Wednesday is in the books

Interesting piece at nhl.com by Bill Meltzer on the Slovakian national junior team, which came awfully close to being relegated at last season’s world junior championship. At the same time, the under-18 team did get relegated. . . . Meltzer reports that Slovakian hockey officials decided to put an under-20 team into the country’s top pro league, the Extraliga. . . . The games don’t count in standings for the pro teams, but the experience should do wonders for the junior-aged players. . . . With this team playing together now, it will be interesting to see just how many Slovakian players who are performing in major junior over here will get added for the WJC. . . . This season’s WJC is set for the Czech cities of Pardubice and Liberec. . . .

No one is hotter than head coach Bill Peters’ Spokane Chiefs. Their 4-3 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday was their sixth straight and left them tied for top spot in the U.S. Division, with the Tri-City Americans. . . . Spokane’s six-game winning streak is their longest since October 2003. . . . The Chiefs entertain the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday. . . . The Chiefs and Thunderbirds will meet three times over nine days, as they play again in Spokane on Nov. 2 before going at it in Seattle on Nov. 4. . . .

WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Regina, the Pats scored the game’s first four goals and went on to a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . LW Michael MacAngus had two goals for the Pats, giving him five on the season. The goals, 39 seconds apart came in the third period. . . . F Jordan Eberle, 17, had an empty-net goal, his WHL-leading 14th score this season, and two assists. . . . Regina (11-4-0-0) has won four in a row -- seven straight at home -- and leads the East Division by four points over the Broncos (8-4-0-2), who have lost three straight. . . . Regina LW Troy Ofukany was back after missing 11 games with a knee injury. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Yashar Farmanara’s eighth goal of the season, at 1:47 of overtime, gave the Tigers a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Farmanara has six goals and two assists over his last six games. . . . Ryan Holfeld stopped 19 shots for the shutout, his first of the season and second of his career. . . . Edmonton’s Alex Archibald turned aside 38 shots. . . . The Tigers (10-3-1-0) outshot the Oil Kings (4-5-1-2) 17-3 in the second period and 13-4 in the third. . . . And get this -- each team was 0-for-1 on the PP. That is correct -- zero-for-one!!! . . . The referee? Chris Savage. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Jordan Knackstedt scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Kootenay Ice, 3-2. Knackstedt, who has nine goals, also had an assist. . . . The winner came off a goal-mouth scramble. . . . G Joey Perricone stopped 31 shots for Moose Jaw, which has won seven of eight and has points in eight straight, is 7-3-2-1 and up to third in the East Division. . . . The Ice slipped to 5-8-2-0. . . .

In Kelowna, Jamie Benn and Colin Long had shootout goals as the Rockets dumped the Vancouver Giants, 2-1. . . . Both regulation-time goals came in the third period, with Evan Bloodoff scoring for Kelowna (5-6-1-0), at 9:48, and Spencer Machacek scoring for the Giants (9-2-1-2) just 17 seconds later. . . . G Kris Westblom stopped Vancouver’s first two shooters, while the Rockets’ second and third snipers scored to end it. . . .

In Everett, LW Shane Harper’s third goal of the season, at 18:56 of the third period, broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Silvertips a 4-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Blades (3-9-1-0) have lost five in a row and are 0-4 on their swing through the U.S. Division. They wrap it up Friday in Seattle. . . . Down 2-0 after a period, the Blades tied it in the second only to have D Dane Crowley give Everett the lead again. . . . Walker Wintoneak pulled the Blades even on a PP at 14:40 of the third. . . . Everett got a goal from D Graham Potuer, his third in 184 regular-season and playoff games. . . . Everett (6-6-0-0) outshot the visitors 36-20, including 16-3 in the third. . . . Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken, who called out both goaltenders earlier in the week, yanked Garrett Zemlak after he gave up two goals on five shots. Braden Holtby finished up with 29 stops. . . . The Blades were without D Jyri Niemi (wrist), who leads them with six goals. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans erased a 4-1 deficit and beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-4 in a shootout. . . . It was Tri-City’s 19th straight victory at home. . . . Jason Reese and Shaun Vey each scored in the shootout for Tri-City (11-3-0-0). . . . Americans G Chet Pickard, who is 8-1-0-0, stopped two Brandon (7-5-0-1) shooters in the circus. . . . Brandon has lost four straight. . . . C Taylor Procyshen started the comeback with his ninth goal at 17:26 of the second period. D Kevin Kraus, with his first, and Petr Stoklasa, also with his first, tied it in the third period. . . . Kraus, who went into the game with four points in 45 career games, had a goal and two assists as he was in on the game’s last three goals. . . . Brandon RW Matt Lowry had his 10-game point streak halted. . . . In his first WHL start, Brandon G Andrew Hayes stopped 36 shots. . . . During the game, Brandon lost D Daryl Boyle (match, tape on hand in fight) and F Robert Brandis (clipping major) to ejections. The visitors also had what they thought was a shootout goal by Matt Calvert waved off by referee Andy Thiessen. . . . According to the Brandon Sun, the disallowed goal came after both the goal judge and Thiessen had signaled a goal. . . . "I can't afford to comment, but I can say that there were some things that happened in this game that I have never seen before," Brandon GM/head coach Kelly McCrimmon told The Sun.