Tag: Regina Pats

Bedard nets winner in Brandon . . . Blazers’ victory streak hits 11 . . . Raiders roar back, stun Blades

There was a time when hockey people who do a lot of travelling would tell me that the Regina Leader-Post had the second-best sports section in Canada, behind only the Toronto Star. I was the sports editor then and I loved to hear from those people.

While that sports department covered the heck out of the CFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the WHL and the Regina Pats we really prided ourselves on our local sports coverage. Our curling coverage was second to none. We had someone whose primary responsibility was the U of Regina; he also covered junior football’s Rams, the SJHL and the local stock car scene. We were all over the high school athletic scene and the local amateur sports people.

Well, as of today, that sports department is gone. Kaput. Nothing but a memory.

Murray McCormick, who had been there since 1985, spent his last day as a member of the sports department working from home. And somehow that was only fitting because the lights really had gone out a long time ago.

A department that once was home to at least 12 of us was down to three not that long ago. But then Greg Harder, whose primary beat had been the Regina Pats, moved over to entertainment.

That left McCormick and Rob Vanstone. But Vanstone announced his departure a few days ago. He now is the senior writer and historian with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

For now, Regina is home to arguably the biggest story of this hockey season. F Connor Bedard, who hasn’t yet turned 18, led Canada to a gold medal at the World Junior Championship and since returning to the Pats he has been selling out arenas throughout Western Canada, including Regina. Until a few days ago, Vanstone had done a masterful job of keeping all informed of Bedard and all the numbers that go with his story.

In a few months, Bedard will be the first selection in the NHL’s 2023 draft.

As things sit now, the Regina Leader-Post won’t be there because it no longer has a sports department to document his journey. It’s like a book without an ending and that’s a real shame.

Overseer

CANADA WEST UPDATE: The U of Calgary Dinos doubled the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies, 4-2, on Friday night to even their best-of-three Canada West semifinal series, 1-1. They’ll decide things at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary tonight. . . . The Dinos had won 23 in a row before dropping a 5-3 decision to the Huskies on Thursday. . . . In the other semifinal, the UBC Thunderbirds ran their winning streak to 15 games with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Alberta Golden Bears. They’ll play Game 2 in Edmonton tonight.

Juice

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT: The Travellin’ Bedards were in Brandon on Friday night and, according to Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun, they drew a record 5,954 fans. “That’s a new record,” Bergson tweeted. “Maybe don’t tell the fire marshal.” . . . Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to ascertain what the previous single-game attendance record was. . . . F Connor Bedard only picked up one point on Friday night, but it was a big one as his goal, with 1:55 left in the third period, gave the Regina Pats a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . Bedard tipped home a point shot by D Parker Berge to win this one. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in goals (53), assists (58) and points (111). Yes, he was at 111 points after having what originally was a six-point outing — a goal and five assists — on Wednesday in Regina’s 6-3 victory over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. However, one of those assists later was taken away from him.

——

If the WHL playoffs started today:

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)

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)

Tri-City (4) vs. Prince George (5)

——

FRIDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

In Brandon, G Drew Sim blocked 44 shots to lead the Regina Pats to a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . According to one observer, Sim also sparked a post-game brouhaha by “waving goodbye to a Wheat Kings player at the end of the game.” Any resemblance to an old-fashioned bench-clearing was purely accidental, however. . . . Regina F Jaxsin Vaughan received a match penalty for attempt to injure in the post-game melee, while Brandon F Matt Henry was given a game misconduct for leaving the bench. . . . The Pats had taken three of the game’s four minor penalties until that point. . . . Vaughan already has served a five-game suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct in a Dec. 28 game at Brandon. . . . F Nate Danielson (27) got Brandon into a 3-3 tie at 8:17 of the third period. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard (53) won it at 18:05 of the third period. . . . The Wheat Kings are to play in Regina tonight. . . . Regina (28-24-3) has won three straight. It is sixth in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Calgary and Medicine Hat. . . . Brandon (22-25-8) is 10th, three points from a playoff spot. . . .

G Talyn Boyko stopped 27 shots to lead the visiting Kelowna Rockets to a 4-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Boyko has three shutouts this season and six in 136 career appearances. . . . F Dylan Wightman scored twice, his first one, at 9:55 of the first period, proving to be the winner. He’s got nine goals on the season. . . . Former Edmonton F Carson Golder (24) provided insurance at 3:45 of the second period. . . . F Max Graham was back in Kelowna’s lineup after a nine-game absence. He drew an assist on Wightman’s first goal. . . . Kelowna (21-30-3) has won four straight. It is eighth in the Western Conference, nine points ahead of Victoria and four behind Vancouver. . . . Edmonton (8-44-3) has lost six in a row. . . .

In Lethbridge, the Kamloops Blazers scored the game’s last five goals to beat the Hurricanes, 6-2. . . . F Fraser Minten (26) got the Blazers even, on a PP, at 19:00 of the second period and D Olen Zellweger (20) gave the visitors the lead, on another PP, at 9:53 of the third. . . . F Logan Stankoven scored his 29th goal and added two assists for the Blazers, who have won 11 in a row, five of them on a six-game swing through the Central Division that wraps up tonight in Medicine Hat. . . . Kamloops (38-10-6) will win the B.C. Division. . . . Lethbridge (30-21-6) has lost three in a row but appears headed to a fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. . . .

G Jackson Unger blocked 36 shots to lead the host Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos held a 39-24 edge in shots, including 15-6 and 12-6 in the final two periods. . . . F Atley Calvert scored his 34th goal, giving him the Warriors’ single-season record for most goals by a Moose Jaw-born player. That record had belonged to David Bararuk (33, 2001-02). . . . Calvert’s goal, at 17:55 of the second period, broke a 2-2 tie. . . . F Ryder Korczak (23) made it 4-2 at 5:05 of the third period. . . . The Broncos got to within a goal when F Josh Filmon (35) scored at 5:39, but they weren’t able to equalize. . . . They’ll have a rematch tonight in Swift Current. . . . Moose Jaw (35-19-3) has won two in a row and looks to be headed to a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. . . . Swift Current (25-27-3) has lost five straight and is two points from a playoff spot. . . .

F Matt Savoie’s third-period goal stood up as the winner as the Winnipeg Ice got past the Rebels, 2-1, in Red Deer. . . . F Zack Ostapchuk (21) had given the Ice a 1-0 lead at 12:03 of the first period. . . . F Jace Isley (25) tied it 11 seconds into the second. . . . Savoie’s 29th goal of the season, at 4:38 of the third, turned into the winner. . . . G Daniel Hauser earned the victory with 29 saves. This season, he is 31-3-1, 2.39, .913. His career numbers are 72-6-3, 2.27, .911. . . . Yes, 72-6-3. Think about that for a minute or two. . . . The game featured the leaders of the East and Central divisions. . . . Winnipeg (46-7-1) has won nine in a row. It now leads the Eastern Conference by 14 points over Saskatoon. . . . Red Deer (37-15-4) has lost two straight, but will finish atop the Central Division and be the conference’s second seed. . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders erased a 5-2 deficit with three third-period goals and then beat the host Saskatoon Blades, 6-5 in OT. . . . D Aidan De La Gorgendiere (10) put the Blades ahead 5-2 at 10:53 of the third. . . . The Raiders tied with with three goals in 2:45 — D Landon Kosior (17), at 12:37; F Niall Crocker (13), at 14:23; and F Aiden Oiring (11), at 15:22. The first two came via the PP. . . . F Sloan Stanick won it with his 19th goal just 49 seconds into OT. . . . It was Stanick’s second OT goal of the week. He had the winner at 1:05 of OT on Monday as the Raiders won, 4-3, in Brandon. . . . Kosior, who was playing in his 200th regular-season game, added two assists to his goal. . . . Oiring also had two helpers. . . . Saskatoon got two goals and an assist from F Jake Chiasson (17). . . . The Raiders were 3-for-8 on the PP; the Blades were 2-for-5. . . . They’ll meet up again tonight, this time in Prince Albert. . . . The Raiders (24-28-3) have won five in a row; they are four points from an Eastern Conference playoff spot. . . . The Blades (37-13-5) have points in five straight (4-0-1). They are likely to be the conference’s third seed. . . .

The Seattle Thunderbirds scored three first-period goals en route to a 6-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Kent, Wash. . . . F Brad Lambert (12) scored 16 seconds into the game to put Seattle ahead. . . . F Jalen Luypen (10) got the Americans even just 33 seconds later, but the visitors weren’t able to score again. . . . Seattle was 2-for-5 on the PP and added a shorthanded goal. . . . F Reid Schaefer (22) scored twice and added two assists. He’s got 46 points in 43 games. . . . Lambert added an assist to his goal. He now has 23 points in 14 games. . . . F Dylan Guenther drew three assists, giving him 13 points in eight games. . . . Seattle (44-9-2) ran its winning streak to nine games. It leads the Western Conference by eight points over Kamloops. . . . Tri-City (27-22-7) is fourth, three points ahead of Prince George. . . .

F Carter Streek scored twice to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks. . . . Streek, who has 13 goals, gave his guys a 2-0 lead at 19:14 of the first period and added the game’s last goal at 14:53 of the second. . . . F Ty Cheveldayoff helped Spokane’s cause with his 20th goal. . . . G Dawson Cowan stopped 30 shots to earn the victory. . . . Spokane (12-36-7) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Portland (36-15-5) has lost six straight (0-5-1) and is going to be the third seed when the Western Conference playoffs start. . . .

F Chase Wheatcroft scored twice, including an OT goal, as the Prince George Cougars beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-4, in Langley, B.C. . . . Wheatcroft, who has 36 goals, won it at 3:09 of OT. . . . The Cougars erased a 3-1 deficit with three goals 2:50 apart in the second period. . . . F Cole Dubinsky (17) gave them a 4-3 lead at 10:09. . . . F Skyler Bruce (10) got the Giants even with his second goal of the game, at 4:42 of the third period. . . . Wheatcroft also had an assist. . . . At one point in the first period, Vancouver D Damian Palmieri delivered seven cross-checks to the back of Prince George F Arjun Bawa, who was down in the Giants’ crease. Referee Adam Bloski was in perfect position at the back of the net and didn’t raise a finger. I know! I know! Stripes was waiting for the eighth one. . . . Prince George (27-23-4) has won three in a row. It has moved into fifth in the Western Conference, three points behind Tri-City and one ahead of Everett. . . . Vancouver (21-26-7) is seventh, four points ahead of Kelowna.

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Snow

Bedard inks another chapter . . . Fonteynes are great hockey story . . . Blazers run streak to 10 games

THE BEDARD REPORT: F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats enjoyed his second six-point night of this season on Wednesday in a 6-3 victory over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Bedard finished the night with a goal and five assists. . . . He leads the WHL in goals (52), assists (59) and points (111), all in 43 games. He holds a 26-point lead over F Zach Benson of the Winnipeg Ice in the points derby. . . . Bedard, who won’t turn 18 until July 17, is on the verge of averaging two points per game for his career. He now has 239 points in 120 regular-season games. . . . This was Bedard’s first five-assist game of his career. . . . Since having a 35-game point streak come to an end on Feb. 3, Bedard has 21 points, including 13 assists, in six games. . . . Next up for Bedard and the Pats? A visit to Brandon for a Friday night game with the Wheat Kings.

Ants

When I was a youngster, I had an aunt and uncle who every Christmas would buy me a subscription to The Hockey News. That is how I came to be interested in the career of Val Fonteyne, who played 820 regular-season NHL games and another 149 in the WHA. . . . The amazing thing is that Fonteyne, a native of Wetaskiwin, Alta., who now is 89 years young, totalled 30 penalty minutes in all those games. Seriously! He never had more than four PiMs in any one season. However, somehow, in 1957-58, while with the WHL’s Seattle Americans, he actually ended up with 11 PiMs. I would love to know what he did to incur a major penalty that season.

I mention him today because it seems his grandson, Matt, is cut from the same cloth. Matt, who also is from Wetaskiwin, played with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips and now is with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. On Wednesday, Canada West handed out some post-season awards and the 25-year-old was named the winner of the Sportsmanship and Ability Award.

In five seasons (2013-18) in Everett, Fonteyne’s season-high in penalty minutes was 28. In 48 games over two seasons with the Golden Bears, he has 10 penalty minutes. This season, the team captain has 12 goals and 20 assists in 28 games, and four PiMs. . . .

Four other former WHL players were honoured by Canada West.

F Riley Sawchuk (Tri-City Americans, Edmonton Oil Kings) of the Mount Royal U Cougars was named the player of the year. He signed a pro contract with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins earlier this week. . . . Connor Hobbs (Medicine Hat Tigers, Regina Pats) of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies got top defenceman honours, with Carl Tetachuk (Lethbridge Hurricanes, Moose Jaw Warriors) of the U of Calgary Dinos the top goaltender. . . . F Jakin Smallwood (Winnipeg Ice) of the Golden Bears was saluted as rookie of the year. . . .

Mark Howell of the U of Calgary was named coach of the year. He played in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Medicine Hat Tigers, and later was an assistant coach with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Howell’s Dinos will play a best-of-three semifinal series with Saskatchewan this weekend. The Dinos are on a 23-game winning streak.

Conan

If the WHL playoffs started today:

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)

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Prince George (6)

Tri-City (4) vs. Everett (5)

——

WEDNESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

F Zach Benson scored once and added three assists as the Winnipeg Ice skated to a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . Benson opened the scoring with his 30th goal at 8:25 of the first period. . . . F Matt Savoie (28) added two goals for the Ice, the first one a shorthanded effort, and F Connor McClennon (38) also scored twice. . . . G Daniel Hauser earned his 30th victory of the season with 24 saves, including a first-period stop on a penalty-shot attempt by F Sean Tschigerl. . . . Hauser is 30-3-1, 2.43, .911 this season. In 82 career regular-season appearances, he is 71-6-3, 2.29, .911. . . . Winnipeg (45-7-1) has won eight in a row and now leads the Eastern Conference by 13 points. . . . Calgary (24-25-7) and Medicine Hat are tied for seventh, two points behind Regina and two ahead of Swift Current. . . .

F Connor Bedard had a goal and five assists and wasn’t even the first star as the host Regina Pats beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 6-3. . . . F Tanner Howe was selected as the No. 1 star after scoring twice and adding two assists. . . . While playing in Bedard’s shadow, Howe, who turned 17 on Nov. 28, is having quite a season. He now has 68 points, including 28 goals, in 53 games. Last season, he finished with 69 points, 27 of them goals, in 64 games. . . . Last night, it likely was Howe’s second goal that stung the Tigers the most. He scored seven seconds into the third period to gave the Pats a 4-1 lead. . . . Regina D Stanislav Svozil had three assists and that pushed him over the 100-point mark for his career. He now has 101 points, including 84 assists, in 101 games. . . . Regina (27-24-3) has won two in a row and now is sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Calgary and Medicine Hat (23-23-9), which is 6-2-3 in its past 11 games. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers are on a 10-game winning streak after beating the Broncos, 6-3, in Swift Current. . . . The Blazers have won four in a row on this tour of the Central Division that continues in Lethbridge on Friday and Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . Last night, the Blazers got two goals from each of F Ryan Hofer (36) and Connor Levis (16). . . . Hofer’s second goal gave the Blazers a 5-0 lead at 15:01 of the second period. . . . The Broncos opened the third period with three goals, but Levis put it away at 16:31. . . . F Josh Filmon got No. 34 for the Broncos, with F Connor Hvidston (17) adding a goal and an assist. . . . Kamloops held a 53-29 edge in shots, including 24-9 in the first period. . . . Kamloops (37-10-6) is second in the Western Conference, eight points behind Seattle. . . . Swift Current (25-26-3) has lost four in a row. It is ninth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Calgary and Medicine Hat. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans opened up a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . F Adam Mechura (20) and F Jalen Luypen (9) each had two goals and an assist for the winners. . . . F Ben Hemmerling scored his 20th of the season for Everett. . . . This may have been a playoff preview. . . . Tri-City (27-21-7) is fourth in the Western Conference, four points ahead of Everett (27-24-3) and five up on Prince George.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers announced on Wednesday that they and Ken Plaquin, their general manager and head coach, “have agreed to part ways.” Plaquin was in his third season with the Klippers. . . . Tyler Traptow, who had been an assistant coach, will serve as the interim GM/head coach for the remainder of this season. . . . The Klippers, who lost 5-4 to the visiting Yorkton Terriers on Wednesday night, are 11-30-7, which is the poorest record in the 12-team SJHL.

Wrestling

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Snoopy

Demek returns in Kamloops win . . . Playoff preview in Prince George? . . . Seattle really rolling now

Happy birthday to Brian Pellerin, an assistant coach with the Portland Winterhawks. He not only knows where Old Drinnan Town is, he likely has been there.

Jack Todd, in the Montreal Gazette: “It’s been 73 years since a Canadian won alpine world championships gold in the women’s slalom. Quebec City’s Laurence St-Germain did it Saturday, beating the great Mikaela Shiffrin in the process — and chances are you didn’t hear about it because our sports networks were busy fawning over Tiger Woods or the Maple Leafs.”

——

Two more notes from Todd, whose complete column is right here:

“At least it’s not hard to locate Theo Fleury. You can find him at the corner of Ignorance and Misinformation pretty much any day of the week. . . .

“We need more of Cheryl Pounder between periods on the TSN Canadiens telecasts. Pounder is superb. Unlike most broadcasters of the ‘unbelievable’ school, Pounder actually tells you things you didn’t know and avoids belabouring the obvious.”

THINKING OUT LOUD:

Might the Winnipeg Ice be forced by the WHL to vacate their home arena, which seats about 1,600, for a larger venue, perhaps in Brandon or Regina, should it make a deep playoff run? All in the interests of TV and atmosphere, of course. . . . Why are WHL pooh-bahs and the Ice owners so reluctant to sit down in front of media folks and answer a few questions? . . . If the WHL was to get a team into Penticton how great would the rivalry be between the Kelowna Rockets and the Peaches? . . . With all of these junior hockey teams wearing ‘special’ sweaters at various times during a season and then making them available at auction, I’m wondering how many are purchased by Mom and Dad? . . . Sign of the times: The Regina Pats had 20 players in uniform on Sunday afternoon with only four of them wearing sweaters with numbers below 20. . . . Just wondering but is Darryl Sutter’s best-before-date almost here with the Calgary Flames?

Fireplace

If the WHL playoffs started today:

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)

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Prince George (6)

Tri-City (4) vs. Everett (5)

MONDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

F Sloan Stanick scored one of those between-the-legs goals at 1:05 of OT to give the Prince Albert Raiders a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Stanick, who has 18 goals, is from Rapid City, which is about three slap shots north of Brandon. . . . The Raiders overcame 2-0 and 3-1 deficits. . . . F Keaton Sorensen had three assists for the winners. . . . F Evan Herman (14) scored twice, the second goal pulling the Raiders into a 3-3 tie at 11:54 of the third period. Herman, a 20-year-old from The Pas, Man., was playing in his 200th regular-season game, all with the Raiders. . . . F Nolan Ritchie scored his 20th goal and added an assist for Brandon. . . . Prince Albert (23-28-3) has won four straight and is 11th in the Eastern Conference, six points from a playoff spot. . . . Brandon (22-24-8) is 10th, three points out of eighth. . . . Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun points out that “Brandon is 0-8 in games decided in OT; this could be the first season in the Internet era (it doesn’t) win an overtime game.” . . .

The Kamloops Blazers, playing their third game in four days, unleashed a 60-shot attack in beating the Oil Kings, 7-3, in Edmonton. . . . The winners got two goals from each of F Dylan Sydor (10) and F Daylan Kuefler (30). . . . Kamloops scored the game’s last three goals. . . . D Olen Zellweger had a goal and two assists for the winners. He has nine goals and 22 assists in 16 games since being acquired from Everett. . . . F Noah Boyko (15) had two PP goals for the Oil Kings. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven, who had a 35-game point streak snapped in Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the host Calgary Hitmen, was blanked for a second straight game. . . . F Jakub Demek, 19, made his Kamloops debut. He hadn’t played since undergoing shoulder surgery after he played for Slovakia in the World Junior Championship that was held in Edmonton in August. Last season, he had 54 points, including 20 goals, in 55 games with the WHL-champion Oil Kings. In trading him to Kamloops on Nov. 14, Edmonton acquired a first-round 2023 WHL draft pick that originated with Regina, a conditional 2024 second-round pick, a conditional third-rounder in 2026 and a fourth-rounder in 2026. . . . F Shea Van Olm, another player Kamloops acquired from Edmonton, was scratched after apparently being injured in Calgary. . . . Kamloops (36-10-6) has won nine in row and will finish atop the B.C. Division. . . . Edmonton (8-43-3) has lost six straight games. . . .

F Adam Kydd scored once and drew two assists to lead the host Kelowna Rockets to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Kydd’s 17th goal, at 17:02 of the second period, broke a 1-1 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . D Marek Rocak, a 16-year-old freshman from Czechia, scored his first WHL goal 45 seconds later to provide insurance. He has one goal and one assist in nine games. . . . Kelowna (20-30-3) has won three in a row. It is eighth in the Western Conference, five points behind Vancouver. . . . Tri-City (26-21-7) is fourth, two points ahead of Everett. . . .

F Zac Funk scored in the seventh round of a shootout to give the Prince George Cougars a 1-0 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks in what may well have been a first-round playoff preview. . . . Funk was one of three skaters to score in the shootout. . . . Through OT, the Cougars got 31 saves from G Tyler Brennan, while G Dante Giannuzzi stopped 30 for Portland. This was Brennan’s first shutout this season and the sixth of his career. Giannuzzi has two this season and five in his career. . . These teams will meet in Prince George again tonight. . . . Prince George (25-23-4) had lost its previous two games. It is sixth, three points behind Everett. . . . Portland (36-13-5) has lost four in a row (0-3-1) and now trials U.S. Division-leading Seattle by nine points. . . .

F Brendan Lee’s two goals helped the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-1 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . Lee, who has 24 goals, gave his guys a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds into the game. He added an empty-netter at 19:02 of the third period. . . . The Tigers outshot the Rebels, 27-17, including 13-5 in the first period when they scored twice. . . . Red Deer lost D Christoffer Sedoff to a headshot major and game misconduct at 7:24 of the first period. . . . Medicine Hat (23-22-9) has points in three straight (2-0-1). It is tied with Regina and Calgary for sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Red Deer (37-14-4) lead the Central Division by 12 points over Lethbridge. . . .

In Regina, the Pats scored the game’s last three goals as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . F Braxton Whitehead (8) got Regina into a 2-2 tie with a PP goal at 18:42 of the second period. . . . F Tanner Howe (26) snapped the tie just 16 seconds into the third period and F Zane Rowan (4) added insurance at 10:26. . . . D Stanislav Svozil (7) had a goal and an assist for the Pats in his 100th regular-season game. The sophomore from Czechia has 57 points in 41 games this season. In those 100 games, he has earned 98 points, including 81 helpers. . . . The announced attendance was 6,499, the fourth time in the Pats’ past five games that it has been a sellout crowd. . . . BTW, F Connor Bedard had two assists for the Pats. . . . Regina (26-24-3) is tied with Calgary and Medicine Hat for sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Lethbridge (30-19-6) had points in its previous four games (3-0-1). It is fifth in the conference, three points behind Moose Jaw. . . .

F Owen Pederson broke a 2-2 tie at 12:29 of the third period and the Winnipeg Ice sent on to a 4-2 victory over the host Swift Current Broncos. . . . Pederson’s PP goal stood up as the winner, and he added insurance at 19:03 with an empty-netter, his 29th goal of the season. Pederson, 20, also had an assist. He has 64 points in 50 games this season, after putting up 43 points, 17 of them goals in 50 games last season. . . . Winnipeg (44-7-1) has won seven straight games and leads the Eastern Conference by 11 points over Red Deer and Saskatoon. . . . Swift Current (25-25-3) has lost three in a row and is two points out of the playoffs. . . .

F Ty Thorpe scored had a goal and two assists as the Vancouver Giants beat the Spokane Chiefs, 4-3 in OT, in Langley, B.C. . . . Thorpe’s 28th goal won it at 4:16 of OT. . . . F Samuel Honzek, in his second game after returning from an injury suffered at the World Junior Championship, scored twice for Vancouver. He’s got 19 goals this season. . . . Honzek’s second goal, at 19:41 of the second period, gave the Giants a 3-2 lead. . . . Spokane tied it at 10:41 of the third when D Mac Gross scored his eighth goal, this one while shorthanded. . . . Vancouver (21-26-6) had lost its previous two games. It is settling into seventh in the Western Conference, now six points behind Prince George and five ahead of Kelowna. . . . Spokane (11-36-7) has lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . .

T Tomas Milic stopped 26 shots for his third shutout of the season as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Royals, 7-0, in Victoria. . . . The Thunderbirds had beaten the Royals, 8-1, in Kent, Wash., on Saturday night. And they’ll meet each other again tonight in Victoria. . . . Milic has seven career shutouts in 84 appearances over parts of four seasons. This season, he is 21-3-1, 2.18, .922. . . . F Gracyn Sawchyn (17) led Seatte’s offence with two goals and an assist. . . . F Brad Lambert had two assists. He’s got 19 points, 10 of them assists, in 12 games with Seattle. . . . D Kevin Korchinski also had two assists, pushing him over the point-per-game mark for his career. He now has 132 points, 121 of them assists, in 131 regular-season games. . . . F Colton Dach added a goal and an assist, and now has four points in two games since making his Seattle debut on Saturday. . . . F Jared Davidson scored his 32nd goal as he reached the 200-point mark, including 93 goals, in his 243rd regular-season game over five seasons. . . . Seattle (42-9-2) has won seven in a row and is pulling away atop the Western Conference. . . . Victoria (15-35-6) has lost three straight and now is seven points from a playoff spot.

Memories are made of this . . .

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Password

Vanstone walking away from Leader-Post . . . Three more points for Bedard in another loss . . . Korchinski special for Thunderbirds

The social media hills were alive with the sound of accolades on Saturday as word circulated that Rob Vanstone has chosen to leave the Regina Leader-Post after almost 36 years of chronicling everything there is to know about the sporting scene in Regina and, indeed, all over Saskatchewan. . . . Accolades, it must be said, that are certainly well-deserved. . . . But what’s next for someone who is not yet old enough to walk off into the sunset? . . . “A new opportunity, the details of which are to be divulged soon, is to begin on Tuesday,” he wrote in one final column. . . . There aren’t words to describe the size of the hole his departure from the printed page and the newspaper’s website will leave in that area’s sporting community. Yes, he is perhaps best known for his writings on the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. But his most important work has resulted from his love for high school sports, junior football, university sports, the so-called amateur sports, his love for all the “little people” of the sporting world. He loved nothing better than to stumble on a story in a far corner of a gymnasium and take it from there. That was Vanstone at his best. . . .

With Vanstone’s departure, you are free to wonder what’s next for what once was a wonderful sports department, one that in the 1990s featured an editor, a columnist, six reporters, three copy editor/layout people, and an agate clerk. It was nothing for coverage of a Roughriders’ home game to involve five writers. . . . Now there is one — ONE! — person left in the department. That would be Murray McCormick, who is going to be a whole lot busier than the Maytag repairman. . . .

Of course, The Leader-Post is owned by Postmedia, which seems to be sending people to the high jump almost every day. So . . . who knows? Perhaps that once terrific sports department soon is to be nothing but a memory.

And the thought of that is enough to make a grown man cry.

JUST NOTES:
Sparked by the play of F Diego Cuglietta of Kamloops, SG Cortina won the Italian Hockey League Series A last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Ritten Sport. It was a four-team round-robin series and Cortina went 3-0 to win its 17th national title, but first since 2007. . . . Cuglietta scored Cortina’s first goal in the final victory. Cortina also beat HC Meran (3-0) and the Unterland Cavaliers (3-1). . . . In Alps League play, Cuglietta put up 41 points, including 15 goals, in 30 games to lead the team. . . . Cuglietta played three seasons with the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials before going on to spend four seasons at Lake Superior State. He did time in the AHL and ECHL before joining Cortina prior to this season. . . .

From the better-late-than-never department, the WHL’s 2022-23 Guide and Record Book is available for download at whl.ca. Perhaps someone in the Calgary office will put up a link on the home page. Otherwise, go to MORE on the menu near the top of the home page, then to MEDIA INFORMATION and click on the encircled plus sign. You’ll find the link right there. Happy downloading!

Doctors

SATURDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT: F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats added a goal and two assists to his eye-popping numbers, but his side dropped a 7-4 decision to the visiting Winnipeg Ice. . . . The goal came with the Pats shorhanded. It was his fifth shortie of the season and sixth of his career. . . . This was Bedard’s 41st game of the season; he has put up multiple points in 29 of them. . . . He now has a WHL-leading 103 points, including 51 goals. He finished last season with 100 points, 50 of them goals. . . . Since returning to the Pats after leading Canada to gold at the World Junior Championship, Bedard has scored 24 goals and added 15 assists in 13 games. . . . In 118 regular-season WHL games, he now has 231 points, including 114 goals. . . . When Bedard struck for his 50th goal of the season in his 40th game on Friday night, I forgot to mention that the WHL record for quickest to 50 is held by F Bill Derlago, who did it in 27 games — YES, 27!!! — with the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1977-78. . . .

——

In Regina, the Ice erased a 3-1 deficit with five straight goals en route to a 7-4 victory over the Pats. . . . F Evan Friesen (10) got the Ice into a 3-3 tie at 1:27 of the third period and F Matt Savoie (25) gave the visitors their first lead at 8:06. . . . F Connor Geekie (25) and F Zack Ostapchuk (19) stretched the lead to 6-3. That was Ostapchuk’s second goal; he also had an assist. . . . Savoie later put his 25th into an empty net. . . . Winnipeg (43-7-1) has won six in a row and leads the Eastern Conference by nine points. . . . Regina (25-24-3) has lost its past two and is tied with Swift Current and Medicine Hat for seventh in the conference. . . .

The Calgary Hitmen struck four times on the PP en route to a 7-2 victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . The Hitmen finished 4-for-6 on the PP; Edmonton was 1-for-5 and gave up a shorthanded goal. . . . F Gavin Hodnett (11) gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 11:29 of the first period. . . . Calgary scored the last five goals. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (18) tied it on a PP at 13:07. . . . D Vojtech Husinecky’s first WHL goal, at 2:47 of the second period, stood up as the winner. Husinecky, a 17-year-old freshman from Czechia, has a goal and two assists in 28 games. . . . D Carter Yakemchuk (11) and F David Adaszynski (11) each had two goals for Calgary, with F Riley Fiddler-Schultz getting three assists. . . . Calgary (24-23-7) had lost its previous 10 games (0-7-3) and now is alone in sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Regina, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. . . . Edmonton (8-42-3) has lost five straight. . . .

The Kelowna Rockets, outshot 46-15, were able to hang on and beat the visiting Portland Winterhawks, 3-1. . . . Kelowna G Talyn Boyko was the difference. He finished with 45 saves, 16 of them in the second period when the Rockets were outshot, 16-1. . . . The Rockets scored the last three goals. . . . F Game Klassen’s 30th goal gave Portland a 1-0 lead at 13:25 of the first period. . . . F Marcus Pacheco (9) got Kelowna even with a shorthanded score at 17:29 of the second. . . . The Rockets won it on third-period goals from F Turner McMillen (7) and F Adam Kydd (16). . . . The teams combined to take 11 minors — five to Kelowna F Andrew Cristall. . . .  Kelowna (19-30-3) has won two in a row. It is eighth in the Western Conference but now is five points ahead of Victoria. . . . Portland (36-13-4) is on a three-game losing skid and now trails first-place Seattle by eight points in the conference. . . . .

F Kai Uchacz scored twice, including the winner, as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Tigers, 5-4 in OT, in Medicine Hat. . . . Red Deer has needed extra time for each of its past five victories — two in OT, three in shootouts. . . . Uchacz, who is second to F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats in the goal department, got his 43rd goal at 3:34 of OT. . . . F Shane Smith (18) had pulled the Tigers into a 4-4 tie at 3:37 of the third period. . . . The Tigers led 3-1 midway through the second period, but surrendered the next three goals, all via the PP. . . . Red Deer was 4-for-6 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 2-for-3. . . . Red Deer (37-13-4) leads the Central Division by 12 points over Lethbridge. . . . Medicine Hat (22-22-9) is tied with Regina and Swift Current for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. . . .

F Niall Crocker scored twice to help the host Prince Albert Raiders to a 5-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Crocker, who has 11 goals, gave his guys a 1-0 lead at 14:19 of the first period and closed out the scoring, on a PP, at 17:32 of the third. . . . F Ryder Ritchie helped the winners with three assists. Ritchie, a 16-year-old from Calgary, was a first-round pick in the WHL’s 2021 draft. He has 37 points, including 22 assists, in 46 games as a freshman. This was his first three-assist outing and his second three-point game. . . . Crocker’s first career two-goal game came in his 138th regular-season game. A first-rounder from 2019, the native of Delta, B.C., has 23 points in 51 games this season, after recording three goals and three assists in 64 games last season. . . . Prince Albert (22-28-3) has won three in a row and is six points from a playoff spot. . . . Moose Jaw (33-19-3) has lost three straight. It is fourth in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Lethbridge. . . .

The Seattle Thunderbirds scored six times in the game’s first half as they skated to an 8-1 victory over the Victoria Royals in Kent, Wash. . . . D Kevin Korchinski finished with four assists; he had three of them just 8:20 into the first period. . . . It was Korchinski’s second four-point game this season and the fourth of his career. Korchinski was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the seventh overall pick of the NHL’s 2022 draft. This season, he has 55 points, including 48 assists, in 39 games. He now is a point-a-game player for his career, with 130 points in 130 regular-season games. . . . F Jared Davidson (31) and F Kyle Crnkovic (27) each scored twice for Seattle. . . . F Colton Dach, who last played a WHL game on Dec. 4, made his Seattle debut and had two assists. He suffered a shoulder injury while playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship, then was traded by the Kelowna Rockets — he had been their captain — to the Thunderbirds. . . . Seattle G Scott Ratzlaff stopped 24 shots for the victory. He now is 19-6-1, 2.15, .920 this season. . . . Seattle (41-9-2) has won six straight and looks headed to a first-place finish in the Western Conference. . . . Victoria (15-34-6) has lost two in a row and is five points from a playoff spot. . . . This was the first of three straight between these teams; they’ll play again Monday and Tuesday in Victoria. . . .

The Brandon Wheat Kings scored two first-period goals and went on to a 3-1 victory over the Broncos in Swift Current. . . . F Nolan Ritchie drew assists on the first-period scores from F Nate Danielson (26) and F Calder Anderson (13). . . . Brandon was 2-for-4 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-for-4. . . . Brandon (22-24-7) had lost its previous two games. It is 10th in the Eastern Conference, but just two points from a playoff spot. . . . Swift Current (25-24-3) has lost two in a row and is tied with Regina and Medicine Hat for the conference’s last playoff spot, two points ahead of Brandon. . . .

G Tomas Suchanek blocked 39 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 3-0 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in Kennewick, Wash. . . . That was Suchanek’s first shutout this season and the second of his career. This season, he is 21-11-2, 3.16, .912. . . . F Deegan McMillan’s 13th goal, at 4:45 of the first period, was all the offence Suchanek would need. . . . Tri-City (26-20-7) had lost its previous six games (0-4-2). It is fourth in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Everett. . . . Spokane (11-36-6) had points in each of its previous three games (2-0-1). . . .

Blanked for almost 50 minutes, the Saskatoon Blades scored twice late to beat the Vancouver Giants, 2-1, in Langley, B.C. . . . The Blades went 4-1-0 in the B.C. Division, the lone loss coming by a 5-2 count in Kamloops on Feb. 10. . . . F Ty Thorpe (27) returned after sitting out a week with an undisclosed injury to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 13:51 of the second period. . . . F Jayden Wiens (12) got the Blades even, on a PP, at 9:43 of the third and F Conner Roulette (21) won it at 13:30. . . . The Blades got 19 stops from freshman G Austin Elliott. The 18-year-old from Strathmore, Alta., who was a 12th-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 draft, is 20-5-2, 1.97, .919. . . . The Giants also had Samuel Honzek back for the first time since he left for the World Junior Championship. He suffered a skate cut to one leg while playing for Slovakia in the WJC. Honzek has 43 points, 17 of them goals, in 31 games, so his offence will help the Giants. . . . Saskatoon (37-13-4) has four straight victories. It is tied with Red Deer for second in the Eastern Conference. But the Rebels are likely to win the Central Division so will be the second seed with the Blades third, both of them behind Winnipeg. . . . Vancouver (20-26-6) is seventh in the Western Conference, six points behind Prince George and five ahead of Kelowna.

Cats

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Snoopy2

WHL, Ice not taking questions . . . Why Winnipeg, but not Nanaimo? . . . Bedard now 50-50–100 but Pats lose

Earlier this week, Paul Friesen, a sports columnist with the Winnipeg Sun, wrote about how and why the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice might be on its last legs in the Manitoba capital.

Well . . . he had another column on Friday, this one digging a little more into WinnipegIcewhether the Ice ownership will be building an arena in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald.

The key points, at least from where I sit, are these:

1. On the subject of that possible construction project, Reeve Randy Erb said: “I haven’t heard a darn thing about it.”

2. “On Friday,” Friesen wrote, “team brass again wouldn’t take questions, choosing instead to issue a statement saying they’ve made some progress with the RM regarding development of their parcel of land, but making no mention of a new arena.”

3. “A request for follow-up questions was denied,” Friesen wrote.

4. Friesen added “the league also won’t take questions . . .”

There certainly seem to be a lot of folks not wanting to answer questions, isn’t there? Why is that?

Gee, I wonder what the folks of Cranbrook are thinking about now? And, yes, the hockey fans in Chilliwack, too.

Friesen’s complete column is right here and, again, it’s well worth a read.

——

The Victoria Royals began life as the Chilliwack Bruins, as I’m sure you will remember, but after a sale left for Vancouver Island following the 2010-11 season.

At the time, the WHL desperately wanted into Victoria and felt it had to act before the AHL got there, perhaps by having the Manitoba Moose relocate from Winnipeg.

You also may recall that Victoria had been home to the ECHL’s Salmon Kings until the franchise folded after that 2010-11 season.

Thus, the WHL hustled to get into Victoria.

And once it was there its pooh-bahs realized that it would be terrific if there WHLwas a second team on Vancouver Island. After all, it was turning out to be rather costly to ride a ferry there and back from the mainland to, in most instances, play one game. The logical place for another team would be Nanaimo, which had a population of about 90,500 in 2016. (That population grew to around 103,500 by 2022.)

The problem with Nanaimo, at least in the eyes of the WHL, was that it didn’t like the arena. The Frank Crane Arena, with its 2,400 seats, opened on Jan. 3, 1976. It is the home of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. For one season (1982-83), it had been home to a WHL franchise — the Nanaimo Islanders. (In 1981-82, the Islanders had been the Billings Bighorns; in 1983-84, they would be the New Westminster Bruins. Today, they are the Tri-City Americans.)

The Clippers’ lease was to end after the 2016-17 season, and a WHL franchise in Nanaimo would have led to that franchise’s demise.

All of this led to reports like this one, from CTV News on March 7, 2017:

“The Western Hockey League has raised the stakes in Nanaimo’s event centre debate.

“The league vowed Monday to bring a WHL club to the Harbour City if residents vote ‘yes’ this weekend on the proposed sports and entertainment complex, which could cost taxpayers close to $80-million.

“It’s the first time the WHL has outright committed to bringing a franchise to Nanaimo.”

Furthermore, the WHL said in a statement that a memorandum of understanding was in place between it and the City of Nanaimo, that a ‘yes’ vote would result in a team playing out of Nanaimo in time for the 2017-18 season and that there would be a 20-year lease in place if the new facility met WHL standards.

Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, said in a statement: “The WHL remains fully committed to delivering a WHL franchise to Nanaimo, either through relocation or expansion, and will move forward to obtain the necessary final approvals should the residents of the City of Nanaimo vote in favour of a new events centre.”

On March 11, the day of the referendum, CBC reported that Jeff Chynoweth, then the general manager of the Cranbrook-based Kootenay Ice, had confirmed that a move by his team to Nanaimo “is under discussion.”

And so it was that Nanaimo voters went to the polls to vote on whether to borrow $80 million to build an events centre that would seat 5,700 for hockey and 7,100 for concerts.

The outcome was never in doubt. Voter turnout was 35.3 per cent, higher than the 2014 general election (34.1). All told, 23,885 ballots were cast and 80.3 per cent of those voted against borrowing the money.

About a month after the referendum, Chynoweth and his family sold the Ice to Greg Fettes, a Winnipeg businessman, and Matt Cockell, a former WHL goaltender who had been working with True North Sports + Entertainment, which owns the NHL’s Winnpeg Jets.

The Ice played two more seasons in Cranbrook but it became evident early that the franchise’s days there were numbered.

Indeed, on Jan. 29, 2019, the WHL confirmed hockey’s worst-kept secret — the Ice would relocate to Winnipeg after the 2018-19 season.

It didn’t seem to matter to the WHL that there wasn’t a suitable arena available in which the Ice could play its home games. It didn’t matter, perhaps, because Fettes was promising to build a 4,700-seat arena for his team.

So . . . here we are with the 2022-23 WHL regular season heading into the home stretch. The Ice is playing its third season in Winnipeg; it would be four but the abbreviated 2020-21 season ended up being played in a Regina bubble because of the pandemic.

And where does the Ice play its home games?

In Wayne Fleming Arena, on the campus of the University of Manitoba, a facility that also is home to Canada West’s U of Manitoba Bisons. It opened in 1981, about five years after Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. The Ice’s home seats about 1,600, and there have been improvements made over the past couple of years, with, among other things, a new ice plant having been installed in 2021.

As for Fettes’s promise to build a new arena. Well, there has yet to be even one shovel hit the ground. And now there are rumblings about the WHL possibly taking over the franchise . . . and perhaps having fined the Ice $500,000 for reneging on the arena promise, something the WHL and Ice both have denied . . . and a Paul Friesen column in the Winnipeg Sun this week detailed how it is that the Ice may be on its last legs in Winnipeg.

So . . . out of all this . . . can anyone explain why the WHL didn’t just move a team to Nanaimo and have it play in a 2,400-seat arena while waiting for someone to build a new facility.

No, the Frank Crane Arena doesn’t meet WHL standards, but neither does the Wayne Fleming Arena.

That didn’t seem to matter when putting a team into Winnipeg, so why was it a big deal when it came to Nanaimo?

You are free to play “What if . . .?”

Tacos

Tim McCarver, who made his name as an MLB catcher before becoming a prominent TV analyst, died on Thursday at the age of 81. . . . As Joe Posnanski points out, McCarver had one moment that stood out among all the rest. It was Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Diamondbacks versus Yankees. Luis Gonzales against Mariano Rivera. Bottom of the ninth. 2-2. One out. Bases loaded.

Posnanski writes:

“Here’s what (McCarver) said while Gonzalez dug into the box and Rivera took the ball and readied for the next pitch. . . .

“ ‘The one problem is Rivera throws inside to lefthanders, so lefthanders get a lot of broken bat hits into . . . the shallow part of the outfield. That’s the danger of bringing the infield in with a guy like Rivera on the mound.’

“On the next pitch, Gonzalez hit a broken bat single over the drawn-in infield. The ball landed in the shallow outfield.

“Incredible. That might have been the greatest broadcasting prophecy in any sport.

“And, funny, you never really hear people talk about it. Tony Romo predicts a screen play correctly and people are ready to give him the Nobel Prize. McCarver perfectly called one of the most iconic hits in baseball history before it happened and . . . nothing.”

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Stabbed man who got hit by 3 cars then thrown off bridge probably died from the vaccine

Apps

FRIDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

THE BEDARD WATCH: F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, playing in his 40th game of this season, ran his totals to 50 goals and 50 assists in a 6-5 loss to the host Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Bedard, who won’t turn 18 until July 17, finished with two goals and two assists, giving him his 10th game with at least four points. . . . Bedard is the first Regina player with back-to-back 50-goal seasons since F Mike Sillinger, who did it three seasons in a row (1988-91). . . . Bedard is the second-fastest skater in Pats history to reach 50 goals behind only F Jock Callander who did it in 39 games in 1981-82. In 1982-83, F Dale Derkatch got his 50th goal in his 41st game. . . . “The difference,” Callander told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post this week, “is that I was 20 and he’s 17. . . . Bedard has scored 31 times in his past 17 games. . . . He leads the WHL in goals and points. . . . Oh yes, his presence also sold out another WHL arena, this time the Art Hauser Centre.

——

In Prince Albert, the Raiders scored the game’s last two goals to beat the Regina Pats, 6-5. . . . The home boys overcame deficits of 2-0, 3-1 and 5-4 in earning the victory. . . . F Grady Martin’s first WHL goal, in his 37th game, tied it 5-5 at 5:19 of the third period. Martin, 16, is from Oyen, Alta., and was a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2021 draft. . . . F Aiden Quiring (9) broke the tie at 9:19. . . . F Alexander Suzdalev got his 30th goal for Regina. He is the third Regina freshman in recent years with 30 goals, behind F Nick Henry (2016-17) and F Petr Kalus (2005-06). . . . Regina F Tanner Howe, who is from Prince Albert, scored his 25th goal. . . . The announced attendance was 3,299, a sellout and the largest crowd in the Art Hauser Centre this season, well ahead of the 2,798 who watched the Saskatoon Blades post a 5-2 victory on opening night. . . . Of course, the fans were there to watch Regina F Connor Bedard and he didn’t disappoint — he scored twice, becoming the first WHLer to 50 goals this season, and added two assists. . . . Prince Albert (21-28-3) is eight points out of a playoff spot. . . . Regina (25-23-3) is tied with Swift Current and Calgary for sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . .

The Spokane Chiefs scored four times in a shootout as they beat the host Everett Silvertips, 4-3. . . . The teams combined for seven goals in the five-round shootout. . . . Everett held a 3-0 lead halfway through the third period, only to have Spokane strike three times in 4:46 in the second half. . . . F Berkly Catton (16) keyed the comeback with a goal and two assists. The first overall selection in the 2021 WHL draft has 40 points in 47 games. . . . F Cade Hayes (16) had two goals for Spokane, forcing OT at 15:22. . . . Spokane (11-35-6) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Everett (27-23-3) is tied for fourth with Tri-City. . . .

F Blake Swetlikoff scored two second-period goals to help the host Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Swetlikoff, who has 11 goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 1:29 and added insurance at 10:40. . . . Hurricanes G Bryan Thomson, coming off back-to-back shutouts, stopped 30 shots. . . . Lethbridge (30-18-6) has points in four straight (3-0-1) and is fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind Moose Jaw. . . . Brandon (21-24-7) is 10th, four points from a playoff spot. . . .

The Winnipeg Ice struck five times in the first period en route to a 7-1 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . The Ice got goals from five different players in that period, the scores coming in a span of 11:38. . . . Winnipeg got points from 15 players but no one had more than two. . . . Ice D Ben Zloty, a sixth-round pick in the WHL’s 2017 draft, scored his 10th goal. He now has 63 points in 49 games. He finished last season with 64 points, eight of them goals, in 62 games. . . . The Warriors lost F Robert Baco to a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 8:17 of the third period. . . . Winnipeg (42-7-1) now leads the Eastern Conference by nine points over Red Deer and Saskatoon. Red Deer leads the Central Division so would be the No. 2 seed. . . . Moose Jaw (33-18-3) is fourth in the conference, three points ahead of Lethbridge. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers coughed up 3-0 and 4-1 leads before coming back to beat the Rebels, 7-4, in Red Deer. . . . Kamloops has won seven in a row. . . . With the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — aka the Canadian women’s curling championship — in their home arena, the Blazers won’t play in Kamloops again until March 3. The Scotties began Friday and runs through Feb. 26. . . . The Blazers broke a 4-4 tie with a pair of PP goals early in the third period. . . . D Kyle Masters, who was acquired along with a first-round WHL draft pick from Red Deer in a deal that had D Mats Lindgren go the other way, got his ninth goal at 2:38 and F Daylan Kuefler (27) added insurance at 4:26. . . . D Olen Zellweger had a goal (18) and three assists for the winners, with F Connor Levis adding a goal (14) and two helpers. . . . Kamloops was 4-for-5 on the PP; Red Deer was 1-for-2. . . . Blazers F Logan Stankoven had three assists as he ran his point streak to 35 games, tying F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats for the longest point streak this season. Stankoven, with 79 points in 35 games, has at least a point in every game he has played this season. . . . The Blazers held a 42-27 edge in shots, including 21-4 in the first period after which they led 3-0. . . . Kamloops (34-10-6) leads the B.C. Division by 22 points over Prince George. . . . Red Deer (36-13-4) leads the Central Division by 10 points over Lethbridge. . . .

F Dylan Guenther opened and closed the scoring as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Tri-City Americans, 4-3 in OT, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Guenther won it with his third goal of the season at 4:10 of OT. . . . He also had an assist, giving him a three-point outing. He’s got seven points in four games since being assigned by the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. . . . Seattle got a goal (8) and an assist from F Brad Lambert, who has 16 points in 10 games since the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets sent him to the Thunderbirds. He has a goal in five straight games. . . . Tri-City F Jordan Gavin, who won’t turn 17 until Nov. 13, had a goal and two assists. He’s got 42 points, 15 of them goals, in 46 games. . . . D Lukas Dragicevic had two PP assists for the Americans. . . . Seattle (40-9-2) has won five in a row. It leads the Western Conference by six points over Portland. . . . Tri-City (25-20-7) has lost six in a row (0-4-2). It is tied with Everett for fourth in the conference. . . .

The Saskatoon Blades opened a 5-0 first-period lead en route to a 6-4 victory over the Royals in Victoria. . . . The Blades are 3-1-0 on their tour through the B.C. Division. They’ll head for home after facing the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C., tonight. . . . F Trevor Wong (20) scored two of those early goals — one on the PP and one while shorthanded — as the Blades struck five times in a span of 12:48. . . . F Egor Sidorov (33) had two goals and two assists for the Blades, with F Conner Roulette adding a goal (20) and two helpers. . . . F Jake Poole, the Royals’ leading scorer, had two goals (29) after not having played since Feb. 3. . . . Saskatoon (36-13-4) is second in the East Division, nine points behind Winnipeg. . . . Victoria (15-33-6) is ninth in the Western Conference. The Royals are three points out of a playoff spot and their next three games are against the conference-leading Seattle Thunderbirds. In their only meeting to date, Seattle put up a 3-0 shutout.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Josh Pillar of the Saskatoon Blades had his NHL rights dealt from the Minnesota Wild to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night. Pillar, who turned 21 on Feb. 14, is from Warman, Sask. He was a fourth-round pick by the Wild in the NHL’s 2021 draft. This season, he has four goals and eight assists in 12 games, but only returned to game action last night after being out since Nov. 26 with an undisclosed injury. . . .

The Moose Jaw Warriors honoured two former defencemen — Paul Dyck and Kevin Masters — this week by inducting them into the organizations Hall of Fame. . . . Dyck played from 1989-91; Masters from 1988-92. . . . They were saluted at a dinner on Thursday night and then were honoured Friday night as the Warriors played host to the Winnipeg Ice. . . . Brent Parker, who as the general manager of the Regina Pats may have tossed more than a little gasoline onto what was a fierce rivalry back in the day, was in attendance. In fact, he won the 50-50 draw and immediately gave half of it to the Warriors’ education fund. . . . I have it on good authority that there more than a few laughs were heard when Parker was announced as the winner. . . .

The Portland Winterhawks will add F Randy Heath, F Cam Neely, F Grant Sasser and F Ken Yaremchuk to their Hall of Fame on March 18. All four played on the 1983-champion Winterhawks. . . . Portland also will retire Neely’s No. 21. That will be the first number to have been retired by the Winterhawks. . . . The Seattle Thunderbirds are scheduled to provide the opposition on March 18.

Jelly

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——

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Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

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——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Water

Remembering 1976 . . . when Pats and Cougars met in first round of playoffs . . .

What follows for your reading enjoyment is another episode from the WHL’s past. This memory begins with a decision by the WHL’s board of governors to change the playoff format in mid-season strictly for financial reasons. . . . But when you look at the first-round playoff matchups they ended up with, you are free to wonder if they really had thought things through. . . . Anyway, here you go. Thanks to Al Dumba and Norm Fong for their time, even if it was almost three years ago!

——

The Western Canada Hockey League’s 1975-76 season was more than half over when its president, Ed Chynoweth, announced a change to the playoff format.

On Jan. 15, 1976, during the league’s all-star festivities in Lethbridge, Chynoweth revealed that there would be 10 teams advancing to the playoffs, up from eight the previous season.

“We added the two teams simply for financial reasons,” Chynoweth explained in his usual blunt manner.

At the time, the 12-team WCHL was split into two divisions — Eastern and WCHLWestern. The Saskatoon Blades, Brandon Wheat Kings, Lethbridge Broncos, Winnipeg Clubs, Regina Pats and Flin Flon Bombers finished one through six in the east; in the west, it was, in order, the New Westminster Bruins, Kamloops Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers, Victoria Cougars, Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Centennials.

The teams voted 8-4 for the new playoff format that called for the teams to be seeded one through 10 according to regular-season points, with the matchups to be 1 vs. 6, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 8, 4 vs. 9, and 5 vs. 10.

Brandon, Saskatoon, Victoria and Winnipeg, four teams on the league’s geographic edges, voted against the format.

“I feel it wasn’t done for the good of the league,” Gerry Brisson, Winnipeg’s owner, general manager and head coach, told Bruce Penton of the Brandon Sun. “It was done purely for selfish motives. Nobody wants to play New Westminster.

“All we’re doing is making the airlines a lot of money.”

He was right about that.

Under the new format, Flin Flon and Calgary didn’t make the playoffs, and what they called a “preliminary round” would feature the Medicine Hat Tigers against the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Victoria Cougars versus the Regina Pats. In the second round, the New Westminster Bruins faced the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Saskatoon Blades met the Lethbridge Broncos, the Kamloops Chiefs went against the Winnipeg Clubs and Victoria met Medicine Hat.

The Blades advanced and had to go against Kamloops in one semifinal, with New Westminster and Victoria meeting in the other. In the final, New Westminster took out Saskatoon, 4-2 with one tie.

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Regina was locked into that 10th spot. But either Victoria or Brandon still could wind up fifth.

For that to happen, the Wheat Kings needed to win their final game, while the Cougars lost twice.

“If I was forced to make a choice between the two,” Regina coach Bob Turner Reginatold the Regina Leader-Post, “my preference would be Brandon as far as the travelling goes. It’s closer and a series with the Wheat Kings would be easier on the club’s pocket book.”

On Friday, March 26, the Cougars settled the issue with a 7-6 victory in Lethbridge. That same night, the Wheat Kings lost 5-4 to host Winnipeg.

After winning in Lethbridge, the Cougars scurried home to Victoria where they dumped the Tigers, 8-4, on Saturday night.

After losing 9-1 in Saskatoon on Friday, the Pats bussed home and flew to Victoria on Saturday night. Game 1 of the eight-point series was scheduled for Sunday evening.

——

The series:

Game 1 — Sunday, March 28, Regina 1 at Victoria 3.

Game 2 — Tuesday, March 30, Regina 2 at Victoria 5.

Game 3 — Wednesday, March 31, Victoria 4 at Regina 4.

Game 4 — Friday, April 2, at Victoria 5 at Regina 4.

Game 5 — Saturday, April 3, Victoria 4 at Regina 6.

Game 6 — Sunday, April 4, at Regina 3 at Victoria 9.

(Victoria won eight-point series, 9-3)

——

The series schedule — it was an eight-point series, meaning there wouldn’t be any overtime if the score was tied after three periods — called for the teams to play six games in eight nights, including twice going back-to-back IN DIFFERENT CITIES. By highway and ferry, the two cities are more than 1,800 km apart; by air, they are separated by 1,370 km.

“We flew, which really helped,” Al Dumba, a forward on that Regina team, remembered 44 years later.

Perhaps it was a sign of the times that Dumba doesn’t remember even one player complaining about the schedule or the back-to-back games in different cities.

To get to Victoria for Game 1, the Pats flew commercial to Vancouver and then took “a small prop” to Victoria, Dumba recalled.

When the Pats’ flight landed in Victoria in the wee hours of March 28, “there was nobody to greet them at the airport, not even a night watchman,” Dave Senick wrote in The Leader-Post. “The Cougars’ team bus eventually picked up the members of the Regina squad, but that was after a wait of nearly an hour.”

The Cougars opened by holding serve at home, winning 3-1 and, after a day off, 5-2.

After Game 2, both teams boarded the same flight and headed to Regina, changing planes in Calgary along the way.

Dumba said he won’t ever forget that flight.

“On the way back to Regina . . . when we changed planes in Calgary . . . my first cousin’s husband was our pilot,” Dumba said. “We talked as we boarded in Calgary and later he called me up to the cockpit. I flew to Regina with him in the cockpit.”

Dumba, laughing, recalls Turner, the Pats’ coach, and Del Wilson, the president and general manager, along with the Cougars all “wondering why I went up to the cockpit. That was an experience I will never forget.”

The next night, March 31, a late third-period goal gave the Cougars a 4-4 tie in Regina.

Dumba had suffered a bruised hip in the last regular-season game in Saskatoon. He tried to play through it in Victoria and only made it worse. So he didn’t play in the tie, but was back for Game 4.

“The doctor gave me some pills and I was cured in a day,” he said with a laugh. “I can’t imagine what it was.”

After a day off, the Cougars won Game 4, 5-4, erasing a 3-0 deficit in the process. That left Victoria with a 7-1 series lead, meaning a tie in Game 5 would end it.

A fan might have expected the Pats to fold like a cardboard suitcase in a thunder storm the next night. After all, a Regina victory would force a sixth game in Victoria the following night, meaning even more travel. Instead, the Pats got three goals from Jon Hammond, the last one into an empty net, as they won, 6-4, despite trailing 2-0 just six minutes into the first period. Regina tied it 2-2 before the period ended and then scored the only three goals of the second period.

“We were up after two periods,” Dumba remembered, “and we knew Del Wilson did not want to fly us back to Victoria for Game 6. Gerry (Bucky) Minor was a rookie. He stood up after the second and started hollering ‘Let’s go back.’ ”

Norm Fong, the Pats’ trainer/equipment manager who would go on to a lengthy career with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, recalls that intermission.

“I remember in between periods of that fifth game, the players asked everybody to leave and they took a vote,” he said. “They were actually voting on whether they wanted to go ahead and throw this game or come back and try to win it.”

Fong remembers talking with Drew Callander, a forward on that Regina team, in later years.

“Drew said he couldn’t remember who stood up, (but) he remembered somebody saying, ‘What do you guys think?’ Drew said he definitely remembers the team voting and saying, ‘Let’s go and win this because that would mean they would have to spend some money.’ ”

Fong added: “Del and Bob were really good guys, but they were tight.”

As the players were voting, Fong said it was all he “could do not to burst out laughing because I knew what they were doing. It was really funny. They were actually voting if they were going to try and win or just throw in the towel.

“Everyone knew Del was cheap, so we went out and won the game.”

In fairness to Wilson, who died on Nov. 3, 2016, there likely wasn’t an owner in the junior game who would have wanted to fork out that kind of money, knowing that his team likely was only going to be alive for one more game.

And that’s what happened.

The next night, the Cougars, back at home, put up a 9-3 victory, behind four goals and two assists from Mike Will, and the series was over.

“They had a good team,” Dumba said. “(Al) Hill, Will and (Jeff) McDill was a great line.”

The Cougars also had winger Archie Henderson, who spent a lot of the 1975-76 season in Chynoweth’s bad books and would find himself facing charges — later dismissed — after a donnybrook against the Blades in Saskatoon.

“Archie was tough, but a nice guy,” Dumba said. “He is still a friend. We went to (the Washington) Capitals’ camp together and have touched base over the years a few times.”

But back to the end of Game 6 . . .

“It was my 19-year-old season and my draft year,” Dumba said, “so a few of us knew we wouldn’t be back. We spent a night in Victoria and then the next night in Vancouver before we got home. So we partied a little to end the season.

“It was a long time ago but they are good memories.”

WHL hits four Warriors with indefinite suspensions; investigation begins . . . Bedard rolls to five-point night . . . Seattle goes into Portland and posts shutout

The WHL announced Saturday afternoon that four players off the Moose Jaw WHLWarriors’ roster “have been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into possible violations of team rules and the WHL Standard of Conduct policies.”

The WHL made the announcement in a one-paragraph statement posted on its website.

The suspended players are D Marek Howell, 16, of Calgary; F Lynden Lakovic, 16, of West Kelowna, B.C.; G Connor Ungar, 21, of Calgary; and D Maximus Wanner, 19, of Estevan, Sask.

All four played in the Warriors’ 2-1 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary on Feb. 5. WarriorsNewAll four were scratched from a 6-3 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday. Those were the Warriors’ last games before Saturday night when they met the Pats in Regina.

The announcement from the WHL comes with the WHL’s board of governors holding its annual Super Bowl meeting in Las Vegas. Every year, rather than hold the meeting in a WHL city, the governors choose to gather in Las Vegas. Such was the case again this weekend.

When asked about the situation by Randy Palmer of moosejawtoday.com on Saturday afternoon, Jason Ripplinger, the Warriors’ general manager, chose not to comment, saying “the WHL has advised us and we’re not making a comment at this time.”

Palmer added:

“The WHL Standard of Conduct covers a number of issues that have been a concern for the league in recent years, including racial and derogatory comments, bullying and harassment, social media and networking conduct, personal conduct detrimental to the WHL and diversity and inclusion so participants are respected, valued and welcomed at all times.

“The Standard of Conduct states that all participants are obligated to report violations, and all participants are required to co-operate with investigations initiated by the WHL.”

Howell, the 16th overall selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft, had one goal and three assists in 44 games. He got into five games last season, picking up a goal and an assist.

Lakovic, a freshman, was a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft. He had two goals and five assists in 37 games.

Ungar, who was acquired from the Red Deer Rebels on May 19, was having a terrific season. In 38 appearances, he was 26-7-3, 2.58, .925. He is tied for second in victories and leads the WHL in save percentage.

Wanner was a seventh-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2021 draft. He signed a three-year entry-level contract in September. This season, he had eight goals and 22 assists in 44 games. In 121 career regular-season games, all with Moose Jaw, he had 14 goals and 44 assists.

The Warriors had three new faces in their lineup for a Saturday game in Regina — F Owen Berge of the U18 Northern Alberta Xtreme; G Justen Maric from the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars; and D Brady Ness of the U18AAA Edmonton Jr. Oilers. The Pats won the game, 8-4.

Biology

Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with some pertinent thoughts on today’s Super Bowl:

“Yes, this game will be the culmination of the 2022 NFL season and indeed the NFL season is the biggest deal of all in US sports. But the coverage is once again hugely overblown and obfuscates for some people that this is still at its core a freaking football game. It is not a cataclysmic event; it is not the rapture anticipated by many of the folks who will put the imminence of said rapture on hold for about four hours while they watch the game; it is a football game. It is a big deal in the world of professional football in the US to be sure; simultaneously, it is an event of no consequence in the world of people trying to dig their way out of devastating earthquakes in the Middle East today. As we all get ready to enjoy the biggest game of the season, please remember to keep it in perspective: It’s a football game, Folks!”

More of his observations are right here.

The Regina Pats played in front of the third straight sellout crowd (6,499) at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night. There isn’t any doubt that Pats F Connor ReginaBedard is the attraction, especially since he returned from the World Junior Championship where he led Team Canada to the gold medal. . . . But exactly what has he been worth to the WHL? . . . From a story by Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post: “Cliff Mander, a Vancouver-based agent with CKM Sports Management, told CJME/CKOM that Bedard’s estimated value to the league is $1.5 million. . . . Interviewed by CTV Saskatoon’s Tyler Barrow, Edwards School of Business dean Keith Willoughby said that Bedard’s financial impact ‘is in the millions of dollars.’ ” . . . Gotta think some of the WHL pooh-bahs had some Beard-related funds in their jeans as they enjoy Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas. . . . Vanstone’s latest Beard-related story is right here.

Olives

SATURDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

Playing in front of a third straight sellout crowd (6,499), the host Regina Pats got three goals and two assists from F Connor Bedard en route to an 8-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . F Martin Rysavy (6) got Moose Jaw into a 4-4 tie at 15:15 of the second period. . . . Regina F Borya Valis (18) put the Pats back in the lead at 18:08. Valis also had two assists. . . . Bedard completed his hat trick with goals at 3:56 and 11:17, and F Tanner Howe (24) finished the scoring at 17:42. . . . Bedard now has a WHL-leading 48 goals. He has five three-goal games and a four-goal outing this season. He has scored five points in a game on five occasions and also has a six-pointer to his credit. . . . Bedard leads the WHL with 96 points in 39 games. He finished last season with 51 goals and 49 assists in 62 games. Bedard won’t turn 18 until July 17. . . . F Brayden Yager had a goal (22) and an assist for Moose Jaw, the goal, at 14:50 of the first period, opening the scoring. . . . Regina (25-22-3) is tied with the Calgary Hitmen for sixth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Moose Jaw (33-17-3) had won its past three games. The Warriors are fourth in the conference, three points behind the Saskatoon Blades. . . .

In Brandon, the Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Calgary Hitmen, 3-2. . . . F Brett Hyland (24) got Brandon into a 2-2 tie at 2:23 of the third period and F Dawson Pasternak (9) got what proved to be the winner at 4:56. . . . Hyland and Pasternak each had an assist. . . . F Chase Valliant scored his first WHL goal for the Hitmen, opening the scoring at 3:39 of the first period. A 16-year-old from Surrey, B.C., he was playing in his seventh game this season. . . . Brandon (21-22-7) has won two in a row. The Wheat Kings are 10th in the Eastern Conference, three points from a playoff spot. . . . Calgary (23-22-7) has lost nine straight (0-6-3). The Hitmen and Regina Pats are tied for sixth in the conference. . . .

F Austin Roest scored the only goal of a shootout to give the Everett Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs. . . . Roest was the fifth shooter in the circus. . . . D Brayden Crampton (2) gave Spokane a 1-0 lead at 7:11 of the first period. . . . F Jackson Berezowski (35) tied it at 7:08 of the third. . . . G Tim Metzger stopped 32 shots through OT for the Silvertips, while Spokane’s Cooper Michaluk blocked 36. . . . Everett (27-22-2) has points in five straight (4-0-1). It is tied with the Tri-City Americans for fourth in the Western Conference. . . . Spokane (9-35-6) has lost nine in a row (0-6-3). . . .

F Matthew Seminoff opened and closed the scoring as his Kamloops Blazers got past the visiting Prince George Cougars, 5-4. . . . Seminoff, who also had an assist, got his 21st goal at 4:39 of the first period, for a 1-0 lead. He snapped a 4-4 tie at 19:52 of the third period. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer (31) had pulled the visitors into that tie at 12:22 of the third period. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven ran his point streak to 34 games with three assists. He now has 76 points, 49 of them assists, in 34 games. Yes, he has at least one point in each game he has played this season. . . . The Blazers also got three assists from D Olen Zellweger. He has seven goals and 16 assists in 13 games since the Blazers acquired him from the Everett  Silvertips. . . . F Ryan Hofer, who also came to Kamloops in that deal, gave the Blazers a 4-3 lead with his 33rd goal, on a PP, at 8:22 of the third period. However, he got tossed with a headshot major and game misconduct at 12:39 of the third period. . . . F Ondrej Becher (11) had two goals and an assist for the Cougars. . . . G Matthew Kieper earned the victory with 39 saves. . . . F Jakob Demek took the pregame warmup with the Blazers, but didn’t play in the game. He was acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings earlier this season, but has yet to play after undergoing shoulder surgery after last summer’s World Junior Championship. . . . Kamloops (33-10-6) has won six straight. It will finish atop the B.C. Division. . . . The Cougars (24-22-4) had a five-game winning streak snapped. They are sixth in the Western Conference. . . .

F Jordan Keller scored twice to help the visiting Saskatoon Blades to a 4-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Keller, the son of Kamloops Blazers assistant coach Aaron Keller, enjoyed the third two-goal game of his freshman season. . . . F Jayden Wiens, in his second game since Dec. 10, scored once and added two assists. . . . Wiens (11) broke a 2-2 tie with a PP goal at 8:36 of the third period. . . . Keller (11) added insurance, on a PP, at 14:15. . . . F Trevor Wong, who began his WHL career with the Rockets, drew two assists for the Blades. . . . F Gabriel Szturc (17), a native of Czechia, scored twice with his parents in the stands. . . . Saskatoon finished with a 39-18 shot advantage. . . . After Kelowna was beaten, 9-2, by the visiting Prince George Cougars on Friday, Regan Bartel, the Rockets’ radio voice, updated the injury situation, noting that freshman F Logan Peskett didn’t return after a first-period fight and F Will Munro, another freshman, left after absorbing an early hit. As well, “Andrew Cristall missed his 13th straight game with injury (and) Ty Hurley missed his 12th, while Max Graham is still no less than three weeks away from getting back in the lineup.” All five sat out Saturday’s game, too, as did D John Babcock and D Marek Rocak, both of whom also are injured. . . . The Blades remain without injured forwards Josh Pillar, Justin Lies, Tyler Parr and Misha Volotovskii. . . . Pillar is on the B.C. trek and skating with the Blades so would seem close to a return. . . . Saskatoon (34-13-4) is 1-1-0 in the B.C. Division. The Blades are third in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Kelowna (17-30-3) has lost four in a row. It holds down eight in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Victoris Royals. . . .

F Shane Smith scored in a shootout to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Medicine Hat. . . . The Hurricanes had beaten the Tigers, 3-0, in Lethbridge on Friday night. . . . The Tigers took a 2-1 lead into the second period. . . . F Joe Arntsen (9) got Lethbridge into a 2-2 tie with a PP goal at 13:07 of the second. . . . Arntsen also drew an assist on F Jett Jones’ 18th goal of the season in the first period. . . . D Rhett Parsons (4) and F Brendan Lee (21) also scored for the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat (22-22-8) moved into eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Regina Pats and Calgary Hitmen, and one ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Lethbridge (28-18-6) is fifth in the conference. . . .

G Tomas Milic stopped 36 shots to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-0 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . The battle of Western Conference leaders drew an announced attendance of 8,057, the second- largest crowd in Portland this season. The same two teams drew 9,863 fans on Dec. 10. The Winterhawks won that one, 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Milic has two shutouts this season and six in his career. . . . D Kevin Korchinski’s seventh goal, on a PP at 11:58 of the second period, stood up as the winner. . . . F Brad Lambert had a goal (6) and an assist. . . . Seattle (38-9-2) has won three in a row and now leads the conference by two points over Portland (36-11-4). . . . Portland is 4-3-0 in the season series; Seattle is 3-3-1. . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders surrendered a goal 34 seconds into the game, then scored the last four goals to beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos, 4-1. . . . One night earlier, the Broncos had beaten the Raiders, 4-0, in Swift  Current. . . . Last night, F Harrison Lodewyk (6) pulled the Raiders even at 10:13 of the first period. . . . F Ryder Ritchie (14) got the eventual winner at 4:04 of the second. . . . The Raiders got a goal (18) and two assists from F Keaton Sorensen. . . . G Max Hildebrand got the victory with 33 stops. . . . Prince Albert lost F Hayden Pakkala to a boarding major and game misconduct at 18:09 of the first period. . . . Prince Albert (20-28-3) had lost its previous three games. It is nine points from a playoff spot. . . . Swift Current (24-22-3) had won two straight. It is ninth in the Eastern Conference, one point out of eighth. . . .

F Frantisek Formanek scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give the Red Deer Rebels a 2-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash. . . . F Adam Mechura put Tri-City ahead in the shootout’s second round, but Red Deer F Ben King quickly tied it. . . . The Rebels had taken a 1-0 lead on F Jace Isley’s 24th goal, shorthanded, just 44 seconds into the second period. . . . Mechura (17) tied it at 9:02 of the second. . . . Red Deer (36-12-4) went 3-2-0 on its U.S. Division swing. It leads the Central Division by 14 points. . . . Tri-City (25-19-6) has lost three in a row (0-2-1), but has moved into a tie with the Everett Silvertips for fourth in the Western Conference. . . .

The Victoria Royals counted the game’s last four goals to beat the Vancouver Giants, 6-2, in Langley, B.C. . . . F Teydon Trembecky (8) gave the visitors a 3-2 lead at 18:34 of the second period. . . . D Justin Kipkie (5) added insurance at 4:49 of the third. . . . Victoria F Tanner Scott (10) scored the game’s first and last goals. He also had an assist. . . . The Royals lost F Luke Rybinski to a headshot major and game misconduct at 9:43 of the second period. . . . The Giants lost F Jaden Lipinski to a spearing major and game misconduct at 10:11 of the third. . . . F Ty Thorpe, the Giants’ leading scorer, was among their scratches. . . . The Royals remains without F Jake Poole, their top scorer, and D Gannon Laroque. . . . Victoria (15-32-6) had lost its previous five games (0-4-1). It is ninth in the Western Conference, one point behind the Kelowna Rockets, who hold three games in hand. . . . The seventh-place Giants (20-25-6) had won their previous two games. . . .

The Winnipeg Ice struck for five first-period goals and went on to defeat the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-1. . . . F Owen Pederson (24) scored twice for the Ice, with D Carson Lambos adding a goal (8) and two assists. . . . This was the first time these teams met since last spring’s Eastern Conference final. The Oil Kings won that series en route to winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup. . . . The Ice (40-7-1) has won three straight. It leads the Eastern Conference by five points over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Edmonton (8-41-3) has lost four in a row.

Latte

JUST NOTES:

Brad Lauer, a former WHL player and coach, now is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. But he has had to step back from his role a bit as he deals with a herniated disc in his back. Rick Bowness, the Jets’ head coach, told reporters on Saturday that Lauer “is on IR from a coaching perspective.” . . . Lauer was the head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings last season as they won the WHL championship. . . .

The U of Calgary Dinos men’s hockey team will go into the playoffs on a 23-game winning streak after completing the regular season with a 6-3 victory over the MacEwan Griffins in Calgary on Saturday. . . . The Dinos finished 25-3, setting program records for victories (25) and points (50).

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Vegan

Bedard streaks end, as Pats win in Lethbridge . . . Hofer fills hat for Blazers . . . Suchanek, Americans keep on rolling

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats had his goal and point streaks snapped on Friday night in Lethbridge, but you know that won’t matter to him because his side beat the Hurricanes, 3-2. . . . Bedard now has been blanked in two games this season — the season-opener and Friday’s game. In between, he put up 90 points in 35 games. . . . He leads the WHL in goals (44), assists (46) and points. . . . His goal-scoring streak was halted at 11 games. He scored 22 times in those 11 games. In fact, he also had 14 assists over that stretch. . . . You have to think he now is thinking about starting new streaks on Sunday in Medicine Hat against the Tigers. . . .

The longest ongoing point streak in the WHL now belongs to F Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers. He had one assist in a 6-4 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night as he ran that streak to 31 games. He has 68 points, including 26 goals, over that stretch. He has at least one point in all 30 games he has played this season.

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The Travellin’ Bedards packed them into the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge on ReginaFriday night, with 5,378 fans showing up to watch them post a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . According to the Enmax Centre website, it seats 5,479. . . . It was the Hurricanes’ largest crowd this season and came in their 26th home game. The announced attendance on Dec. 9, for a 5-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers, was 5,000. . . . On Tuesday, the Travellin’ Bedards had helped Red Deer set a single-game franchise record — 7,287 — as the Rebels won 6-5 in a shootout. . . . On Wednesday night, the Travellin’ Bedards beat the host Calgary Hitmen, 6-5 in a shootout, before 17,223 fans in the Saddledome, which has a capacity of 19,289. . . .

The Travellin’ Bedards move on to Medicine Hat for a Sunday game with the Tigers in the 7,000-seat Co-op Place. The Tigers are expected to experience their largest crowd since 5,947 showed up on Sept. 26, 2015 for the first game in the new building. The Tigers beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-3, that night. This season, the Tigers’ announced average attendance, through 22 homes games, is 2,207. . . . In anticipation of Sunday’s large gathering, the City of Medicine Hat has added free special bus service to Co-op Place. . . .

If the WHL playoffs started today, the Pats would be up against Red Deer in the first round. However, that could well change before the regular season ends. After Friday’s games, the Pats were seventh in the Eastern Conference, two points behind sixth-place Calgary and two ahead of the Swift Current Broncos.

Minivan

“An audit by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office of the Athletic Department at LSU,” writes Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, “discovered that the university accidentally over-paid head coach Brian Kelly by $1,001,368 in May and June of 2022. The overpayment was discovered in November and confirmed in December and arrangements have been made to recover the overpayments. There is no allegation of any sort of nefarious dooings here; it appears to have been a ‘paperwork error.’

“Here is my take on that situation: Wouldn’t it be great to be in a situation where your boss overpaid you by $1M and that mistaken overpayment did not jump out as a ‘WTF moment’ as you did whatever financial management you do?”

The other day I mentioned here about how former WHL player/GM/head coach Doug Sauter used to joke about having invented the curved goalie stick because it was easier to fish pucks out of the net with it.

Shortly thereafter, a friend sent me an obit for Don (Smokey) McLeod, who died on March 11, 2017. McLeod developed quite a following while with the WHA’s Calgary Cowboys for two seasons (1975-77). He was, according to the obit, “known for being a pioneer at playing the puck as a goaltender and one of the first netminders to use a curved stick.” . . . Mark Howe was an 18-year-old defenceman with the WHA-champion Houston Aeros in 1973-74 while McLeod was the No. 1 goaltender. “Everybody talks about how goalies like Marty Brodeur and Ron Hextall handled the puck,” Howe said, “but back in the ’70s, Smokey was every bit as good as those guys at it, and I don’t think he ever got the credit for it.” . . . McLeod was from Trail, B.C., which is how he got his nickname. He won the Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the spring of 1966.

Irony

FRIDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

The Winnipeg Ice scored the game’s last two goals to beat the Wheat Kings, 7-6 in OT, in Brandon. . . . F Connor McClennon (27), who scored the game’s first goal, got the winner at 2:01 of OT. . . . F Evan Friesen (7) had pulled the Ice into a 6-6 tie at 17:05 of the third period. . . . Winnipeg (37-6-1) leads the Eastern Conference by five points over the idle Red Deer Rebels. The Ice, which has won four in a row, still holds three games in hand. . . . Brandon (19-21-7) has lost three in a row (0-1-2) and is four points out of a playoff spot. . . .

G Jackson Unger turned aside 42 shots to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to 4-1 victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . The Warriors scored the game’s first four goals, taking a 4-0 lead at 2:18 of the second period. . . . D Denton Mateychuk drew an assist on each of the first two goals. . . . Edmonton had a 43-27 edge in shots. . . . Moose Jaw (31-16-3) is third in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Red Deer. . . . The defending-champion Oil Kings (7-37-3) won’t be in the playoffs. . . . The Oil Kings will be in Calgary this afternoon to face the Hitmen, who didn’t play last night. . . .

F Zack Stringer, playing in his first game since Jan. 20, broke a 2-2 tie at 5:44 of the third period to give the visiting Regina Pats a 3-2 victory over his hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Stringer, who didn’t start his season until Dec. 16 because of a torn Achilles tendon, had missed the Pats’ previous four games. . . . His second career game-winner was his third goal this season and came in his 118th regular-season game, the first 79 of which were played with the Hurricanes. . . . Regina (24-21-3) is seventh in the Eastern Conference, two points out of sixth and two from eighth. The Pats have points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Lethbridge (27-17-5) is in fifth spot. . . .

In Kamloops, the Blazers scored the game’s last three goals to beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-4. . . . The Blazers opened up an early 2-0 lead, but had to overcome 3-2 and 4-3 deficits. . . . F Ryan Hofer led the Blazers with three goals and an assist. His third goal, No. 30 on the season, broke a 4-4 tie at 8:47 of the third period. . . . According to the Blazers, GM/head coach Shaun Clouston now has 527 coaching victories, good for eighth on the all-time list. . . . Kamloops (29-10-6) will finish atop the B.C. Division. It is eight points behind the Western Conference-leading Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Raiders (19-26-3) had won four in a row, including three straight in the B.C. Division. They are eight points from a playoff spot. . . .

The Kelowna Rockets erased an early 2-0 deficit with five straight goals en route to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . F Gabriel Szturc (13) got the Rockets into a 3-2 lead 57 seconds into the second period. . . . F Carson Golder (20) stretched the lead at 8:35, and D Jackson DeSouza (6) got what proved the winner at 6:53 of the third. . . . The Giants made it interesting with two third-period goals, the last one, a shorthanded effort from F Jaden Lipinski (16), came at 18:38. . . . Kelowna (16-26-3) is eighth in the Western Conference, seven points behind Vancouver (18-23-6) and two ahead of Victoria. . . .

D Hudson Thornton (12), F Riley Heidt (20) and F Chase Wheatcroft (29) each had a goal and two assists as the Prince George Cougars dumped the visiting Victoria Royals, 8-1. . . . They’ll complete the doubleheader tonight in Prince George. . . . The Cougars had a 40-25 edge in shots, including 18-7 in the second period and 10-2 in the third. . . . The Cougars (20-21-4) are sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind Everett. . . . Victoria (14-30-5) is ninth, four points behind Kelowna. . . .

F Brad Lambert scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-5 OT victory over the Everett Silvertips in Kent, Wash. . . . There’ll be a rematch tonight in Everett. . . . Lambert’s second goal of the game and third of the season won it just 54 seconds into OT. He’s got six points in four games with Seattle. . . . D Kevin Korchinski scored his sixth goal and added three assists for Seattle. . . . F Jackson Berezowski scored twice for Everett, giving him a franchise-record 114 career regular-season goals. He had been sharing the record with F Patrick Bajkov (2013-18). . . . Seattle (35-8-2) moved back into first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Portland. Although it was a foregone conclusion, Seattle became the first WHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season. . . . Everett (23-23-1) is fifth in the conference, three points ahead of Prince George. . . .

The Swift Current Broncos opened a 3-0 lead and went on to a 3-1 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . The visitors took control with PP goals from F Connor Hvidston (12) and F Ty Coupland (1) in the first period. . . . Coupland, from North Vancouver, was playing in his second WHL game. He was a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2022 draft. . . . The Broncos were 2-for-8 on the PP. . . . Swift Current (23-21-3) is eighth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Regina and three ahead of Medicine Hat. The Broncos had lost their previous four games (0-3-1). . . . Spokane (9-33-4) has lost five in a row (0-4-1) and is 13 points from a playoff spot. . . .

The Tri-City Americans scored the game’s last six goals, four of them in the third period, in beating the Portland Winterhawks, 6-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . They’ll stage a rematch tonight in Portland. . . . Tri-City G Tomas Suchanek stopped 28 shots in winning his 20th game this season. His last 12 decisions have all been victories. . . . The Americans got a goal and two assists from each of F Jordan Gavin (14) and F Jake Sloan (18). . . . The Winterhawks were without F Chaz Lucius for a second straight game. . . . The Americans (25-16-5) have points in 13 straight (10-0-3). They are a comfortable fourth in the Western Conference. . . . Portland (34-10-3) is one point behind conference-leading Seattle.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Medicine Hat Tigers have added F Gavin McKenna to their roster for weekend games against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight and the visiting Regina Pats on Sunday. McKenna, who turned 15 on Dec. 20, is from Whitehorse. He was the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft. McKenna has played nine games with the Tigers this season and has earned six assist, four of them coming in his first WHL game. . . . This season, he has 69 points, including 34 goals in 24 games with the SAHA U18 prep team. . . .

The Red Deer Rebels revealed Friday that F Kalan Lind will be out “week-to-week” with an undisclosed injury. Lind, who turned 18 on Jan. 25, is from Shaunavon, Sask. He has 42 points, 15 of them goals, in 41 games, after finishing last season with 38 points, including 20 goals, in 61 games. He was the sixth pick in the WHL’s 2020 draft. . . . The Rebels being a U.S. Division tour tonight in Spokane.

AirSpace

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

WendyCity

Bedard almost fills Saddledome; Pats escape with shootout victory . . . Sydor, Ernst spark Blazers . . . Raiders enjoying B.C. tour

——

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

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.

——

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.

CandyCanes

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 OHLthe 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.

Spackle

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Physical

Ex-WHL goalie up for a Juno . . . Blades win with Wright stuff . . . Bedard draws record crowd in Red Deer; Rebels win in OT

Name the former WHL goaltender who was among the Juno Award nominees that were announced on Tuesday? . . . That would be James Priestner, who played four seasons (2007-2010) in the WHL, doing time with the Kamloops Blazers, Brandon Wheat Kings and Prince George Cougars. . . . These days, Priestner is the leader of the Vancouver-based Rare Americans, a quartet that includes guitarists Lubo Ivan and Jan Cajka, and drummer Duran Ritz. . . . The Rare Americans are one of five Juno nominees as the Breakthrough Group of the Year. If you’re not aware, these are Canada’s music awards. . . . From the Rare Americans’ website: “Since their debut in 2018, the band has amassed over 500M global streams, 2+M social media followers, 1.3M Spotify monthly listeners and 800k YT subscribers, a 2020 Juno for their song ‘Brittle Bones Nicky’, a song featured in Warner’s Scoob! The Movie soundtrack, and a spot on Billboard Top 100 charts for their album RA2. They completely sold out their Spring 2022 US tour and nearly sold out their first Europe tour in June 2022, including performing at one of Europe’s premier festivals — PINK POP, headlined by Imagine Dragons, Metallica, Twenty one Pilots.”

Straight ahead for the Rare Americans is their Milk and Honey Tour. It opens on March 3 in Edmonton and runs through April 30 in Dublin, Ireland. They’ll make six stops in Canada and 20 overseas. They’ll be between Calgary (March 4) and Vancouver (March 18) dates when the Junos are handed out in Vancouver on March 13.

Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with some NFL-related numbers: “NFL regular season games accounted for 47 of the Top 50 telecasts from September 2022 — the start of the NFL regular season — through the end of 2022. And what were the other three TV shows that cracked that Top 50 List? . . . Ohio St./Georgia in the CFP Semi-Finals (ranked 26th); Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (ranked 27th); and Michigan/TCU in the CFP semifinals (ranked 30th).”

He added this, too: “In the first round of the playoffs, the Giants/Vikes game drew 33 million viewers while the smallest audience for one of those wild-card games was the Jags/Chargers game with a mere 22 million viewers.  Last weekend, the Eagles/Niners audience was 47.5 million and the Chiefs/Bengals audience was 53.1 million viewers.”

Yes, the NFL is a TV juggernaut.

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JUST NOTES — Wanting to go to Scottsdale, Ariz., for the Super Bowl? The average price per ticket on Stub Hub as of Tuesday morning was US$7,573. . . . The Montreal Canadiens wore those horrible baby blues last night as they entertained the Ottawa Senators. The Habs lost, 5-4, and now are 0-6-1 in those uniforms, while being outscored 31-14.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS — The OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs are going to play out of a 3,000-seat arena in Brantford for at least the next two seasons (2023-25). That’s because the 19,000-seat FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton will be undergoing some serious renovations. The OHL last had a team in Brantford with the Alexanders from 1978-84. . . .

The Spokane Chiefs are holding Mike Babcock Bobblehead Night when they entertain the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. The first 2,000 fans through the gates will get a bobblehead. Babcock was the Chiefs’ head coach for six seasons (1994-2000). He is second in franchise history in regular-season games coached (425) and victories (223). Don Nachbaur is No. 1 in both — 496 and 261.

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TUESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

D Charlie Wright’s third goal of the season, just 15 seconds into OT, gave the Saskatoon Blades a 2-1 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Wright, 19, is in his fourth season with the Blades. He went into the game with four goals — none of them game-winners — in 164 regular-season games. . . . Wright made a rink-length dash down the left wing, cut around a defender and stuffed home the winner. . . . F Rylen Roersma (12) gave Brandon a 1-0 lead at 0:56 of the second period. . . . Saskatoon F Brandon Lisowsky (25) tied it on a PP at 12:17 of the third. . . . F Trevor Wong had two assists. . . . Saskatoon (30-11-4) moved into third in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the idle Moose Jaw Warriors. The Blades have three games in hand. . . . Brandon (19-21-6) is 10th, four points from a playoff spot. . . . The Wheat Kings were 8-15-2 when they fired head coach Don MacGillivray on Nov. 28. They are 11-6-4 since general manager Marty Murray went behind the bench. . . .

The Travellin’ Bedards stopped off in Red Deer long enough to help the Rebels set a single-game franchise attendance record and the 7,287 fans in attendance saw quite a game. . . . The Rebels, who led 2-0 before the game was three minutes old, had to come back with the game’s last two goals before they were able to beat the Regina Pats, 6-5, in OT. . . . F Ben King (9) scored twice for the Rebels, his second goal tying the game, 5-5, at 6:50 of the third period. . . . F Jhett Larson (12) won it at 2:16 of OT. . . . F Connor Bedard didn’t disappoint the fans as he scored once and added two assists. He ran his goal-scoring streak to 10 games (he has 21 in that stretch) and his point streak to 34. He leads the WHL in goals (43), assists (45) and points (88). . . . Regina also got four assists from F Tanner Howe, who has 53 points, 30 of them assists, in 44 games. He turned 17 on Nov. 28. . . . The Rebels (33-10-4) are second in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Winnipeg Ice. However, the Ice now has five games in hand. . . . Regina (22-21-3) is tied for seventh with the Swift Current Broncos, five points behind the Calgary Hitmen and one ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Rebels’ single-game attendance record had been 7,208 from a March 19, 2016 game in which the Rebels beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-2. That was the final game of the 2015-16 regular season. . . . The Travellin’ Bedards journey on to Calgary for a clash with the Hitmen tonight. The Saddledome’s capacity is 19,289. There were 90 unsold tickets as of Tuesday evening. . . . According to the 2021-22 WHL Guide and Record Book, the WHL’s single-game attendance record for an indoor game is 19,305. It was set on March 16, 2008 as the host Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice (hey, remember them?), 6-1. . . . You may recall that the Pats and Hitmen drew 20,888 to McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Feb. 21, 2011, a game that Regina won, 3-2. . . .

F Luca Ciona, named team captain earlier in the day, scored twice to help the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos in Kent, Wash. . . . Ciona, who has 21 goals, gave his guys a 2-1 lead at 19:11 of the first period and upped that to 3-1 at 9:04 of the second. . . . F Jared Davidson (27) had Seattle’s other two goals, including an empty-netter. He also had an assist. . . . Seattle (34-8-2) closed to within a point of the Western Conference-leading Portland Winterhawks. . . . Swift Current, which is 0-2-1 in the U.S., is tied with the Regina Pats for seventh in the Eastern Conference. . . . F Brad Lambert had one assist in his return to Seattle’s lineup after not playing since Jan. 14. He was sorting out some visa-related issues after being assigned to the Thunderbirds by the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. He had been with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. This was Lambert’s third game with Seattle; he missed four games. . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders erased an early 1-0 deficit with five straight goals en route to a 6-3 victor over the Royals in Victoria. . . . F Jake Poole, who also had an assist, gave the home side a 1-0 lead with his 27th goal at 2:38 of the first period. . . . The Raiders, now 2-0-0 on their B.C. tour, responded with two goals before the period ended and three more in the second. . . . D Landon Kosior led the visitors with a goal, his 13th coming shorthanded, and three assists. . . . F Evan Herman (11) had two goals for the Raiders, including the empty-netter. . . . The Raiders (18-25-3) have won three in a row and are seven points from a playoff spot. . . . The Royals (14-29-5) are tied with the Kelowna Rockets for the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. Kelowna holds four games in hand.

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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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