The International Ice Hockey Federation has barred Russia and Belarusian teams from its competitions. The decision was made at an IIHF Council meeting on Tuesday. . . . “Based on a detailed risk assessment from a renowned company that specializes in assessing risks due to various global challenges,” the IIHF said in a news release, “the IIHF Council determined that it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian teams back into IIHF competitions, and that it will not be safe for the upcoming 2023-24 IIHF championship season. Therefore, the IIHF will move forward with the 2023-24 IIHF championship season without the Russian and Belarusian teams.” . . . You may recall that the IIHF dumped Russia and Belarus from international play in February 2022 because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was to have played host to the 2023 men’s Worlds and the 2023 World Junior Championship. . . . The men’s Worlds will be played in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia, in May. . . . The WJC was to have been played in Novosibirsk and Omsk, Russia, but was moved to Halifax and Moncton.
Hockey Canada has named Peter Anholt, the general manager of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, as part of its Program of Excellence management group for 2023-24. Anholt, according to a news release, “will advise the under-20 program and Canada’s national junior team through the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.” . . . Anholt, who has led the U-18 program for the past two seasons, takes over from James Boyd of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. . . . Canada’s national junior team has won back-to-back gold medals. . . . The 2024 WJC is scheduled to be played in Gothenburg Sweden, from Dec. 26, 2023, through Jan. 5, 2004. . . . There is a Hockey Canada news release right here.
If the WHL playoffs started today (x-locked in):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Winnipeg (1) vs. Medicine Hat (8)
Red Deer (2) vs. Calgary (7)
Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)
Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
x-Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)
x-Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
x-Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)
x-Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
(NOTE:There are excellent playoff previews available on the WHL’s website.)
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WEDNESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
The Kamloops Blazers coughed up 4-0 and 5-1 leads before getting past the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-5. . . . The Thunderbirds had beaten the Blazers, 6-3, in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday night. It was Pride Night in Seattle for that one, and the Blazers wore Pride Night sweaters last night. . . . The Blazers scored four times in the first period, only to surrender five goals in the second. . . . F Caedan Bankier (36) scored the only goal of the third period, breaking a 5-5 tie at 13:43, scoring off a feed from F Logan Stankoven, who had pilfered the puck in the Seattle zone. . . . Stankoven, a Kamloops native, also scored his 34th goal. As you can see from the above tweet, he had some fans from Royal Inland Hospital in the house. In the end, he answered their request. . . . Blazers D Olen Zellweger scored his 32nd goal of the season. He has 22 goals and 30 assists in 30 games since coming over from the Everett Silvertips on Jan. 8. For the season, he has 80 points in 53 games. . . . F Colton Dach (11), in his second game after being out since March 4, had a goal and two assists for Seattle, as did D Jeremy Hanzel (13), who tied the game, 5-5, with 8.7 seconds left in the second period. . . . Kamloops (48-12-6) will be the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed and play No. 7 Vancouver in the first round. . . . Seattle (53-10-3) had a 19-game point streak (18-0-1) come to an end. The Thunderbirds, No. 1 in the Western Conference, will meet No. 8 Kelowna in the first round. . . .
The Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last three goals to beat the host Lethbridge Hurricanes, 3-2. . . . F Hayden Smith (13) scored two first-period goals to give the Hurricanes the lead. . . . Calgary tied it before period’s end on goals from F Oliver Tulk (24) and F Sean Tschigerl (26). . . . D Keagan Slaney (5) broke the tie at 8:44 of the third period. . . . Calgary (30-28-8) has won three in a row. It is seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Medicine Hat. . . . Lethbridge (35-25-6) had won its previous two games. It is fifth in the conference, four points ahead of Regina. Each team has two games remaining. If Regina (34-28-4) wins out and Lethbridge loses both its game, the Pats would finish fifth with more victories. . . .
F Brendan Lee scored three times to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to an 8-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Lee, 20, who also had an assist, enjoyed his first career hat trick after five two-goal outings, four of them this season. He has 32 goals in 55 games. Last season, he scored five in 30 games with the Saskatoon Blades and five more in 22 games with the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat, which scored the first five goals, got a goal (3) and two assists from F Gavin McKenna, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft. McKenna, who won’t turn 16 until Dec. 20, He has 15 points, 12 of them assists, in 14 games. . . . Medicine Hat (29-28-9) is eighth in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Swift Current (30-32-4). Each team has two games remaining. . . . Edmonton (9-53-4) has lost six in a row (0-5-1). . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors erased a 3-1 deficit with four straight goals, two from F Brayden Yager, en route to a 6-4 victory over the Ice in Winnipeg. . . . Moose Jaw won the season series, 3-2-1; the Ice was 3-3-0. . . . Yager, who has 28 goals, tied the game with second-period goals at 3:49 and 9:01. . . . F Atley Calvert (38) broke the tie, on a PP, at 10:40, and F Ryder Korczak (27) made it 5-3 at 11:32 of the third period. . . . Korczak also had two assists, with F Jagger Firkus (38) getting the empty-netter, on a PP, and also picking up two assists. . . . F Zack Ostapchuk (31) scored twice for the Ice. . . . Moose Jaw got 34 saves from G Jackson Unger. . . . Moose Jaw (40-23-3) has won 40 games for the eighth time in franchise history. The Warriors will finish fourth in the Eastern Conference, and will face either Lethbridge or Regina in the first roiund. . . . Winnipeg (55-10-1) had won its previous seven games. The Ice leads the overall standings by two points over Seattle with each team having two games remaining.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The junior B Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League had hired Mike Zambon as their head coach. He replaces Eric Ditto, who stepped down after 11 seasons with the Chiefs. . . . Zambon has extensive coaching experience, including NCAA, U-18, junior B in Saskatchewan and B.C., SJHL and the PJHL. His most-recent head-coaching job was with the U18 AAA Saskatoon Westleys. He left that position in 2016 to become the PJHL’s president, and now is leaving that post to take over as the Chiefs’ head coach. . . . At the same time, the Chiefs have added former WHL player/coach Randy Smith to their organization as a senior advisor. Smith played for the Saskatoon Blades and was an assistant coach and head coach with the Swift Current Broncos.
THINKING OUT LOUD: I’m old enough to remember when the “blue paint” in hockey was simply called the crease. . . . Would you agree that it appears the NHL really isn’t for everyone? . . . Gotta admit that it would be fun to be living in Regina or Saskatoon if the Pats and Blades end up meeting in the first round of the WHL playoffs. . . . It’s time for organizers to put together a World Cup of Hockey and to do it without Russia and Belarus. Get it done before it’s too late for Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar et al to play together on a big stage even if it means the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin wouldn’t be there.
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.
announced crowd of 5,276. . . . That is the largest crowd for a Giants’ home game in the Langley Events Centre since they moved there to start the 2016-17 season. . . . The Pats (10-11-2) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Giants now are 8-10-4. . . . G Drew Sim was huge for the Pats, kicking out 47 shots to record his second shutout this season and the third of his career. Sim, 19, was a third-round pick by the Giants in the WHL’s 2018 draft. His first 11 WHL appearances were with the Giants. . . . Vancouver dealt him to Regina on Oct. 21, 13, 2021, for a conditional fourth-rounder in 2024. . . . Bedard, who takes his tour on to Victoria to meet the Royals tonight, was playing in his 100th regular-season game. He had one assist as his point streak reached 22 games. He was blanked in the season’s first game and hasn’t been shut out since then. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in goals (19), assists (30) and points (49). . . . Bedard is from North Vancouver, and this was his first WHL game on the Lower Mainland of B.C. . . . F Borya Valis (10), who had missed the last two games, got Regina’s first goal, on a PP, at 12:47 of the first period. . . . F Riley Ginnell, 20, made his Regina debut after being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors earlier in the week. . . .
victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Lethbridge improved to 13-10-1. It is 1-2 on a six-game road trip. . . . The Wheat Kings are 8-14-2. . . . These teams will play in Brandon again tonight. . . . The Wheat Kings took a 2-1 lead into the second period, but the Hurricanes scored the next three goals. . . . F Tyson Laventure (5) had two goals and an assist for the winners, with D Logan McCutcheon (1) chipping in a goal and two assists. . . . Lethbridge was 3-4 on the PP; Brandon was 2-5. . . . The Hurricanes got 37 stops from G Harrison Meneghin. . . .
the Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . The Raiders (9-12-2) have won four in a row. . . . The Hitmen (11-6-3) had points in each of their previous two games (1-0-1). . . . After F Zac Funk (6) gave Calgary a 2-1 lead 48 seconds into the second period, the Raiders scored the game’s last four goals. . . . Sorensen (11) had two goals and two assists, with Stanick drawing four assists. . . . Raiders F Evan Herman, the team’s captain, scored his fifth goal this season — it was the 50th of his career — and added two assists. . . . The Raiders got 32 stops from G Tikhon Chaika. . . . 
hung on to beat the Blazers, 3-2, in Kamloops. . . . The Warriors (14-9-0) are 1-1-0 on this seven-game road swing. . . . The Blazers (10-5-4) had points in each of their previous five games (3-0-2). . . . F Brayden Yager (11) had a goal and an assist for the Warriors, the goal giving them a 3-0 lead at 13:52 of the second period. . . . F Jagger Firkus of the Warriors ran his point streak to 16 games with an assist. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven (14) scored 45 seconds into the third period and later added an assist to extend his point streak to 15 games; he has hit the scoresheet in each game in which he has played this season. . . . The Warriors got a big game from G Connor Ungar, who made 36 stops. . . .
3-2, in Red Deer. . . . The Tigers (8-10-5) have won two straight. . . . The Rebels (16-4-3) have lost three in a row (16-4-3). . . . F Kai Uchacz (17) scored while shorthanded to give Red Deer a 2-1 lead at 2:26 of the second period. . . . F Brendan Lee got the Tigers even with his 14th goal at 15:39 of the third. . . . Lee, who also had an assist, has goals in six straight games, putting in eight over that stretch. He also scored Medicine Hat’s first goal in the shootout. . . . The Tigers had a 42-31 edge in shots. . . .
to a 5-3 victory over the Blades. . . . The Ice (22-2-0) has won two in a row. . . . The Blades (15-5-0) had a four-game winning streak snapped. . . . The will have a rematch tonight, also in Saskatoon. . . . F Ty Nash (11) gave the Ice a 4-1 lead at 4:16 of the third period. He has goals in five straight games. . . . The Blades got PP goals from F Josh Pillar (4) and F Justin Lies (4) to get within a goal, but weren’t able to equalize. . . . The Ice got a goal and two assists from D Ben Zloty (6), while F Connor McClennon had three assists. . . . Zloty, 20, has 28 points in 24 games this season. . . . G Daniel Hauser made 30 saves to earn the victory. This season, he is 16-0-0, 2.43, .914. In his career, he is a remarkable 57-3-2. . . . F Zach Benson was one of the Ice’s scratches. . . . 
Portland Winterhawks, 6-1, in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (15-3-1) are 5-0-1 in their past six games. . . . The Winterhawks (17-3-1) had points in each of their previous 12 games (10-0-2) and had won nine in a row. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (10) led Seattle with a shorthanded goal and two assists. . . . The only goal of the first period came from Seattle D Nolan Allan. He has five on the season, but this was his first with Seattle since being acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders on Nov. 16. . . . Seattle outshot Portland, 35-21, including 24-7 through two periods. . . . The Winterhawks had F Jack O’Brien and F Robbie Fromm-Delorme back after one-game absences. Joshua Critzer (@jjcritzer) tweeted that “both are wearing full shields/fish bowls due to coming off illness.” . . . The Thunderbirds remain without injured D Luke Prokop. . . .
Broncos to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Broncos (10-11-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Oil Kings (4-19-1) have lost two in a row. . . . The same teams will meet again tonight, also in Swift Current. . . . Davies, who has eight goals, scored twice while shorthanded — at 14:02 of the first period and 9:39 of the second — to complete his first WHL hat trick in his 106th game. 
was announced that the Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, Saginaw Spirit and Soo Greyhounds all have expressed the intent of bidding to play host to the 2024 Memorial Cup. . . . You will be aware that Saginaw is in Michigan; the Memorial Cup hasn’t been played in an American city since 1998 when the Spokane Chiefs were the host team. . . . Bids are to be submitted by Jan. 31 with the winning bid to be announced in March. . . . Kingston, Niagara Falls and Saginaw haven’t served as the host city for a Memorial Cup tournament; it was held in Sault Ste. Marie in 1993. . . . The OHL last played host to the tournament in 2017 when it was in Windsor. . . . The 2023 tournament is scheduled to be held in Kamloops.
Detroit Red Wings and the organization’s goaltending situation these days. . . . That’s because the Red Wings claimed G Magnus Hellberg on waivers from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. . . . WHL teams are going to be watching to see how Hellberg slots into the goaltending depth chart and just how the dominoes will fall. That’s because the Red Wings already have Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic on their NHL roster, with Victor Brattstrom and Jussi Olkinuora with the AHL-Grand Rapids Griffins. The guy some WHL teams are interested in, Sebastian Cossa, is one of three goaltenders with the ECHL’s Toldeo Walleye. Cossa, 20, was a first-round selection by the Red Wings in the NHL’s 2021 draft. He then backstopped the Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2021-22 WHL championship. . . . The Oil Kings are in a rebuilding mode and haven’t been shy about trading players off that team’s roster; F Jakub Demek, F Shea Van Olm, D Luke Prokop and F Jalen Luypen all have been dealt as Edmonton stockpiles draft picks and younger players. . . . So if the Detroit dominoes fall in such a way that the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Cossa is returned to Edmonton, you have to think his stay there won’t last long.
regulation-time loss after they skated out of Everett with a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland (17-1-2) now has points in 12 straight (10-0-2). . . . Everett (12-8-1) had lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . . Portland erased a 1-0 first-period deficit with the next four goals. . . . F Dawson Pasternak (4) and F Josh Zakreski (4) each had a goal and an assist for Portland, which held a 45-26 edge in shots, including 18-4 in the second period. . . . The Winterhawks had F Cole Cairns, 15, and F Hudson Darby, 15, in their lineup for the first time, having lost F Kyle Chyzowski and F Diego Buttazzoni to injury. Cairns plays for the U18 team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, while Darby is with the U18 Swift Current Legionnaires. . . . Portland also scratched F Robbie Fromm-Delorme, its leading scorer, and F Jack O’Brien, neither of whom was shown in Tuesday’s roster report. . . . F Jackson Berezowski, who last played on Nov. 4, and D Aidan Sutter were among Everett’s seven scratches. . . .
victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Tigers (7-10-5) had lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . The Oil Kings (4-18-1) had won their previous two games. . . . F Mason Finley (5) gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the first period. . . . The Tigers scored the last six goals, two of them via the PP. . . . F Brendan Lee had a goal (13) and an assist as he ran his goal streak to five games and a point streak to six games. He has 22 points in 22 games this season. Last season, he totalled 21 points in 52 games split between Medicine Hat and the Saskatoon Blades. . . . F Tyler MacKenzie and F Andrew Basha each had three assists. . . .
victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Cougars, who lead the B.C. Division, are 13-9-0. Prince George holds a five-point lead on Kamloops with the Blazers having five games in hand. . . . The Warriors (13-9-0) had won their previous two games. This was the start of their swing through the B.C. Division. . . . The Warriors led 2-0 late in the first period, but the Cougars tied it on two goals from F Caden Brown (6) before the period ended. Brown also had an assist for a three-point night. . . . F Chase Wheatcroft’s 17th goal, at 2:14 of the third period, broke a 2-2 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . The Cougars outshot the visitors 46-21, including 24-4 in the second period when they were unable to solve G Connor Ungar. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer of the Cougars had an assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . F Jagger Firkus of the Warriors also had an assist as he ran his point streak to 15 games. . . . The Warriors had F Riley Niven back in the lineup after he hadn’t played since Oct. 8. . . .
over the Kelowna Rockets in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (14-3-1) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Rockets (8-9-1) had won their previous two games. . . . Davidson, who has 10 goals, gave his guys 1-0 and 2-1 leads. . . . Kelowna D Jackson DeSouza scored his third goal in two games to get Kelowna into a 2-1 tie. Before this mini-hot streak, he had one career goal in 84 regular-season games. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (9) scored at 11:12 of the second period and that one was the winner. . . . F Ty Hurley made his Seattle debut after being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos last week. . . . The Thunderbirds were without D Luke Prokop, who is listed on this week’s roster report as being out week-to-week. . . . Kelowna F Colton Dach sat out with a one-game suspension. . . .
Vancouver Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . The Giants (8-9-4) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Chiefs (4-14-1) have lost three in a row. . . . Ostapchuk, the Giants’ captain, gave his side a 4-3 lead at 17:15 of the second period with his ninth goal. . . . F Colton Langkow, who has four goals, scored two PP goals, one at 5:38 of the third period for a 5-3 lead and an empty-netter at 19:59. Langkow also had an assist. . . . The Giants got 34 stops from G Brett Mirwald, who was making just his second start — and third appearance — in November. . . . 
City Americans, 6-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Blazers (10-4-3) are 3-0-2 in their past five games. . . . The Americans (8-13-0) have lost two in a row. This was the first of seven straight home games for them. . . . F Caedan Bankier (13) scored twice for the Blazers, while F Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists to run his scoring streak to 14 games. He has played in 14 games since being returned by the NHL’s Dallas Stars and has multiple-points in nine of them. . . . Tri-City D Lukas Dragicevic had a goal to run his point streak to 15 games. . . .
Ice to a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice improved to 21-2-0; the Hurricanes are 12-10-1. . . . The Hurricanes had beaten the host Ice 2-1 on Tuesday night, snapping Winnipeg’s 15-game winning streak. . . . Benson drew the primary assist as F Ty Nash (10) tied the score, 2-2, at 17:29 of the second period. Benson’s 14th goal, at 5:16 of the third, stood up as the winner. . . . Lethbridge is two games into a six-game road trip that continues with games in Brandon on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . Ice F Conor Geekie had his point streak snapped at 12 games. . . . G Dan Hauser started for the Ice after a two-game absence. He missed one game due to illness, than backed up Mason Beaupit on Tuesday. Hauser got the victory with 19 saves as he improved his record this season to 15-0-0. He is 56-3-2 in his career. 
would seem that the Thunderbirds liked it there . . . and that they badly want another taste.
dumped the Brandon Wheat Kings, 6-1. . . . The Tigers (6-9-4) have points in three straight (2-0-1). They have won two straight for the first time this season. . . . The Wheat Kings (7-12-2) have lost three in a row and nine of 10. . . . Lee, who has 10 goals, gave his guys a 2-0 lead, on a PP, at 11:39 of the first period, and then made it 3-1 at 7:16 of the second. . . . F Oasiz Wiesblatt helped out with three assists. . . . The Tigers took a 3-1 lead into the third period and promptly scored three times in 75 seconds to take complete control. . . . Medicine Hat held a 37-19 shot advantage, including 15-2 in the second period.
north of the Midtown shopping mall. Saskatoon City Council voted unanimously to approve that site on Tuesday. . . . Bryn Levy of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix wrote: “City director of technical services Dan Willems told council Wednesday’s decision ‘opens the door’ for more detailed funding and design proposals before a final council vote on whether to proceed with a project.” . . . The SaskTel Centre, the home of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, has been open since Feb. 9, 1988. . . . Levy’s story is 
third period in a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in Invermere, B.C., on Friday night when an ammonia alarm sounded. The junior B game was halted — it was 1-1 with about one minute remaining in the third period — and the arena evacuated. The Kamloops players ended up back on their bus, only this time wearing their equipment. They ended up spending the night, before journeying on to Creston for a Saturday game in which they beat the Thunder Cats, 5-4 in OT.
Moose Jaw and beating the Warriors, 5-1. . . . The Tigers (5-9-4) had been 0-4-3 in their previous seven games. . . . The Warriors (11-7-0) had won their previous two games. . . . F Brayden Yager (9) gave Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead at 2:56 of the first period; the Tigers scored the next five goals, getting two each from F Brendan Lee (8) and F Brayden Boehm (6). . . . F Gavin McKenna, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft, had an assist for the Tigers. McKenna, who will turn 15 on Dec. 20, now has six assists in seven games. . . . Warriors F Jagger Firkus drew an assist and now is on an 11-game points streak. . . . Yager’s goal pushed his point streak to 10 games. . . . The Warriors had beaten the Tigers, 5-4 in OT, in Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . 
victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Regina (9-8-2) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . The Rebels have followed up that 15-game season-opening win streak with four straight losses (0-3-1). . . . Red Deer was playing its fourth game in five nights, while Regina was in its third outing in four nights. And the Pats will play again this afternoon, this time in Saskatoon. . . . The Pats got two goals and two assists from F Tanner Howe (9), while F Borya Valis scored his ninth goal — he has six goals over his past six games — and added two assists. . . . As for Pats F Connor Bedard, well, he had a goal and an assist to run his point streak to 18 games. He leads the WHL in goals (17), assists (24) and points (41). . . . Regina was 3-3 on the PP. . . Red Deer held a 38-20 edge in shots, but Pats G Matthew Kieper was the game’s first star. . . . The Pats will play their next 10 games on the road. . . .
host Saskatoon Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Blades (13-4-0) have won two straight; the Oil Kings (2-16-1) have lost four in a row. . . . Chadwick, an 18-year-old from Saskatoon, is in his second season with the Blades. He was a third-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 draft. This season, he is 6-3-0, 1.90, .926. . . . The shutout came in Chadwick’s 21st appearance, nine of which have come this season. . . . Saskatoon F Egor Sidorov scored his eighth goal and added three assists. . . . The Oil Kings were 0-3 on the PP, meaning the Blades now have killed off 21 straight penalties. . . . The Blades without F Conner Roulette and F Josh Pillar. . . . Edmonton F Jaxsen Wiebe got tossed 33 seconds into the second period after taking a checking-from-behind major. He already has served a four-game suspension under supplemental discipline for a knee-on-knee hit that took out Pillar on Oct. 23. . . . The Blades are expecting their largest crowd of this season today as F Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats come calling at 4 p.m. . . . Saskatoon’s largest crowd this season is 6,302 on opening night. . . . 
Swift Current Broncos, 2-1. . . . Lethbridge (10-8-1) has points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . Swift Current (8-9-0) had won its previous two games. . . . F Logan Wormald (6) got Lethbridge into a tie at 17:37 of the second period, on a PP. . . . D Nolan Bentham (4) broke the tie at 12:32 of the third. . . . The announced attendance of 3,435 was Lethbridge’s second-largest this season, behind only the 4,193 on opening night. . . . 
captain, as they beat the Cougars, 5-4, in Prince George. . . . The Giants (7-7-4) have points in four straight (3-0-1), all on the road. . . . The Cougars (9-9-0) have lost two in a row. . . . The game drew an announced crowd of 4,463, the first time this season (nine games) that it topped 3,000 in Prince George. . . . They’ll play again in Prince George this afternoon. Yes, a day game after a night game. . . . F Ty Thorpe (9) broke the tie at 18:55 of the second period and F Jaden Lipinski (7) got what turned out to be the winner, on a PP, at 1:42 of the third. . . . Vancouver scored three PP goals. . . . F Samuel Honzek (11) had two goals and two assists for the Giants. . . . Ostapchuk has six goals and 12 assists in 12 games this season. He has nine points over his past four games. . . . D Hudson Thornton had two assists for the Cougars to run his point streak to 10 games. Thornton has two assists in each his last five games. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer had a goal and an assist, and also is on a 10-game streak for the Cougars. He has five goals and three assists over his past four games. . . . 
Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. . . . F Oliver Tulk (8) ended it at 1:57 of extra time. . . . Calgary (9-4-2) has won six in a row. . . . Seattle (12-3-1) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . F Luke Prokop (1) had Seattle’s goal, his first with the Thunderbirds. He began his WHL career with the Hitmen, who dealt him to the Edmonton Oil Kings early last season. The Thunderbirds acquired him from the Oil Kings last month, and the NHL’s Nashville Predators assigned him to Seattle last week. . . . F Jared Davidson earned an assist for Seattle to run his point streak to 10 games. . . . Calgary’s penalty-killers were 8-8, including 2-2 in the last four minutes of the third period and early in OT. . . . 
the host Victoria Royals, 7-4. . . . The Winterhawks (13-1-2) are 6-0-2 in their past eight games. . . . The Royals (3-14-3) have lost five straight (0-4-1). . . .
visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Spokane (4-11-1) was 0-8-1 in its past nine games. . . . Tri-City (7-11-0) has lost three in a row. . . . The Chiefs got two goals and two assists from F Cade Hayes (5), while F Chase Bertholet (7) added a goal and two assists. . . . Americans D Lukas Dragicevic (6) ran his point streak to 12 games with a first-period goal and an assist. He has two points in each of his past four games. . . . The announced attendance was 6,115, the third-largest crowd through Spokane’s first 10 home games.
to take in a Feb. 25-26 doubleheader between their favourite team and the Cougars.
sort regarding COVID-19 precautions today (Friday) or early next week. . . . No, I have no idea what that announcement might involve, but you have to think it will involve something to do with mandatory vaccinations for all involved. After all, that is exactly what the OHL and QMJHL have done, and the WHL also plays under the CHL umbrella. . . . It can’t be easy for the WHL with 22 teams scattered across four provinces and two states, meaning that there are a whole lot of health officials with whom to deal. . . . But training camps are less than three weeks away and there are nine exhibition games scheduled for the Sept. 10 weekend. In other words, as Danny Gallivan would have said, time is of the essence.
Kings for a conditional sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2023 draft. . . . Thorpe, from Brandon, was selected by the Victoria Royals in the third round of the 2017 bantam draft. He was traded to the Wheat Kings in January 2018. In 136 regular-season games, all with Brandon, he had 10 goals and 20 assists. In the 2021 development season, he had three goals and three assists in 21 games.
contract. They selected him in the CHL’s 2021 import draft on June 30. . . . Alscher, 17, had one assist in four games while playing for Czech Republic in the recently completed Hlinka Gretzky Cup. . . . Alscher has spent the past two seasons playing in Finland with the Pelicans organization. In 2020-21, he had three goals and 11 assists in 27 games with the U-18 team. . . . The Winterhawks also hold the WHL rights to Danish D Jonas Brondberg, 20, who had six assists in 20 games in the 2021 development season. As a 20-year-old, he would be a two-spotter should he return.
in Seattle and is of Chinese heritage.
team have been released for the remainder of the season for a racial-taunting incident in which the squad’s lone Black player alleged he was called a racial slur and had a banana waved in front of him.
Denomie, who went into this developmental season with 35 goals in 198 regular-season games, scored his seventh goal in as many games for the Pats (2-3-2). He also had an assist. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard had two assists, giving the 15-year-old 12 points as he has started his WHL career on a seven-game point streak. . . . F Cole Carrier also had a goal and an assist for Regina, with D Ryker Evans adding two assists. . . . The Raiders (2-3-2) are winless in four games (0-3-1) after opening this developmental season by earning five points in their first three games. . . . Regina lost its captain, F Logan Nijhoff, to a kneeing major at 5:24 of the third period. . . . Prince Albert was without its captain, D Kaiden Guhle, for a fifth straight game due to a hand injury. . . . The Raiders dressed only one goaltender, Carter Serhyenko, because Cam Paddock is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. . . . Marc Habscheid, the Raiders’ head coach, told Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW that “we had a goalie from another team (WInnipeg Ice) in the stands, so if something (had) happened to Carter, he would have dressed. It’s part of the bubble. It’s the way it is.” . . . 
because Don Granato, who was named interim head coach last week after Ralph Krueger was fired, and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis were in self-isolation. . . . This is the second time this season that the Sabres’ coaching staff was impacted by the virus. Earlier, Krueger tested positive and missed some time. . . . The Sabres have six victories this season; they have been shut out seven times. . . . 
Americans. . . . The Silvertips are 3-0-0 this season, with Wolf yet to allow even one goal. . . . If you’re wondering, Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers posted four straight shutouts in 1967-68, and that’s the WHL record. . . . Wolf now has 23 career shutouts, three off the WHL record that is shared by Tyson Sexsmith (Vancouver, 179 games, 2005-09) and Carter Hart (Everett, 190 games, 2013-18). Wolf now has appeared in 130 games. . . . Wolf, a seventh-round pick by the Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2019 draft, has stopped all 70 shots he has faced this season, having earlier blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 2-0, and the Americans, 7-0. . . . Wolf lowered his career GAA to 1.82, second to the 1.73 of Kelly Guard (Kelowna, 115 games, 2002-04). . . . The Silvertips are next scheduled to play Friday against the host Portland Winterhawks. . . . 
Current Broncos, 6-5 in OT, in the Regina hub. . . . F Tristen Robins got the winner just 29 seconds into OT. That was his second goal of the game and fifth of the season. . . . Saskatoon D Aidan De La Gorgendiere had tied the scored with 42.8 seconds left in the third period. . . . F Josh Filmon’s first WHL goal gave the Broncos (1-5-1) a 5-3 lead at 12:01 of the third period. . . . F Blake Stevenson scored for Saskatoon at 16:31. . . . G Nolan Maier picked up his 84th career victory and now is one away from the franchise’s career record (Tim Cheveldae, 1985-88). Cheveldae spent six seasons (2013-19) as the Blades’ goaltending coach. . . . The Blades now are 6-0-1. Les Lazaruk, the long-time radio voice of the Blades, reports that the franchise’s best seven-game start (6-0-1, with the 1 being a tie) came in 1985-86. The 1975-76 Blades, Lazaruk tweeted, won their first six games before dropping a 7-3 decision to the Kamloops Chiefs.
premature end to his career.
TAKING NOTE 