Tuesday's highlights . . .

Everett LW Kyle Beach, at 17, is arguably the premier player in the league
today. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked No. 1 among those WHL skaters who are eligible for the 2008 draft. And he is having a phenomenal season. Beach, who is from Kelowna, is third in goals (19), second in points (39) and second in penalty minutes (95). But he isn’t on either of the WHL teams that will play the Russians in two ADT Challenge Games next week. “It’s not fair,” said one Everett official. . . . That official is right.
It’s a break for the Silvertips as they have played a tough schedule of late and Beach’s not having to travel to Medicine Hat and/or Cranbrook will give him a chance to get some much-needed rest. But it isn’t fair to Beach, who should have been rewarded for his terrific season with a chance to play the Russians.
“We’re thrilled. It’s unfortunate that he got shunned by whoever,” said Everett head coach John Becanic after his squad dropped a 6-4 decision to the host Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday. “We’re thrilled he’s going to get the weak off. But for the poor kid I don’t know what he has to do. He’s arguably the best player in the league so far this season.”
It will be interesting, really interesting, to see if Hockey Canada invites
Beach to the national junior selection camp in Calgary. Invitations go out early in December, with players to arrive in Calgary on Dec. 10.
“I don’t know,” Becanic said when asked if he expects Beach to get an invitation. “I don’t know what he has to do.
“I think he’s done enough in anybody’s eyes. And if you ask any of the
NHL scouts who have been in the building ‘Who have been the top three dominant players in the WHL,’ his name will be on everybody’s list.”
That it will. But will it be on Hockey Canada’s?
Hey, if they took Steve Downie a couple of years ago, they should be taking Kyle Beach. . . .

The Tri-City Americans have dealt RW Travis Gorman, 18, to the Kootenay Ice for a 2009 sixth-round bantam pick. Gorman, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, is from Aldergrove, B.C. He had one goal and 25 penalty minutes in 14 games with the Americans. Last season, he had four points, all goals, and 49 penalty minutes in 21 games. . . .

The red-hot Kelowna Rockets, who have played 11 games without losing in regulation time, will meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash.,
tonight. The Rockets, though, are hurting a bit. D Tyler Myers (shoulder)
remains out, while LW James McEwan, the team captain, won’t play after
taking a hit to the head in Sunday’s 5-3 victory over the Giants in
Vancouver. . . . LW Matthew Brusciano, who has yet to play this season
because of a concussion, may get into the Kelowna lineup. . . .

D Neil Manning, who has been out since Oct. 5 with a broken wrist, could return to the Vancouver Giants’ lineup against the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Friday. . . . Also due to return this weekend is Spokane Chiefs C David Rutherford. The 20-year-old veteran, who had 31 goals last season, has missed most of the season with a groin problem. . . . Spokane LW Drayson Bowman was named the CHL’s player of the week after putting up eight points, including six goals, in three games last week. . . .

TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice won their seventh straight game, beating the Red Deer Rebels, 4-1. . . . The Ice (14-10-2-0) have won eight of their last nine at home. . . . The Ice also is 4-0 versus Red Deer (7-17-4-1) this season. . . . F Matt Fraser, acquired by the Ice from the Rebels earlier this season, scored 2:04 into the game and the Ice was off to the races. . . . The Ice got two goals and an assist from F Michael Stickland, a Red Deer native who also had a fight for the Gordie Howe hat trick. . . .

In Kamloops, the Blazers came back from a 4-2 second-period deficit and beat the Everett Silvertips 6-4. . . . The Blazers (12-10-1-1) have won four straight and six of their last seven. . . . Everett (14-11-0-1) had won three straight. . . . The Blazers got two goals, including the game-winner, from LW Ivan Rohac, who has been terrific for the last two or three weeks. . . . Everett LW Kyle Beach took a misconduct late in the first period for a mouthguard violation and wasn’t a factor when he returned. . . . The Silvertips lost D Dane Crowley after a second-period hit by Kamloops D Mike Gauthier. . . .

In Portland, the Winter Hawks went 2-for-5 on the power-play as they beat the Regina Pats 4-3 for their fourth victory of the season. . . . Portland (4-19-0-0) had lost six in a row. . . . F Viktor Sjodin scored the game-winner at 15:28 of the third period, just four minutes after Regina C Jordan Eberle had tied it with his 21st goal of the season. . . . D Logan Pyett had his 13th goal, tops among WHL defencemen, for Regina (16-11-0-0), which has lost three in a row and four of five. . . .

In Swift Current, the goaltenders stole the show as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Swift Current’s Travis Yonkman stopped 39 shots in real time, while Calgary’s Martin Jones turned aside 19. . . . The circus went nine rounds, meaning there were 18 shooters. And only Calgary’s Brendan Rowinski, who has three regular-season goals in 42 games last season and this, was able to score. . . . The Hitmen (17-8-0-2) have won five of six and pulled into a tie with the idle Lethbridge Hurricanes atop the Central Division. . . . The Broncos (14-6-0-5) had won two in a row. . . . RW Keegan Dansereau, acquired by the Broncos from the Hitmen early in the season, forced OT with his 11th goal at 17:50 of the third period.