The Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades have qualified for the WHL playoffs and have playoff tickets/packages available for purchase.
It’s interesting to see the different approaches these organizations have taken.
The Blades (34-23-4) are fifth in the Eastern Conference and appear headed for 
a first-round confrontation with the Moose Jaw Warriors (34-22-5). The Warriors, who hold a three-point edge, are scheduled to be in Saskatoon on Friday to conclude the season series. The Blades are 5-2-0; the Warriors, who beat the visiting Blades 7-0 on Saturday, are 2-4-1.
Saskatoon has made available what it calls a Playoff Pass. One adult Playoff Pass sells for $79. “This will guarantee your seat through the entire post-season, no matter how far we make it,” reads a news release on the Blades’ website. “That means you could enjoy as many as 16 playoff games for less than $80!”
So here’s the deal . . . this is an opportunity for you to roll the dice.
If you purchase one adult Playoff Pass and the Blades bow out in a first-round sweep, meaning two home games, well, that will have cost you $39.50 a game. But if they get into the second round and end up playing six home games, it’s $13.17 per game. A third-round appearance and, say, nine home games and it’s $8.78 per game.
“Or,” as Colin Priestner, the Blades’ president and general manager, told me, “you can just buy game-to-game and get the same seat with credit card on file but you’ll pay a higher price each round.”
OK, Blades fans, which will it be?
BTW, a youth Playoff Pass can be yours for $39, with a child’s going for $29.
The Blades haven’t yet revealed single-game playoff ticket prices but a regular-season adult ticket is $25.
Meanwhile, the Winterhawks are third in the Western Conference and could be 
headed for a first-round matchup with the Vancouver Giants or Victoria Royals.
The Winterhawks are selling 11-game packages for various prices, running from US$152 to $362.
Single-game tickets will go on sale once opening-round matchups are set. But a seat will cost anywhere from $18 to $63.50 in the first round. Should the Winterhawks get to the championship final, the prices will run from $20 to $66.50. (BTW, the priciest seats are the ones along the glass.)
Portland’s info, including a seating diagram, is right here.
The IIHF has released the schedule for the U18 men’s World Championship that is to run April 23 through May in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany. . . . With Russia and Belarus having been suspended from international competition, this will be an eight-team tournament. Canada (1), the U.S. (4), Czechia (5) and Germany (8) will be in Group A, with Sweden (2), Finland (3), Switzerland (6) and Latvia (7) in Group B. . . . There are more details right here.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were without head coach Brad Larsen and assistant coach Steve McCarthy, both former WHLers, when they met the visiting New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Yes, both coaches tested positive and entered COVID-19 protocol. With them gone, associate coach Pascal Vincent ran things at the bench. . . . The Blue Jackets dropped a 4-3 decision to the Islanders. . . . Just wondering, but do you think the WHL would let the public know if a team or teams had staff members, say a coach or even an athletic therapist, out of action because of COVID-19? Hey, just thinking out loud.
My wife, Dorothy, is fund-raising, again, as she takes part in her ninth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. Unfortunately, this one will be held virtually, again, but she continues to take it seriously. She is more than a little thankful for having had a kidney transplant more than eight years ago, and this is her way of giving back. . . . As of Tuesday evening, Dorothy is the No. 1 fund-raiser in B.C. . . . If you would like to donate to the cause and become a member of her team, you are able to do so right here.
TUESDAY IN THE WHL:
F Mikey Milne scored his 33rd goal just 24 seconds into the game and the host 
Winnipeg Ice went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-1, in the night’s only game. . . . Before the game was eight minutes old, Winnipeg held a 4-0 lead as F Conor Geekie (21), F Zach Benson (22) and F Jack Finley (24) joined the party. . . . Milne finished with three goals — his first WHL hat trick — and an assist. . . . G Daniel Hauser stopped 22 shots to record the victory. He is 29-2-1, 2.03, .913 this season. . . . The Ice (48-9-5) is the first WHL team this season to crack the 100-point barrier. It leads the Eastern Conference by six points over the Edmonton Oil Kings (46-13-3). . . . The Warriors (35-22-5) are fourth, three points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades (34-23-4).
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald, who once upon a time was that newspaper’s man on the Silvertips’ beat, tweeted Tuesday that “the Snohomish County-led effort to make pickleball Washington’s official state sport came to fruition Monday when Governor Jay Islee signed the bill into law.” Take that baseball, football and hockey. . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia posted this tweet on Tuesday: “(The Vancouver Giants’) injury report, which had been listing C Ty Halaburda (upper body) as sidelined week-to-week, has him now at indefinite. D Alex Cotton (LBI, week-to-week), LW Cole Shepard (LBI, week-to-week), G Jesper Vikam (LBI, week-to-week) and C Zack Ostapchuk (UBI, day-to-day).” The Giants have eight regular-season games remaining, starting with a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. The Giants are tied for sixth in the Western Conference with the Victoria Royals, who have five games left. . . . G Tavin Grant, who played with the Prince George Cougars (2014-18), was the EBUG for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night as they met the Canucks in Abbotsford. Due to injuries, the Marlies signed G Talor Joseph, 27, who plays for the BCIHL’s Trinity Western Spartans and started him. Grant didn’t get into the game, as Joseph turned aside 34 shots in the Marlies’ 5-3 victory.
Former WHLer Ryan Pilon is the new coach of the Estevan Bears, a U18 AAA men’s hockey team. He takes over from Riley Hengen, who had been the interim head coach since Nov. 24 when Jeff Smith was fired. . . . The Bears just completed their second season in the SMAAAHL. . . . Pilon, 25, played parts of five seasons (2011-15) in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Brandon Wheat Kings. He has been an assistant coach with the U18 AAA Beardy’s Blackhawks, who were dropped from the SMAAHL by Hockey Saskatchewan and replaced by the Bears, and the junior B Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League.
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.
waivers. Grant, from Burnaby, B.C., got into 37 games with the Cougars last season, going 13-17-5, 3.74, .892, with one shutout. . . . He played 18 games with the Cougars in 2014-15 and one in 2015-16. All told, he was 16-23-5, 4.02, .880. . . . Taylor Gauthier, a 17-year-old preparing for his second season, is No. 1 on the Cougar’s depth chart. Last season, the Calgarian got into 32 games, going 8-18-3, 3.96, .885. Gauthier, a first-round selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, will play for Canada in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. . . . Gauthier will be pushed by Isaiah DiLaura, 18, from Lakeville, Minn. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. Last season, He was 3-3-2, 3.94, .888 in 14 appearances.
11 goals and 13 assists in 58 games with Seattle last season. Prior to that, he played two seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors and one with the Victoria Royals. In 238 career regular-season games, he has 19 goals and 23 assists. . . . The move leaves Seattle with four 20-year-olds on its roster — F Zack Andrusiak, F Mike MacLean, F Noah Philp and F Nolan Volcan.
and seventh rounds, respectively, of the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft.
two games. It holds down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, four points behind the Pats. . . . Regina (24-20-5) has lost two in a row (0-1-1). It is fourth in the East Division, seven points behind Brandon. . . . Florchuk, who has nine goals, opened and closed the scoring in this one. . . . He opened the scoring at 9:17 of the first period. . . . F Chase Wouters (13) made it 2-0 at 16:22. . . . Regina scored the next three goals, with F Jesse Gabrielle (5) counting at 18:13 of the first period, former Blades F Cam Hebig (32) getting one at 5:32 of the second, and F Sam Steel (17) scoring at 18:43. . . . Saskatoon D Evan Fiala (5) tied it 3-3 at 12:22 of the third period. . . . Florchuk won it at 1:37 with boyhood pal Kirby Dach getting the lone assist. . . . Florchuk was acquired from Victoria at the trade deadline. . . . Dach was back in the lineup after not playing since Dec. 27. . . . Hebig and Steel each had an assist for the Pats. . . . Saskatoon was 0-1 on the PP; Regina was 0-4. . . . G Max Paddock, who hadn’t played since Dec. 27, stopped 28 shots for Regina. . . . The Pats were without F Jake Leschyshyn for a second straight game. On Friday, John Paddock, the Pats’ GM/head coach, told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post that Leschyshyn is “hurting. . . . He’s got a little bit of stuff going on, that’s all.” . . . Announced attendance: 4,346.
a row, both on this quick three-game trip into the Central Division, but remains eight points from a playoff spot. The Blazers will play their third game in fewer than 48 hours this afternoon in Edmonton. . . . Red Deer (10-25-11) has lost 13 in a row (0-7-6). . . . F Josh Tarzwell (4), who is from Red Deer, scored his first goal with the Rebels at 10:07 of the first period. He started the season with Lethbridge. . . . F Jackson Shepherd (4) got Kamloops into a tie at 12:24 of the second period, and F Travis Walton (2) broke the tie at 16:30. . . . F Orrin Centazzo (8) put it on ice for Kamloops at 17:54 of the third period. . . . Red Deer was 1-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-3. . . . G Riley Lamb stopped 23 shots for Red Deer. . . . Don Hay of the Blazers now has 740 regular-season victories as a WHL head coach. He is two away from tying Ken Hodge for the most regular-season coaching victories in WHL history. . . . The Blazers are in Edmonton this afternoon, then return home for two games against Hodge’s former team, the Portland Winterhawks. They actually will play three straight games — Friday and Saturday in Kamloops, and Sunday in Portland. . . . Announced attendance: 4,374.
away from a playoff spot. . . . Medicine Hat (24-18-5) has lost three straight (0-1-2), but still leads the Central Division by five points over Lethbridge. . . . F Mark Rassell (39) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead at 9:27 of the second period. . . . The Raiders took a 2-1 lead on goals from F Curtis Miske (15), at 11:01, and F Regan Nagy (21), on a PP, at 17:48. . . . Medicine Hat tied it at 2:25 of the third period when F Josh Williams (5) scored. . . . Budik (7) won it with his fourth goal in three games, this one coming 1:00 into OT. . . . F Jordy Stallard had two assists for the Raiders, with Miske adding one. . . . Prince Albert was 1-3 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-7. . . . G Ian Scott earned the victory with 33 saves, nine more than Medicine Hat’s Michael Bullion. . . . Nagy appeared to injure his right knee when he came together with Tigers D Dalton Gally. Nagy wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg as teammates helped him off the ice. . . . The Raiders are 2-0-0 in their trip into the Central Division. They will play their third game in fewer than 48 hours this afternoon in Calgary. . . . Announced attendance: 3,475.
games. It is eight points from a wild-card spot. . . . Lethbridge (22-20-4) was 5-0-1 in its previous six games. it is second in the Central Division, five points ahead of Kootenay. . . . The Cougars broke a 2-2 tie with third-period goals 16 seconds apart by F Max Kryski (6), at 10:38, and F Josh Curtis (8), at 10:54. . . . F Jared Bethune (16) had given the home side a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 3:27 of the first period. . . . Lethbridge took a 2-1 lead on first-period goals from F Keltie Jeri-Leon (3), at 12:45, and F Jake Elmer (14), at 13:22. . . . D Austin Crossley pulled the Cougars into a 2-2 tie with his first goal, at 3:39 of the second period. . . . Prince George was 1-7 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-3. . . . G Tavin Grant made 28 saves to earn the victory over Logan Flodell, who stopped 28 shots. . . . The Hurricanes dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum. They were without F Taylor Ross and F Dylan Cozens, who have been playing alongside Logan Barlage. . . . Lethbridge is 2-1-1 on a five-game swing into B.C. that ends Tuesday in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice. . . . Announced attendance: 2,704.
It is second in the U.S. Division, two points behind Everett. . . . Vancouver (25-15-7) had points in each of its previous 10 games (7-0-3). It is third in the B.C. Division, one point behind Victoria. . . . Farkas stopped 31 shots to earn his first WHL shutout. It came in his 22nd appearance. He is 6-4-0, 3.41, .904 as the backup to Cole Kehler. . . . F Ty Kolle (5) gave Portland a 1-0 lead at 13:32 of the third period, and F Mason Mannek (7) got the empty-netter, at 19:07. . . . Portland was 0-1 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-3. . . . The Giants got 25 saves from G David Tendeck. . . . F Ryan Hughes (ill) and F Cody Glass were out of Portland’s lineup for a second straight game, while F Kieffer Bellows missed his third game. It all meant that Portland again dressed eight defencemen and 10 forwards. . . . Mike Johnston, Portland’s general manager and head coach, was back behind the bench after a one-game absence while he was on a scouting trip. . . . Announced attendance: 4,154.
the Western Conference standings, one point ahead of Everett. . . . Victoria (27-17-4) had lost its previous four games. It is three points behind Kelowna. . . . Tisdale, 15, stopped 23 shots in his first WHL start. Tisdale is from Lethbridge, but he spent one year living in Kelowna. Before the game, he told Rockets play-by-play man Regan Bartel: “I came to a few Rockets games, but I always had to wait until after the Ogopogo head went up because I was scared of it.” If you haven’t been to a game in Kelowna, an Ogopogo likeness is lowered to the ice prior to the game and the Rockets make their entrance by skating through it. . . . Tisdale was an eighth-round pick by the Rockets in the 2017 bantam draft. He normally plays for the minor midget Lethbridge Hurricanes, but is with the Rockets because James Porter Jr. and Roman Basran are injured. . . . Victoria starter Griffen Outhouse blocked 32 of 39 shots in 52:08. Dean McNabb finished up with two saves in 5:32. . . . Kelowna took control of this one with three goals in the first 8:20 of the first period. . . . Lind (22) got it started at 3:18, with D Cal Foote (9) scoring at 4:33 and F Dillon Dube (21) making it 3-0, on a PP, at 8:20. . . . Victoria F Tyler Soy, in his 300th regular-season game, got his 22nd goal, on a PP, at 16:32. . . . F Kyle Topping (17) upped Kelowna’s lead to 4-1, on a PP, 31 seconds into the second period. . . . The Royals then got to within a goal on PP scores from F Matthew Phillips (32), at 12:23, and F Dante Hannoun (20), at 14:14. . . . But the Rockets put it away with four straight goals, starting with F Leif Mattson (15), shorthanded, at 17:03 of the second. F Jack Cowell added a pair in the third period, giving him 10, while F Carsen Twarynski got his 30th. . . . Cowell’s second goal, at 14:28 of the third, was into an empty net. . . . Victoria F Igor Martynov (15) closed out the scoring on a late penalty shot. . . . Kelowna got two assists from each of D James Hilsendager, Nolan Foote and Conner Bruggen-Cate, with Dube, Cal Foote and Mattson getting one apiece. . . . F Tanner Kaspick and Phillips each had two helpers for Victoria and Hannoun added one. . . . Victoria was 3-7 on the PP; Kelowna was 2-6. . . . The Royals are without 6-foot-3 D Kade Jensen (WHL suspension) and 6-foot-4 D Chaz Reddekopp (undisclosed injury). . . . Announced attendance: 5,941.
Division by two points over Portland. . . . Brandon (28-14-4) has lost four straight (0-2-2). It is 0-2-1 and has been blanked twice on its U.S. Division trip. The Wheat Kings are third in the East Division, 10 points behind Swift Current. . . . Hart now has six shutouts this season and 25 in his career. The WHL career shutout record (26) belongs to Tyson Sexsmith (Vancouver, 2005-09). Sexsmith played in 179 games; Hart has made 169 appearances. . . . F Matt Fonteyne, who opened the scoring at 16:16 of the first period, had two goals and an assist. He’s got 27 goals. . . . Everett also got three points — a goal and two assists — from F Patrick Bajkov. He’s got 258 regular-season points now, and that’s just four off the franchise record held by F Zach Hamill (2003-08). . . . F Connor Dewar (22) had Everett’s other goal. . . . D Kevin Davis picked up two assists. Davis, 20, has six goals and 40 assists in 46 games. He has had 12 games with two or more assists. . . . Everett was 1-4 on the PP; Brandon was 0-1. . . . G Logan Thompson made 41 saves for Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings will play their third game in fewer than 48 hours this afternoon in Portland. . . . Announced attendance: 5,917.
Swift Current Broncos, 7-6. . . . Seattle (24-16-6) has won four in a row and now is third in the U.S. Division, four points behind Portland. . . . Swift Current (33-10-4) has points in nine straight (7-0-2), and is 2-0-1 on a U.S. Division trip. It is second in the overall standings, seven points behind Moose Jaw. . . . The teams were tied 2-2 going into the second period, F Glenn Gawdin (37) and D Colby Sissons (11) having scored for the visitors, with F Nolan Volcan (24), on a PP, and F Sami Moilanen (19) having done the same for Seattle. . . . The Thunderbirds took a 5-2 lead on second-period goals from F Donovan Neuls (17), on a PP, at 0:58, F Matthew Wedman (9), at 7:59, and F Zack Andrusiak (21), at 14:42. . . . F Giorgio Estephan on a PP, got one back for the Broncos at 16:40, but F Noah Philp got that one back for Seattle just 40 seconds later. . . . Swift Current then erased a 6-3 third-period deficit on goals from F Tyler Steenbergen (36), at 6:29, Estephan (22), on a PP, at 17:03 and F Beck Malenstyn (5), at 18:46. . . . The Broncos twice scored in the shootout (Steenbergen and D Artyom Minulin), only to have Neuls and D Austin Strand tie it. . . . Andrusiak added two assists to his goal, with Neuls and Wedman getting one each. . . . Steenbergen also had four assists, with F Aleksi Heponiemi getting three as he ran his point streak to 27 games. Estephan and Malenstyn added one each. . . . The Broncos were 2-3 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 2-5. . . . Seattle G Dorrin Luding stopped 26 shots. The Thunderbirds got a scare late in the third period when Luding went down and got a visit from trainer Phil Varney. With two other goaltenders injured, Seattle had Cole Schwebius, 15, on the bench backing up Luding. . . . This was Seattle’s Teddy Bear Toss game, with Volcan getting the goal at 5:14 of the first period. . . . The Broncos were without F Matteo Gennaro (undisclosed injury) for a second straight game. . . . Announced attendance: 6,142.
Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points behind the Americans, who now are fourth in the U.S. Division. . . . Tri-City (23-16-7) has points in three straight (1-0-2). . . . The Chiefs got out to a 3-0 lead on goals from F Ethan McIndoe (13) and F Jake McGrew (11), on a PP, in the first period, and F Zach Fischer (20), at 4:32 of the second period. . . . Tri-City cut into the lead on second-period goals from D Jake Bean (8) and F Isaac Johnson (13). . . . Spokane F Luke Toporowski (3) restored the two-goal lead at 10:43 of the third period. . . . The Americans tied it on goals from F Sasha Mutala (7), at 14:21, and D Mitchell Brown (2), at 15:33. . . . Yamamoto, who also had two assists, won it with his fifth goal 47 seconds into OT. . . . Yamamoto has nine points, three of them goals, in four games since returning from the WJC. . . . McIndoe added an assist to his goal. . . . The Americans got two assists from D Dylan Coghlan and one each from Mutala and Bean. . . . Spokane was 1-2 on the PP; Tri-City was 0-3. . . . G Bailey Brkin stopped 31 shots for Spokane. . . . Tri-City starter Beck Warm allowed two goals on 14 shots in the first period. Patrick Dea finished up with 27 saves on 30 shots in 40:47. . . . Announced attendance: 10,397.
TAKING NOTE 