The Lethbridge Hurricanes scored four times on the PP en route to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday night. The WHL’s best-of-seven Eastern 
Conference final is 2-2 and on its way back to Swift Current for Game 5 on Saturday night. They’ll return to Lethbridge for Game 6 on Monday. . . . Last night, the Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead into the second period and went from there. They got two goals from D Calen Addison and two assists from each of F Brad Morrison and F Jordy Bellerive. . . . Morrison leads all playoff skaters with 21 assists and 36 points. . . . Lethbridge got 25 stops from G Logan Flodell, while Stuart Skinner made 23 saves for the Broncos. . . . The Hurricanes were 4-10 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-7. . . . The Broncos played a second straight game without D Artyom Minulin and F Glenn Gawdin, their captain. Minulin left in Game 1 with an undisclosed injury; Gawdin was hurt in Game 2. . . . “We’ve got to remember how we looked tonight,” Broncos head coach Manny Viveiros told Shawn Mullin, their radio voice. “As a team I thought we embarrassed ourselves tonight. That’s not who we are. . . . It’s still 2-2. But tonight I’m not happy with how we presented ourselves.”
The WHL’s Western Conference final is scheduled to resume tonight (Thursday) in Kennewick, Wash., with the Everett Silvertips holding a 2-1 edge over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Everett scored the game’s last four goals on Monday to post an 8-4 victory. The teams then had two days off because the Toyota Center in Kennewick was playing host to Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story Onstage. . . . The teams will be back in Everett for Game 5 on Saturday.
Preben (Ben) Laursen, a long-time volunteer with the Brandon Wheat Kings, died on Wednesday at the age of 78. He had been involved with the Wheat Kings since 1965, which is two years before the franchise went into what now is the WHL. . . . Laursen worked in various roles with the Wheat Kings, from handling the public-address work to looking after statistics. He also served as the director of off-ice officials for a few seasons. . . . There’s more on the Wheat Kings’ website right here.
The QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, the host team for the 2019 Memorial Cup, have fired head coach Jim Midgley after just one season behind the bench. . . . This season, the Mooseheads went 43-18-6-1, leaving them fourth overall in the QMJHL. They were swept from a second-round playoff series by the Charottetown Islanders. . . . Before taking over as head coach in June, Midgley spent six seasons with the Mooseheads as an assistant coach. . . . According to a news release, the Mooseheads will retain assistant coaches Sylvain Favreau and Jon Greenwood, and goaltending coach Eric Raymond.
Chris Murray, a former NHL and WHL player, is the first head coach of the Kamloops-based Thompson Blazers, a minor midget team. . . . Murray, a Kamloops firefighter, has been an assistant coach with the WHL’s Blazers for four seasons, and also has coached minor hockey and at the Valleyview Hockey Academy. . . . Murray, 43, played three seasons (1991-94) with the WHL’s Blazers before going on to a pro career that included 242 NHL games. . . . The minor midget Blazers will be part of the B.C. Minor Midget Hockey League that is to begin play in the fall.
The QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts are expected to announce today (Thursday) that they have signed Patrick Roy as their new general manager and head coach. Roy, 52, would replace Philippe Boucher, who resigned as general manager and head coach earlier this month. . . . Roy is a former part-owner, GM and head coach of the Remparts, but has been out of the coaching game since leaving the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche in August 2016. . . . The Remparts have been owned by Quebecor Sports and Entertainment Group since 2015.
Ken Law is the new head coach and assistant GM of the junior B Kelowna Chiefs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Law spent the previous eight seasons as the GM/head coach of the KIJHL’s Osoyoos Coyotes. His contract wasn’t renewed at season’s end despite the fact the Coyotes finished atop the Okanagan Division for four straight seasons. Law takes over as head coach from Jason Tansem, who remains with the Chiefs as the director of hockey operations and also will help out as an assistant coach. . . . Grant Sheridan remains the Chiefs’ general manager.
The Ottawa-based Carleton U Ravens announced earlier this month that former WHLer Shaun Van Allen will be their head coach in 2018-19. He spent this season as the interim head coach, taking over when Marty Johnston joined the AHL’s Manitoba Moose prior to it getting started. . . . Under Van Allen, the Ravens went 17-7-4 and finished fourth in the OUA East, before losing a first-round series to the U of Ottawa. . . . Van Allen, 50, is from Calgary. He played two seasons (1985-87) with the Saskatoon Blades. His pro career included 794 regular-season NHL games. . . . Tip of the cap to Victor Findlay (@Finder_24) for this one.
The SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars and Brandon Heck, their general manager and head coach, have, according to a team-issued news release, “mutually agreed to part ways immediately.” . . . According to the release, Heck “felt that he would like to pursue coaching opportunities closer to home and his family.” . . . Heck, 33, is from Forestburg, Alta. He spent one season with the North Stars, after coaching the bantam AAA Camrose Red Wings for two seasons. . . . This season, the North Stars finished atop the Global Ag Risks Solutions Divisions, at 42-14-2-0, which was the second-best record in the SJHL. They lost a third-round playoff series to the Estevan Bruins in five games.
F Ben Maxwell (Kootenay, 2003-08) signed a one-year extension with Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL). He had 12 goals and 16 assists in 39 games.
beat the Estevan Bruins, 2-1, in Game of the SJHL final for the Canalta Cup. . . . The Hawks last won the SJHL title in 1990. . . . D Carter Doerksen, the team captain, had given Nipawin a 1-0 lead with his first goal of these playoffs, at 14:47 of the first period. . . . F Jake Fletcher pulled Estevan even with his 11th goal, at 12:53 of the second period. . . . McDougall’s sixth goal, on a PP, stood up as the winner. . . . McDougall also had an assist on Doerksen’s goal. . . . Nipawin G Declan Hobbs stopped 26 shots, six fewer than Estevan’s Bo Didur. . . . The Hawks will meet the MJHL-champion Steinbach Pistons for the ANAVET Cup, with that best-of-seven series opening with games in Steinbach on Friday and Saturday nights.
Eastern Conference final. . . . The Broncos hold a 2-1 edge in the series, with Game 4 in Lethbridge tonight. . . . Morrison broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 17:59 of the second period. . . . He upped the lead to 4-1 at 11:35 of the third period and completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 16:12. . . . F Dylan Cozens added two goals for Lethbridge. . . . Morrison leads all playoff scorers with 34 points, five more than F Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans. . . . With 15 goals, Morrison trails only Tri-City’s Morgan Geekie (16). Morrison’s 19 assists are second only to F Aleksi Heponiemi of the Broncos, who has 20. . . . With 15 goals, Morrison now holds the Hurricanes’ record for one playoff year. He broke the record (14) that had been held since 1990 by F Kelly Ens. . . . With 34 points, Morrison is three shy of the club record held by F Wes Walz, who put up 37 points in 1990. . . . At 7-0, Lethbridge is the only team still unbeaten on home ice. . . . The Broncos were without D Artyom Minulin, who left Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, and F Glenn Gawdin, who was injured in Game 2. . . . These teams will play Game 5 in Swift Current on Saturday night. . . . The Everett Silvertips hold a 2-1 edge over the Tri-City Americans in the Western Conference final. That series will continue in Kennewick, Wash., on Thursday night.
manager, told Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist late last week.
an announced crowd of 3,268 in Game 3 of the WHL’s best-of-seven Western Conference final. . . . Everett leads the series, 2-1. . . . The visitors got three goals from F Patrick Bajkov, who snapped the 4-4 tie at 6:54 of the third period, then made it 6-4 at 9:21. . . . The Americans had tied the score 4-4 on third-period goals from F Isaac Johnson, at 0:47, and F Michael Rasmussen, at 1:45. . . . Tri-City scored its first two goals via the PP and now is 17-33 with the man advantage through 11 playoff games. . . . Things got a bit heated early in the third period with the head coaches — Everett’s Dennis Williams and Tri-City’s Mike Williamson — exchanging greetings at the benches. . . . The series won’t resume until Thursday because Kennewick’s Toyota Center is playing host to Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story Onstage on Wednesday night. . . . 
Canalta Cup. The best-of-seven series is 3-3 and will be decided Tuesday night in Nipawin. Game time is 7:30 p.m. . . . That, considering all that has transpired over the past two-plus weeks, is the only way this could end, isn’t it? . . . F Jake Fletcher, the Bruins’ captain, had a goal, his 10th of the playoffs, and two assists. Fletcher has 20 points, one behind playoff co-leaders Kaelan Holt of Estevan, who is the son of former Swift Current Broncos star Todd Holt, and Nipawin’s Brandan Arnold. Kaelan Holt had two assists on Sunday. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post was in Estevan and did up this piece 
seven Eastern Conference final on Saturday night. . . . They’ll play Game 3 in Lethbridge on Tuesday. . . . TheBroncos had won the opener, 3-2, on Friday night. . . . Estephan and G Stuart Skinner, who stopped 36 shots, were acquired from the Hurricanes on Jan. 9. . . . The Broncos lost F Glenn Gawdin in the second period, according to Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post, “after he took a hit in the corner. Asked about his captain after the game, (Broncos head coach Manny) Viveiros responded: ‘He’s fine.’ ” As Harder noted: “That’s his customary response to questions about injuries — regardless of the severity.” . . . Harder added: “The Broncos were already without D Artyom Minulin, who didn’t finish Game 1 due to an undisclosed injury that was initially described as an illness. He missed three games in the first round due to an apparent shoulder issue and may have re-injured it on Friday.” . . . 
Prospera Place, officially is in the bidding to play host to the 2020 Memorial Cup.
The Kamloops Blazers announced on Nov. 9 that they will be in the chase, while the Victoria Royals also are expected to bid.
skating to a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and the Everett Silvertips getting past the visiting Tri-City Americans, also 3-2. . . . Game 2 in each series will be played in the same venue tonight. . . . When this season began, who had those four teams in the conference finals? . . . In Swift Current, G Stuart Skinner stopped 38 shots and F Aleksi Heponiemi broke a 2-2 tie at 11:11 of the third period. In 29 career playoff games, he has one goal and 27 assists. . . . Artyom Minulin didn’t finish the game for the Broncos, but head coach Manny Viveiros told Shawn Mullin, the team’s radio voice, that the third-year Russian defenceman has “a touch of the flu.” . . . In Everett, G Carter Hart stopped 24 shots and F Garrett Pilon scored twice for the Silvertips. . . . F Morgan Geekie had one of the Americans’ goals, meaning he has at least one goal in each of the club’s nine playoff games this season. Tri-City went into the game with an 8-0 record in these playoffs. . . . Everett now has won five straight games.
expire. He took a three-year sabbatical from the U of Alberta Golden Bears — he had been their head coach — to sign with the Oilers. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reports right here that Herbers, should his deal with the Oilers not be renewed, could be headed back to the Golden Bears. . . . Matheson also reports that Serge Lajoie, who replaced Herbers at the U of A, “has interviewed for the vacant (head-coaching) job with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, which sounds like he’s being proactive (in case) Herbers moves back to the Bears.” . . . The Blades are looking for a head coach after firing Dean Brockman at the end of the regular season.
season. Jokiharju has been on loan to the Winterhawks from his Finnish team, Tappara, so is eligible to play next season in the AHL. The Blackhawks, who have yet to sign Jokiharju, selected him in the first round, 29th overall, of the NHL’s 2017 draft. . . . The last time something like this happened involving a WHL team it was in the fall of 2014 and the Swift Current Broncos lost D Julius Honka. He had been loaned to them by his Finnish team, JYP, so moved onto the AHL after one season with the Broncos. The Dallas Stars picked him 14th overall in the NHL’s 2014 draft and he played the next three seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. He got into 16 games with Dallas in 2016-17 and had a goal and three assists in 42 games there this season.
and run. The fans’ love is unrequited. The record books sometime identify these worthies as most valuable players. The public concept of what these letters stand for is quite different.
won the opener, 5-2, in Nipawin on Saturday night. . . . Last night, F Adam Beckman led the Hawks with two goals, his first two of the playoffs. Beckman, a fifth-round selection by the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft, played this season for the midget AAA Battlefords Stars. . . . Beckman has played three playoff games with the Hawks. He had one goal and one assist in the only regular-season game he played with Nipawin. . . . The Hawks also got two goals from F Logan Casavant, who has six in the playoffs. . . . F Arthur Miller had Estevan’s lone goal, his seventh. . . . The teams combined to take 24 minors. . . . Nipawin got 23 saves from G Declan Hobbs, while Estevan’s Bo Didur stopped 34 shots. . . . They’ll play the next two games in Estevan on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with a fifth game back in Nipawin on Friday night.
TAKING NOTE 