While I’m sure we’re all familiar with teams having minor hockey players, especially the youngest ones, on the ice during intermissions, the Saskatoon Blades went the other way on Sunday during a game against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. The Blades had the old-timers on the ice and, yes, a good time was had by all. It was part of a Seniors Night promotion. Well done!
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
D Marek Alscher of the Portland Winterhawks has agreed to terms with the NHL’s Florida Panthers on a three-year entry-level contract. Alscher, 18, was a third-round selection in the NHL’s 2022 draft; that was Florida’s first selection in that draft. . . . From Czechia, Alscher has seven goals and 14 assists in 54 games as a sophomore. Last season, he put up 16 points, seven of them goals, in 61 games. . . . The contract calls for salaries of US$775,000 in each of the first two years and $855,000 in the third year. The minor league salary would be $82,500. And there are three $95,000 signing bonuses. . . .
Former WHLer Josh Holden is the new head coach of HC Davos of Switzerland’s National League. Holden, 45, fills a vacancy created a couple of months ago when Christian Wohlwend was released. . . . Holden got a two-year contract. . . . Waltteri Immonen and Glen Metropolit will be staying on as assistant coaches. . . . Holden, who is from Calgary, played 13 seasons in Switzerland (2005-18) before spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach with Zug. He also was an assistant coach with Canada’s Spengler Cup entry in December. Holden played four seasons (1994-98) with the WHL’s Regina Pats. . . .
F Carson Golder of the Kelowna Rockets drew a four-game suspension for that Friday night headshot on F Samuel Honzek of the Vancouver Giants. Golder sat out Saturday and Sunday games, and won’t play Wednesday in Prince George or Friday in Kamloops. . . . Honzek left the game in Kelowna and missed the Giants’ Saturday and Sunday games. . . .
Meanwhile, F Dawson Seitz of the Edmonton Oil Kings got three games after taking a boarding major and game misconduct in Winnipeg on March 10, and F Caleb Wyrostok of the Swift Current Broncos drew two games for a charging major/game misconduct, and for being a repeat offender, he took on Sunday in Moose Jaw. . . . According to the online game sheet, Wyrostok originally was given a double major (charging, fighting) and a double game misconduct. One of those game misconducts has been changed to a misconduct, according to the online sheet. . . .
The junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League had two second-round series come to thrilling Game 7 conclusions on Monday night. . . . In Kimberley, before 1,782 fans, the Dynamiters, who had lost the first three games, beat the Fernie Ghostriders, 1-0, while the host Beaver Valley Nitehawks got past the Creston Valley Thunder Cats, 3-2 in OT, in front of 495 fans. . . . F Christian Mealey scored for Kimberley at 8:38 of the third period and G Trystan Self stopped 36 shots. . . . D Kaleb Percival scored the Nitehawks’ winner at 11:48 of the first OT. . . . The Dynamiters and Nitehawks will meet in the Kootenay Conference final.
If the WHL playoffs started today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Winnipeg (1) vs. Swift Current/Calgary/Brandon (8)
Red Deer (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)
Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)
Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
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TUESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
F Matt Savoie scored twice to help the Winnipeg Ice to a 4-3 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert. . . . The Ice trailed 2-0 after the first period, then took the lead with three second-period goals. . . . F Connor McClennon (43) and Savoie, who has 37 goals, tied the score with goals 46 seconds apart early in the second. . . . D Graham Sward (3) gave the visitors their first lead with 2.3 seconds left in the period. . . . Savoie made it 4-2 at 3:15 of the third period. . . . D Evan Herman (17) got the Raiders to within one while shorthanded at 18:51. . . . F Conor Geekie had three assists for Winnipeg, while F Owen Pederson had one. That was Pederson’s 200th regular-season point in his 232nd game. . . . G Daniel Hauser earned the victory with 22 saves. He has 35 victories this season, one more than he put up last season. He is one off the league lead (Dylan Ernst, Kamloops). . . . With 76 career regular-season victories, behind Nathan Lieuwen (85) and Taylor Dakers (82). Lieuwen now is the majority owner and president of the BCHL’s Cranbrook Bucks, who were born after the Ice left Cranbrook for Winnipeg. . . . Winnipeg (53-9-1) has won five in a row. It leads the overall standings by four points over Seattle, which has six games remaining. . . . Prince Albert (26-34-3) is 11th in the Eastern Conference, five points from a playoff spot with five games remaining. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks struck four times in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs, who were playing their fourth game in five nights. . . . F Luca Cagnoni scored twice (17) and added an assist. . . . F Luke Schelter (7) broke a 1-1 tie at 12:35 of the first period as the Winterhawks scored six straight goals. . . . Portland had a 48-33 edge in shots. . . . The Winterhawks (39-17-7) have points in five straight (3-0-2). They are headed to a third-place finish in the Western Conference. . . . Spokane (14-40-9) has lost four in a row (0-2-2). The Chiefs have lost 40 times in regulation for the first time since 1998-99 when they finished 19-44 with nine ties.
Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Hey, MLB, want to trim more wasted time from your games? Eliminate mound visits by managers and coaches, except to remove the pitcher. This isn’t a job interview. Let the pitcher and catcher figure out how to work the next batter. If the manager wants to know how his pitcher is feeling, let the skipper stand at the dugout rail and shout, “How you feelin’, Meat?”
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Ostler, again: One baseball art/skill I will never salute, but will cheer when it is rendered obsolete by robo umps: pitch framing. The analytics folks recognize it as a legitimate tool. (See: Statcast rankings.) Framing is legal cheating. Look how badly I can fool the umpire! Some catchers are subtle, easing the glove an inch or two back into the zone. Other catchers will leap or dive to catch a pitch, then frame it back into the zone, hoping the umpire has a resin bag for a brain.
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an eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2023 draft, the Ice gave up G Dawson Cowan, 17, and three draft picks — a fourth-rounder in 2025 and third- and sixth-rounders in 2026. . . . In 71 regular-season games with the Chiefs, Beaupit was 24-35-7, 3.83, .888. . . . He was a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2018 draft. . . . Following last season, he was named the Chiefs’ player of the year, after going 20-22-4, 3.63, .893. . . . This season, with the Chiefs’ clearly in a major rebuild, he was 0-8-0, 5.58, .833 
in nine games. . . . From Surrey, B.C., Beaupit’s NHL rights belong to the San Jose Sharks, who took him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. . . . Beaupit will team with Daniel Hauser as Winnipeg’s goaltenders. Hauser, 18, went into Friday games at 13-0-0, 2.37, .915. . . . Cowan, from Warren, Man., was 3-1-0, 2.52, .901 in five appearances with the Ice this season. . . . The Chiefs now have two 17-year-old freshman goaltenders on their roster — Cowan and Cooper Michaluk, who is 3-2-1, 4.97, .853. Michaluk started against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night, with Cowan backing up.
game losing streak (0-5-1). . . . The Rebels (15-2-1), who opened the season with 15 straight victories, now have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . The Wheat Kings got shootout goals from F Brett Hyland, F Nolan Ritchie and F Jake Chiasson. F Kai Uchacz scored in the shootout for the Rebels, He also scored once in regulation time, taking over the WHL goal-scoring lead (16). A few hours later, F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats scored twice to pull into a tie with Uchacz. . . . Red Deer F Craig Armstrong tied the score, 2-2, at 15:48 of the third period. . . . Red Deer remains without veteran F Ben King, who led the league in goals (52) last season. . . . Brandon was able to dress only 16 skaters, including four defencemen. . . . Lucas Punkari of the Brandon Sun reported that D Mason Ward is injured, while Eastyn Mannix and Zach Turner both were “unable to dress due to illness.” The Wheat Kings then lost Owen Harris to injury in the first period, so F Calder Anderson slipped into the rotation. . . .
and never looked back en route to a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Raiders improved to 6-12-2; the Oil Kings, who have lost three in a row, are 2-15-1. . . . F Harrison Lodewyk’s second goal of the season gave the Raiders the early lead and away they went. . . . F Carson Latimer had a goal and two assists for the winners, who were 2-2 on the PP. . . . 
lead before scoring in OT to beat the visiting Regina Pats, 5-4. . . . The Broncos (8-8-0) have won two in a row. . . . The Pats are 8-8-2. . . . D Owen Pickering won it 58 seconds into extra time. . . . The Broncos got a goal and two assists from F Connor Hvidston. . . . F Alexander Suzdalev had a goal and three assists for Regina, which got two scores and a helper from F Connor Bedard. . . . The tweet posted above features some Bedard numbers going into Friday’s games. Last night, Bedard ran his point streak to 17 games. He has 17 points over his past five games. . . . 
over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. . . . The Warriors (11-6-0) have won two straight. . . . The Tigers (4-9-4) have lost seven in a row (0-4-3). . . . D Bogdans Hodass pulled the Tigers into a 4-4 tie at 12:56 of the third period. . . . The Warriors had scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the opening period but weren’t able to hold the lead. . . . F Jagger Firkus gave them a 4-3 lead at 11:07 of the third, only to have Hodass tie it 1:49 later. . . . F Noah Degenstein, a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2022 draft, made his debut with the Warriors. From Airdrie, Alta., he plays for his hometown U18AAA CFR Bisons. . . . These same two teams will play tonight in Moose Jaw. . . . 
route to a 7-2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . F Gracyn Sawchyn, F Nico Myatovic and D Kevin Korchinski all scored unassisted goals for Seattle before the first period was five minutes old. . . . The Thunderbirds (12-3-0) have won two in a row. . . . The Chiefs (3-11-1) have lost nine straight (0-8-1). . . .
second period and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Everett (12-5-0) has won four straight. . . . Tri-City (7-10–0) has lost two in a row. . . . F Ryan Hofer scored twice — he’s got 12 — as Everett grabbed a 4-0 lead at 1:30 of the second period. . . . F Tyson Greenway pulled the Americans to within one at 3:50 of the third period, but they weren’t able to equalize. . . . D Lukas Dragicevic had two assists in running his point streak to 11 games. He has two points in each of his last two games, and has 23 points, including five goals, in 17 games. . . . 
will be going into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday. Unfortunately, he wasn’t available to attend Friday’s news conference and ring presentation as he is recovering from COVID-19. By taking an extra day to recover, he is hopeful of attending Monday night’s ceremony and perhaps other events over the weekend. . . . Mask up!
in a multi-vehicle accident on Saturday afternoon.
League were in the middle of it all, too, because driving conditions in B.C.’s Interior have been horrendous for a few days now. After playing in Kamloops on Friday night and 100 Mile House on Saturday night, the Rebels arrived home on Sunday and tweeted: “Special thanks to our bus driver Craig Luke for his great work in snowy road conditions.”
out among all the rest. Those two games will feature the Red Deer Rebels in Winnipeg to face the Ice on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . The Rebels are on a franchise-record 15-game winning streak. Yes, they have won their first 15 games — the WHL record of 22 is held by the 1967-68 Estevan Bruins. . . . Meanwhile, all the Ice, which has won 10 straight, has done is go 15-1-0, despite opening with 13 consecutive road games. . . . Red Deer’s freshman goaltenders have some pretty fine numbers — Rhett Stoesser is 5-0-0, 1.40, .934, while Kyle Kelsey is 10-0-0, 1.80, .935. . . . Veteran Daniel Hauser of the Ice goes into the doubleheader at 11-0-0, 2.35, .920. His running mate, freshman Dawson Cowan, is 3-1-0, 2.52, .901.
F Jack O’Brien’s second goal of the game gave Portland that 4-0 lead at 13:28 of the first period. . . . Spokane F Ty Cheveldayoff tied it, 7-7, at 19:25 of the third period. It was his third goal of the game and seventh of the season. It also was the second multi-goal game of his 92-game WHL career; he had a two-goal outing last season. . . . Portland got shootout goals from F Marcus Nguyen and D Luca Cagnoni, with F Raegan Wiles counting for Spokane. . . . F Gabe Klassen had a goal and three assists for Portland. . . . The Chiefs got two goals and two assists from Wiles and a goal and three helpers from F Blake Swetlikoff. . . . The Winterhawks (11-1-2) moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Everett Silvertips (11-5-0). Portland has points in six straight games (4-0-2). . . . The Chiefs (3-10-1) have lost eight in a row (0-7-1).
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 