BEDARD UPDATE: I was told early on Sunday that a scoring change will be made that will give F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats another assist in their 7-3 Saturday victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw. So . . . that means the WHL scoring leader finished with three goals and three assists, giving him his second six-point game of the season. Of course, he also has nine five-point outings. . . . The added assist gave him the league lead, with 71, going into Sunday’s games. He also went into Sunday leading in goals (69) and points (140). . . .
Meanwhile, it has been pointed out that there was a glaring omission from a list of the “highest single-season goals-per-game in WHL history (minimum of 35 GP)” that appeared here late Saturday night. The list had been tweeted by StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) and I picked it up. . . . Ray Ferraro was No. 1 on the list, at 1.50, thanks to his record 108 goals in 72 games for the 1983-84 Brandon Wheat Kings. However, a long-time friend pointed out that is in error because F Bill Derlago of the Wheat Kings scored 89 times in 52 games in 1977-78, and that computes to 1.71 goals-per-game. So if you’re keeping track of such things, put Derlago at the top of that list. . . .
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THE BEDARD REPORT: F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats had a goal and an assist on Sunday in a 4-2 victory over the Blades in Saskatoon. . . . That was his 70th goal this season. He is the first Regina skater with 70 since F Dale Derkatch got there in 1983-84. Derkatch finished with 72 in 62 games that season; one season earlier, he scored 84 times in 67 games. . . . Bedard is the first WHLer with 70 goals since F Jayden Halbgewachs of the Moose Jaw Warriors finished the 2017-18 season with 70. . . . The WHL website shows Bedard leading in goals (70), assists (71) and points (141). That scoring change from Saturday’s game should show up on Monday, giving him 72 assists and 142 points. . . . The WHL last had a 140-point man in 1995-96 when three skaters got there — F Mark Deyell (Saskatoon, 159), F Frank Banham (Saskatoon, 152) and Hnat Domenichelli (Kamloops Blazers, 148). . . . Since return from leading Canada to gold at the World Junior Championship, Bedard has put up 78 points, including 43 goals, in 27 games. . . . In his past four games alone, he has nine goals and eight assists.
The U of New Brunswick Reds won the USports men’s hockey championship on Sunday, beating the Alberta Golden Bears, 3-0. . . . That means that Gardiner MacDougall, the Reds’ head coach, has won a Memorial Cup and a university championship just nine months apart. He took over as the head coach of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs before the 2022 Memorial Cup and guided them to the tournament title. . . . G Samuel Richard, formerly of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, stopped 17 shots for the Reds, with the goals coming from former OHL players Cody Morgan, Cole Mackay and Austen Keating. . . . This was MacDougall’s eighth David Johnston University Cup title, all with UNB. The Reds have won four of the last six tournaments; the 2020 and 2021 events were lost to the pandemic. . . . MacDougall, 63, has been the Red’ head coach since 2000-01.
If the WHL playoffs started today (x – locked in):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Winnipeg (1) vs. Medicine Hat (8)
Red Deer (2) vs. Calgary (7)
Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)
Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
x-Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)
x-Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
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SUNDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
The host Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last three goals, all in the third period, to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-3. . . . F Oliver Talk (23) got the Hitmen to within one, at 3-2, at 5:00. . . . F Brandon Whynott (5) tied it at 5:10, and F Carson Wetsch (10) got the winner at 9:00. . . . F Gavin McKenna, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft, had a goal (2) and an assist for Medicine Hat. His club team at the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy had its season come to an end, so he is likely to finish the season with the Tigers. He has 12 points in 13 games with the Tigers this season. . . . Calgary (29-28-8) had won, 2-0, in Medicine Hat on Saturday. The victory lifted the Hitmen into seventh in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat (28-28-9) has lost two in a row. . . . Calgary and Medicine Hat each has three games remaining. . . . The Tigers are three points ahead of Swift Current, which also has three games to play. . . .
G Kelton Pyne blocked a career-high 42 shots to lead the Regina Pats to a 4-2 victory over the Blades in Saskatoon. . . . Pyne earned his third victory of the season. . . . F Alexander Suzdalev (38) had a goal and an assist for Regina, with F Tanner Howe getting No. 34. . . . F Brandon Lisowsky (35) scored twice for Saskatoon. . . . The announced attendance was 14,768, a record for the Blades. The previous record (12,588) was from a Feb. 9, 2013 game in which the Blades dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-2. . . . Les Lazaruk, the Blades’ longtime play-by-play voice, called his 2,100th game. . . . This may well have been a first-round playoff preview. But before that happens, the Pats are back in Saskatoon again on Friday. . . . Regina (34-38-4) is sixth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Lethbridge and six ahead of Calgary. . . . Saskatoon (46-15-5) has won its previous two games and will be the conference’s No. 3 seed when the playoffs begin. . . .
F Chase Bertholet scored twice to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Bertholet (28) gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead with the only goals of the first period. . . . F Jackson Berezowski (44) got Everett on the board at 2:22 of the third period, only to have F Berkly Catton (22) restore the two-goal lead at 5:45. . . . Spokane (15-42-9) had lost its previous six games (0-4-2). . . . Everett (32-31-3) will finish sixth in the Western Conference and meet up with Portland in the first round. . . . They’ll open March 31 in Portland. The Winterhawks won the season series, 6-1-1; the Silvertips were 2-6-0. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans erased a 1-0 deficit with five straight goals as they beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-2. . . . F Jake Sloan (20) and F Adam Mechura (26) each scored twice for the Americans. . . . F Ty Thorpe (37) had a goal and an assist for the Giants; he’s got goals in four straight games. . . . F Samuel Honzek had an assist in his return to Vancouver’s lineup. He hadn’t played since taking a high hit in a game in Kelowna on March 10. . . . Tri-City (32-26-8) has points in five straight (4-0-1). The Americans will finish fifth in the Western Conference and face No. 4 Prince George in the first round. Tri-City was 3-1-0 in the season series; the Cougars were 1-2-1. . . . Vancouver (26-31-8) is seventh, four points ahead of Kelowna. The Giants have three games remaining; the Rockets have two to play, both against Vancouver. . . .
F Owen Pederson and F Zack Ostapchuk each scored twice as the host Winnipeg Ice beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-1. . . . Pederson, who also had an assist, has 32 goals; Ostapchuk has 29. . . . G Daniel Hauser stopped 29 shots in earning his 37th victory over the season. That’s one off the league lead held by Dylan Ernst of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Hauser now holds the Kootenay/Winnipeg franchise record for victories in one season. The previous record (36) was set by Wyatt Hoflin with Kootenay in 2014-15. . . . The Raiders lost F Terrell Goldsmith to a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 10:32 of the second period. . . . This was the third meeting in six days for these two and the Ice won all three, including 4-3 in Prince Albert on Tuesday and 4-1 in Winnipeg on Saturday. . . . Winnipeg (55-9-1) has won seven straight and leads the overall standings by four points over Seattle, which has four games remaining. . . . Prince Albert slipped to 27-36-3 and won’t be in the playoffs.
Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Now Adam Silver is a faith healer? After a meeting with Ja Morant, the NBA commissioner is convinced that Morant is cool, saying, ‘Ja has also made it clear to me that he has learned from this incident.’ What about the other three (that we know of) disturbing instances involving Morant and his family and friends? Silver is like Jon Taffer in TV’s ‘Bar Rescue,’ who cures people of sloth, stupidity and alcoholism in a few hours. Keep your phone handy, Commish.”
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Ostler, again: “The NBA determined that Morant, at Shotgun Willie’s club near Denver, was ‘holding a firearm in an intoxicated state.’ How that gun got intoxicated is anybody’s guess.”
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St. Paul’s Hospital
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——
Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
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Western Conference playoffs, but there still are 11 teams in the hunt in the Eastern Conference.
Silvertips but the cost was off the charts.
reunited with Team Canada teammates Caedan Bankier and Logan Stankoven,
year-old captain and another member of Canada’s national junior team.
and the Ottawa Senators grabbed him in the second round of the NHL’s 2021 draft.
Kootenay Ice rocked the WHL’s world with what was then seen as a huge deal.
there has been speculation that Finnish F Brad Lambert will be joining the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. That speculation heated up Sunday when his name was dropped from the roster of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Lambert, who had two goals and one assist in 14 AHL games, is listed as inactive on the Moose’s stats page. He had one goal in five games with Finland at the WJC.
Canada, returned to the Regina Pats’ lineup on Sunday. All he did was score four goals and add two assist as the Pats beat the visiting Calgary Hitmen, 6-2. . . . The announced attendance was 4,761, the Pats’ largest home crowd this season. . . . Bedard’s first career six-point outing included a pair of shorthanded goals. . . . Despite missing 11 games while with Team Canada, Bedard’s 70 points, in 29 games, has him leading the points race by eight points over F Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockets. With 31 goals, Bedard is two behind F Kai Uchacz of the Red Deer Rebels, and Bedard’s 39 assists are two more than D Lukas Dragicevic of the Tri-City Americans. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post was in attendance; his story is 
was announced that the Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, Saginaw Spirit and Soo Greyhounds all have expressed the intent of bidding to play host to the 2024 Memorial Cup. . . . You will be aware that Saginaw is in Michigan; the Memorial Cup hasn’t been played in an American city since 1998 when the Spokane Chiefs were the host team. . . . Bids are to be submitted by Jan. 31 with the winning bid to be announced in March. . . . Kingston, Niagara Falls and Saginaw haven’t served as the host city for a Memorial Cup tournament; it was held in Sault Ste. Marie in 1993. . . . The OHL last played host to the tournament in 2017 when it was in Windsor. . . . The 2023 tournament is scheduled to be held in Kamloops.
Detroit Red Wings and the organization’s goaltending situation these days. . . . That’s because the Red Wings claimed G Magnus Hellberg on waivers from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. . . . WHL teams are going to be watching to see how Hellberg slots into the goaltending depth chart and just how the dominoes will fall. That’s because the Red Wings already have Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic on their NHL roster, with Victor Brattstrom and Jussi Olkinuora with the AHL-Grand Rapids Griffins. The guy some WHL teams are interested in, Sebastian Cossa, is one of three goaltenders with the ECHL’s Toldeo Walleye. Cossa, 20, was a first-round selection by the Red Wings in the NHL’s 2021 draft. He then backstopped the Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2021-22 WHL championship. . . . The Oil Kings are in a rebuilding mode and haven’t been shy about trading players off that team’s roster; F Jakub Demek, F Shea Van Olm, D Luke Prokop and F Jalen Luypen all have been dealt as Edmonton stockpiles draft picks and younger players. . . . So if the Detroit dominoes fall in such a way that the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Cossa is returned to Edmonton, you have to think his stay there won’t last long.
regulation-time loss after they skated out of Everett with a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland (17-1-2) now has points in 12 straight (10-0-2). . . . Everett (12-8-1) had lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . . Portland erased a 1-0 first-period deficit with the next four goals. . . . F Dawson Pasternak (4) and F Josh Zakreski (4) each had a goal and an assist for Portland, which held a 45-26 edge in shots, including 18-4 in the second period. . . . The Winterhawks had F Cole Cairns, 15, and F Hudson Darby, 15, in their lineup for the first time, having lost F Kyle Chyzowski and F Diego Buttazzoni to injury. Cairns plays for the U18 team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, while Darby is with the U18 Swift Current Legionnaires. . . . Portland also scratched F Robbie Fromm-Delorme, its leading scorer, and F Jack O’Brien, neither of whom was shown in Tuesday’s roster report. . . . F Jackson Berezowski, who last played on Nov. 4, and D Aidan Sutter were among Everett’s seven scratches. . . .
victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Tigers (7-10-5) had lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . The Oil Kings (4-18-1) had won their previous two games. . . . F Mason Finley (5) gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the first period. . . . The Tigers scored the last six goals, two of them via the PP. . . . F Brendan Lee had a goal (13) and an assist as he ran his goal streak to five games and a point streak to six games. He has 22 points in 22 games this season. Last season, he totalled 21 points in 52 games split between Medicine Hat and the Saskatoon Blades. . . . F Tyler MacKenzie and F Andrew Basha each had three assists. . . .
victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Cougars, who lead the B.C. Division, are 13-9-0. Prince George holds a five-point lead on Kamloops with the Blazers having five games in hand. . . . The Warriors (13-9-0) had won their previous two games. This was the start of their swing through the B.C. Division. . . . The Warriors led 2-0 late in the first period, but the Cougars tied it on two goals from F Caden Brown (6) before the period ended. Brown also had an assist for a three-point night. . . . F Chase Wheatcroft’s 17th goal, at 2:14 of the third period, broke a 2-2 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . The Cougars outshot the visitors 46-21, including 24-4 in the second period when they were unable to solve G Connor Ungar. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer of the Cougars had an assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . F Jagger Firkus of the Warriors also had an assist as he ran his point streak to 15 games. . . . The Warriors had F Riley Niven back in the lineup after he hadn’t played since Oct. 8. . . .
over the Kelowna Rockets in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (14-3-1) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Rockets (8-9-1) had won their previous two games. . . . Davidson, who has 10 goals, gave his guys 1-0 and 2-1 leads. . . . Kelowna D Jackson DeSouza scored his third goal in two games to get Kelowna into a 2-1 tie. Before this mini-hot streak, he had one career goal in 84 regular-season games. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (9) scored at 11:12 of the second period and that one was the winner. . . . F Ty Hurley made his Seattle debut after being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos last week. . . . The Thunderbirds were without D Luke Prokop, who is listed on this week’s roster report as being out week-to-week. . . . Kelowna F Colton Dach sat out with a one-game suspension. . . .
Vancouver Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . The Giants (8-9-4) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Chiefs (4-14-1) have lost three in a row. . . . Ostapchuk, the Giants’ captain, gave his side a 4-3 lead at 17:15 of the second period with his ninth goal. . . . F Colton Langkow, who has four goals, scored two PP goals, one at 5:38 of the third period for a 5-3 lead and an empty-netter at 19:59. Langkow also had an assist. . . . The Giants got 34 stops from G Brett Mirwald, who was making just his second start — and third appearance — in November. . . . 
Ice to a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice improved to 21-2-0; the Hurricanes are 12-10-1. . . . The Hurricanes had beaten the host Ice 2-1 on Tuesday night, snapping Winnipeg’s 15-game winning streak. . . . Benson drew the primary assist as F Ty Nash (10) tied the score, 2-2, at 17:29 of the second period. Benson’s 14th goal, at 5:16 of the third, stood up as the winner. . . . Lethbridge is two games into a six-game road trip that continues with games in Brandon on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . Ice F Conor Geekie had his point streak snapped at 12 games. . . . G Dan Hauser started for the Ice after a two-game absence. He missed one game due to illness, than backed up Mason Beaupit on Tuesday. Hauser got the victory with 19 saves as he improved his record this season to 15-0-0. He is 56-3-2 in his career. 
third period in a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game in the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena in Invermere, B.C., on Friday night when an ammonia alarm sounded. The junior B game was halted — it was 1-1 with about one minute remaining in the third period — and the arena evacuated. The Kamloops players ended up back on their bus, only this time wearing their equipment. They ended up spending the night, before journeying on to Creston for a Saturday game in which they beat the Thunder Cats, 5-4 in OT.
Moose Jaw and beating the Warriors, 5-1. . . . The Tigers (5-9-4) had been 0-4-3 in their previous seven games. . . . The Warriors (11-7-0) had won their previous two games. . . . F Brayden Yager (9) gave Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead at 2:56 of the first period; the Tigers scored the next five goals, getting two each from F Brendan Lee (8) and F Brayden Boehm (6). . . . F Gavin McKenna, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft, had an assist for the Tigers. McKenna, who will turn 15 on Dec. 20, now has six assists in seven games. . . . Warriors F Jagger Firkus drew an assist and now is on an 11-game points streak. . . . Yager’s goal pushed his point streak to 10 games. . . . The Warriors had beaten the Tigers, 5-4 in OT, in Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . 
victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Regina (9-8-2) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . The Rebels have followed up that 15-game season-opening win streak with four straight losses (0-3-1). . . . Red Deer was playing its fourth game in five nights, while Regina was in its third outing in four nights. And the Pats will play again this afternoon, this time in Saskatoon. . . . The Pats got two goals and two assists from F Tanner Howe (9), while F Borya Valis scored his ninth goal — he has six goals over his past six games — and added two assists. . . . As for Pats F Connor Bedard, well, he had a goal and an assist to run his point streak to 18 games. He leads the WHL in goals (17), assists (24) and points (41). . . . Regina was 3-3 on the PP. . . Red Deer held a 38-20 edge in shots, but Pats G Matthew Kieper was the game’s first star. . . . The Pats will play their next 10 games on the road. . . .
host Saskatoon Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Blades (13-4-0) have won two straight; the Oil Kings (2-16-1) have lost four in a row. . . . Chadwick, an 18-year-old from Saskatoon, is in his second season with the Blades. He was a third-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 draft. This season, he is 6-3-0, 1.90, .926. . . . The shutout came in Chadwick’s 21st appearance, nine of which have come this season. . . . Saskatoon F Egor Sidorov scored his eighth goal and added three assists. . . . The Oil Kings were 0-3 on the PP, meaning the Blades now have killed off 21 straight penalties. . . . The Blades without F Conner Roulette and F Josh Pillar. . . . Edmonton F Jaxsen Wiebe got tossed 33 seconds into the second period after taking a checking-from-behind major. He already has served a four-game suspension under supplemental discipline for a knee-on-knee hit that took out Pillar on Oct. 23. . . . The Blades are expecting their largest crowd of this season today as F Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats come calling at 4 p.m. . . . Saskatoon’s largest crowd this season is 6,302 on opening night. . . . 
Swift Current Broncos, 2-1. . . . Lethbridge (10-8-1) has points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . Swift Current (8-9-0) had won its previous two games. . . . F Logan Wormald (6) got Lethbridge into a tie at 17:37 of the second period, on a PP. . . . D Nolan Bentham (4) broke the tie at 12:32 of the third. . . . The announced attendance of 3,435 was Lethbridge’s second-largest this season, behind only the 4,193 on opening night. . . . 
captain, as they beat the Cougars, 5-4, in Prince George. . . . The Giants (7-7-4) have points in four straight (3-0-1), all on the road. . . . The Cougars (9-9-0) have lost two in a row. . . . The game drew an announced crowd of 4,463, the first time this season (nine games) that it topped 3,000 in Prince George. . . . They’ll play again in Prince George this afternoon. Yes, a day game after a night game. . . . F Ty Thorpe (9) broke the tie at 18:55 of the second period and F Jaden Lipinski (7) got what turned out to be the winner, on a PP, at 1:42 of the third. . . . Vancouver scored three PP goals. . . . F Samuel Honzek (11) had two goals and two assists for the Giants. . . . Ostapchuk has six goals and 12 assists in 12 games this season. He has nine points over his past four games. . . . D Hudson Thornton had two assists for the Cougars to run his point streak to 10 games. Thornton has two assists in each his last five games. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer had a goal and an assist, and also is on a 10-game streak for the Cougars. He has five goals and three assists over his past four games. . . . 
Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. . . . F Oliver Tulk (8) ended it at 1:57 of extra time. . . . Calgary (9-4-2) has won six in a row. . . . Seattle (12-3-1) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . F Luke Prokop (1) had Seattle’s goal, his first with the Thunderbirds. He began his WHL career with the Hitmen, who dealt him to the Edmonton Oil Kings early last season. The Thunderbirds acquired him from the Oil Kings last month, and the NHL’s Nashville Predators assigned him to Seattle last week. . . . F Jared Davidson earned an assist for Seattle to run his point streak to 10 games. . . . Calgary’s penalty-killers were 8-8, including 2-2 in the last four minutes of the third period and early in OT. . . . 
the host Victoria Royals, 7-4. . . . The Winterhawks (13-1-2) are 6-0-2 in their past eight games. . . . The Royals (3-14-3) have lost five straight (0-4-1). . . .
visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Spokane (4-11-1) was 0-8-1 in its past nine games. . . . Tri-City (7-11-0) has lost three in a row. . . . The Chiefs got two goals and two assists from F Cade Hayes (5), while F Chase Bertholet (7) added a goal and two assists. . . . Americans D Lukas Dragicevic (6) ran his point streak to 12 games with a first-period goal and an assist. He has two points in each of his past four games. . . . The announced attendance was 6,115, the third-largest crowd through Spokane’s first 10 home games.
Saturday in a game that, if you’re a Victoria fan, ended in bizarre fashion. If you are a Giants’ supporter, well, you must have loved it.
Centre — on Sunday and won their second game in a row for the first time this season, beating the Kamloops Blazers, 6-3. . . . Each team was playing for the third time in fewer than 48 hours; the Giants were playing their fourth game in fewer than 96 hours. . . . Vancouver (3-5-3) also is taking its show on the road. The Giants will play six games in the Central Division, starting Thursday night against the Edmonton Oil Kings — and two against the Prince George Cougars before next playing at home against Kamloops on Nov. 18.
Hitmen on Sunday. Fiddler-Schultz, the team captain, struck for five goals, four of them in the first period, in leading the Hitmen to a 6-1 victory. . . . Fiddler-Schultz tied F Pavel Brendl’s franchise record for most goals in one game. Brendl scored five in an 8-2 victory over the visiting Raiders on Nov. 11, 2000. . . . Fiddler-Schultz’s four first-period goals tied Brendl and F Owen Fussey for most goals in a period. Brendl scored four third-period goals in a 5-2 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Oct. 18, 2000; Fussey had four in the third period of a 7-3 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Feb. 6, 2002. . . . Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) also tweeted that Fiddler-Schultz, who had gone six games without a goal, now has had one three-goal game, a four-game and this five-goal effort during his career. Brandow also noted that Fiddler-Schultz set a franchise record for fastest three goals (2:43) — F Michael Bubnick held the previous record (6:48) from a 5-3 less to the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Jan. 13, 2002. . . . 
ally . . . returned to the supposedly friendly confines of Rogers Arena. And this one had it all. It had the road team opening the scoring with a fluky power-play goal. A gentleman wearing a retro Canucks jersey and a paper bag on his head, posing for photos with other fans in his section. The fans booed during play as the game twisted away from Vancouver. They booed as the Sabres top line cycled the puck endlessly in the Vancouver end. They booed the Canucks on the power play. They even booed ‘Sweet Caroline.’ ”
won’t play tonight (Friday) against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. Steve Ewen of Postmedia reports that Ostapchuk “reportedly will be sidelined two to three weeks” and that GM Barclay Parnetta said he “wasn’t expecting to see Ostapchuk . . . back for as many as four weeks.” . . . Ostapchuk was a second-round selection by the Senators in the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . On Wednesday, the Giants dealt F Cole Shepard, 20, to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a third-round pick in the 2023 WHL draft. Shepard, who has struggled with injuries for the past few seasons, had seven goals and 13 assists in 28 games last season with Vancouver. Shepard is in camp with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
news release is “Long-Term Injury Reserve.” F Jakub Demek, 19, D Graydon Gotaas, 18, and F Tyler Horstmann, 20, all went on LTIR as they continue to recover from offseason surgery to repair undisclosed injuries. . . . With Horstmann on the shelf, the Oil Kings claimed F Reid Jacobson, 20, off waivers from the Spokane Chiefs. Jacobson put up 35 points, including 12 goals, in 114 games over three seasons with the Chiefs. . . . The Oil Kings now have four 20-year-olds on their roster, with Jacobson joining D Logan Dowhaniuk, F Carson Golder and F Jaxsen Wiebe.
Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night, taking the Eastern Conference semifinal in five games. The No. 1 Ice will meet the No. 2 Edmonton Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference final. That series, which will follow a 2-3-2 format for travel reasons, is scheduled to open in Winnipeg with games on May 20 and 21. . . . 
the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-3. . . . The Ice won the conference semifinal, 4-1, and will meet the Edmonton Oil Kings in the final. The No. 2 Oil Kings are 8-0 in the playoffs, having made short work of the No. 7 Lethbridge Hurricanes and No. 3 Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Ice now is 8-2 and will play host to Edmonton for Games 1 and 2 on May 20 and 21. . . . Last night, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead on goals from F Ryder Korczak (3), at 0:46, and F Thomas Tien (2), at 15:52, in the first period. . . . The Ice scored the next four goals. F Zachary Benson (8) cut the deficit to one at 17:04, before Winnipeg took control with three second-period goals — F Matt Savoie (5) tied it at 1:39; F Cole Muir (2) made it 3-2 at 11:12; and F Conor Geekie (3) upped it to 4-2 at 15:04. . . . F Atley Calvert (3) got the Warriors to within one, on a PP, at 17:04, but that was it for the visitors. . . . Savoie (6) added his second goal at 4:03 and F Mikey Milne (9), who also had two assists, scored a shorthanded empty-netter at 18:28. . . . The Ice got 23 saves from G Daniel Hauser, while G Carl Tetachuk stopped 22 shots for the Warriors. . . .The Warriors had D Daemon Hunt, their captain, back in the lineup. Hunt, who is to turn 20 on Sunday, last played on March 19. . . . 
in the third period, and beat the No. 2 Blazers, 5-2. . . . Kamloops leads the series, 3-2, with Game 5 scheduled for Sunday in Langley, B.C. . . . F Zack Ostapchuk, the WHL’s leading playoff scorer, had two goals and two assists for Vancouver. He has 23 points, two more than linemate Fabian Lysell. . . . The Blazers led this one 2-1 after two periods as F Luke Toporowski (7) and F Matthew Seminoff (3) sandwiched a Vancouver goal by F Adam Hall (9). . . . F Ty Thorpe (3) got the Giants into a 2-2 tie at 1:33 of the third period and Ostapchuk (6) put them out front at 2:32. . . . Hall (10), who also had an assist, and Ostapchuk (7) later added empty-netters. Hall leads the WHL playoffs in goals. . . . G Jesper Vikman had a big night for the Giants, stopping 35 shots, 14 more than G Dylan Garand of the Blazers. . . .
Portland Winterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Portland leads the series, 3-1. . . . They’ll meet again tonight, this time back in Portland. . . . The Winterhawks had lost Game 3, 5-0, at home on Wednesday night. . . . Portland’s PP went into the game with three goals in its past 23 opportunities. Last night, it was 3-for-4. . . . Hanas (2) got his guys started at 7:09 of the first period and F Tyson Kozak (2) made it 2-0 at 14:35. . . . Seattle F Lukas Svejkovsky (6) scored a PP goal at 4:56 of the second period. . . . Portland got second-period goals from Hanas (3), at 11:42, and F Jack O’Brien (2), at 17:44, both via the PP. . . . Hanas (4) finished the scoring with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:41. . . . F Kyle Chyzowki had a big night with three assists. . . . G Taylor Gauthier stopped 31 shots for Portland, including a late second-period penalty-shot attempt by F Reid Schaefer with Portland leading 4-1. . . . Seattle got 17 stops from G Thomas Milic. . . . According to Winterhawks historian Andy Kemper, Hanas’s hat trick was Portland’s first in the playoffs since F Nic Petan turned the trick in a 5-1 victory over the visiting Kelowna Rockets on April 23, 2014.
COVID-19 while preparing for an overseas deployment in the Pacific. HMCS Winnipeg is back home in Esquimalt, B.C., after seven sailors tested positive, only weeks before the ship is due to participate in a major training exercise and two overseas missions. . . .
from Bill Chow, who resigned after spending 11 years in the position. . . . From an SJHL news release: “McIntyre, a Saskatoon product, played U18 hockey with his hometown Contacts and Blazers before playing four seasons in the SJHL with Swift Current and Yorkton. He also served recently on the board of directors for the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos and Saskatchewan High School Athletics and was heavily involved in both minor hockey and minor baseball in Swift Current.
Monday night as the host Vancouver Giants eliminated the Everett Silvertips. . . . So now it’s on to the second round, which will open on Thursday with the No. 3 Red Deer Rebels visiting the No. 2 Edmonton Oil Kings. The other Eastern Conference series is to being on Friday with the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors in Winnipeg to meet the No. 1 Ice. . . . In the Western Conference, the No. 8 Giants will be in Kamloops to face the No. 2 Blazers on Friday, while the No. 4 Seattle Thunderbirds will open at home in Kent, Wash., to the No. 3 Portland Winterhawks on Saturday. Due to building availability in Portland — the arena is booked for high school graduation ceremonies — the Portland-Seattle series will have a 1-2-1-1-1-1-1 format. . . . Meanwhile, here’s a look at what happened last night in Langley, B.C. . . . 
history with a 6-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The No. 8 Giants, who finished 47 points behind the No. 1 Silvertips, won the series, 4-2. . . . How large was this upset? Prior to the game, Steve Ewen of Postmedia wrote: “Since the junior league went to a 16-team post-season split between two conferences in 2002, a No. 8 seed has never beaten a No. 1 in the first round of the playoffs, according to the league office.” . . . D Connor Horning (2) gave the Giants 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 1:15, with D Alex Cotton (4) upping it to 2-0 at 3:15, and D Mazden Leslie (2) making it 3-0 at 11:43. . . . After Horning’s goal, the Giants’ PP was 13-31 (41.9) in the playoffs. In the regular season, it operated at 17.7, good for 18th in the 22-team league. . . . F Ben Hemmerling (1) got Everett to within two goals at 12:40 of the second, only to have F Zack Ostapchuk (3), who assisted on each of the first two goals, get that one back at 17:51. . . . F Ryan Hofer’s sixth goal of the series, on a PP, at 10:00 of the third period cut the Everett deficit to two. . . . Vancouver restored its three-goal lead when D Damian Palmieri (1) scored at 15:32. . . . F Adam Hall’s seventh goal in six games, at 16:52, upped the lead to 6-2. . . . Everett D Jonny Lambos (1) closed out the scoring at 18:35. . . . Ostapchuk finished with a goal and four assists, giving him a WHL-leading 16 points, including 13 assists, in the series. . . . F Fabian Lysell added four assists. He totalled 15 points in the series. . . . The Silvertips were without three of their five leading scorers. Already without 46-goal F Jackson Berezowski (season-ending surgery), they lost F Niko Huuhtanen to an apparent leg injury in Game 5 on Saturday. He didn’t play last night and neither did F Michal Gut. Those three combined for 101 goals and 126 assists in the regular season.
TAKING NOTE 