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THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard ran his point streak to 35 games on Wednesday night as his Regina Pats got past the Calgary Hitmen, 6-5 in a shootout. . . . He also scored the only goal of the shootout but, of course, goals scored in the circus don’t count in individual statistics. . . . Bedard was blanked in his first game of the season but has at least one point in each game since then. He leads the WHL in goals (44), assists (46) and points (90). . . . Bedard has a 21-point lead over F Zach Benson of the Winnipeg Ice, a five-goal edge on F Kai Uchacz of the Red Deer Rebels, and a two-assist lead on Regina D Stanislav Svozil. . . . Bedard also has scored 22 goals in an 11-game goal streak. . . . Since returning from the World Junior Championship, where he lit up the junior hockey world, Bedard has 20 points, including 13 goals, in seven games.
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The Travellin’ Bedards put 17,223 fans into the Saddledome in Calgary and entertained them with that 6-5 shootout victory over the Hitmen. . . . The game was televised nationally by TSN. . . . Hey, were you not entertained? . . . The Saddledome’s capacity is listed as 19,289, so despite what you may have seen on social media or heart on TV, the game wasn’t sold out. . . . The announced attendance was more than 2,000 fans away from the WHL’s single-game attendance record for an indoor game; there were 19,305 fans on hand as the Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 6-1, on March 16, 2008, in the Saddledome. . . . The Travellin’ Berards had played in front of a single-game franchise record 7,287 fans in Red Deer on Tuesday night as they dropped a 6-5 OT decision to the Rebels. . . . Next up? They’ll meet the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Friday night — the 5,900-seat Enmax Centre is expected to be sold out — and then entertain about 7,000 fans as they meet the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Sunday.
WEDNESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
The Regina Pats moved into sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-5 shootout victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . The Pats (23-21-3) now are four points behind the Hitmen (23-17-7) and two ahead of the Swift Current Broncos (22-20-3). . . . The Pats and Hitmen combined for six third-period goals. . . . Calgary went into the period with a 3-1 lead, but the Pats tied in goals by D Tanner Brown (4), at 1:07, and F Alexander Suzdalev (26), at 7:37. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (16) got Calgary back into the lead, at 9:17, only to have F Braxton Whitehead (6) pulled Regina even, at 10:21. . . . Calgary went back in front on F London Hoilett’s 10th goal, at 12:00. . . . Whitehead’s seventh goal, at 19:26, forced extra time. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard won it with the only goal of the shootout. . . . Calgary has lost four in a row but has points in three of those games (0-1-3). . . . Todd Saelhof of Postmedia was at the game and his report is right here. . . .
F Dylan Sydor scored twice to help the host Kamloops Blazers to a 5-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Sydor, 19, has eight goals in 44 games this season. He is the son of former Blazers D Darryl Sydor, who is one of the Blazers’ four minority owners. . . . Kamloops got 45 stops from G Dylan Ernst, 25 of them in the third period. . . . F Logan Stankoven had a goal (26) and an assist as he ran his point streak to 30 games. Stankoven, with 67 points in 30 games, has at least a point in every game in which he has played this season. . . . Portland F Chaz Lucius, with 15 points in his first six games with the Winterhawks, was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The announced attendance of 5,389 was the Blazers’ third-largest crowd this season. . . . Kamloops (28-10-6) has a 20-point lead atop the B.C. Division. . . . The Winterhawks (34-9-3) lead the Western Conference by one point over the Seattle Thunderbirds (34-8-2). . . .
The Lethbridge Hurricanes scored the game’s first three goals and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Lethbridge ran its winning streak to four. . . . F Hayden Smith (10) and F Blake Swetlikoff (9) scored first-period goals and that was all Lethbridge would need as G Bryan Thomson stopped 35 shots. . . . The Hurricanes (27-16-5) closed to within four points of the third-place Warriors (30-16-3) in the Eastern Conference. . . .
The Tri-City Americans scored five times in eight PP opportunities as they beat the Swift Current Broncos, 6-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans scored four PP goals — three of them in the first period — to take a 4-0 lead early in the second period. . . . F Jake Sloan (17) and F Ethan Ernst (27) each scored twice. . . . Sloan also had an assist, while F Reese Belton had three helpers. . . . Tri-City G Tomas Suchanek, who now has won 11 straight decisions, stopped 30 shots. . . . The Americans (24-16-5) are comfortably in fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Broncos (22-21-3) are eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers (19-21-8). . . .
The Prince Albert Raiders continued their romp through the B.C. Division with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Raiders are 3-0-0 in B.C., including a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars and a 6-3 triumph over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Raiders’ tour continues Friday night in Kamloops. . . . F Keaton Sorensen (17) snapped a 1-1 tie at 6:14 of the second period and D Landon Kosior (14) added insurance at 5:32 of the third period. . . . Prince Albert outshot the hosts, 43-24, including 18-3 in the second and 14-4 in the third. . . . The Raiders (19-25-3) are making a late push for a playoff spot; they are 11th in the Eastern Conference, six points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Giants (18-22-6) are tied for seventh with the Prince George Cougars (19-21-4) in the Western Conference. . . .
The host Winnipeg Ice erased a 2-0 second-period deficit with four goals, the first two 17 seconds apart, as they skated to a 5-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Winnipeg, which has won four straight, held a 48-29 edge in shots, including 39-18 through two periods. . . . F Zach Benson (27) and F Connor McClennon (26) scored two each for the winners. . . . Benson’s first, at 11:17 of the second period, tied the score, 2-2, and McClennon’s first game the Ice a 3-2 lead at 14:21. . . . Benson also had an assist, and now has 69 points in 42 games this season. . . . He finished last season with 63 points, including 25 goals, in 58 games. . . . The Ice (36-6-1) leads the Eastern Conference by three points over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Saskatoon (30-12-4) is third, one point ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Saginaw Spirit was one of four OHL teams that officially have submitted bids in the hopes of playing host to 
the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament. . . . The Spirit, Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, who play out of St. Catharines, and Soo Greyhounds all submitted bids by the deadline. . . . The Spirit, of course, plays out of the Michigan city of Saginaw. The Memorial Cup last was played in an American city in 1998 when the four-team tournament was held in Spokane and won by the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . The 2023 tournament is to be played in Kamloops.
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Flint Firebirds’ president of hockey operations, for conduct that is “prejudicial to the welfare” of the league. An investigation, sparked by an allegation that was made via the OHL’s player communications system, revealed that Christensen had make remarks that violated the league’s Harassment and Abuse/Diversity Policy. . . . “His conduct violated the league’s expectation of the appropriate conduct of a representative of an OHL Team and he has lost the privilege to participate in the League,” the league said in a statement. . . . Christensen had been with the Firebirds since May.
from Calgary, was in his fifth season after spending four seasons as the video coach with the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Lethbridge general manager Peter Anholt, in a news release: “Jeff is a good man and a hard worker, and this wasn’t an easy decision, but we felt it was time to make a change. We weren’t happy with the development of our defence and the accountability of our blueline.” . . . The Hurricanes’ coaching staff now comprises head coach Brent Kisio, Matt Anholt, the assistant GM/assistant coach, and video coach Ryan Aasman. According to the news release, those three will run things “for the remainder of the season.”
Wheat Kings, 6-3. F Mikey Milne’s 28th goal of the season, at 2:37 of the third period, broke a 3-3 tie. . . . Through a promotion involving Heritage Co-op, fans 18 and older who purchased an adult ticket received a $10 gas card. Announced attendance was 2,880. . . . The same teams meet again tonight in Winnipeg. . . . The Ice (38-9-5) leads the East Division by 12 points over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Winnipeg, with five games in hand, trails the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings by eight points. . . . The Wheat Kings (28-19-5) are a comfortable sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . .
Regina Pats beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-3. . . . Whitehead has seven goals. . . . Regina F Connor Berard had a goal, his 35th, and an assist as he ran his point streak to 16 games. He has 33 points, including 16 goals, in what is the WHL’s longest active such streak. . . . Lethbridge is 2-3-1 on a seven-game road trip while the Canadian men’s curling championship is in their home arena. The Brier ends on Sunday. . . . Regina (21-27-4) is 11th in the Eastern Conference, but just two points shy of eighth. . . . Lethbridge (23-27-4) is seventh, two points ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders and Calgary Hitmen, who are tied for eighth. . . . From Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post: “Factoring in last season, when Bedard debuted as a 15-year-old, he has 99 points (including 47 goals) in 61 games as a WHLer. Bedard is on the verge of tying the Pats’ record for most WHL goals by a player who has yet to turn 17. Jeff Friesen had 48 goals over his first 74 games. He scored three goals in four games as a 15-year-old call-up with the 1991-92 Pats. The following season, he had 45 goals in 70 games en route to being named the CHL’s rookie of the year.” . . . 
2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before a sellout crowd of 2,600. . . . G Nolan Maier turned aside 49 shots for the Blades, but wasn’t selected as one of the three stars. Gee, do you think the Blades are that unpopular in P.A.? Maier now has 117 regular-season victories, three shy of the WHL career record that, according to 
Royals to a 5-3 victory over the Cougars in Prince George. Fizer, who has three goals and five assists in his past three games, iced this one with an empty-netter. . . . The Cougars, who have lost seven in a row, had been 7-0-0 against the Royals this season. . . . Prince George led 2-0 before the game was seven minutes old, but surrendered the next four goals. . . . Victoria (17-33-6) closed to within one point of Prince George (19-32-3) and the Spokane Chiefs, who are tied for seventh in the Western Conference. . . . 
as they beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 4-2. . . . Stankoven broke a 1-1 tie at 14:27 of the first period and then added insurance at 1:53 of the third. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Garand stopped 24 shots in his first appearance since suffering a leg injury on Feb. 16. . . . F Luke Toporowski of the Blazers, a 35-goal man, didn’t return after a collision with Kelowna D Tyson Feist in the first period. . . . The same teams are to meet tonight in Kelowna. In fact, they also will play home-and-home each of the next two weekends. . . . The Blazers (40-14-2) lead the B.C. Division by 10 points over the Rockets (34-15-4). . . . 
both with their goaltender on the bench in favour of the extra attacker, but ended up dropping a 3-2 shootout decision to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . D Luca Cagnoni, the 14th shooter, won it with the only goal of the circus. . . . Portland nursed a 2-0 lead from the 11:18-mark of the second period. . . . Seattle F Reid Schaefer (27) scored at 17:58 of the third period and F Jared Davidson (28) tied it at 19:28. . . . Portland got 51 saves through OT from G Taylor Gauthier . . . The Thunderbirds saluted head athletic trainer Phil Varney, one of hockey’s good guys, as he worked his 1,000th game. He is in his 15th season with Seattle. . . . Seattle F Henrik Rybinski missed his fifth straight game with an undisclosed injury. . . . Seattle F Lucas Ciona, who has 32 points, including 17 goals, didn’t finish with apparent arm injury. . . . Portland (38-14-5) is third in the Western Conference, one point out of first. . . . Seattle (34-14-6) trails Portland by seven points. . . . 
TAKING NOTE 