THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Radek Meidl (Seattle, Tri-City, 2006-08) has signed a try-out contract with Sumperk (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). Meidl was on try-out with Berounsti Medvedi (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) earlier this season but it ended at the end of October. While with Berounsti Medvedi, Meidl had three goals and two assists in 15 games. . . .
D Logan Stephenson (Try-City, 2001-06) was released by Karlskrona (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had one assist in 21 games this season. . . .
F Matt Keith (Spokane, Red Deer, 1998-2003) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) after a successful try-out. He has four goals and four assists in 12 games with Dornbirn. Keith started the season with Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic, Extraliga), with no points in four games before his release in early October.
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Paul Buker of The Oregonian has spoken with Ken Hodge, the winningest head coach in WHL history, about the goings-on between the WHL and the Portland Winterhawks, and that piece is right here. . . . It’s interesting that Hodge’s handicap has gone up in semi-retirement. Next thing you know he’ll be trying a belly putter!
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Todd Ripplinger has resigned as the Vancouver Giants’ director of player development and has joined The Sports Corporation (TSC) as its director of player personnel. . . . This is a new position with one of the most prominent agencies in the business of representing players. . . . Ripplinger, who lives in Regina, spent 14 years as the Regina Pats’ director of scouting before his contract wasn’t renewed in 2011. . . . Gerry Johannson, TSC’s president and CEO, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post: “It’s a position we’ve been looking to fill for some time and we wanted to make sure we got the right guy. Todd was our No. 1 choice. We were able to get him out of Vancouver in a very positive and seamless way. It’s not every day you get a guy with Todd’s experience. He’s a really honest and really smart guy and a really easy guy to communicate with. He understands junior hockey and he knows the people and the game. He understands the players and knows how the system works. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, F Levi Cable scored the only goal of a six-round shootout as the Kootenay Ice beat the Raiders, 5-4. . . . The Raiders led 4-2 midway through the second period. . . . The Ice tied it on goals by F Luke Philp, his second of the game, at 13:55 of the second and F Sam Reinhart, his 11th this season, at 9:10 of the third. . . . 

In Portland, the Winterhawks scored three times on the PP and beat the Everett Silvertips, 4-2. . . . Those three PP goals gave the Winterhawks a 3-0 lead by 2:43 of the second period. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic scored his 22nd goal, while F Nic Petan got his 21st and also had an assist. . . . Portland D Seth Jones was held pointless in his final game before joining the U.S. national junior team. . . .

In Vancouver, F Cain Franson’s 11th goal, at 13:02 of the third period, broke a 1-1 tie as the Giants beat the Prince George Cougars, 2-1. . . . The teams both hit the road immediately after the game because they play tonight and Sunday in Prince George. . . . That’s about an 800-kilometre jaunt. . . . The Giants snapped a three-game skid and co-owner Michael Buble was in the house to watch. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that the Giants are thinking about taking a look at F Jakob Stukel, a second-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, right after Christmas. He plays for the major midget Valley West Hawks. . . . Pap also reports that the Giants won’t be getting a look at F Ty Ronning, their first-round pick in 2012, any time soon. “Ronning suffered a greenstick fracture in his left arm at the Giants training camp in August,” Pap writes, “returned in November to play for the South Delta Hockey Academy but bowed out of the lineup last week when he hurt the arm again. He is gone for at least six weeks.” . . .

In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes scored three times on the PP and beat the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . F Jaiden Yakubowski broke a 2-2 tie with his 20th goal of the season at 16:26 of the second. . . . Lethbridge’s last three goals came via the PP as it went 3-for-10. . . . The Blazers were 1-for-3. . . . The Blazers, who released F Charles Inglis, 20, on Wednesday night, were able to dress only 10 forwards. F Dylan Willick (ankle) and F Cole Ully (mononucleosis) should be back shortly after Christmas, while F JC Lipon is with Canada’s national junior team. . . . The two head coaches, Guy Charron of Kamloops and Lethbridge’s Rich Preston, exchanged Christmas greetings near game’s end, but I don't think they met for egg nogs later. . . . “It was a good, physical game,” Preston told Dylan Purcell of the Lethbridge Herald. “Our guys had to play disciplined and they did. They took some dumb penalties and we made them pay. It’s tough, in the third period we had a two goal lead and we had to turn the other cheek because we had to get the win.They were taking some liberties and we’re really not that kind of team. You wish you were up three or four goals in the third, then you could return the favour. But our guys showed good discipline and got the win.” . . . Charron, on Radio NL’s post-game show, said a naughty word — bullshit — on three occasions. That was in response to play-by-play man Jon Keen asking Charron what it was Preston had to say. It seems that Preston thought a late-game hit by one of the Blazers wasn’t quite, uhh, kosher. . . .

In Spokane, the Chiefs erased a four-goal deficit and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-6 in a shootout. . . . Spokane F Mitch Holmberg keyed the comeback with three straight third-period goals, his second hat trick this season. He also scored in the circus. . . . Holmberg, who also had two assists, scored at 8:09, 14:31 and 17:09. . . . F Mike Aviani forced OT with his 17th goal at 19:05 of the third. . . . Seattle F Connor Honey scored at 1:27 of the third to give the Thunderbirds a 6-2 lead. . . . D Brendan Kichton also scored for Spokane in the shootout, while F Connor Sanvido counted for Seattle. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Blades ran their winning streak to five with a 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Saskatoon, which started so poorly, now is 18-14-1 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, just nine points out of top spot. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls scored twice, giving him 26 and the WHL goal-scoring lead. . . . Nicholls gave the Blades a 3-2 lead at 2:45 of the third, only to have F Coda Gordon pull the Broncos even at 4:46. . . . Saskatoon F Shane McColgan won it at 11:21. . . .

In Brandon, the Wheat King scored four times in the third period and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-2. . . . All six goals were scored in the game’s final 15:44. . . . F Tim McGauley scored twice for Brandon. He has missed the previous six games with an undisclosed injury. . . . Moose Jaw F Torrin White (broken hand) was back after missing 14 games. . . .

In Medicine Hat, D Damon Severson had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Tigers, 4-2. . . . Kelowna, which wraps up a stretch of four games in five nights tonight in Red Deer, has won five straight. . . . Kelowna wraps up its Alberta trek on Sunday in Calgary. . . . F Nick Merkley, the ninth overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft, will make his WHL debut with Kelowna tonight in Red Deer. Merkley is from Calgary. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels scored three times in the circus to beat the Victoria Royals, 3-2. . . . F Rhyse Dieno, F Matt Bellerive and F Conner Bleackley all scored for the Rebels in the shootout. They need all three of them, too, because Victoria got circus goals from F Logan Nelson and F Steven Hodges. . . . Victoria D Jack Walker scored his first goal at 15:28 of the third period to force OT. . . . Victoria F Ben Walker, Jack’s older brother, had two assists. . . .

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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Ryley Miller, Brandon
D Sam Grist, Kamloops
F Ryan Olsen, Kelowna
F Matt Bellerive, Red Deer
D Nick Walters, Everett

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Chance Braid, Prince Albert
D Jordan Thomson, Kamloops
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From Lethbridge F Russell Maxwell (@Russizzle7): “Just to avoid any confusion . . . The reason for my frustration at the end of the game was because I lost new teeth . . . Dentist here I come.”


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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Regina, the Pats halted a seven-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . G Matt Hewitt stopped 23 shots for his second shutout this season. . . . F Marc McCoy, acquired Wednesday from the Red Deer Rebels, scored for the Pats. . . . D Darian Henry, acquired by Regina from the Calgary Hitmen, also made his Regina debut. F Filip Vasko, who came over with McCoy from Red Deer, remains out with a knee injury. . . . F Trent Ouellette scored in the first period for Regina, giving the Pats their first goal in 206:21. The Pats were coming off back-to-back shutouts at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . A note from Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that will interest WHL scouts: “Vancouver Giants director of player development Todd Ripplinger, a former Pats’ head scout, won the 50/50 draw of $3,350.” . . .
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Brent Sutter has said he will run the Red Deer Rebels’ bench for the remainder of this season. . . . “I just think it’s the right thing to do,” Sutter told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “It wouldn’t be fair to the kids now to make a change. There’s a certain way I want this team to play and I don’t think it would be right to all of a sudden make another coaching change. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved, including the fans. The right thing to do is stay the course and get through the year, hopefully have a real good second half (of the regular season) and a good playoff run. Then I can take some time to think about the situation.” . . . Sutter, the owner and general manager of the Rebels, had named himself interim head coach when he removed Jesse Wallin as head coach on Nov. 13. . . . The Rebels are 9-1-1 under Sutter, after going 10-11-2 under Wallin.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Barry Brust (Spokane, Calgary, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had a 2.53 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 52 games for the AHL-champion Binghamton Senators last season. . . .
D Lawrence Nycholat (Swift Current, 1996-2000) signed a one-year contract with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL). He had five goals and 23 assists in 32 games for the Hershey Bears (AHL) last season. . . .
F Scott King (Kelowna, 1996-97) signed a one-year contract with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had seven goals and 15 assists in 49 games with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
G Rastislav Stana (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 1998-2000) signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL). He had a 2.24 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 26 games with Severstal Cherepovets (Russia, KHL) last season.
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I was saddened to read that Ralph Borger, who for years owned the MJHL’s St. Boniface Saints and was a driving force behind that junior A league, died on Sunday, 18 days past his 81st birthday. . . . Back in the day, when I was at the Winnipeg Tribune, I got to know the always-smiling Ralph and always enjoyed his company. And no one was more supportive of the MJHL than was Ralph. . . . Oh, those were some kind of meetings with Ralph and Ben Dzikowicz in attendance! . . . For more on Ralph and his contributions to hockey, check out this right here. . . . You have to know that hockey is better for this man having taken a huge interest in it.
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Alan Caldwell over there at Small Thoughts At Large has done up his annual study of the WHL teams and mileage they will accumulate in the approaching season. Yes, the Prince George are No. 1 on the bus parade. . . . Check it out via the link over there on the right.
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The Vancouver Giants have added veteran WHL scout Todd Ripplinger to their front office. Ripplinger, whose contract wasn’t renewed by the Regina Pats last month, is the Giants’ new director of player development. Ripplinger had been Regina’s director of scouting since 1997. . . . The Giants also extended the contracts of director of player personnel Jason Ripplinger and scouting director Terry Bonner, both of whom have been with the club since Day 1. . . . Yes, the Ripplingers are brothers. . . . Terry Bonner is the father of Giants general manager Scott Bonner and Kamloops Blazers GM Craig Bonner.
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F Kevin King (Kootenay, 2006-11) has signed with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. He had 76 points, including 33 goals, in 68 games with the Ice last season, then added 16 points in 19 playoff games as the Ice won the WHL championship. He had 227 points in 335 games with the Ice over five seasons. . . . Mark Holick, a former Ice head coach, is heading into his second season as the Crunch’s head coach.
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Ben Pherson of the Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin offers up his opinion of what’s going on with NCAA hockey. That is right here, and he doesn’t think this is such a good idea.
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Mark Driver of the Providence Journal checks in with old friend Ed Staniowski, whose goaltending helped the Regina Pats win the 1974 Memorial Cup at the Corral in Calgary. Staniowski certainly has had an interesting time since his hockey career came to an end. That story is right here.
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JUST NOTES: F Marcel Noebels of the Seattle Thunderbirds has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. From Germany, he was a fourth-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft. Last season, his first in the WHL, Noebels had 54 points, including 28 goals, in 68 games. . . . The MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers have acquired the rights to F David Conrad (Spokane, Tri-City, 2008-11) in a deal with the Winnipeg Saints. Conrad, from Winnipeg, is a 20-year-old. He had 24 points in 69 games with Tri-City last season. . . . G Julien LaPlante, who lost his scholarship to Union College, because he didn’t tell the coaching staff he had played 20 minutes in an exhibition game for the Portland Winterhawks, will attend Providence College. There’s more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME: Former NHL player John Marks is the new director of hockey operations and head coach of the USHL’s Fargo Force. He spent last season as head coach of the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers. With the Force, he takes over from Jason Herter, who left for an assistant coaching role with the U of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Marks was attractive to the Force at least in part because he played and coached at the U of North Dakota. . . . Former WHL coach Jeff Truitt is one the move again. But this time he is at least staying in Texas. Truitt, a former assistant and head coach with the Kelowna Rockets, stepped down as director of hockey operations with the Moose Jaw Warriors a year ago to become an assistant coach with the San Antonio Rampage, then the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. But the Coyotes have moved their affiliation from San Antonio to the Portland, Me., Pirates, with the Florida Panthers now the Rampage’s parent club. Truitt, who just last week was working the Coyotes’ development camp, was named Monday as an assistant coach with the Texas Stars, who are hooked up with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Glen Gulutzan, who was the Texas head coach last season, has moved up as head coach in Dallas. Last week, Texas named Jeff Pyle its new head coach. . . .
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By now you likely have heard that former WHL and NHL star Joe Sakic scored a $1-million hole in one on Sunday. If you haven’t seen it, the video is right here, and it is outstanding. I can’t ever recall seeing the normally reserved Sakic celebrate like that after scoring a goal.
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Today’s good read comes from Adrian Dater of SI.com. . . . Get yourself a double-double and check out this story right here. It’s all about Tim Horton and Tim Hortons.

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Thursday . . .

The coaching carousel let one on and another one off Thursday.
The Seattle Thunderbirds introduced Steve Konowalchuk as the 16th head coach in franchise history.
Konowalchuk, 38, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. (By the way, Colorado filled the vacancy on its coaching staff by promoting Adam Deadmarsh to assistant coach from video and development coach; Konowalchuk and Deadmarsh both played for the Portland Winterhawks.)
Konowalchuk played in 14 NHL seasons, splitting them between the Washington Capitals and Colorado. Washington had selected him in the third round of the 1991 NHL draft.
Meanwhile, the Regina Pats dismissed Curtis Hunt, who had one season left on his contract.
At the same time, Regina didn’t renew the contract of Todd Ripplinger, who had been the director of scouting since 1997-98.
Hunt spent six seasons as the Pats’ head coach, although he spent one season in the Ottawa Senators’ organization in the middle of his Regina stint. However, the Pats missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons with Hunt as their head coach. (Regina now has missed the playoffs each of the last three seasons, the first one under Dale Derkatch, who now is in the Prince Albert Raiders organization.) Hunt was 185-201-46 as the Pats’ head coach, winning an East Division title in 2007-08.
You have to wonder what took the Pats so long to make this decision, considering that they played their final game of the 2010-11 season on March 19.
What this means is that general manager Chad Lang, who took over from Brent Parker (he is the team president) after the 2009-10 season, is putting his stamp on the franchise. He had hired neither Hunt nor Ripplinger, and now will be able to put his own people in place. Remember, too, that the Pats earlier had said they wouldn’t be renewing the contracts of assistant coach Shaun Sutter or goaltending consultant Ryan Cyr.
The Pats, then, will have a whole new look when another season gets here.
I was told Thursday that Ripplinger had been offered a contract but hadn’t signed it or even agreed to it, but had planned to get together with Lang when the latter returned from the WHL’s annual general meeting that was held earlier this week in Calgary.
However, Ripplinger was told Thursday morning that the decision had now been made not to bring him back.
“After 14 years, it’s over,” an emotional Ripplinger told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “It’s a hard feeling. I shed some tears. It was tough walking out of that office. It’s hard to put closure on something like that. I’ve met a lot of good people in Regina. They’ve been good to me. I kind of figured this day would come sooner or later but you just can’t prepare for it.”
You have to think Hunt might have a chance to land the job as head coach of the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, assuming that is that he is interested in jumping right back into the water. That job opened when Jim Playfair left for a spot on the bench with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. The Heat is affiliated with the NHL’s Calgary Flames and Hunt has ties to Calgary head coach Brent Sutter and associate coach Craig Hartsburg.
Hunt also has experience as an AHL head coach. He was an assistant under Hartsburg with the Ottawa Senators when Hartsburg lost his job. Cory Clouston moved up from the AHL’s Binghamton Senators to replace Hartsburg, while Hunt went down to take over from Clouston.
And now Hartsburg is the only one of that trio with a coaching job.
Ahh, the coaching game!
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If you’re counting, the Pats join the Everett Silvertips and Moose Jaw Warriors as WHL teams without head coaches.
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THE COACHING GAME: The Central league’s Quad City Mallards have hired David Bell as general manager and head coach. Bell, 34, was an assistant coach with the OHL’s Barrie Colts for the last two seasons. . . . The Mallards also announced the formation of the Quad City Mallards Community Advisory Board. That board, according to a news release, “will provide guidance, advice and support in an effort to maximize the visibility and success of the Mallards in the community.” The first person named to the board is Kerry Toporowski (Spokane, 1989-91), who is one of two players in Quad City to have his number retired. He played 236 games over six seasons with the Mallards. . . . Former NHL D Darryl Sydor (Kamloops, 1988-92) may be in line for an NHL coaching job after one season as an assistant with the AHL’s Houston Aeros. Mike Yeo, the Aeros’ head coach, is to be named head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild and could easily take Sydor with him. Sydor also is one of five owners of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. . . . Curtis Brown (Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, 1992-96) has ended his playing career after three years in Europe. He has joined the NHL’s San Jose Sharks organization and will work in an area called Sharks Ice as a development coach. He played three seasons for the Sharks during his NHL career. . . . Réal Paiement is the new program manager and head coach of the U of Ottawa Gee-Gees. He has coached five different QMJHL teams and had two years left on his contract as head coach of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Don Campbell of the Ottawa Citizen reported that Paiement, 51, exercised an out clause in his contract. The U of Ottawa dropped head coach Dave Leger in March. . . .
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Like the Seattle Thunderbirds, the Prince George Cougars have opened an account at Sporcle, which is turning into a popular spot on the Internet. It’s a site specializing in trivia and quizzes. Check it out right here.

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