Gallant family will have Merry Christmas

The wife and two sons of former Regina Pats play-by-play voice Kevin Gallant appear to have escaped serious injury after being involved in a car accident Thursday night in Vancouver. According to the Vancouver Province, Cpl. Peter Thiessen said a “white Ford Mustang crashed into a black Honda sedan . . . at about 5 p.m.” . . . .Gallant’s wife Eva and their two boys — Matthew, 3, and Michael, 1 — were injured in the accident. . . . In an e-mail, Gallant writes: “Matthew was taken by helicopter to Royal Columbia hospital and was released in my custody that night. He is OK — big bruise, sore ankle and a confidence loss. He is angry with the other driver, who ran the red light. Matthew dealt with the biggest impact, as the vehicle hit his side of the car dead on. They needed cutters to get him out. . . . Eva is hurting all over and will be back to see doctors on Saturday. She can't lift up her kids. Please pray for her. . . . Michael has a few scratches and a bruise. He is OK, and like Matthew was buckled up very well in the car seat. This probably saved their lives. I tell Eva that she did everything right. Her ensuring the kids were buckled up properly saved them from serious injury.” . . . According to the Province, “A man in his early 20s and woman in her mid-20s fled on foot. A loaded, high-calibre handgun was found on the front seat of the Mustang, which may have been stolen.” . . .

The Kamloops Blazers scored a 5-4 shootout victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night. The Blazers played without LW Ivan Rohac, their second-leading scorer, who was a healthy scratch. . . . Asked about it after the game, Kamloops head coach Greg Hawgood said it was a “coach’s decision.” . . . Asked if Rohac was sitting out for disciplinary reasons, Hawgood replied: “Somebody had to come out for Dulle to play.” . . . That would be F Kenton Dulle, who was playing his first game after missing 10 with a lower abdominal injury. He has seven points in 19 games. . . . Rohac has 24 points in 29 games, including nine in his last eight outings. . . . This is one of those instances where the hockey team owed it to the ticket-buying public to explain why Rohac, perhaps its most-exciting player, was scratched. . . . And you can bet it had everything to do with his being disciplined. Sources within the club said Friday night that Rohac reacted poorly when he wasn’t placed on the ice during a 5-on-3 advantage in Tuesday’s 6-4 victory over the visiting Portland Winter Hawks. So the decision was made to sit him for a game. . . . So why not explain that to the fans? . . . Instead, the truth is being stretched, at the very least, and the rumours are flying. . . .

FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Vancouver, C Casey Pierro-Zabotel scored three times to lead the Giants to a 6-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The same two teams met in the last WHL championship, with the Tigers winning in seven games. . . . The Giants (21-7-1-3) have won three in a row and are 12-3-1-0 at home. . . . The Tigers (16-12-3-1) have lost three in a row and four of five. . . . The Tigers beat the Giants 4-3 in Medicine Hat on Nov. 24. . . . Pierro-Zabotel, a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL’s 2007 draft, has four goals in nine games since joining the Giants from the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials. All four of his goals have come against the Tigers. . . . The Giants had a 43-22 edge in shots. . . . The teams were 2-2 after one period. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-for-8 on the PP; the Giants were 1-for-7. . . .

In Brandon, G Andrew Hayes earned his first WHL shutout as the Wheat Kings dumped the Saskatoon Blades, 4-0. . . . The Wheat Kings (21-9-0-1) have won seven in a row. They also have won eight straight at home. . . . The Blades are 11-19-1-0. . . . Hayes, 17, made 15 saves. . . . What is it about Sherwood Park and goaltenders, what with Kurtis Mucha and Cam Ward both calling that community home? . . . . Brandon’s Kid Line — Scott Glennie, Brayden Schenn and Matt Calvert — combined for seven points. Glennie had a goal and two assists with each of the other two getting one of each. . . . Glennie and Schenn lead all WHL rookies with 13 goals each. . . . Saskatoon is without three key forwards — Chris Durand (shoulder), Ondrej Fiala (flu) and Justin McCrae (groin). . . .

In Everett, C Zach Hamill had a goal and two assists to lead the Silvertips to a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Silvertips (16-14-0-2) had halted a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Americans on Wednedsay. . . . Hamill hadn’t scored in five games. . . . The Americans (21-7-1-0) had a goal from LW Colton Yellow Horn, who ran his point streak to 11. . . . F Kyle Beach had two goals for Everett. He got the winner with 4:18 left in the third period. . . . Tri-City held a 3-1 lead late in the second period. . . . Everett G Leland Irving, who will join Hamill at the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp Monday, made 25 saves and was outstanding. . . .

In Kamloops, C Brock Nixon scored the only goal of the shootout as the Blazers got past the Prince Albert Raiders, 5-4. . . . Prince Albert G Dustin Butler, who was acquired from the Blazers earlier this season, was terrific, with 41 saves. . . . The Blazers (15-13-1-1) have won two in a row after losing three straight. . . . Kamloops is 5-1-0-0 in its last six meetings with P.A. . . . The Raiders (10-18-3-2) have lost six straight. . . . A road trip that opened in Calgary on Wednesday concludes Saturday in Prince George against the Cougars. . . . Nixon had two assists in real time. . . . The Raiders led 3-1 late in the second period. . . . Kamloops D Mike Gauthier, who spent the first four-plus seasons of his WHL career with the Raiders, scored his first goal with the Blazers to forge a 3-3 tie 38 seconds into the third. . . . P.A.’s Justin Bernhard got his second of the night five minutes later, stickhandling through three Blazers and beating G James Priestner, who made 11 saves through OT but redeemed himself in the circus. . . . Kamloops D Darcy Huisman tied the game, finishing off a 2-on-1 at 15:33 of the third. . . .

In Cranbrook, it was Teddy Bear Night but the Kootenay Ice didn’t score as it fell1-0 to the Swift Current Broncos. . . . C Steve Da Silva of the Ice (18-12-3-0) had his 15-game point streak ended. . . . The Broncos improved to 17-10-0-5. . . . The game’s only goal came from Erik Felde while shorthanded at 11:25 of the first period. . . . Felde has 15 goals this season. . . . Swift Current G Travis Yonkman stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career. . . . The Ice’s Kris Lazaruk stopped 25 shots. . . . . The Broncos were 0-for-5 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-4. . . . By the way, with the Ice not having scored, the fans threw their stuffed toys on the ice at the final buzzer. . . .

In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes scored four times in the shootout as they beat the Kelowna Rocket, 3-2. . . . The Hurricanes (21-9-1-1) erased a 2-0 deficit on goals by LW Dan Iwanski, at 19:02 of the second, and D Luca Sbisa, at 14:52 of the third. . . . Lethbridge has won four straight. . . . The Rockets (17-10-2-3), who opened a six-game swing, had won three of their last four games. . . . The Rockets got goals from Colin Long, his 16th, and Jamie Benn, his 12th. . . . Kelowna G Torrie Jung made 26 saves, nine more than Lethbridge’s Mike Maniago. . . . It was only the eight time in 32 games that Lethbridge has given up the first goal. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-5 on the PP, while Lethbridge was 0-for-7. . . . Kelowna captain James McEwan (concussion) played for the first time since Nov. 18. . . .

In Portland, G Riku Helenius stopped 25 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Winter Hawks, 4-0. . . . Seattle (12-10-5-1) had lost its last two games. . . . The Winter Hawks (5-24-0-0) have lost five straight. . . . The teams meet Saturday night in Seattle. . . . Helenius earned his first WHL shutout. . . . Seattle fired 50 shots at Portland G Jordan White, whose record now is 0-8-0-0. . . . F Greg Scott scored one of Seattle’s goals. He has nine points, five of them goals, over his last nine games. . . . Seattle was 0-for-9 on the PP; Portland was 0-for-2. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels ended a three-game losing streak as they beat the Regina Pats, 4-1. . . . The Rebels (9-21-4-1) trailed 1-0 going into the third period. . . . The Pats (20-13-0-1) now have lost twice to Red Deer this season. Red Deer won 7-2 in Regina on Sept. 28. . . . C Brandon Sutter got Red Deer’s comeback started with a shorthanded goal 13 seconds into the third period. . . . Six minutes later Sutter scored what proved to be the winner. . . . Sutter, who has 12 goals, later added an assist as he finished with three points in the third period. . . . Red Deer F Landon Ferraro left in the second period with a rib injury.