There was a time when I would have told you that the best rivalry in the WHL featured the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats. Brent Parker, then the Pats’ general manager, was never shy about firing verbal darts. You had head coaches battling at the player benches. You had a helmet ending up in the other team’s dressing room and coming out in unwearable condition. There was the play-by-play guy who showed up one night dressed as Donald Duck.
I mean, stuff happened. And I can only imagine what stuff might have happened had there been social media back in the day.
These days I would suggest that torch has been passed to the Portland 
Winterhawks and Seattle Thunderbirds. Because when these two teams meet now . . . stuff happens. And there often seems to be an aftermath, too.
Take Saturday night in Portland. . . .
The first period wasn’t even two minutes old when Winterhawks’ F Jack O’Brien left with what appeared to be a bad leg injury.
That came after he was hit along the boards by Seattle F Matthew Rempe. 
Rempe, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, was given a kneeing major and game misconduct.
After the game, Joshua Critzer, who covers the Winterhawks for @pnwhockeytalk, asked the two head coaches about the incident.
Mike Johnston of the Winterhawks responded: “I thought it was a cheap hit. I know Rempe has had quite a few of those. He’s been suspended a few times this year even. He’s a big guy who has to get control when he’s hitting people. I don’t know what he was thinking. I just know it was knee-on-knee. You have to be careful when you go in with your knee, especially when you are a big guy like that.”
(NOTE: Rempe has served two suspensions this season. The first was for two games under supplemental discipline for something that happened in game with the host Tri-City Americans on Nov. 5. The second, for one game, was assessed after he was given a charging major and game misconduct during a game against the Silvertips in Everett on Nov. 21. Last season, Rempe was suspended once for one game, that after he took a kneeing major and game misconduct in a game at Portland on Dec. 31.)
When Critzer asked Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette about Saturday’s hit, the response was:
“I thought their player was coming down the boards and our guy tried to finish his check. It was along the boards, wasn’t in open space where it was knee-on-knee in my opinion. I thought their guy lunged out of the way and (Rempe) kind of hit his leg that was dragging behind.
“(Rempe) is a big guy and, when he’s on his path, he’s come a long way to be a clean hitter. He’s a big guy and sometimes he’s just bigger than the other guy, which is why he gets penalties. I thought everything was compact — arms down, legs in — on that hit. Sometimes unfortunate plays can happen not intentionally.”
So . . . that was that. Right? Well, not quite. On Sunday, just as the Daytona 500 was heating up, there were sparks flying between Portland and Seattle.
It started when Thom Beuning, the long-time play-by-play voice of the Thunderbirds, tweeted: “So just saw that video of the Rempe major for kneeing. My reaction? ‘Where’s the penalty?’ I don’t see a minor, let alone a major. No initial call on the ice, so what changed?”
Beuning also tweeted: “Incidental contact happens all the time in hockey, including knee-to-knee. Doesn’t mean it is a penalty, doesn’t mean it’s a major, doesn’t mean it is a suspension. Example A, Ty Bauer injury.”
(Bauer, a forward with the Thunderbirds, suffered a knee injury during a game against the Blazers in Kamloops on Dec. 10 and hasn’t played since that night. There wasn’t a penalty on the play.)
After Beuning fired things up, Andy Kemper, a former Portland radio analyst who now is the Winterhawks’ historian, tweeted: “Rempe led into the check with his leg not his upper body. O’Brien was moving to the corner and Rempe put his leg out to stop him and it went knee on knee. That is not incidental. No intent, but it was a kneeing penalty.”
Beuning: “Wrong.”
Kemper: “Yeah, I figured that would be your response. Have a nice day.”
That is when Nick Marek, the Winterhawks’ broadcaster and media relations manager, chimed in with: “Andy said it very well. Everyone knew there was no intent to injure (also why no match penalty assessed) and ‘he didn’t mean to do it.’ Still looks like everything was followed correctly according to the WHL Rule Book.”
Beuning: “Rempe compacts his body to deliver the hit, to avoid a check to the head. O’Brien moves down along the boards to avoid the hit, thus exposing his trailing leg to the contact. Incidental. Same reason there was no penalty when Bauer was injured. Or are you saying the league was wrong?”
Kemper: “The rulebook doesn’t account for incidental or not. The first four words in the rule book are clear: ‘All knee on knee.’ Since it resulted in an injury, the major penalty was assessed. I didn’t see the Bauer hit. Are you saying the league is wrong?”
Beuning: “By not calling a penalty on the Bauer hit, the league has determined there is knee-on-knee contact that doesn’t warrant a penalty. Plenty of time to review and bring forth supplemental discipline. They didn’t.”
Kemper: “OK. But there is a difference between assessing a penalty and assessing a suspension. Doesn’t mean that a penalty should not have been assessed at the time on the Bauer play. The league may decide to not suspend Rempe for the infraction.”
Beuning: “Have you not been around the WHL for a while now? I might very, very reluctantly concede the minor. But players often put themselves in vulnerable positions. Some of the onus is on that player.”
Marek: “Thom, this take is ridiculous. Essentially saying ‘he shouldn’t have been standing there.’ If that’s your belief, then I suppose you should say the same onus is on Bauer for his major injury he suffered. Can’t believe you just said that honestly.”
Beuning: “What’s the old expression? Keep your head up? It happens all the time. Players duck to avoid a hit and put their heads in the path of an opposing players shoulders. Or they turn at the last second and put their backs to the hit in the corner, exposing their numbers.”
Kemper: “I have been around a long time and every time something like this happens, the bias of the individual looking at the play comes out in how they see it called. I’m not going to change your opinion, nor you mine. By the rule book, it was a major penalty. I’m done.”
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Here’s a tweet that includes the video of the play in question, so you can be the judge . . .
And here’s another angle . . .
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The Winterhawks played host to the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday night and O’Brien was in the lineup; in fact, he scored twice and added an assist in a 9-1 victory.
It could be that, as the old all-star centre Billy Shakespeare of the Stratford-upon-Avon Rivermen once wrote, it all was “much ado about nothing.”
The Winterhawks and Thunderbirds are scheduled to meet four more times this season — March 11 and 19 in Kent, Wash., and March 20 and April 2 in Portland.
So there’s still time for even more fun.
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BTW, the Thunderbirds won Saturday’s game, 5-1. Portland leads the season series, with a 5-4-0 record. Or maybe the series is tied, because Seattle is 4-3-2. Yes, thanks to loser points each team has 10 points from the series.
Bruce Vance is one of the good guys. He really is. At one time he worked in the Prince Albert Raiders’ front office, and now he is the the city’s marketing and sponsorship co-ordinator. He and his wife, Liane, also have been through more in the past few years than anyone should have to face in three lifetimes, but they have kept on smiling. Both have battled cancer and Bruce now is having another go-round with the Big C. . . . My wife, Dorothy, is a wonderfully positive person and she will tell you how important that frame of mind was as she went through a kidney transplant. . . . Well, Liane and Bruce are writing about their adventures on a blog — it’s right here — and through all the ups and downs positivity is a huge part of their approach. . . . Teena Monteleone of paNOW wrote about Liane and Bruce right here.
Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “A cargo ship packed with luxury cars caught fire and is aimlessly adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Sort of the nautical equivalent of the L.A. Lakers.”
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Perry, again: “The team that won the opening coin toss now has now lost the past eight Super Bowls. Where’s the public outcry over the unfairness of that?”
SATURDAY IN THE WHL: The Everett Silvertips, with points in 12 straight (10-0-2), clinched a playoff spot on Saturday night, beating the visiting Victoria Royals, 3-1. This is the Silvertips’ 18th season in the WHL and they have been in the playoffs in every one of them. . . . F Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers ran his point streak to 19 games on Saturday in a 4-3 OT loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants. Stankoven, who had a goal and an assist, has 17 goals and 22 assists on his tear. Vancouver, now 1-19-0 when trailing after two periods, won it on F Fabian Lysell’s second goal of the game, and 17th of the season, at 4:33 of extra time. Kamloops is 28-1-2 when trailing after two. . . .
F Ben King’s second goal of the game, his WHL-leading 37th, gave host Red Deer a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Ice as the Rebels overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit. F Arshdeep Bains had two assists for Red Deer; after Saturday’s games, he led the WHL in assists (46) and points (71). . . . F Connor Bouchard’s ninth goal of the season at 2:01 of OT gave the Tri-City Americans a 4-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in Kennewick, Wash. . . .
In Prince Albert, F Jagger Firkus scored his 29th goal and added two assists as the Moose Jaw Warriors doubled the Raiders, 4-2. The Warriors have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . F Dylan Guenther scored four times, giving him 32, as the host Edmonton Oil Kings spanked the Saskatoon Blades, 9-1. G Sebastian Cossa is 24-6-3, 2.30, .915 for the Oil Kings, who have won five in a row. . . .
F Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist to lead the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. He’s got 50 points, including 23 goals, in 32 games. The Wheat Kings went into the Central Division and won four games in six nights. The Wheat Kings ended up spending the night in Swift Current because of the horrid weather conditions that swept across the Prairies. . . . F Reid Schaefer scored twice, giving him 23, as the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Portland Winterhawks, 5-1, for their seventh straight victory. . . .
In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets got past the Cougars, 3-2, giving them a sweep of the weekend doubleheader. On Friday, the Rockets also had won, 3-2. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes rode two first-period goals to a 2-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers, who have lost six in a row.
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SUNDAY IN THE WHL: F Kyle Crnkovic reclaimed the WHL scoring lead with two goals — giving him 32 — and an assist as the visiting Saskatoon Blades beat the Calgary Hitmen, 4-1. That boosted Crnkovic’s points total to 73, two more than F Arshdeep Bains of the Red Deer Rebels. . . . D Clay Hanus had a goal — his 13th — and two assists as the host Portland Winterhawks dropped the Spokane Chiefs, 9-1. The teams combined for 118 minutes in penalties, with 69 of those going to the visitors. It was the sixth game between these teams since Feb. 5; the Winterhawks won five of them, outscoring the Chiefs, 39-10, in the process. Portland won the season series, 10-2-0, while the Chiefs went 2-9-1.
Headline at fark.com: NBC wants you to know their Super Bowl ratings KILLED IT. Oh, and their Olympics . . . look, a bunny.
“A new study shows the horse medicine, ivermectin, is useless in combating COVID,” tweets comedy write Alex Kaseberg (@AlexKaseberg). “This is hard to believe based on the tireless research of that great medical mind Aaron Rodgers.”
Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Dr. Oz vs. Dr. Phil in an old-time steel cage match — no way to root, right?”
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Lupica, again: “Novak Djokovic says he’s not anti-vaccine, but he’s still not going to get jabbed. What an amazing tennis hill on which to die. Taking this kind of stance against something that has saved lives all over the world.”
Dick Butkus — yes, that Dick Butkus — is enjoying Twitter, witness this: “The USFL is back. Herschel Walker is all over the news. Did I have a stroke, or is it still 1985?”
You may have heard that NBA analyst Charles Barkley is talking about retiring in a couple of years once his contract with TNT expires. As he explained: “I don’t want to die on TV. I want to die on the golf course or somewhere fishing. I don’t want to be sitting inside over (by) fat-ass Shaq (waiting) to drop dead.”
Arthur Blank, who owns the Atlanta Falcons, apparently referred to the NFL teams and their seeming inability to hire minority head coaches as “just not acceptable.” It was then that Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune pointed out: “It’s apparently acceptable in Atlanta, where his Falcons are one of 13 franchises never to have had a Black head coach.”
THINKING OUT LOUD:
As a hockey fan, are you old enough to remember when the boards were the boards and not the wall? . . . Are you old enough to remember when the goaltender’s crease was the crease and not the blue paint? . . .
The best entertainment-related news I’ve heard in a long while: Randy Bachman has cut a deal with Corus Entertainment under which some of its radio stations will carry a two-hour Vinyl Tap once a week. It all starts on March 6. . . . CBC Radio dumped Vinyl Tap in July after a 16-year run. . . .
Here’s to a happy retirement to Vicci Weller after 22 years as the Thompson Nicola-Regional District film commissioner. It was because of her that Clint Black was once in the area filming a movie and made acquaintance with my wife, Dorothy, who was working at the time at a Shoppers Drug Mart outlet. Yes, it gave her quite a thrill when he struck up a conversation and then showed her family pictures.
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
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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
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
rather well after having suffered their first loss of the season one night earlier . . . 
Kamloops Blazers, made his NHL debut on Sunday with the Nashville Predators. And he did it in style, turning aside 33 shots in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. . . . The Wild went into the game as one of the NHL’s unbeaten teams, at 4-0. . . . Dean Evason, one of the Blazers’ all-time great players, is the Wild’s head coach. . . . The Predators are 2-4-0. They recalled Ingram from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals on Oct. 16 because G David Rittich was added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. . . .“I still don’t think it’s hit me a little bit,” Ingram, 24, told reporters. “Ignorance is bliss at this point where you don’t really realize what’s going on yet, but it felt good.’’ . . . Ingram was beaten for the first time when F Nick Bjugstad beat him at 11:30 of the second period. . . . “My first shot in the Western League, my first shot in the American League both went in, so I was kind of half-expecting it to go in today, but it didn’t so that’s a nice way to start.’’ . . . The Predators next are scheduled to play on Tuesday night against the visiting San Jose Sharks. . . .
impact the 2022 World Junior Championship that is scheduled for Red Deer and Edmonton, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5
Saskatchewan Huskies and Regina Cougars was postponed. According to a Canada West news release, “Positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed within the Cougars.” The two teams had played in Saskatoon on Friday night. . . . Earlier in the week, Canada West postponed a series between the Calgary Dinos and MacEwan after positive tests were found in the Griffins’ program. . . . 
Kelowna. But it appears that it will be operating out of B.C. next season. . . . Although negotiations with the City of Abbotsford aren’t yet complete, the Canucks said Tuesday that they intend to move the Utica Comets to the Abbotsford Centre for the 2021-22 season. . . . Here’s Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini from a statement: “With momentum starting to build, we are pleased to confirm our goal to bring our AHL franchise and Canucks prospects home to the City of Abbotsford. The move would bring significant opportunities for both our team and the community and it would begin a new chapter, bringing Canucks hockey to even more fans throughout the Lower Mainland.” . . . The Canucks’ AHL team has been in Utica since the 2013-14 season. The New Jersey Devils are expected to move their AHL franchise, the Binghamton Devils, to Utica in time for next season. . . . The Calgary Flames had their AHL affiliate, the Heat, play out of Abbotsford for five seasons (2009-14), before relocating it to Stockton, Calif.
top affiliate in Abbotsford might have on the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. . . . The Giants play out of the Langley Events Centre, which is located 34 km west of the Abbotsford Centre. Both facilities are just off the Trans-Canada Highway. . . . The Giants have played four seasons out of Langley after relocating from Pacific Coliseum after the 2015-16 season. . . . In their last season in the Coliseum, announced attendance averaged 5,169. . . . In their four seasons in Langley, starting in 2016-17, the announced average has been 3,848, 3,383, 3,826 and 3,920. That last figure was from the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season in which the Giants ended up playing 30 home games. . . . The Lower Mainland also is home to four BCHL franchises — the Chilliwack Chiefs, Coquitlam Express, Langley Rivermen and Surrey Eagles. . . . You would think that the presence of one more hockey team — this one featuring prospects who belong to the area’s NHL team — will have an impact of some kind somewhere along the line. . . . Also, having a new team on the block certainly won’t help the junior teams as they try to find their ways back into the hearts of their fans after having been away from live crowds for what will have been about 18 months . . . assuming, that is, that the 2021-22 season gets started in the fall and that teams will be allowed to have fans in attendance.
in OT to beat the host Red Deer Rebels, 4-3. . . . Calgary (10-8-3) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Red Deer (4-15-4) finished with points in each of its last four games (2-0-2). . . . Both teams were playing their final games of this season. . . . D Mason Ward (2) put the Rebels out front at 16:43 of the first period. . . . The Hitmen went ahead on second-period PP goals from F Sean Tschigerl (13), at 16:40, and F Riley Stotts (6), at 18:13. . . . Stotts also had two assists. . . . Red Deer took a 3-2 lead when F Ben King scored two third-period goals — at 9:14, on a PP, and 16:45. . . . Calgary got it to OT as F Josh Prokop (10) scored at 19:13. . . . F Adam Kydd (9) won it at 4:21 of extra time. . . . King also drew one assist. The 13th overall pick in the 2017 bantam draft finished with 28 points, including 12 goals, in 21 games. He totalled four goals and four assists over his final three games. . . . Tschigerl, the fourth overall selection in the 2018 draft, finished on a 12-game point streak, putting up 11 goals and seven assists over that stretch. . . . The Hitmen got 32 saves from G Brayden Peters. . . . Red Deer G Chase Coward turned aside 42 shots. Coward appears to suffer a cut to one wrist during a scramble in his crease at 13:55 of the third period. He was replaced by Byron Fancy, who stopped four of five shots in finishing the period. Coward was back for OT. . . . 
3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Oil Kings (19-2-1) will finish with the best record among the five Alberta teams. . . . The Hurricanes (9-12-3) lost their last two games (0-1-1). . . . Lethbridge played its final game of this season; Edmonton and the Tigers will conclude their seasons in Medicine Hat on Thursday. . . . Williams gave the Oil Kings a 1-0 lead at 10:12 of the first period. . . . Lethbridge took a 2-1 lead on goals from F Chase Wheatcroft (8), at 15:11 of the first, and F Ty Nash (4), at 14:52 of the second. . . . F Jalen Luypen (16) pulled Edmonton even at 17:32 of the second. . . . Williams won it with his 17th goal of the season. . . . Nash was unable to score on a penalty shot at 1:09 of the third period. . . . Edmonton G Sebastian Cossa stopped 27 shots, nine fewer than Lethbridge’s Carl Tetachuk. . . . 
visiting Tri-City Americans a 4-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Americans (7-8-0) have won two in a row. . . . The Chiefs (6-7-5) have points in four straight (2-0-2). . . . Tri-City took a 1-0 lead at 5:46 of the first period when F Tyson Greenway (3) scored. . . . The Chiefs got two goals before the period ended, from F Adam Beckman (16), on a PP, and D Graham Sward (1). . . . F Connor Bouchard (4) got Tri-City back into a tie, on a PP, at 14:18. . . . F Luke Toporowski (1) gave Spokane the lead at 9:41 of the third period in his second game since returning from the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. . . . Huo, who also had an assist, tied the score at 12:47 and won it with his ninth goal, just 23 seconds into OT. . . . 
host Kelowna Rockets, 2-1. . . . The Cougars (8-7-3) are 4-0-1 in their five-game streak. . . . The Rockets (8-3-1) had at least a point in each of their previous six games (5-0-1). . . . F Koehn Ziemmer (7) gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 7:08 of the first period. . . . F Connor Bowie (7) upped that to 2-0 with a shorthanded goal, the seventh the Rockets have surrendered this season, at 5:23 of the second. . . . Kelowna didn’t cut the deficit in half until F Mark Liwiski (9) scored at 15:38 of the third period. . . . The Rockets had a 30-18 edge in shots, including 12-4 in the third period. . . . G Taylor Gauthier earned the victory with 29 saves.
the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Rebels (4-15-3) have won two in a row after having ended a 13-game losing skid with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday night. . . . Red Deer has one game remaining — it is scheduled to play host to Calgary on Tuesday. . . . The Hitmen (9-8-3) have lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . F Sean Tschigerl (12) gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 9:31 of the first period, with Red Deer’s Kalan Lind equalizing at 15:46. . . . F Arshdeep Bains put the Rebels up by a goal at 4:19 of the second, only to have F Tyson Galloway (4) get Calgary into a tie at 6:35. . . . Red Deer went ahead, 4-2, on goals from Lind (4), on a PP at 1:12 of the third, and Bains (8), at 3:12. . . . The Hitmen came right back and tied it as F Zac Funk (4) scored at 4:26 and F Adam Kidd (8) added a PP goal at 11:45. . . . F Ben King, who had two Red Deer goals on Saturday, drew three assists in this one. . . . G Chase Coward, who recorded his first WHL victory on Saturday, stopped 29 shots for his second straight triumph. . . . 
Thunderbirds beat the Portland Winterhawks, 5-4, in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (8-11-0) has lost their previous six games. . . . Portland now is 9-7-3. . . . D Ryan Gottfried (1) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 1:40 of the first period. . . . Portland took the lead on goals from F Kyle Chyzowski (5), at 6:07, and F Jaydon Dureau, on a PP, at 7:40. . . . Seattle then scored two in row, with the goals coming from D Cade McNelly (2), at 9:48 of the first period, and F Lucas Ciona (2), on a PP, at 1:08 of the second. . . . Portland came right back to take a 4-3 lead, with Dureau (7) scoring, on a PP, at 7:32, and F Reece Newkirk (9) counting at 12:00. . . . F Keltie Jeri-Leon (13), who also had two assists, pulled the Thunderbirds into a tie at 15:39 of the second period and that stood until Davidson won it with his seventh goal. . . . F Henry Rybinski had three assists for Seattle. . . . Portland was 2-for-7 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-3. . . . F Simon Knak of the Winterhawks was awarded a penalty shot at 5:25 of the third period, but he lost control of the puck and wasn’t able to get off a shot. . . . 
Everett Silvertips skated to a 3-2 OT victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . Everett improved to 16-4-0, while Spokane, which had won two straight, now is 6-7-4. . . . Fonstad, who has 15 goals, opened the scoring at 6:28 of the first period, and f Jackson Berezowski (5) made it 2-0 just 30 seconds into the second period. . . . The Chiefs tied it on second-period PP goals from F Blake Swetlikoff (6), at 2:12 and 19:03 of the second. . . . Fonstad won it at 3:06 of extra time. . . . F Gage Goncalves and D Ronan Seeley each had two assists for Everett. . . . G Dustin Wolf stopped 30 shots to earn the victory over G Mason Beaupit, who also made 30 saves. . . . 
and went to post a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Kamloops. . . . The Cougars (7-7-3) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Giants are 10-8-0. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer got the Cougars started at 1:54 of the first period, with F Craig Armstrong (7) making it 2-0 at 4:11. Ziemmer’s sixth goal, at 6:00, gave Prince George a 3-0 lead on four shots. . . . F Tristen Nielsen got Vancouver on the scoreboard at 8:10. . . . The Cougars put it away with a pair of second-period goals, from F Tyson Upper (4) and F Blake Eastman (1). . . . Nielsen, with his 13th, rounded out the game’s scoring in the third period. . . . Vancouver held a 31-16 edge in shots, including 11-5 in the second period and 10-3 in the third. . . . G Taylor Gauthier stopped 29 shots for the Cougars. . . . Cougars F Jonny Hooker sat out a second game after being suspended for a high hit on F Connor Zary of the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday. Zary has missed two games. Hooker’s suspension still is shown as TBD on the WHL website. . . .
Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Tigers improved to 14-7-1, while the Hurricanes slid to 9-12-2. . . . The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, D Eric Van Impe (4) scoring for Medicine Hat and F Ty Nash (3) replying for the Hurricanes. . . . The Tigers took control by scoring the next four goals. F Oren Shtrom (5), on a PP, F Noah Danielson (3) and Chyzowski counted in the second period. Chyzowski added his second goal at 2:07 of the third. . . . F Jett Jones (6) got Lethbridge’s second goal at 8:22, with Chyzwoski completing his hat trick with his 11th goal into an empty net. . . . There were 79 shots on goal in this one, 40 of those from the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat G Garin Bjorklund blocked 37 shots, three more than Jared Picklyk of Lethbridge. . . . Medicine Hat was 1-for-3 on the PP; Lethbridge’s PP didn’t get even one opportunity.
victory over the host Portland Winterhawks. . . . With Portland having lost in regulation time, it means the idle Everett Silvertips will finish atop the U.S. Division. . . . The Americans (6-8-0) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Winterhawks now are 9-7-3. . . . Tri-City grabbed that lead on first-period goals from F Nick Bowman (2), at 0:30, F Tyson Greenway (2), at 11:13, and F Sasha Mutala (6), at 12:50. . . . F Reece Newkirk, playing in his 200th regular-season game with Portland, got his eighth goal, on a PP, at 8:32, and F Jaydon Dureau (5) cut the deficit to one at 10:12 of the third. . . . Tri-City G Talyn Boyko stopped 37 shots to earn the victory. . . . The Winterhawks had F Cross Hanas, D Clay Hanus and F James Stefan in the lineup for the first time. They spent most of this season with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. . . . F Jack O’Brien, the fourth Portland player to have skated with Lincoln, played in his second game back with the Winterhawks. . . . 
host Spokane Chiefs to an 8-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Spokane (6-7-3) has won two in a row. . . . Seattle (7-11-0) has lost six straight. . . . Beckman, who led the WHL with 48 goals in 63 games last season, now has scored 15 times in 16 outings this season. . . . Beckman scored two second-period goals — on a PP at 2:28 for a 3-1 lead and at 16:50 for a 6-2 lead. He completed the hat trick with a shorthanded goal at 13:24 of the third period. That gave the Chiefs a 7-3 lead. . . . Spokane’s other goals came from F Eli Zummack (8), F Copeland Fricker (2), F Blake Swetlikoff (4), D Matt Leduc (1) and F Ben Thornton (1). Thornton was the 15th overall pick in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. . . . Spokane D Bobby Russell had three assists. . . . F Jared Davidson (6), D Cade McNelly (1) and F Keltie Jeri-Leon (12) replied for Seattle. . . . Seattle F Payton Mount played in his second game after being injured on April 13 when he struck on the head by a puck that glanced off the wall behind the team’s bench. . . . F Luke Toporowski was back with the Chiefs for the first time, after playing 32 games with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. He had 33 points, including 14 goals. . . . G Scott Ratzlaff made his WHL debut by playing the third period for Seattle. A second-round pick in the 2020 bantam draft, he stopped eight of 10 shots. . . . 
victory over the host Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Hurricanes improved to 9-11-2, while the Tigers slipped to 13-7-1. . . . F Logan Barlage (8), on a PP, and F Cole Miller (1) got Lethbridge into a first-period lead, and F Alex Thacker (3) made it 3-0 at 8:49 of the second. . . . Miller, the 16th overall pick in the 2020 bantam draft, scored his first WHL goal in his 10th game. . . . F Teague Patton (2) scored for the Tigers at 9:15, but the Hurricanes opened the third period with goals from F Dino Kambeitz (6), at 4:00, and F Chase Wheatcroft, on a PP, at 6:34, to take a 5-1 lead. . . . F Corson Hopwo (14) and F Carlin Dezainde (1) scored for the Tigers before game’s end, with Wheatcroft (7) getting the empty-netter. . . . Dezainde, an undrafted skater from Calgary, got his first WHL goal in his 11th game. . . . 
visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Red Deer (3-15-3) had been 0-12-1 in its previous 13 outings. . . . The Oil Kings had won the past 17 meetings between these teams. . . . Edmonton (18-2-1) had points in each of its previous 10 games (9-0-1). . . . F Ben King (10) gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead with goals at 0:40 and 4:07 of the first period, the second one coming via a PP. . . . F Logan Dowhaniuk got Edmonton on the scoreboard at 15:52. . . . Red Deer got that one back when F Chris Douglas (7) scored, shorthanded, at 7:56 of the second period. . . . Dowhaniuk got his fourth of the season, on a PP, at 15:57. . . . F Ethan Rowland (6) of the Rebels got the empty-netter. . . . Edmonton F Jake Neighbours, who is on a 19-game point streak, sat out with an undisclosed injury. . . . Chase Coward, an undrafted goaltender from Swift Current, earned his first WHL victory in his second start with 24 saves. . . . F Josh Tarzwell was back in Red Deer’s lineup after being out since April 9 with an undisclosed injury. . . . Edmonton head coach Brad Lauer was fined $500 after taking a game misconduct at the end of Friday’s game, an 8-3 victory over the host Calgary Hitmen. . . .
Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Kamloops (13-4-0, .765) had lost its previous two games. . . . Kelowna (8-2-1, .773) had won five in a row. . . . Bankier, a sophomore from Surrey, B.C., had 20 points, including seven goals, in 55 games last season. His OT goal gave him his first career hat trick. He has 17 points, including eight goals, in 17 games this season. . . . Bankier, on a PP at 3:45 of the second period, and F Josh Pillar (9), shorthanded at 9:23, gave Kamloops a 2-0 lead. . . . The Rockets tied it on second-period PP goals by F David Kope and F Alex Swetlikoff (4), at 11:09 and 17:43. . . . Bankier scored on a PP at 2:38 of the third period for a 3-2 lead, only to have Kope (5) tie it at 8:59. . . . Kope also had an assist for a three-point night. . . . Kamloops got 35 stops from G Dylan Garand. . . . The Rockets had beaten him and the Blazers 6-1 in Kelowna on Friday night. . . . Kamloops F Connor Zary missed his second straight game after absorbing a high hit from F Jonny Hooker of the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday night. Hooker has been suspended, although the length of the suspension has yet to be announced. . . . The Cougars are scheduled to play the Vancouver Giants in Kamloops tonight. . . . 
Vancouver Giants a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals in Kelowna. . . . Vancouver (10-7-0) had lost four in a row. . . . The Royals now are 2-13-2. . . . The Giants held a 42-19 edge in shots, including 15-3 in the third period. . . . F Carter Dereniwsky (1) gave Victoria a 1-0 lead at 1:46 of the first period. . . . A second-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft, he was playing in his 16th game. . . . D Connor Horning (1) and F Adam Hall (6), on a PP, gave the Giants the lead before the period ended. . . . Victoria went back out front with second-period PP goals from F Keanu Derungs (3), at 2:39, and F Brandon Cutler (7), at 3:00. . . . D Alex Kannok Leipert (6) and F Kaden Kohle (1), at 4:29 and 5:02, got Vancouver back into the lead. . . . F Taren Fizer (4) scored, shorthanded, at 13:29 of the second to get Victoria into a 4-4 tie. . . . Vancouver G Drew Sim stopped 15 shots, while Victoria’s Connor Martin turned aside 38.
Championship in Frisco and Plano, Texas. . . . Canada ran its record atop Group A to 4-0 with a 5-2 victory over Belarus (2-2). Team Canada will play Czech Republic (1-2-1) in a quarterfinal game on Monday (TSN4, 1 p.m. PT) in Frisco. . . . Team USA (3-0-1) beat Finland 5-4 in OT to finish third, behind Finland (3-0-1) and Russia (3-0-1) in Group B, and now will meet Sweden (3-1-0) in a Monday quarterfinal game (TSN1, 6 p.m.PT). . . . The other quarterfinals on Monday will have Russia (3-0-1) against Belarus (10:30 a.m. PT) and Finland against Switzerland (1-3) (3:30 p.m. CT). . . . Latvia (0-4 in Group A) and Germany (0-4 in Group B) didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, had at least 24 people in their organization test positive. . . . The results are from the latest round of testing on April 8. . . . On April 3, the QMJHL announced that Gatineau had one positive test, so team activities were being placed on hold. . . . It would seem that one positive has transmitted into a whole lot more. . . .
over the Regina Pats in the Regina hub. . . . The Ice (12-4-0) have won six in a row. . . . Regina now is 6-7-3. . . . McClennon, who has 10 goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 17:27 of the first period, then added his second goal at 6:09 of the second. . . . F Conor Geekie (6) gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the first period. . . . Regina F Logan Nijhoff (7) tied it at 16:08. . . . Ice F Peyton Krebs drew the primary assist on McClennon’s second goal, running his point streak to 15 games. Since being blanked in his first game, he has put up nine goals and 20 assists. He leads the Regina hub in assists and points (29). . . . G Carl Stankowski earned the victory with 22 saves, eight more than Regina’s Roddy Ross. . . .
Hurricanes to an 8-5 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Yes, it was the first five-point game of Hall’s career. He has eight points over his last two games. . . . Hall broke a 4-4 tie with his second goal of the game and 11th of this season at 3:43 of the third period. . . . F Jett Jones (4) gave Lethbridge a two-goal lead at 9:29, before F Ben King (5) got the Rebels to within one at 14:46. King finished with two goals and two assists. . . . D Trevor Thurston (3), at 16:34, and F Ty Nash (1), with the empty-netter, put away the victory. Thurston had two goals. . . . Hall has 21 points, including 10 assists, in 14 games. He went into this season with 16 goals in 102 career regular-season games. . . . The Hurricanes got three assists from each of F Liam Kindree and F Alex Thacker. . . . The Rebels got a goal, his fifth, and three assists from F Arshdeep Bains. . . . The Hurricanes (6-6-2) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Rebels (2-12-2) have lost nine in a row. . . . The Hurricanes swept the three-game weekend set, having won 6-3 in Red Deer on Friday and 5-2 at home on Saturday. . . . Lethbridge is (5-1-0) against Red Deer this season; they will meet three more times this weekend. . . .
team because of an undisclosed injury, Hockey Canada has added D Denton Mateychuk of the Moose Jaw Warriors to the roster. . . . The team’s players now are in isolation as they prepare for the IIHF World championship in Frisco and Plano, Texas, from April 26 through May 6. . . . Mateychuk, 16, was the 11th overall selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. He has two goals and seven assists in 16 games in the Regina hub this season.
TAKING NOTE 