Monday's highlights . . .

A note from our European correspondent, who never sleeps: F Justin Kelly (Spokane/Prince Albert/Saskatoon) has signed with SC Bietigheim-Bissigen (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He finished last season with Val Pusteria in Italy’s Serie A, scoring 17 goals and 29 assists in 30 games. Kelly joins F Paul Deniset (Kamloops/Swift Current/Vancouver/Prince Albert) in the Steelers’ lineup.

Jim Swanson, the Prince George Citizen’s sports editor, reports that through six home games, the Cougars are averaging 2,680 fans, “more than 200 per game fewer than last season, which was a franchise low.” . . .

MONDAY HIGHLIGHTS
In Saskatoon, C Colton Gillies had three goals and two assists and newly acquired LW Ondrej Fiala added two of each as the Blades dumped the Regina Pats, 7-3. . . . Five of the 10 goals came via the power play as the Blades were 3-for-8 and the Pats 2-for-7. . . . LW Curtis Hamilton, the son of Kelowna Rockets’ governor Bruce Hamilton, scored his first WHL goal for the Blades and also picked up his first assist. . . .

In Chilliwack, C Mark Santorelli had a goal and three assists as the high-flying Bruins dumped the Spokane Chiefs, 5-3. Santorelli broke a 3-3 tie at 4:34 of the the third period and LW Colby Kulhanek, who had two goals last season, scored his sixth of this season at 16:01. . . . Santorelli now has 15 points, tying him with Tri-City Americans C Kruise Reddick for the WHL scoring lead. . . . Santorelli and Swift Current Broncos D Michael Wilson lead the WHL in assists, each with 11. . . .

In Edmonton, C Brenden Dowd’s shootout goal gave the Oil Kings a 5-4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos, who ended their season-opening eight-game road trip at 5-2-0-1. . . . RW Dale Weise scored in the shootout for the Broncos, but Edmonton G Alex Archibald proceeded to stop four straight shooters while D Brent Henke and Dowd scored for Edmonton. . . . The two teams are to meet Friday in Swift Current’s first home game of the season. . . . Swift Current D Michael Wilson had his season-opening seven-game point streak snapped. . . . The Broncos were 1-for-10 on the PP, while the Oil Kings were 1-for-6. . . .

In Vancouver, the Kelowna Rockets overcame an early 1-0 deficit with three straight goals and went on to beat the Giants, 4-2. LW Jamie Benn, who joined the Rockets last week from the BCHL’s Vancouver Grizzlies, scored his first WHL goal. D Tyson Barrie, whose father, former WHL sniper Len, owns the Grizzlies, got his second WHL goal for the Rockets. . . . It was Kelowna’s first victory in seven trips to Vancouver. . . . It was Vancouver’s first regulation loss of the season. The Giants are 4-1-1-1, leaving the Seattle Thunderbirds (2-0-1-1) as the only WHL team not have a regulation-time loss this season. . . .

In Kamloops, the Calgary Hitmen competely dominated the Blazers in winning 4-2. It was Calgary’s fourth straight victory and left it with a 9-1-0-0 record. . . . D Eric Frere had a goal and an assist for the Hitmen and now has two goals and five helpers on the season. He went into this season with zero goals and 15 assists in 143 regular-season games. . . . D Alex Plante played in his first game of the season for the Hitmen. He had been out with a charleyhorse suffered in the Edmonton Oilers’ rookie camp. . . . On Friday, the Hitmen released F Adam Ross, 20, who had scored two goals in six games. With two 20-year-olds — D Dan Mercer and D Ryan Gillen — the Hitmen have room to add one and Thursday is the WHL’s declaration day.