Ex-WHLer needs heart transplant . . . Rebels have Blades on ropes . . . Lambert puts up six points in Seattle victory

Dmitriy (Dyma) Markovskiy, a former WHL player, is 47 years of age and in need of a heart transplant. From Kyiv, Ukraine, he played with the Portland Winterhawks (1993-94) and split the next season between the Regina Pats, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Saskatoon Blades. . . . Mike Williamson, who played and coached with the Winterhawks, roomed with Markovskiy in 1993-94 and has started a GoFundMe page. . . . Williamson writes: “Dyma is doing better but has a long road ahead of him. Doctors have now told him that he will need a heart transplant, and he will always be limited in what he can do physically. Between the war and his heart, he has been unable to work and provide for his family. Julia is working and the family is doing what they can. Still, medical bills, medication, rehabilitation, and future costs are and will be substantial.” . . . That GoFundMe page is right here.


WHL

After a quiet day, the WHL was back in action with three games on Tuesday night, and there is a full slate of four scheduled for tonight.

In the Eastern Conference, the No. 2 Saskatoon Blades are staring elimination in the face as they meet the No. 3 Rebels in Red Deer. A 3-1 victory there last night gave the Rebels a 3-0 series lead.

In the Western Conference, the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers and No. 3 Portland Winterhawks will play Game 3 tonight. The Blazers, who are 6-0 in these playoffs, hold a 2-0 edge after dominating at home.

In Prince George, the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds, who are 7-0, will try to complete a sweep of the No. 4 Cougars tonight. Seattle posted an 8-1 victory in Prince George last night.

In the Eastern Conference, the No. 1 Winnipeg Ice is in Moose Jaw for Game 4 with the Warriors, who hold a 2-1 series lead after posting an 8-4 victory last night. They’ll go back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Saturday night.

——

TUESDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) at Moose Jaw (4) — The Moose Jaw Warriors broke a 3-3 tie with WarriorsNewthe only two goals of the second period and went on to score an 8-4 victory over the Winnipeg Ice. . . . The Warriors lead the series, 2-1, and will play host to Game 4 tonight. The series will return to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Saturday night. . . . The Ice led this one 2-0 early in the first period after goals from F Zack Ostapchuk (5) and F Briley Wood (2) at 7:07 and 7:18. . . . The Warriors got back in it on PP goals from F Ryder Korczak (3) and F Jagger Firkus (6) at 8:45 and 11:33. . . . F Lynden Lakovic (2) put Moose Jaw ahead at 14:52, only to have F Vladislav Shilo (1) get Winnipeg into a 3-3 tie at 17:06. . . . The Warriors counted the next four goals to take control. F Eric Alarie (1), back after a four-game absence, Lakovic (3), D Cosmo Wilson (1) and F Martin Rysavy (4) got the Warriors into a 7-3 lead. . . . F Josh Medernach (1) got Winnipeg’s last goal, and Firkus (7) ended Moose Jaw’s offensive onslaught. . . . The Ice hadn’t surrendered eight goals in a game since Feb. 25, 2020 when they dropped a 10-1 decision to the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . F Brayden Yager had four assists for Moose Jaw, while Korczak added two assists to his goal and Firkus had one assist for a three-point game. . . . The Warriors were 2-for-2 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-2. . . . The Ice was without F Evan Friesen, who sat out the first of a two-game suspension for a headshot on Moose Jaw D Matthew Gallant in Game 2. Gallant didn’t return after the hit and he didn’t play in Game 3. . . .

Saskatoon (2) at Red Deer (3) — The Red Deer Rebels scored the game’s last RedDeerthree goals as they beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . The Rebels hold a 3-0 series lead with Game 4 in Red Deer tonight. . . . F Trevor Wong gave the Blades their first lead of the series when he opened the scoring at 5:04 of the second period. . . . F Frantisek Formanek (3) got Red Deer even at 9:46. . . . F Dwayne Jean Jr. (1) snapped the tie at 16:25. . . . F Kalan Lind (2) got the empty-netter at 19:14 of the third period. . . . Red Deer was 0-for-3 on the PP; Saskatoon was 0-for-2. . . . G Kyle Kelsey earned the victory with 22 saves. He is 7-1, 1.67, .938 in the playoffs. . . . D Aiden De La Gorgendiere, the Blades’ captain, returned to the lineup after having left Game 2 with an illness. . . . The Blades also had D Blake Gustafson in the lineup for the first time in the series.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) at Prince George (4) — The Seattle Thunderbirds scored four times Seattlebefore the game was 13 minutes old — two of them coming via the PP — en route to an 8-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Thunderbirds hold a 3-0 series lead and get their first chance to wrap it up tonight. . . . The Thunderbirds have outscored the Cougars, 17-3, through three games. . . . F Brad Lambert led Seattle with a goal and five assists. The WHL record for most assists in a playoff game (7) is held by F Dale Derkatch of the Regina Pats. He did it in a 13-6 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on March 26, 1982. . . . Lambert now has 15 points, 13 of them assists, in five games in these playoffs. At three points per game, he is slightly ahead of F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, who finished at 2.86 for seven games. . . . Including his 26 regular-season games, Lambert has put up 53 points, including 34 assists, since joining the Thunderbirds from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. . . . The Cougars lost F Jaxsen Wiebe at 10:30 of the first period when he was hit with a match penalty for butt-ending. Seattle scored twice on the ensuing PP to take a 4-0 lead. . . . Seattle finished 4-for-4 on the PP; Prince George was 0-for-4. . . . The Thunderbirds had a 40-20 edge in shots, including 20-4 in the first period. . . . F Dylan Guenther scored his ninth and 10th goals of these playoffs; he is tied with Bedard for the playoff lead. . . . D Kevin Korchinski had three assists. . . . The Cougars were without F Riley Heidt, a 97-point scorer in the regular season, as he served a one-game suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct in Game 2.


Headline at The Beaverton — World’s sick, injured travel to see NHL team doctors after they miraculously heal entire rosters in time for playoffs.


Pastor


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Mitch Love, a former WHL coach and player, has been named the AHL’s outstanding coach for a second straight season. Love, the head coach of the Calgary Wranglers, also was awarded the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award last season when the NHL’s Calgary Flames had their AHL affiliate in Stockton, Calif. . . . The award is voted on by coaches and members of the media in the AHL’s 32 cities. . . . Love is the third coach to win the award in back-to-back seasons, after Bill Dineen (1985, 1986) and Robbie Ftorek (1995, 1996). . . . Love is the first head coach to win it in each of his first two AHL seasons. . . . The Wranglers finished 51-17-4, the AHL’s best regular-season record. . . . He is 96-33-11 in his two AHL seasons. . . . Love, 38, is from Quesnel, B.C. He played in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Swift Current Broncos and Everett Silvertips (2000-05). He spent six seasons (2012-18) as an assistant coach with Everett and as the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades for three seasons (2018-21). . . .

Jason Becker, a former WHL player and coach, has been named head coach of BC Hockey’s U16 male team for the 2023 Program of Excellence season. . . . Becker, the manager of hockey operations and head coach of the U17 Prep team at the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy, has been BC Hockey’s lead evaluator for its male U16 program for the past three seasons. . . . He played four seasons in the WHL (Saskatoon Blades, Red Deer Rebels, Kamloops Blazers, Swift Current Broncos, 1991-95) and was an assistant coach with the Prince George Cougars (2010-14). He also played five seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies. . . . Becker’s assistant coaches also are former WHLers— Craig Bedard and Riley Emmerson. Bedard will be with Team BC for a third time, while Emmerson is a first-timer. Bedard, a head coach with the Okanagan Hockey Academy since 2012, was an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Raiders (2007-12). . . . Emmerson, the head coach of the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds U15 AAA side, played two seasons (2004-06) with the Tri-City Americans. . . . BC Hockey’s U16 team will emerge from the BC Cup (Salmon Arm, April 20-23) and a provincial camp (Chilliwack, July 24-27) to play in the WHL Cup in Red Deer. . . .

The WHL has lost a legend with the news on Monday that Craig West has left the Tri-City Americans. The WHL team made that announcement, stating that West “has left . . . to pursue other opportunities.” . . . West, who had been vice-president of sponsorship sales and broadcasting, was the radio voice of the Americans since 1998. Before joining the Americans, he spent eight seasons (1990-98) with the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Last season, he called his 2,500th WHL game. . . .

On Tuesday, the Tri-City Americans announced that Midge Peterson, their athletic therapist, wouldn’t be returning. She had been with the organization since March 2021. . . .

The SJHL’s Melville Millionaires announced on Monday that Mike Rooney, their general manager and head coach, is leaving “to pursue other opportunities.” He had been with the Millionaires since May 2020. Melville went 25-68-16 with him as head coach, and wasn’t able to make the playoffs. . . . This season, the Millionaires finished 14-36-6. . . . The Millionaires also are looking for an assistant coach because Daven Smith left in March. . . .

The junior B Port Alberni Bombers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League are in the market for a general manager and head coach following the departure of Gaelan Patterson. According to a news release, Patterson told the Bombers that he is moving on “to a new endeavour with a U14 program being established in Duncan.” . . . Patterson was with the Bombers for their first two seasons in the VIJHL and got them into the playoffs both times. . . . Patterson, 32, is a former WHL player, who spent four seasons (2006-10) with the Saskatoon Blades.



Headline at The Onion — Absent-Minded Billionaire Almost Forgets to Pay $0 in Taxes.


THINKING OUT LOUD — If you are watching the first round of the NHL playoffs on TV, how many games is it going to take before you are sick of all the gambling-related commercials? . . . What’s that? . . . You’re there already? Yeah, so am I. . . . Remember when the analysts on hockey telecasts didn’t tread all over the play-by-play person’s time? Sheesh, when the puck is in play the analyst needs to zip it. . . . I’m thinking the NHL’s Calgary Flames have quite a decision to make. Do they stick with Darryl Sutter as their head coach, or do they promote Mitch Love? And if they don’t make a move with Love, might the Anaheim Ducks be interested?


Bees


If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Seventy

Rebels complete two-game sweep in Saskatoon; King’s four points provide spark . . . Cougars goalie inks NHL deal


WHL

A few Twitter tidbits from Saturday night’s three WHL playoff games . . .

Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow): “Moose Jaw capitalizes on a major power play striking thrice within 90 seconds and holds off a third- period charge to tie series. Brayden Yager racks up first PP markers of playoffs and scores in 3rd straight. Fifth multigoal game of year, 3rd vs. Ice.” . . .

Brandow, again: “Seattle uses three power-play goals to down Cougars and take a 2-0 lead. Jared Davidson opens and closes scoring on man advantage, had one goal in postseason coming in — Game 2 against Kelowna. Brad Lambert turns in 7 points in 2 games after 4 more.” . . .

More from Brandow: “Kamloops, which had league’s best power play in regular season, is back on top in playoffs after tacking on three more in a shutout win. Logan Stankoven is in on all five markers, scoring twice and adding 3 assists. Next point will be 50th of career. . . . It’s a 29-save shutout for Dylan Ernst who earns third goose-egg of postseason, one more than in original 68. All other WHL goaltenders in these playoffs have combined for 4. Joins Dylan Garand from last season as Blazers’ most in Internet Era (team had 4 total between 1996-2019).” . . .

Lucas Punkari (@lpunkari): “Stankoven’s 50th playoff point will tie him with Mark Recchi for 15th on the Blazers scoring chart. . . . Stankoven’s 1.69 PPG mark (49 in 29) is tied with Rob Brown (86 in 51) for second among those who played in more than one playoff run for Kamloops. . . . Dean Evason leads with 2.00 (56 in 28).”


Monopoly


WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

There was one game played on Sunday — in Saskatoon, the Red Deer Rebels beat the Blades, 5-2, to take a 2-0 lead in that series. . . . They will resume with games in Red Deer on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . You will recall that this is the second straight series in which the Blades lost the first two games on home ice; they came back against the Regina Pats, winning Games 3 and 4 on the road and eventually winning the series in seven games. Will history repeat itself?

There aren’t any games scheduled for tonight.

On Tuesday, three series will resume — the Seattle Thunderbirds hold a 2-0 lead on the Cougars as they play Game 3 in Prince George; the Winnipeg Ice and the Warriors are 1-1 as they play in Moose Jaw; and, of course, Saskatoon will play in Red Deer.

The other series, between the Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers, picks up on Wednesday in the Oregon city. The Blazers hold a 2-0 lead.

Seattle and Kamloops, the Western Conference’s top seeds, both are 6-0 in these playoffs.

——

SUNDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Red Deer (3) at Saskatoon (2) — The Red Deer Rebels scored three second-RedDeerperiod goals in a span of 4:17 — F Ben King was in on all of them — en route to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Rebels, who won 3-1 in Saskatoon on Friday, lead the series, 2-0. . . . The series now heads to Red Deer for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . King (4) opened the scoring, on a PP, at 7:53 of the second period, with D Christoffer Sedoff (4) and F Jhett Larson (3) adding goals at 9:42 and 12:10. . . . King assisted on both of those goals and added another helper on a third-period goal from F Jayden Grubbe (2). . . . F Carson Birnie (1) also scored for Red Deer. . . . F Brandon Lisowsky (2) and D Charlie Wright (2) had third-period PP goals for Saskatoon. . . . Grubbe and Larson had a pair of assists each. . . . Red Deer had a 20-16 edge in shots, including 11-4 in the second period. . . . Saskatoon F Tyler Parr played in his second straight game after missing 48 with an undisclosed injury. . . . Blades F Josh Pillar, who turned 21 on Feb. 14, was back after missing Game 1, but D Blake Gustafson, another 2002-born player, was scratched again. . . . Red Deer’s scratches included D Marek Schneider, who turned 20 on Feb. 5, for a second straight game.


Could it be that there are officials in the OHL who take things a little too seriously?


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

G Tyler Brennan of the Prince George Cougars has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. He was a fourth-round selection in the 2022 NHL draft. . . . Brennan, who will turn 20 on Sept. 27, was 21-10-3, 2.86, .898 with the Cougars this season. In the playoffs, he is 1-1, 2.98, .882; however, he hasn’t played since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 3 of a first-round series with the Tri-City Americans on April 4.


JUST NOTES:

Luc Tardif, the president of the IIHF, told reporters at the world women’s championship in Brampton, Ont., on Sunday that Russia and Belarus will be ineligible to compete in the organization’s tournaments as long as the attacks on Ukraine continue. . . . “I hope Russia and Belarus will come back as soon as possible, because it will mean the war is over,” Tardif told reporters. “It’s a question of security for fans, our teams. Anyway, no visa, cannot travel. And nobody knows how long it’s going to take.” . . . Both countries have already been told that they’re out through 2024, and Tardif said a decision on 2025 will be made in March 2024.


Ugly


If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Eggs

Warriors win in Winnipeg, but pay a price . . . Lambert leads Thunderbirds to victory . . . Stankoven, Ernst too much for Winterhawks


GrandmaGirls031823
Dorothy, with her two sweethearts — Averi, behind the hat, and the always smiling Kara.

With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . It’s worth noting that she has been No. 1 in Kamloops for nine straight years, too, and, yes, things are cookin’ again. . . . In recent days, she has received support from the wife of a gentleman who is a general manager/head coach in the WHL. She also heard from another WHL head coach, and from an avid follower of the Victoria Royals, and from a former WHL scout. . . . As a result of these people and more, her 10-year total has surpassed $30,000. . . . Yes, hockey people are awesome. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to donate right here. . . . And thank you in advance.


Pi


A few Twitter tidbits from Friday’s opening second-round WHL playoff games . . .

Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow): “After seeing a 3-0 lead dissipate, the Winnipeg Ice score twice in the third for a Game 1 win. Connor McClennon combines for 23rd career game-winning goal recording 30th playoff point in process. Graham Sward secures third goal since calendar changed to March.”

Brandow, again: “Red Deer only fires 20 shots on goal, but scores three times and takes a 1-0 series lead. Kyle Kelsey gets to within 1:54 of a shutout cutting off 23 of 24. Jhett Larson opens scoring with only goal of first 40, Jace Isley pots first of postseason.”

Brandow, once more: “Kamloops goes up 1-0 fending off a late Winterhawks charge. Jakub Demek delivers first playoff goal(s) since the Ed Chynoweth Cup winner with the Oil Kings last season. Potted four in 15 tries in regular campaign. Hits 25 career playoff points. . . . Portland’s James Stefan beats the final buzzer securing a hat trick and pots 10 playoff goals in 17 career efforts. First career combined hat trick in 204 games. 44 points (27 assists) at home, 29 points on road with a -13 rating. . . . Kamloops’ Dylan Ernst sees name everywhere on scoresheet with an assist, a delay of game penalty, and 28 saves on 32 shots. Improves to 5-0 in playoffs and has dropped goals against average by a full goal. 1.96 GAA, .927 SV% in combined 43 wins; 4.82 GAA, .854 SV% in 13 non-wins.”

From Winterhawks historian Andy Kemper (@AndyKemper): “Scoring change for Portland in Game 1 vs. Kamloops. 3rd goal — 72 Nguyen from 11 Fromm-Delorme and 19 Chyzowski. 2nd career 3 assist playoff game for Chyzowski.”

More from Brandow: “Seattle soars to a Game 1 win with help from a couple of midseason acquisitions. Dylan Guenther doubles up again in goal column reaching 20 (and 30 points) in 24 career playoff games. Brad Lambert returns and helps out on three, most this (season).”


Mayor


WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

Six of the eight teams remaining in the WHL’s title chase now have played two WHLgames in the second round of playoffs. The other teams involved — the Red Deer Rebels and Saskatoon Blades — are scheduled to play their second game today. They’ll meet in Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre, where the Rebels opened the series with a 3-1 victory on Friday night. . . . They weren’t able to play there on Saturday night because lacrosse’s Saskatchewan Rush had the facility booked for a NLL game.

There aren’t any games scheduled for Monday.

On Saturday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors evened their series with the Eastern Conference’s top-ranked Winnipeg Ice, but may have lost two veteran defencemen in the process. . . .

There weren’t any surprises in the Western Conference as the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds and No. 2 Kamloops Blazers each took 2-0 leads in their series. . . . The Prince George Cougars, down 2-0 to Seattle, may be looking at playing a game or two without a 97-point man who took a headshot major late in Game 2.

——

SATURDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Moose Jaw (4) at Winnipeg (1) — The Moose Jaw Warriors struck for four goals WarriorsNewin the game’s first 10 minutes, three of them in a span of 1:24 via the PP, en route to a 5-3 victory over the Winnipeg Ice. . . . The Ice’s first loss of these playoffs left the series tied, 1-1, as the scene shifts to Moose Jaw for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Game 5 is to be played in Winnipeg on Saturday. . . . The Ice had won the opener, 5-3, on Friday. . . . Last night, F Ryder Korczak (2) gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead at 1:02 of the first period. . . . Ice F Evan Friesen was ejected at 7:45 for a headshot on Moose Jaw D Matthew Gallant, who left the game and didn’t return. . . . F Brayden Yager (4) made it 2-0 at 8:07. . . . Ice F Zach Benson went off for high-sticking at 8:22, and Yager (5) upped the lead to 3-0 at 9:11 on the 5-on-3 PP. . . . The Warriors made it 4-0 when F Martin Rysavy (3) added another PP goal just 20 seconds later. . . . The Ice managed to get to within a goal, at 4-3, on third-period scores from F Zack Ostapchuk (4), on a PP, at 1:07, F Connor McClennon (5), at 13:09, and F Carson Latimer (1), at 16:10. . . . Moose Jaw F Josh Hoekstra got the empty-netter with 2.4 seconds left to play. . . . Ostapchuk was back after sitting out Game 1 with a WHL-issued suspension. . . . Latimer was playing in his first game since Feb. 26. . . . The Warriors were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Ice was 1-for-9. . . . G Connor Ungar earned the victory with 33 saves. . . . Warriors F Atley Calvert, who had two assists, was given a slew-footing double minor at 15:07 of the first period. Those penalties often are met with a suspension. . . . Besides losing Gallant, the Warriors also played the third period without D Logan Dowhaniuk, who was hit from behind by F Owen Pederson in the second period.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Prince George (4) at Seattle (1) — F Brad Lambert was in on each of Seattle’s Seattlefirst three goals as the Thunderbirds beat the Prince George Cougars, 5-1, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle holds a 2-0 lead in the series with the next two games in Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Lambert, who had a goal and three assists in this one, had recorded three assists on Friday as the Thunderbirds opened the series with a 4-1 victory. . . . He missed two games in Seattle’s first-round sweep of the Kelowna Rockets, and now has a goal and eight assists in four playoff games. . . . Last night, Seattle scored the game’s first three goals. . . . F Jared Davidson (2) got it started, on a PP, at 13:12 of the first period. . . . Lambert (1) got it to 2-0 at 9:23 of the second, and F Dylan Guenther (8) made it 3-0 at 13:43. . . . Guenther has goals in each of Seattle’s six playoff games, and is riding a 12-game point streak. . . . F Ondrej Becher (1) got the Cougars on the board 14 seconds into the third period, but F Kyle Crnkovic (2) got that one back for Seattle at 4:33. . . . Davidson (3) closed out the scoring on a PP at 19:16. . . . Seattle was 3-for-4 on the PP; Prince George was 0-for-5. . . . G Thomas Milic stopped 26 shots for Seattle. In these playoffs, he is 6-0, 1.00, .959. . . . The Cougars lost F Riley Heidt to a headshot major a game misconduct at 18:03 of the third period. He was a 97-point man in the regular season so a suspension of any length could be truly devastating to the Cougars. . . .

Portland (3) at Kamloops (4) — F Logan Stankoven had two goals and threee Kamloopsassists to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 5-0 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Blazers had posted a 6-4 victory on Friday, so take a 2-0 series lead into games in Portland on Wednesday and Thursday. . . . Stankoven, who led last season’s playoffs in goals (17) and points (31), has 16 points, including seven goals, in six games in these playoffs. . . . Stankoven now has had three five-point playoff games — one last season and two this time around. . . . He is the WHL’s leading playoff scorer not named Connor Bedard, who had 20 points in seven games when his Regina Pats were eliminated. . . . The Blazers opened the scoring at 11:44 of the first period when F Caedan Bankier (5) counted on a PP. . . . D Olen Zellweger (4) made it 2-0 at 17:35 of the second period and Stankoven (6) upped it to 3-0 at 19:05 on another PP. . . . Stankoven (7) and F Daylan Kuefler (2), the latter on a PP, added third-period scores. . . . While the Blazers struck for five goals, they had only six players register points. . . . Bankier added two assists to his goal, while Seminoff also had two assists. . . . G Dylan Ernst stopped 28 shots in posting his third shutout in six starts. He is 6-0, 1.42, .942 in these playoffs. . . . Kamloops was 3-for-4 on the PP; Portland was 0-for-2.



JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Eight WHL players have been named to Team Canada that will play in the IIHF U18 World championship in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland, from Thursday through April 30. Those players are G Carson Bjarnason, Brandon Wheat Kings; D Lukas Dragicevic, Tri-City Americans; D Caden Price, Kelowna Rockets; D Carter Yakemchuk, Calgary Hitmen; F Berkly Catton, Spokane Chiefs; F Andrew Cristall, Kelowna; F Ty Halaburda, Vancouver Giants; and F Tanner Howe, Regina Pats. . . . The head coach is Jeff Truitt of the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Canada opens the tournament with a game against Sweden on Thursday. . . .

The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned D Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Svozil played two NHL games earlier in the week, picking up an assist in his debut. He played in his first AHL game last night, recording two assists and being name third star in a 4-3 victory over the host Rochester Americans. . . . Meanwhile, the NHL’s Washington Capitals have assigned Regina F Alexander Suzdalev to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. He was a third-round pick by the Capitals in the NHL’s 2021 draft. This season, he led all WHL freshmen in goals (38), assists (48) and points (86). . . .

F Ty Thorpe (Vancouver Giants) had a goal on Saturday night as the host South Carolina Stingrays scored a 5-4 shootout victory over the Jacksonville Icemen. No, he didn’t take part in the shootout. . . . F Carson Golder (Kelowna Rockets) drew the primary assist on the winning goal as the visiting Manitoba Moose got past the Rockford IceHogs, 3-2. . . . F Parker Bell (Tri-City Americans) picked up an assist on the game-winner at 19:44 of the third period as the Calgary Wranglers beat the host Abbotsford Canucks, 3-2. With the victory, the Wranglers, under head coach Mitch Love, a former WHL player and coach, clinched first place in the AHL’s overall standings (51-17-4).


OutOfOrder


THE COACHING GAME:

Roy Sommer, once an assistant coach with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, coached his 1,814th and final AHL game on Saturday night as his San Diego Gulls dropped a 3-1 decision to the host Colorado Eagles. Sommer, 66, has announced his retirement after 25 years in the AHL. For the first 24 of this seasons, he was head coach of the San Jose Sharks’ affiliate in Kentucky, Cleveland, Worcester and San Jose. He spent this season with the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate. . . . Sommer has coached in more AHL games and posted more victories (828) than anyone in history. . . . Sommer was with Prince Albert in 1988-89, before moving on to the ECHL’s Roanoke Valley Rebels. . . . As a player, Sommer, who is from Oakland, Calif., played one game with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings (1974-75) and then two seasons (1975-77) with the Calgary Centennials. . . .

Zack Dailey has been named the head coach of the MacEwan U Griffins, who play in Canada West. Dailey, an assistant coach with the Edmonton-based team since 2017, had been the team’s interim head coach as he filled in for Michael Ringrose, who was on parental leave. Ringrose announced in February that he wouldn’t be returning. Dailey, a 33-year-old native of Healey, Alaska, played with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips for five seasons (2005-10), before going on to spend five seasons with the U of Alberta Golden Bears.


Delivery


If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Bacon

Hockey loses a friend in Seattle . . . Three top seeds open WHL’s second round with victories. . . . Rebels start with win on road

I never had the privilege of meeting Andy Eide, but we certainly communicated on occasion via email and Twitter. I can tell you that no one loved hockey — and hockey in the Pacific Northwest, in particular — more than did Andy. He absolutely loved covering the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds and it was more of his dream come true when he came to be involved in coverage of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. . . . If you aren’t aware, Andy had a stroke on March 18, just prior to a Kraken game against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. He died on Friday. . . . The tributes that flowed  on social media like so many tears revealed what kind of impact he had.


WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The second round of the WHL playoffs opened with four series — conference semifinals — on Friday night.

In Winnipeg, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the Winnipeg Ice, will take a 1-0 series lead into tonight’s Game 2 against the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors.

In Saskatoon, the No. 3 Rebels have a 1-0 lead against the No. 2 Blades. They won’t play a second game until Sunday, because lacrosse’s Saskatchewan Rush has a game in the SaskTel Centre tonight. If you’re confused as to how the Rebels were the second seed and the Blades No. 3 in the first round but now those seeds are reversed, here’s the deal: The Rebels were the No. 2 seed because they finished atop the Central Division in the regular season. The Blades had more points than did the Rebels, but finished second in the East Division. In the first round, a division title gets you the first or second seed. The WHL reseeds for the second round, so the Blades became the No. 2 seed, ahead of the Rebels.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds have a 1-0 lead over the Prince George Cougars going into tonight’s second game.

And, in Kamloops, the No. 2 Blazers hold a 1-0 lead over the Portland Winterhawks as they prepared for a second game tonight.

——

FRIDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Moose Jaw (4) at Winnipeg (1) — F Matt Savoie had a goal and two assists to WinnipegIcehelp the Winnipeg Ice to a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Ice is 5-0 in these playoffs; the Warriors are 4-1. . . . The Ice jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals from F Owen Pederson (2), on a PP, at 1:04, F Zach Benson (1), at 7:57, and Savoie (7), at 16:42. . . . However, the Warriors scored the next three goals to pull even. F Brayden Yager (3) got it started at 19:38 of the first period, with D Max Wanner (2) scoring at 4:09 of the second and F Jagger Firkus (5) tying it at 13:21, on a PP. . . . F Connor McClennon (4) snapped the tie at 2:59 of the third period, with D Graham Sward (1) adding insurance at 6:04. . . . Benson, who had 36 goals and 62 assists in the regular season, played in his first game March 10. . . . Winnipeg G Daniel Hauser stopped 26 shots, six fewer than Moose Jaw’s Connor Ungar. . . . Each team was 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . The Ice remains without F Carson Latimer, a trade-deadline acquisition from the Prince Albert Raiders, who last played on Feb. 26. . . . Moose Jaw F Robert Baco sat out as he is serving a three-game suspension after taking a goalie interference major and game misconduct in Game 4 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Baco will be eligible to return for Game 4 against the Ice. . . .

Red Deer (3) at Saskatoon (2) — D Christoffer Sedoff had a goal and an assist as RedDeerthe Red Deer Rebels beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . F Jhett Larson (2) gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at 4:28 of the second period, and they nursed that until 14:19 of the third when F Jace Isley (1) scored the eventual game-winner. . . . F Jake Chiasson (3) got Saskatoon on the board at 18:08 with G Austin Elliott on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Sedoff put it away with the empty-netter, his third goal of these playoffs. . . . Each team was 0-for-3 on the PP. . . . G Kyle Kelsey earned the victory with 23 saves, six more than Elliott.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Prince George (4) at Seattle (1) — F Dylan Guenther’s two first-period goals Seattlegot the Seattle Thunderbirds started to a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Kent, Wash. . . . Guenther, who has seven goals in five games, scored at 1:50 and 15:23, the second one coming on a PP. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer (3) got the Cougars’ goal, on a PP, at 18:14. . . . F Lucas Ciona (4) added insurance for Seattle at 2:48 of the third period, and F Nico Myatovic (1) got the empty-netter at 19:36. . . . F Brad Lambert finished with three assists. . . . Prince George was 1-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-3. . . . G Thomas Milic celebrated his 20th birthday by stopping 23 shots for Seattle, which is 5-0 in these playoffs. . . . The Cougars got 40 saves from G Ty Young. . . .

Portland (3) at Kamloops (2) — F Jakub Demek scored his first two goals of Kamloopsthese playoffs as the Kamloops Blazers skated to a 6-4 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Demek went into the game with six assists and 26 shots on goal through four games, but nothing in the way of goals. Off-season shoulder surgery limited him to 15 regular-season games this season, and he finished with four goals and seven assists. . . . F Emmitt Finnie (4) ran his point streak to 15 games as he gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 8:30 of the first period. . . . F James Stefan’s first of three goals tied it at 9:50. . . . Demek put Kamloops back in front at 13:45 of the second period and F Fraser Minten, in his first game of these playoffs, upped the lead to 3-1 at 15:22. Minten hadn’t played since March 22. . . . Those two goals, coming 1:37 apart, were scored with Portland D Luca Cagnoni in the dressing room getting checked out. . . . Stefan got Portland back to within a goal at 17:04; this was his third multi-goal effort of these playoffs. . . . Demek scored his second goal at 19:36. . . . The Blazers put it away with third-period goals from F Matthew Seminoff (1) and F Logan Stankoven (5), the latter via the PP. . . . F Marcus Nguyen (5), on a PP, at 16:48 and Stefan (7), on another PP, at 19:58 completed the scoring. . . . Portland was 2-for-5 on the PP; Kamloops was 1-for-2. . . . G Dylan Ernst earned the victory with 28 stops, four fewer than Jan Spunar of Portland. . . . The Blazers are 5-0 in the playoffs; the Winterhawks are 4-2.


Freedom


When the conversation turns to the best player in the history of the Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice, F Nigel Dawes has to get an early mention. A 38-year-old native of Winnipeg, Dawes apparently has decided to retire after a pro career that began in 2005-06 and which included 12 seasons in Europe. . . . He was with the Kootenay Ice for four seasons (2001-05) and finished with 272 points, 159 of them goals, in 245 regular-season games. He also had 45 points, including 19 goals, in 49 playoff games. . . . He got into 212 NHL games over five seasons, scoring 39 goals and adding 45 assists; in the AHL, he had 233 points, 117 of them goals, in 232 games. . . . He went on to play 10 seasons in the KHL, totalling 267 goals and 238 assists in 543 games. . . . Dawes played the past two seasons with Adler Mannheim of the DEL, totalling 32 goals and 34 assists in 90 games. . . . At 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds, he wasn’t the tallest player on the ice, but he was as gritty as they came, and he was a whole lot of fun to watch.


D Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, earning one assist in a 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 19 minutes 13 seconds. . . . Last night was a bit of a different story, as he was minus-3 in 21:01 during a 5-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres. . . . Svozil, who turned 20 on Jan. 17, is from Prerov, Czechia. The Blue Jackets selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2021 draft.


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Parker Bell of the Tri-City Americans has joined the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers for their playoff run. Bell, 19, was a fifth-round selection by the parent Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2022 draft. . . . This season, he had 25 goals and 39 assists in 55 regular-season games with the Americans. . . .

F Carson Golder of the Kelowna Rockets has signed an ATO with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Golder, who played out his junior eligibility this season, was acquired by the Rockets from the Edmonton Oil Kings. This season, he put up 31 goals and 24 assists in 64 games. . . . He had been a defenceman until Edmonton’s championship playoff run last season, when he moved to the forward ranks.



JUST NOTES:

The U of Alaska-Fairbanks has signed head coach Erik Largen to a five-year contract worth US$200,000 per season. . . . Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks, N.D., Herald reports: “Largen’s deal spells out several investments into the hockey program — increased salaries for support staff like the strength and conditioning coaches, equipment manager and operations director, an increased recruiting budget, game guarantees for opponents traveling to Fairbanks and, perhaps most notably, salaries for three assistant coaches. . . . Largen’s contract calls for his associate coach to make $120,000 per year. The other two assistants will make $90,000 and $40,000.”


Snowmen


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Train

Lazaruk solves mystery surrounding scoring change . . . Struch signs on with Notre Dame . . . Truitt gets Hockey Canada gig

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT — You thought the Bedard Report was done just because he and his Regina Pats have been eliminated, didn’t you? Au contraire! . . . You may recall reading here about one of Bedard’s goals turning into an assist sometime on Monday, the day the host Saskatoon Blades beat the Pats, 4-1, to win Game 7 of their first-round series. . . . Bedard went into that game with 11 goals and eight assists, or so many of us thought. But after he picked up an assist on Regina’s only goal in Game 7, the WHL website showed him with 10 goals and 10 assists. . . . So what happened? . . . Det. Les Lazaruk, who doubles as the veteran radio voice of the Blades, took on the case and was able to figure it out. . . . Here’s how he explained it: “On the Pats’ first goal in Game 5, Bedard’s PP shot ticks Zack Stringer on the way in. Stringer gets credit for the goal, Bedard an assist, and Alexandre Suzdalev lost a helper on the play.” . . . That game was played on April 7 in Saskatoon. The goal in question was scored at 11:24 of the first period and cut Saskatoon’s lead to 2-1. The Blades eventually won the game, 4-2, to take a 3-2 lead in the series. . . .

——

Gino De Paoli, the radio voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers (@GDP_PXP), tweeting about Bedard: “That young man alone might’ve saved junior hockey in Western Canada post-COVID. Attendances were up and the post-Bedard buzz will hopefully continue into next season with other great talents coming in. Guy should have a statue and a couple of cars for his body of work in the WHL.” . . .

——

Ken Campbell of Hockey Unfiltered: “Take this to the bank. Both Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli will receive invites for Canada’s World Championship team, which will have whichever team picking second beating a path to Finland. There are scouts out there — a good number of them — who believe that Russian phenom Matvei Michkov will ultimately be the second-best player after Bedard. If you’re willing to wait until 2026, when Michkov’s contract expires, it will be well worth the wait. But if you need someone to inspire and energize your fan base now, Fantilli will be a ridiculously good consolation prize.”


WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The Saskatoon Blades have two goaltenders on their roster who put up similar regular-season stats. Freshman Austin Elliott was 25-6-3, 2.20, .911 in 37 appearances, while sophomore Ethan Chadwick went 23-9-2, 2.61, .899. . . . So how did head coach Brennan Sonne decide who to start in Game 7 against the visiting Regina Pats on Monday night. Here’s Sonne: “Chaddy gets us to (Game 7) like a middle reliever and we had an all-star goalie that was fresh, so bring in the closer.” . . . Chadwick was 3-1, 3.23, .847 in the first round; Elliott went 1-1, 3.95, .841. . . .

From Troy Gillard (@Troy_Gillard), the play-by-play voice of the Red Deer Rebels: “Can confirm Jayden Grubbe set a Rebels playoff game record with five assists vs. Calgary on Friday. Michael Spacek had the previous record of four (vs. Lethbridge 03/30/2017).” . . .

The WHL’s second round begins on Friday on four fronts, and there are previews of all series on the league’s website. Check them out!



Ants


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Dave Struch is the new director of hockey at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. Struch, who steps into his new position on July 1, also will be the head coach of the Hounds male U15 prep team. . . . Struch, 52, spent this season as the associate coach with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Prior to that he worked with the Regina Pats for seven-plus seasons (2014-22), as assistant coach, assistant GM/assistant coach and assistant GM/head coach. He also spent eight seasons (2006-14) with the Saskatoon Blades, first as assistant coach, then associate coach and head coach. . . . While he worked in Everett, his family remained at their home in Regina. Wilcox is located a few slapshots south of Regina. . . .

Jeff Truitt, the head coach of the Prince Albert Raiders, has been named the head coach of Canada’s entry in the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship. The tournament is scheduled to run April 20-30 in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland. . . . This will be Truitt’s first head-coaching position with Hockey Canada; he won gold and silver as a video coach with the 2005 and 2004 national junior teams. . . . Former WHL G Justin Pogge will be on Truitt’s staff as goaltending consultant. Pogge, who played with the Prince George Cougars and Calgary Hitmen, played this season with the DEL’s Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams. He has played professionally for the past 17 seasons. . . . Also on Team Canada’s staff will be athletic therapist Jimmy McKnight (Edmonton Oil Kings), team physician Dr. Michael Conrad (Victoria Royals) and education consultant Nic Renyard (Victoria). . . . Canada opens the tournament against Sweden on April 20. . . .

D Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats has joined the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Svozil, a 20-year-old from Czechia, was a third-round pick by Columbus in the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . In 115 regular-season games with the Pats over two seasons, he put up 119 points, including 98 assists. This season, he finished with 11 goals and 67 assists in 56 games, then added four goals and nine assists in seven playoff games. . . . He is expected to make his NHL debut tonight (Thursday) against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. . . .

The NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks have assigned F Jalen Luypen of the Tri-City Americans to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. . . . Luypen, 20, had 18 goals and 21 assists in 38 regular-season games with the Americans after missing the start of the season following off-season shoulder surgery. . . . Chicago selected him in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . .

G Bryan Thomson of the Lethbridge Hurricanes has signed an ATO with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Thomson, 21, went 59-42-6, 3.06, .901 in 117 appearances with Lethbridge. This season, after recovering from off-season hip surgery, he was 13-8-2, 2.64, .919.


Groceries


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


LeftLane

Blades win Game 7 . . . No miracle for Bedard, Pats . . . WHL’s second-round matchups set, series open Friday

WHL

A few Twitter tidbits from Sunday’s lone WHL playoff game in which the host Prince George Cougars scored a 5-4 OT victory over the Tri-City Americans to move into the second round for the first time since 2007 . . .

Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow): “Riley Heidt doubles point output in series after recording a goal and 2 assists. 12th game of at least three points this season, 7th this side of 2023. Ty Young stops series high 34 of 38, becomes first Cougars goalie with 3+ wins in playoffs since Real Cyr in 2007 (8).” . . .

——

WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The stage now is set for the second round of the playoffs, with all four series scheduled to open on Friday. There weren’t any upsets in the first round, as each of the top four seeds in each conference advanced for the first time since 2015. . . .

In the Eastern Conference, the pennant-winning Winnipeg Ice, which swept the Medicine Hat Tigers, will be at home to the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors, while the No. 2 Saskatoon Blades entertain the No. 3 Red Deer Rebels. . . .

In the Western Conference, the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds and No. 4 Prince George Cougars will open in Kent, Wash., with the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers entertaining the No. 3 Portland Winterhawks. . . .

Shaun Clouston, the Blazers’ general manager and head coach, told Radio NL on Monday that F Fraser Minten should be back in the lineup for Friday’s opener against Portland. Minten, a 31-goal man in the regular season, hasn’t played since March 22. . . . At the same time, F Daylan Kuefler, who missed the last game of the four-game sweep of the Vancouver Giants, is day-to-day. He also scored 31 times in the regular season.

——

MONDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard ran out of miracles for the Regina Pats last night in Saskatoon as the Blades posted a 4-1 victory in Game 7 of a first-round series. . . . Yes, he drew an assist on Regina’s lone goal. . . . Bedard finished the series with 10 goals and 10 assists; he was in on 20 of his side’s 26 goals in the seven games. . . . BTW, at some point on Monday there was a scoring change made that impacted Bedard. Prior to Game 7, Bedard was shown with 11 goals and eight assists. He picked up an assist in Game 7, and after the game was shown with 10 goals and 10 assists. . . . On Monday, Bedard was named the WHL’s player of the week for a second straight week. . . . Most points in a WHL playoff series? Who knows? But Lucas Punkari of the Brandon Sun pointed out earlier that F Jamie Black of the Tacoma Rockets had 22 points, including 15 assists, in a seven-game first-round loss to the Spokane Chiefs in 1993. . . . Bedard was blanked in five of 57 regular-season games; he had at least one point in each of the seven playoff games. . . . In 64 regular-season and playoff games this season, Bedard had 163 points, including 81 goals. . . . Including his performance at the World Junior Championship, he had 186 points, including 90 goals, in 71 games. . . . In his WHL career, he totalled 291 points, including 144 goals, in 141 regular-season and playoff games. . . . What’s next for Bedard? Well, Les Lazaruk, the Blades’ well-connected play-by-play voice, said last night that he has heard that Bedard won’t play for Canada at the IIHF World Championship that is scheduled for  Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia, from May 12-28. . . . Bedard almost certainly will be the first overall selection in the NHL draft that is to run in Nashville on June 28 and 29. . . . All this and he won’t turn 18 until July 17. Amazing!

——

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Regina (6) at Saskatoon (3) — The Saskatoon Blades scored three third-period Saskatoongoals as they beat the Regina Pats, 4-1, in Game 7 of their first round series. . . . The Blades will open the second round at home to the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night. . . . This game was goalless until Saskatoon D Spencer Shugrue scored on a redirection off a 3-on-2 break with 13.3 seconds left in the second period. The 19-year-old Vancouver native had one goal and six assists in 55 regular-season games. He was pointless in the first six games of the series. . . . The Blades went ahead 2-0 at 7:56 of the third period when F Jake Chiasson (2) scored. . . . F Stanislav Svozil (4) got the Pats to within a goal at 13:10. . . . The Blades put it away on goals from F Vaughn Watterodt (3), at 17:50, and F Trevor Wong (3), into an empty net, at 18:11. . . . Wong finished the series with 10 points, as did Saskatoon F Egor Sidorov, who had five goals. . . . Saskatoon got 25 stops from G Austin Elliott, while Regina’s Drew Sim blocked 36. . . . Saskatoon was 0-for-2 on the PP to finish 5-for-18. Regina’s PP didn’t get on the ice in Game 7 and finished 5-for-14. . . . If you were wondering who was the WHL Supervisor for this game, it was Kevin Muench, the league’s veteran senior director of officiating. . . . The announced attendance at Monday’s game was 14,768. The four playoff games in Saskatoon drew 47,729 fans. The seven-game series finished with a total attendance of 67,226. . . . The Pats’ last six trips to Saskatoon drew 77,265 fans to SaskTel Centre.



Carts


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

G Jesper Vikman of the Vancouver Giants has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and has joined their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, on an ATO. . . . From Stockholm, Sweden, Vikman, 21, was 19-21-1, 3.29, .903 with the Giants this season. . . . Vegas selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2020 draft. . . .

D Dru Krebs of the Medicine Hat Tigers has joined the AHL’s Hershey Bears on an ATO. Krebs, who turned 20 on Feb. 16, had eight goals and 33 assists in 67 regular-season games this season. He was a sixth-round selection by the Washington Capitals, the Bears’ parent club, in the 2021 NHL draft. . . . 

F Jett Jones of the Lethbridge Hurricanes has joined the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates. He is coming off a regular season in which he finished with 50 points, 21 of them goals, in 67 games. . . . Jones, 20, is an NHL free agent. . . .

The NHL’s New York Rangers have assigned G Talyn Boyko of the Kelowna Rockets to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. . . . Boyko, who played out his junior eligibility this season, was 13-24-1, 3.55, .898 with Kelowna this season. . . . The Rangers selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . .

The SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers have signed Clayton Jardine as their general manager and head coach. He spent the past four seasons as head coach of the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. . . . Jardine, 32, was the Klippers’ head coach in 2018-19 when he was honoured as the SJHL’s coach of the year. . . . When the 2022-23 season began, Ken Plaquin was the Klippers’ GM/head coach. He was fired on Feb. 22 with assistant coach Tyler Traptow finishing up on an interim basis. . . . The Klippers went 13-34-9 this season and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. . . . 

F Justin Sommer scored in OT to give the Kimberley Dynamiters a 3-2 victory over the host Princeton Posse in Game 7 of the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s championship final. . . . Sommer, who is from Kimberley, had three goals and three assists in 37 regular-season games. He scored his third goal of these playoffs at 14:36 of OT. . . . Princeton F Brayden Bablitz scored his 12th goal of the playoffs to tie the score at 18:42 of the third period. G Peyton Trzaska was on the bench for the extra attacker at the time. . . . The Posse had been playing with heavy hearts since assistant coach Mort Johnston was killed in a single-vehicle auto accident on March 26.


THINKING OUT LOUD — Whenever I listen to Les Lazaruk call a Saskatoon Blades games, I get bothered. Why? Because someone like Jack Edwards gets to call NHL games and Les doesn’t. It’s true that there are times when life just isn’t fair. . . . A quick note to WHL head coaches . . . Kevin Dudley of the Mankato, Minn., News reports that Minnesota State men’s hockey coach Luke Strand, who just signed a five-year deal, will be paid US$340,000 annually. . . . The Mavericks played 39 games this season.


Kongs


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


LeafBlower

Pats, Blades will settle it tonight in Saskatoon . . . Cougars into second round for first time since 2007 . . . Wheatcroft wins it in OT

WHL

Some Twitter tidbits from Saturday’s two WHL playoff games . . .

Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow): ”Heading back to Saskatoon for Game 7 as the Pats win at home for first time in series. Count on usual suspects to keep the party going. Alexander Suzdalev scores twice, Connor Bedard brings in a goal, 3 assists, and Stanislav Svozil secures 3 helpers.” . . . “Suzdalev extends point streak to 7 with two goals, seventh multigoal game this season. Svozil also a point in 7 straight. Recorded six games of at least 3 assists during the season. Add another 4 points to Connor Bedard, 19 in series. Bowen Byram led playoffs in 2019 with 26.” . . .

Brandow, again: “The Portland Winterhawks are moving on thanks to an overtime goal from Robbie Fromm-Delorme, team’s first OT win to clinch since a CQF win against Seattle in 2015. First career postseason goal, scoring for 8th time. Gabe Klassen, James Stefan whip up G & A.” . . .

Scott Sepich (@SSepich): “Kamloops and Portland faced off in 8 playoff series between 1984 and 1995 and just 2 since. Hawks won in 2012 and 2013, Blazers last won in 1995. Kamloops will be the heavy favorite this time around.”

Winterhawks historian Andy Kemper (@AndyKemper): “The OT winner for Robbie Fromm-Delorme was the first series-clinching goal on home ice in OT in Winterhawks franchise history. They had clinched four road series in OT before, but never on home ice.”


Is that Scotty Bowman in the front row on the right side of the photo?


WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The Regina Pats and the Blades will settle their first-round series tonight when they play Game 7 in Saskatoon. Yes, there will be a healthy crowd in SaskTel Centre. . . . In the Pats’ last five visits to Saskatoon, announced attendance has totalled 62,497. . . . If Saskatoon wins, the Blades will meet the Red Deer Rebels in the second round, with the Winnipeg Ice facing the Moose Jaw Warriors. A Regina victory sends the Pats to Winnipeg and Moose Jaw to Red Deer. . . .

Lucas Punkari of the Brandon Sun notes: Regina’s last Game 7 win was over Swift Current in the 2017 Quarters . . . Swift Current got its revenge in the 2018 first round . . . Saskatoon’s last Game 7 win was over Regina in the 2000 first round . . . The Blades lost Game 7s in the first round to Lethbridge in 2009 and Brandon in 2002. . . .

Michael Ball, who posted the above tweet, was doing play-by-play of Saturday’s game between Saskatoon and Regina when the Pats scored a third-period goal that originally was declared a goal, then was reversed on video review, then was allowed to stand after another video review. . . . The WHL Supervisor for the game was Tim Tisdale, a former Pats assistant coach and head coach (1998-2000). It was Tisdale who asked Access Communications if they had more angles than the WHL video review booth of the play in question. . . . You have to think that didn’t sit well with the Blades and their supporters. . . . Tisdale, of course, scored the winning goal in OT that gave the Swift Current Broncos a 4-3 victory over the host Blades in the 1989 Memorial Cup final. . . . Now there are rumblings that former Blades head coach Marcel Comeau will be the WHL Supervisor for Game 7. . . .

There was an interesting situation at the CN Centre in Prince George before the Cougars and Tri-City Americans hooked up for Game 6 of their first-round series on Sunday. . . . The CN Centre’s Twitter account posted: “Due to the Easter holiday, our concessions were not able to schedule extra staff to accommodate the packed arena. For tonight’s playoff game only, guests may bring in outside food. Outside beverages of any kind are still not permitted.” . . . Of course, outside food in an arena seems to be a real delicacy these days, doesn’t it?

——

SUNDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Tri-City (5) at Prince George (4) — F Chase Wheatcroft scored in OT as the PrinceGeorgePrince George Cougars beat the visiting Tri-City Americans, 5-4, to advance to the second round. . . . The Cougars won the series, 4-2, by winning the last three games, the first two of which were played in Kennewick, Wash. . . . This will be the Cougars’ first time in the second round since 2007. . . . Wheatcroft’s third goal of the series came from the right side off a 2-on-1 break at 2:31 of OT. This was Wheatcroft’s 50th goal this season; he had 47 in the regular season. . . . The Cougars’ victory means the Western Conference’s top four seeds all have advanced. The No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds will meet the No. 4 Cougars in the second round and will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format, while the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers face the No. 3 Portland Winterhawks. . . . Those series will open Friday in Kent, Wash., and Kamloops. . . . The Cougars took a quick 2-0 first-period lead on goals from F Riley Heidt (2), at 4:51, and F Cole Dubinsky (3), at 7:57. . . . Heidt also had two assists. . . . F Reese Belton (2), who was celebrating his 21st birthday, got the Americans to within a goal at 12:23, but F Fischer O’Brien (1) got that one back for the Cougars at 17:05. . . . Tri-City tied it on second-period goals by F Ethan Ernst (1), at 0:17, and F Tyson Greenway (5), at 17:18. . . . Prince George F Zac Funk (4) broke the 3-3 tie at 2:02 of the third period. . . . The Americans pulled even again at 13:34 on a goal by F Jake Sloan (3). . . . Each team was 0-for-1 on the PP. For the series, the Cougars were 1-for-15; the Americans were 1-for-17. . . . G Ty Young recorded the victory with 34 saves, two more than Tri-City’s Tomas Suchanek. . . . The announced attendance was 5,383, the third-largest crowd in Prince George this season. A visit by F Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats on Dec. 2 drew 6,027, 5,880 showed up for the Cougars’ last home game of the regular season against the Kamloops Blazers on March 25.



Rubberband


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Spaghetti

Bedard legend gets even better . . . Four points lead Pats past Blades; series goes to Saskatoon for Game 7 . . . Winterhawks on to Kamloops

WHL

Some Twitter tidbits from Geoffrey Brandow after Friday night’s WHL games . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-2, to take a 3-2 series lead. “The Cougars are first in series to win consecutive tilts and take the series lead for first time. Four goals 10-and-a-half minutes apart in third help run away. Zac Funk brings ‘da 2 goals as does Bauer Dumanski, who matches regular-season total with his 2Gs.” . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips beat the Portland Winterhawks, 5-0, but still trailed, 3-1. “Silvertips get back to do what they do best, win via shutout. Tyler Palmer puts out 22 for 2nd clean sheet with ‘Tips. Caden Zaplitny, Beau Courtney and Roan Woodward all notch first markers of playoffs; Jackson Berezowski, Austin Roest rack up 3rd.” . . .

In Saskatoon, the Blades beat the Regina Pats, 4-2, to take a 3-2 series lead. “Blades reverse a 2-0 series deficit to a 3-2 lead. Egor Sidorov is back to a goal-per-game in the series after doubling up for 2nd time in 3 games.  Aidan De La Gorgendiere, Tanner Molendyk and Trevor Wong all assist on a pair.” . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-5 in OT, to win the series, 4-1. “Rebels turn around a 5-3 deficit with 5 minutes to play in regulation before Ben King caps a 4-point affair striking in overtime five minutes in. Mats Lindgren is beneficiary of 2 of King’s passes with power play tallies. Had 8 (of 11) in season. . . . Jayden Grubbe gets grubby hands on five goals. All nine assists in series come in last three games and sets new personal best in category. No player had more points than he did assists in series. Sets Internet Era record for team for assists in a playoff game.”

——

There were two WHL playoff games on Saturday night; there will be one on Easter Sunday. . . .

Last night, the Regina Pats posted a 5-3 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades to even that series, 3-3. They’ll decide things in Saskatoon on Monday night. . . .

And, in Portland, the Winterhawks won, 3-2 in OT, over the Everett Silvertips to win that series, 4-1. . . . The Winterhawks, the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, will meet the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers in the second round. Games 1 and 2 are to be played in Kamloops on Friday and Saturday. . . .

Tonight, the Tri-City Americans will be looking to stay alive as they face the Cougars in Prince George. The Cougars, who won two of three games in Kennewick, Wash., this week, haven’t been out of the first round since 2007. . . . If they need a Game 7, it is to be played in Prince George on Tuesday. . . . The winner of this series will meet up with the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round.

——

What do you do with your time on a Saturday night if you’re a WHL team that swept its first-round series and now is awaiting a second-round opponent? Well, if you’re the Seattle Thunderbirds you take in an NHL game . . .

——

SATURDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

THE BEDARD REPORT — The day will come when fathers will tell their children about this one player in this one particular playoff series that took place in the spring of 2023. . . . Yes, that player is F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats. . . . The legend grew even more last night as Bedard figured in each of his club’s first four goals, scoring once and drawing three primary assists, as the Pats beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 5-3, in Game 6 of their first-round series. . . . They’ll play Game 7 in Saskatoon on Monday night. . . . Bedard now has 11 goals and eight assists in the series. He has been in on 19 of Regina’s 25 goals in the six games. . . . In 63 regular-season and playoff games this season, Bedard has 162 points, including 82 goals. . . . Including his performance at the World Junior Championship, he has 185 points, including 91 goals, in 70 games. . . . You’re wondering, as am I, what the WHL record is for most points in one playoff series. Who knows? But here’s a tidbit from Lucas Punkari (@lpunkari) of the Brandon Sun: “I have no idea what the record is for most points in a WHL playoff series, but I can tell you that Jamie Black had 22 points in seven games for Tacoma in their opening-round loss to Spokane in 1993.” Indeed, Black had seven goals and 15 assists in that series.

——

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Saskatoon (3) at Regina (6) — F Connor Bedard broke a 3-3 tie at 1:59 of the Reginathird period and the Regina Pats went on to beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 5-3, to tie their series, 3-3. . . . Game 7 is scheduled to be played in Saskatoon on Monday night. . . . F Trevor Wong’s second straight goal, at 1:04 of the third, had gotten the Blades into the 3-3 tie. . . . Bedard’s 11th goal of the series came just 55 seconds later. It came as the Pats caught the Blades on a shaky line change. D Stanislav Svozil made a big-league pass from the Regina blue line to Bedard at the Saskatoon line, and he went in to score. . . . Svozil finished with three assists; he’s got three goal and nine assists in the six games. . . . Bedard also had three assists. . . . There was controversy at 11:24 of the third period as F Zackary Shantz appeared to score his second goal of the series. However, he was in the blue paint and the puck may have gone in off a skate. After a lengthy video review, the goal was disallowed. But after referee Mark Pearce spoke with Regina general manager/head coach John Paddock, there was a second lengthy review after which the goal was allowed to stand. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an explanation offered by the WHL. Yes, the WHL really needs to find a way to post explanations on social media. You know, just to keep fans informed. . . . Saskatoon F Jayden Wiens (4) opened the scoring at 9:42 of the first period. . . . Regina pulled even on a goal from F Alexander Suzdalev  at 14:53. . . . Suzdalev (3) gave the Pats their first lead of the game, on a PP, at 5:04 of the second period, and F Tanner Howe (2) upped the lead to 3-1 at 12:45. . . . Wong tied it with his first two goals of the series. . . . Regina got 27 saves from G Drew Sim. . . . Saskatoon G Ethan Chadwick stopped 15 shots. . . . The Blades had won 11 straight road games going into this one, and they were 4-1-0 in Regina this season. . . . The Brandt Centre was sold out (6,499) once again.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Everett (6) at Portland (3) — The Portland Winterhawks moved on to the Portlandsecond round with a 3-2 OT victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Portland will open the next round with games against the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday and Saturday. . . . In four regular-season meetings, Portland was 3-1-0, while Kamloops was 1-1-2. . . . Last night, F Robbie Fromm-Delorme (2) won it, on a PP, at 9:45 of OT. . . . F Gabe Klassen (2) had given Portland a 1-0 lead at 16:39 of the first period. . . . Everett went ahead with two late second-period PP goals, from F Austin Roest (4), at 16:51, and F Jackson Berezowski (4), at 18:36. . . . The Winterhawks tied it when F James Stefan (4) scored, on a PP, at 8:29 of the third. . . . Each team was 2-for-5 on the PP. . . . G Jan Špunar earned the victory with 19 saves, 21 fewer than Everett’s Tyler Palmer. . . . Everett was dogged by injuries in this series; it had seven injured players on the sidelines.


Rear


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Blades win third straight, can end it tonight in Regina . . . Rebels oust Hitmen . . . Silvertips still breathing . . . Cougars go home with lead


WHL

WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The Winnipeg Ice will be without F Zack Ostapchuk for the first game of their second-round playoff series. He has been suspended for one game after taking a cross-checking major and game misconduct 55 seconds into Winnipeg’s 3-2 victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Wednesday night. The Ice swept the series with that victory and now is awaiting a second-round opponent. . . .

After a Friday night that featured four games, there will be two games tonight. . . .

The Saskatoon Blades take a three-game winning streak into Regina for Game 6 of their first-round series with the Pats. They met last night in Saskatoon, with the Blades winning, 4-2, to assume a 3-2 lead. And, yes, the Brandt Centre in Regina will be packed tonight.

A little later, the Everett Silvertips will tangle with the Winterhawks in Portland. The Silvertips fought off elimination last night, winning, 5-0, at home, but still trail the series, 3-1.

Meanwhile, in Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-2, to take a 3-2 lead in that series. They will finish that series in Prince George starting with Game 6 on Sunday.

And one more team was eliminated last night, as the Calgary Hitmen had their season come to an end with a 6-5 OT loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. The Rebels won that series, 4-1, and now await a second-round opponent. . . . The Rebels were the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed for the first round because they won the Central Division’s regular-season title. The Saskatoon Blades, the third seed, actually finished with more points — 101-92 — than the Rebels. . . . Remember that survivors will be reseeded according to regular-season points for the second round, meaning the Rebels would be No. 3 should Saskatoon get past Regina. . . . In short, if Saskatoon wins that series, the second round will have the Blades against the Rebels, with the No. 1 Winnipeg Ice meeting the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . A Regina victory would send the Pats up against Winnipeg, with the Rebels facing the Warriors.

——

FRIDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats has skated in five playoff games over the past eight days. He has 10 goals and five assists in a first-round series with the Saskatoon Blades. Bedard scored two more goals last night as the Pats dropped a 4-2 decision in Saskatoon. . . . The Pats have scored 20 goals in the series and Bedard has been in on 15 of them. . . . He leads the WHL playoffs in goals and points. . . . Combined with this regular-season numbers, Bedard has put up 158 points, 81 of them goals, in 62 games.

——

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Regina (6) at Saskatoon (3) — F Egor Sidorov scored twice to help the host SaskatoonSaskatoon Blades to a 4-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . This was the first time in the series that the home team emerged triumphant. . . . The Blades, who lost the first two games of this series at home, now hold a 3-2 edge with Game 6 in Regina tonight. If they need a Game 7, it’ll be played Monday in Saskatoon. . . . Last night, the Blades led 2-0 before the game was six minutes old and the Pats spent the rest of the game chasing. . . . F Connor Bedard (10) scored twice for Regina, his first goal getting the Pats to within one, at 2-1, at 11:24 of the first period. . . . Saskatoon had a goal disallowed at 6:25 of the second period due to incidental contact with Regina G Drew Sim. . . . F Conner Roulette (1) restored Saskatoon’s two-goal edge, scoring on a delayed penalty situation, at 15:52. . . . That allowed the Blades to head into the second intermission with a lead for the first time in the series. They overcame 3-1 third-period deficits to win Games 3 and 4. . . . Bedard got that one back, also on a delayed penalty, at 3:09 of the third. . . . Sidorov’s fifth goal of the series, at 10:46, came off a 3-on-1 break and provided some insurance. . . . Each team was 1-for-2 on the PP. In the five games, Saskatoon is 5-for-15; the Pats are 4-for-11. . . . Attendance was announced at 12,083, the largest crowd in this season’s WHL playoffs to date. . . .

Calgary (7) at Red Deer (2) — The Red Deer Rebels scored the game’s final RedDeerthree goals, the last one coming in OT, to beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-5, and win the series, 4-1. . . . F Ben King (3) ended it at 4:56 of OT. . . . D Mats Lindgren (2) had given the Rebels a 3-2 lead with PP goals at 19:23 of the first period and 7:32 of the second. . . . Calgary then took a 5-3 on goals from F Maxim Muranov, at 12:19 of the second, F Oliver Tulk (1), on a PP, at 2:46 of the third, and Muranov (2), shorthanded, at 9:32. . . . D Matteo Fabrizi (2) pulled Red Deer to within a goal at 15:32, and D Christoffer Sedoff (2) tied it at 17:18. . . . Lindgren added two assists — including the primary on the winner — to his two goals and finished the series with eight points. . . . Red Deer had a 44-24 edge in shots, including 4-0 in OT. . . . The Rebels were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Hitmen were 2-for-5.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Portland (3) at Everett (6) — The Everett Silvertips scored twice before the first Everettperiod was five minutes old and went on to a 5-0 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The series, which Portland leads, 3-1, is to resume tonight in Portland. . . . If Portland wins this series, the Winterhawks will open the second round in Kamloops on Friday. . . . G Tyler Palmer stopped 27 shots for his first WHL playoff shutout. In the four games, he is 1-3, 3.32, .891. . . . F Caden Zaplitny (1) got Everett started at 2:49 of the first period, and F Beau Courtney (1) upped it to 2-0 at 4:14. . . . F Jackson Berezowski and F Austin Roest each scored his third goal of the series. . . . The Silvertips were never headed after that and enjoyed a 36-27 edge in shots. . . .

Prince George (4) at Tri-City (5) — The Prince George Cougars snapped a 2-2 PrinceGeorgetie with three third-period goals as they beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-2, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Cougars lead the series, 3-2. And now the teams are on the road to Prince George where Game 6 will be played on Sunday, with Game 7, if needed, there on Tuesday. . . . F Reese Belton (1) got the Americans into a 2-2 tie at 16:22 of the second period. . . . F Caden Brown (3), who also had two assists, gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead at 8:01 of the third period, with Cole Dubinsky (2) adding insurance at 14:39, and F Zac Funk (3) getting his second of the game, an empty-netter, at 17:42. . . . D Bauer Dumanski (2) had two goals for the Cougars. . . . The Cougars got 26 saves from G Ty Young, who has been playing since Tyler Brennan left late in the second period of Game 3 with an undisclosed injury. . . . Reports in Prince George have more than 4,000 tickets for Sunday’s game having been sold as of Friday evening. 


Idiots


This is an interesting story out of Kelowna involving the Rockets, past Memorial Cup bids, perhaps one in the future and some secrecy. Just keep in mind that the 2025 Memorial Cup tournament is to be held in a QMJHL city, with the WHL back as the host league for 2026.


My man Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, was pondering The Masters this week when “suddenly I realized that I had forgotten what ‘LIV’ stands for. I kept trying to use those letters as an acronym but things like ‘Living In Valhalla’ just made no sense. So, Google was my friend and, in case you too have forgotten what LIV stands for . . .

LIV is the Roman numeral for the number 54;
54 is the score one would card on a par-72 course if you birdied every hole; and,

54 also is the number of holes to be played in an LIV tournament.”

The curmudgeonly one, as he often is, is a fountain of information.


Going into Friday night’s playoff games . . .

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Nolan Ritchie of the Brandon Wheat Kings has signed with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies and made his professional debut last night in Boise, Idaho, against the Steelheads. . . . He was plus-1 with two shots on goal in a 2-1 loss to Boise. . . . The Grizzlies are an affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. . . . Ritchie, who played out his eligibility this season, is from Brandon. This season, as the Wheat Kings’ captain, he finished with 70 points, 27 of them goals, in 67 games. . . . In 185 games with Brandon over five season, he totalled 185 points, including 76 goals. . . .

Anthony Stella is the new general manager of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, the reigning Memorial Cup champions. He had been the team’s assistant GM and head scout since 2018. His promotion was made after Trevor Georgie, the Sea Dogs’ president and GM, was named president and CEO of JSM Sports Entertainment, which owns the QMJHL franchise. . . . Stella started with the Sea Dogs as a scout prior to the 2014-15 season.


Math


With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.


If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Blue

Habscheid leaves Pioneers, next steps “uncertain” . . . Ex-WHLer Stanley replaces him . . . Blazers complete sweep of Giants

GreenShirtDay


Habby

Marc Habscheid, the fifth-winningest head coach in WHL regular-season history, is leaving the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg, who play out of Feldkirch, Austria. . . . Habscheid, 60, left the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in August and took over as head coach of the Pioneers. . . . “Marc recently informed us that he will be leaving the Pioneers at the end of the 2022-23 season and would like to look for another job,” the team said in a news release. . . . This was Habscheid’s first European coaching job and he was guiding a team in its first season in the ICE Hockey League. The Pioneers finished last in the 13-team league, at 8-34-6. . . . “My next steps are currently still uncertain,” Habscheid said in the news release. “I would like to give myself the necessary time to consider various options before I set the course for the future.” . . . Habscheid spent 18 seasons as a WHL head coach, posting 582 victories with the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, Chilliwack Bruins (remember them?), Victoria Royals and Prince Albert. . . . He also has posted 75 playoff victories, including guiding the Kelowna Rockets (2002-03) and Prince Albert (2018-19) to WHL championships. . . .

Pioneers management already has signed a new head coach — former WHLer Dylan Stanley. From Edmonton, the 39-year-old Stanley played five seasons (2000-05) as a forward with the Tri-City Americans. He played in Europe since 2008, spending 2014 through 2022 playing with VEU Feldkirch. He has been a skills coach and director of player development with the Feldkirch organization from 2017-22. In 2022-23, he was with Pioneers Vorarlberg as director of player development, assistant coach and conditioning coach.



A few Twitter tidbits from Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow), all of them WHLinvolving Wednesday night in the WHL . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars scored a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans to even their series, 2-2. “F Koehn Ziemmer and F Jaxsen Wiebe both rack up a pair of tallies. Ziemmer gets on board for first time seeing 4-game goal drought end. Wiebe had a multi-goal game in last season’s playoffs.” . . .

In Kelowna, the Seattle Thunderbirds swept the Rockets with a 3-0 victory. The Thunderbirdsd “sow the final seeds of the series and move on to the conference semifinal. F Jordan Gustafson jimmies a goal and an assist in 3rd period to put game out of reach. G Thomas Milic stops all 19 faced, leaves series with a .958 save percentage.” . . .

In Calgary, the Rebels beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-1, to go ahead 3-1 in the series. The Rebels “combine for five special teams goals (3 power play, 2 shorthanded) . . . D Mats Lindgren sets up four. Team’s first blueliner to do so in the Internet Era.” . . .

In Lethbridge, the Moose Jaw Warriors completed a sweep of the Hurricanes, winning 5-2. “F Brayden Yager blasted first two goals of playoffs, last into an empty net to complete a 3-goal third. D Maximus Wanner has inverse, setting up first two in final frame. Third career 3+ point competitive contest.” . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Winnipeg Ice completed a sweep of the Tigers with a 3-2 victory. “Winnipeg is outshot in all four games of series yet has more goals and that’s all that matters. F Ty Nash notches tilt’s final tally, scoring back-to-back. F Matthew Savoie starts scoring while shorthanded, 6th goal of series equaling last season’s total.”

In Regina, the Saskatoon Blades won, 4-3 in OT, to even the series with the Pats, 2-2. “The Blades are back to square one after turning around a 3-1 deficit, after conceding two goals in first minute of the final frame.  F Jayden Wiens kickstarts comeback helped by D Charlie Wright who levels match halfway through third. Jake Chiasson finishes job. . . . First playoff goal for Chiasson in 10 career tries and ends a personal nine-game goalless drought. 11th goal since becoming a member of the Blades, fifth game-winning goal. . . . Team also won 2 overtime games in same series to start 2019 against Moose Jaw.”


Meteor


While there was only one game in the WHL playoffs on Thursday night, there will be four played tonight with two of the teams involved facing elimination.

In Red Deer, the Calgary Hitmen trail the Rebels, 3-1, and are without two of their top three scorers in F Riley Fiddler-Schultz and F Sean Tschigerl. Fiddler-Schultz didn’t finish Game 2, while Tschigerl was injured in Game 3. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips have lost the first three games of their series with the Portland Winterhawks, so need a victory to send the series back to Oregon. . . . A Portland victory will send the Winterhawks into the second round against the Kamloops Blazers, who completed a sweep of the Vancouver Giants last night. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars and Tri-City Americans are 2-2 as they head into a fifth game. They’ll be in Prince George for Game 6 on Sunday, with a seventh game, if needed, scheduled for Tuesday . . .

And, in Saskatoon, the Blades will be looking for a third straight victory as they try to take a 3-2 lead over the Regina Pats. After the Pats won the first two games in Saskatoon, the Blades went into Regina and twice overcame 3-1 deficits to win in OT. . . . Regina will be without F Brayden Barnett, who drew a one-game suspension for a slew-footing double minor he was hit with in Game 4. . . . These teams so far have played in front of 33,861 fans, with more than 10,000 expected again for Game 5. . . . They’ll be back in Regina before another 6,499 fans for Game 6 on Saturday. . . .

Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Warriors will be without F Robert Baco for the first three games of their second-round series. The Warriors completed a sweep of the host Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday night and Baco took a goaltender interference major and game misconduct during the game.

——

THURSDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Kamloops (2) at Vancouver (7) — D Olen Zellweger scored his second goal of Kamloopsthe game and third in four games with 1.5 seconds left in OT to give the Kamloops Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Blazers swept the first-round series. . . . They outshot the Giants, 67-35, last night, including 26-7 in OT. . . . The Giants overcame 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits, forcing OT when F Skyler Bruce (1) scored, on a PP, at 15:00 of the third period. . . . F Ty Thorpe, the Giants’ captain, scored three times and added an assist. He scored at even strength, while shorthanded and on the PP. His third goal of the series, on a PP, came 52 seconds into the third period and tied it 3-3. . . . Zellweger (2) put his guys back out front at 3:45. . . . Zellweger’s winner was the second goal Kamloops scored with 1.5 seconds left on the clock. F Connor Levis (1) put the Blazers in front, 3-2, with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first period. . . . F Ryan Hofer (5) had two goals and an assist for the Blazers, all in the first period. . . . F Samuel Honzek drew three assists for the Giants. . . . Vancouver scored twice in the first period after having been outscored 19-1 through the first three games. . . . Kamloops had a 221-93 edge in shots in the four games. . . . In the series, the Blazers were 6-for-22 on the PP; the Giants were 3-for-10, including 2-for-6 in Game 4. . . . With F Daylan Kuefler injured, Kamloops had F Nathan Behm, 15, skating alongside Logan Stankoven and Levis. Behm, from Calgary, was the 13th overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft. . . . The Blazers went back to Kamloops with a little less money in their bank account after being fined $250 for a warmup violation prior to Tuesday’s game in Langley.


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

It seems that reports of WHL referee Steve Papp’s retirement were premature. A report in some Black Press newspapers/websites indicated that Papp “officiated his final WHL game on Tuesday night . . . between the Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds.” . . . Papp, 39, is from Kelowna and in his 17th season as a WHL referee. He also spent two seasons as a linesman. . . . But he is not yet done. . . . A WHL official told Taking Note on Thursday night that Papp “is planning on this being his last season . . . he will be continuing to skate in the playoffs.” . . .

In the OHL, the Kitchener Rangers completed a first-round sweep of the Windsor Spitfires, winning 5-1 at home on Friday night. The Spitfires had finished atop the Western Conference, 22 points ahead of the eighth-place Rangers. This is the first time in OHL history that an eighth seed has swept a No. 1 seed. . . . The Spitfires had loaded up in the hopes of a deep playoff run, their acquisitions including the highly touted F Shane Wright.



——

With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.


Forge