn’t stick with the Warriors, he’ll play for the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals.
F Brandon Del Grosso, a ninth-round pick in the 2011 draft, spent last season with the major midget Vancouver-North West Giants.
F Ethan Lazaro of St. Albert, Alta., was selected in the seventh round of the 2012 draft. He played for the bantam AAA St. Albert Sabres.
F Colton McCarthy was born in Moose Jaw but grew up in Salmon Arm, B.C. He is expected to play for the junior B Nelson Leafs in the Kootenay International junior league. Last season, he played at the Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna.
They also announced the signings of D Tyler Brown and F Ethan Williams, two fifth-round selections from the 2012 draft. The signings of both players actually got out earlier in the week.
Brown, from Olympia, Wash., will play this season for the U-16 AAA Omaha Lancers. He played at Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna last season. Williams, from Winnipeg, also was at PoE last season. This season, he’ll play midget AAA in Winnipeg.
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It would appear that F Taylor Leier of the Portland Winterhawks is somewhere on the U.S.East Coast seeking medical treatment for an injury.
Leier tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he was in “Carolina” to have surgery today, but that he expects to be back in Portland rather quickly.
The tweet, it should be noted, disappeared shortly after being posted.
Leier was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 117th pick of the 2012 NHL draft. He apparently came out of a Flyers’ summer camp with an abdominal injury. Leier, who had 37 points in 72 games last season, may be ,
Leier, 18, had 37 points, including 13 goals, in 72 games as a freshman last season.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won its VHL opener on Monday, defeating Neftenik Almentyevsk 5-1, despite being outshot 23-19 before a sell-out crowd of more than 9,000 fans in Yaroslavl — the game sold out in four hours — and a national TV audience. The game story on the Russian sports website www.championat.com started with this (pardon the rough translation): “For a long time, saying the name of the Yaroslavl team, we will remember McCrimmon, Karpovtsev, Tkachenko and Galimov, Demitra and Vasicek, Sobchenko and Urychev . . . the hockey idols of Yaroslavl did not return, but they are in our heart and never left.”
Meanwhile . . .
F Ryan Watson (Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Val Pusteria (Italy, Serie A). He had 19 goals and 21 assists in 38 games for Ritten/Renon (Italy, Serie A) last season.
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JUST NOTES:
The Red Deer Rebels juggled goaltenders again Monday, releasing Tyler Oswald, 18, and bringing in Deven Dubyk, 20. All this is because starter Patrik Bartosak suffered a shoulder injury last week. The Czech freshman is to have surgery and will be out indefinitely. . . . Oswald was brought in from the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers and started Sunday’s 5-0 loss the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Dubyk, who was with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, is expected to start tonight in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice. Dubyk has WHL experience with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Dubyk’s arrival leaves the Rebels with four 20-year-olds, although two of them — D Aaron Borejko and F Josh Cowen — are injured. The other one is D Justin Weller. Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate reports that Borejko is on the 45-day injured list, retroactive to Nov. 11, meaning he is eligible to return Dec. 26. . . .
F Zach McPhee, 18, of the Everett Silvertips has had his junior A rights traded from the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers to the Victoria Grizzlies. McPhee has four points in 12 games with Everett, but is out with an undisclosed injury and hasn’t played since Oct. 26. . . .
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F Connor Honey left the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and now is with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Honey, a 17-year-old from Edmonton, actually went to camp with Seattle and then joined the Gamblers. So . . . what went into his decision to return to the Thunderbirds?
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports spoke with Honey and does a fine job of describing the anguish some of these young players go through in making a huge decision.
"You have so many things coming at you every day, people trying to persuade you one way or the other, you know what I mean?" Honey told Sager. "I think maybe I listened to too many people on which way to go and I didn't make the right assessment with myself. That's kind of what I have to say about it. You're a young guy, you take a lot of advice, perhaps you have to put more weight on your own decision.”
Sager’s piece is right here.
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ESPN apparently pays more than $1 billion per season for for NFL games. And for that it gets the St. Louis Rams at the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football?
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