Maier, Blades put up another shutout. . . . ‘Sudden Death’ Byram does it again. . . . Rockets, T-Birds stretch leads on Blazers


ThisThat

Upon further review . . .

In response to a piece that appeared here yesterday about the WHL record for most whlvictories by one team in a 68-game regular season, a reader responds:

“While there was obviously no shootout in 1971-72, teams did play a 10-minute sudden-death overtime to break tie games. The vast majority of overtime games were decided as there were only 10 ties in the entire season.

“It appears that Calgary had 46 regulation victories in 1971-72, the same number that Prince Albert has this season. Overtime games were far fewer in those days, of course, when double-digit game scores were a regular thing.”

The Calgary Centennials finished the 1971-72 season with a record of 49-16-3. This season, the Prince Albert Raiders, who have five games remaining, are 50-9-4, with three OT victories and one in a shootout.

So . . . let’s just say that the 1980-81 Victoria Cougars hold the single-season record for most victories (60) and leave it at that.


F Alec Reid of the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada died on Sunday morning of qmjhlcomplications related to epilepsy. He was 18.

A freshman in the QMJHL, he had two goals and three assists in 26 games with the Drummondville Voltigeurs to start the season, then was pointless in 11 games with the Armada following a January trade.

From a QMJHL news release:

“Reid had been closely monitored by a doctor and a neurologist due to epilepsy for quite some time. Over the course of the past few weeks, the Armada had been working in close collaboration with his physicians because of recent epilepsy seizures. Due to concerns over his condition, Reid hadn’t played since February 19, 2019.”


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SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

G Nolan Maier put up his second straight shutout as the Saskatoon Blades beat the Red SaskatoonDeer Rebels, 1-0. . . . Saskatoon (41-14-8) has won four in a row. It will finish second in the East Division. . . . Red Deer (31-25-6) had points in each of its previous three games (2-0-1). It remains in possession of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, one point behind the Medicine Hat Tigers and two ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Maier stopped 17 shots in recording his fourth shutout of the season and sixth of his career. On Friday, Maier made 19 saves in a 4-0 victory over the Pats in Regina. . . . This season, Maier is 33-10-6, 2.66, .909. . . . The Blades held a 33-17 edge in shots, including 10-0 in the third period. . . . F Cyle McNabb (7) scored the game’s lone goal, at 6:37 of the second period. . . . Saskatoon was 0-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-3. . . . The Rebels got 32 saves from G Ethan Anders.


F Carson Focht struck for three goals to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 6-2 victory over the Calgaryvisiting Kootenay Ice. . . . Calgary (35-22-6) has points in six straight (5-0-1). It is third in the Central Division, four points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes and six behind the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Hitmen have five games remaining, with three of them against the Oil Kings. . . . Kootenay (12-41-10) has lost two in a row. . . . On Friday, in Cranbrook, B.C., the Hitmen beat the Ice, 5-2. . . . On Sunday, Focht opened the scoring, on a PP, at 2:16 of the first period. . . . The Ice tied it at 10:19 when F Connor McClennon (12) scored on a PP. . . . The Hitmen took control with the next three goals. . . . F Ryder Korczak (8) counted, on a PP, at 18:07, before second-period goals from F Josh Prokop, at 5:17, and Focht, at 8:19. . . . D Martin Bodak (11) scored for the visitors at 10:14. . . . Calgary iced it with third-period goals from Prokop (9), at 4:28, and Focht (23), shorthanded, at 16:03. . . . Calgary was 2-4 on the PP; Kootenay was 1-8. . . . The Hitmen got 36 saves from G Carl Stankowski. . . . Focht has been on a tear of late, with 16 points, including seven goals, on a six-game point streak. He had a four-goal game on Feb. 27 as the Hitmen beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos, 9-3. He now has 58 points in 63 games. . . . Calgary went 3-0-0 in playing three times in fewer than 48 hours over the weekend. The Ice went 1-2-0 in doing the same thing.


D Bowen Byram scored in OT for the fifth time this season, this one giving the Vancouver VancouverGiants a 5-4 victory over the Kamloops Blazers in Langley, B.C. . . . Vancouver (44-14-4) has points in six straight (5-0-1). It is tied with the Everett Silvertips, who also are 44-14-4, atop the Western Conference. . . . Kamloops (23-31-7) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . Things couldn’t have gone much worse for the Blazers this weekend as they try to catch either the Kelowna Rockets or Seattle Thunderbirds for a playoff spot. On Saturday, the Blazers lost, 5-4 in regulation to the visiting Giants, while the Thunderbirds and Rockets both lost in OT, so picked up loser points. Last night, with the Blazers getting a loser point, Kelowna and Seattle both posted regulation-time victories. . . . The Blazers are fourth in the B.C. Division, now seven points behind the Rockets. Kamloops also is seven points behind Seattle, which holds down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. . . . The Giants and Blazers will play again in Kamloops on Wednesday. . . . On Sunday, F Milos Roman gave the Giants a 1-0 lead at 9:39 of the first period. . . . The Blazers promptly took a 2-1 lead on goals from F Jerzy Orchard (1), at 10:33, and F Brodi Stuart, on a PP, at 19:00. . . . The Giants went up 3-2 as F Tristen Nielsen (13) scored, at 1:56 of the second period, and D Dylan Plouffe (6) counted, on a PP, at 3:28 of the third. . . . Stuart (19), who is from Langley, tied it, on a PP, at 7:42. . . . Roman (27) put the Giants ahead, again, at 17:02, on a PP. . . . The Blazers forced OT when F Jermaine Loewen (24) scored at 18:01. . . . Byram won it 29 seconds into extra time. . . . Byram’s 24th goal of the season tied the franchise’s single-season record for goals by a defenceman that was set by Kevin Connauton in 2009-10. . . . Byram, who also had two assists, now has 66 points in 62 games. Eight of his goals have been game-winners. . . . Byram’s fifth OT winner of the season tied the WHL record that was set by F Eric Fehr of the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2004-05 and equalled by Kamloops F Deven Sideroff in 2016-17. . . . Roman added two assists to his brace of goals, giving him the third four-point game of his career. On Friday night, he had a goal and three assists in a 7-4 victory over the visiting Kelowna Rockets. Roman now has 56 points in 56 games this season. . . . The Blazers got three assists from F Luke Zazula. . . . The Giants got 22 stops from G David Tendeck, four fewer than the Blazers’ Dylan Garand. . . . Vancouver was 2-3 on the PP; Kamloops was 2-4. . . . D Jackson Caller was out of Kamloops’ lineup after needing some dental work after being struck in the face by a puck on Saturday night. . . . Both teams were playing their third game in fewer than 48 hours — the Giants went 3-0-0; the Blazers finished 0-2-1.


F Dallon Wilton broke a 3-3 tie at 14:13 of the third period to give the host Kelowna KelownaRocketsRockets a 4-3 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Kelowna (27-30-6) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Portland (38-19-6) is headed to a second-place finish in the U.S. Division. With Portland’s loss, the Everett Silvertips clinched first place in the division for the seventh time in the franchise’s 16-season history. . . . On Saturday, the Winterhawks beat the host Rockets, 2-1, in OT. . . . Kelowna held a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by F Ted Brennan (2), at 6:00, and F Leif Mattson (22), at 7:13. . . . F Josh Patterson (22) got the Winterhawks to within a goal at 12:39 of the second. . . . Kelowna went up 3-1 at 1:53 of the third period on a PP goal by D Lassi Thomson (17). . . . Portland tied it on PP goals from F Jake Gricius (24), at 7:26, and D Brendan De Jong (7), at 13:58. . . . Wilton won it with his fourth goal of the season. . . . Portland outshot Kelowna, 30-19, including 13-7 in the first period. . . . Kelowna G Roman Basran stopped 27 shots, 12 more than Portland’s Shane Farkas. . . . Portland was 2-4 on the PP; Kelowna was 1-2. . . . Kelowna lost F Mark Liwiski to a boarding major and game misconduct at 2:07 of the third period. . . . The Winterhawks were without F Cody Glass again, but had De Jong back in the lineup. . . . Kelowna went 1-1-1 in playing three times in fewer than 48 hours. Portland did the same thing and was 1-2-0.


F Matthew Wedman scored twice and added an assist, while F Noah Philp drew three Seattleassists, leading the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle (26-28-8) has points in five straight (3-0-2). . . . Tri-City (33-25-4) has lost five in a row (0-4-1). . . . F Sasha Mutala (18) gave the Americans a 1-0 lead at 4:07 of the first period. . . . Seattle scored the game’s next three goals. . . . Wedman got it started, on a PP, at 13:20. . . . F Andrej Kukuca (25) broke the tie, at 4:22 of the second period, and F Brecon Wood (3) made it 3-1 at 7:56. . . . The Americans got to within a goal when F Krystof Hrabik (18) scored, on a PP, at 13:17. . . . The Thunderbirds responded with three more goals, from Wedman (37), on a PP, at 17:07; F Graeme Bryks (1), at 2:58 of the third period; and F Henri Rybinski (7), just seven seconds later. . . . Tri-City’s final goal came from F Parker AuCoin (38), on a PP, at 7:30. . . . Tri-City was 2-6 on the PP; Seattle was 2-7. . . . Seattle went 2-0-1 in playing three times in fewer than 48 hours on the weekend. Tri-City did the same thing and went 0-2-1.


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