Saturday's highlights

What in the name of Rob Matsuoka is going on in the WHL? . . . Was it Grey Cup parties, or what? . . . The Regina Pats scratched veterans Troy Ofukany and Tim Kraus. . . . The Everett Silvertips scratched LW Kyle Beach, who is only their best player. . . . The Chilliwack Bruins scratched D Dylan Chapman and RW Partik Bhungal. . . . Have we left anyone out? . . . All five were healthy scratches from Friday night games. . . . Naturally, team officials weren’t saying what team rules were broken, or whether the players got caught shoplifting, were in a local bar, were brawling on Main Street or, maybe, were hangin’ out with Lilo, Brit and/or Paris. Or maybe they were making plans to get to Vancouver to watch the Spice Girls. . . . But the betting here is that these players all are Saskatchewan Roughriders fans and they all did a little too much celebrating. . . .

There is nothing like a little good news, especially at this time of the season. No, the WHL hasn’t decided to ashcan the two-man refereeing system. This is actually better news than that. James Shewaga, the sports editor of the Brandon Sun, reported in Saturday’s paper on the health of former Wheat Kings owner Bob Cornell. It was in late September when Cornell, on his way home from watching an NFL game in Green Bay, was involved in a car accident. He and his passengers incurred serious injuries but all folks are well on their way to recovery. In fact, Shewaga reports that Cornell, who ended up undergoing heart surgery as well, is healthy enough that he has headed for his winter home in Marco Island, Fla. Cornell told Shewaga that he was humbled by hearing from so many people who were concerned about him. "I would just say I appreciate all their thoughts," Cornell, 69, told Shewaga. "It's kind of nice to know that there were that many people out there that really cared." . . . . And it’s good to hear that Cornell is back chipping and putting and thinking about getting his golf game back in gear. When you hear that you know that the man known as Plumber is well on the way to recovery. . . .

Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province is reporting on his blog (Dub Hub) that the Boston Bruins won’t be releasing F Milan Lucic to play for Canada at the world junior tournament. Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray was in Vancouver on Saturday to watch the Giants play the Everett Silvertips. He told Ewen the Bruins have said that Lucic, who captained Canada to its preseason 7-0-1 romp over a Russian side, won’t be released for the WJC. "I can see it," Murray told Ewen. "They don't want to send any mixed messages. They don't want to confuse him. They don't want to send him to world juniors and have him thinking, 'What next? Are they unhappy? Are they going to send me back to junior?' I know he's not playing a lot of minutes, but the Boston people I talk to him are very happy with him." . . . Through 19 games, Lucic is averaging 7:19 per game in ice time. He has two points and 31 penalty minutes. . . .

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

In Kelowna, F Myles MacRae had two goals to lead the Rockets to a 4-2 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . The Rockets (16-9-2-2) have won two in row. . . . The Winter Hawks (5-21-0-0) scored the game’s last two goals, both from F Tristan King. Those were his first two goals of the season. . . . MacRae had power-play and shorthanded goals. . . . C Colin Long also scored twice for Kelowna, with D Tyson Barrie and D Luke Schenn each getting three assists. . . . The Rockets are 11-2-1-2 in their last 16 games. . . . MacRae had ended a 22-game goal drought with a goal Friday in a 7-4 victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. . . .

In Edmonton, D Tyler Hlookoff’s second goal of the season, at 5:57 of the second period, broke a 1-1 tie as the Oil Kings beat the Blades, 2-1. . . . Edmonton (11-14-1-3) had lost two in a row. . . . The Blades now are 10-15-1-3. . . . Saskatoon D Stefan Elliott, a 16-year-old rookie, had an assist. He now has 20 points, including 14 helpers, this season. . . .

In Kamloops, Chilliwack forwards Brayden Metz and Matt Meropoulis scored their first goals this season as the Bruins dumped the Blazers, 6-2. . . . Kamloops (13-13-1-1) has lost three straight. . . . The Bruins (15-12-3-0) had lost six of seven but dominated the Blazers in this one. . . . C Scott Wasden opened the scoring for Kamloops, but the Bruins then struck for six straight goals. . . . C Mark Santorelli, the WHL’s leading point man, had two goals and an assist, while RW Oscar Moller had a goal, his 24^th, and two helpers. . . . The game featured 224 penalty minutes, 124 of those to the Blazers, who lost all discipline and composure in the third period. Kamloops head coach Greg Hawgood received a game misconduct at 19:58 of the third period. . . . Chilliwack was 3-for-13 on the power play, with nine of those opportunities coming in the third period. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Daine Todd’s ninth goal of the season stood up as the winner as the Tigers scored four power-play goals and edged the Spokane Chiefs, 4-3. . . . Todd also had two assists. . . . The Tigers (16-11-2-0) had lost three of their last four outings. . . . The Chiefs (20-4-1-2) had a seven-game winning streak come to an end. . . . The Tigers led 3-0 early in the second period before the Chiefs got to within one at 3-2. . . . Todd’s goal at 17:22 of the second period gave the home side a 4-2 edge. . . . LW Drayson Bowman had Spokane’s last goal, his 24^th of the season. . . . The Tigers outshot the visitors 42-35. . . . Spokane was 2-for-3 on the PP; the Tigers were 4-for-11. . . . The victory gave Tigers GM/head coach Willie Desjardins his franchise-record 229^th triumph, one more than Jack Shupe. . . .

In Prince Albert,the Moose Jaw Warriors struck for three power-play goals on six chances as they dumped the Raiders, 4-2. . . The Raiders (10-16-3-1) have lost three straight games. . . . Moose Jaw’s first three goals -- from forwards Joel Broda, Jason Bast and Frazer McLaren -- came via the PP. F Riley Holzapfel closed out the scoring with an empty-netter. . . . After Moose Jaw (12-9-5-1) took a 2-0 first-period lead, the Raiders battled back to tie it with two PP scores of their own, from F Ryan DePape and F Brandon Herrod. . . . Mclaren’s fifth goal of the season, at 10:28 of the third, stood up as the winner. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels outshot Prince George 39-29 en route to a 3-1 victory over the Cougars. . . . The Rebels (8-18-4-1) ended a three-game losing skid. . . . The Cougars (11-19-0-0) had won their last two games. . . . The Rebels won’t be rotating the ‘C’ around any more as C Brandon Sutter has been named the team’s captain. . . . Sutter’s goal at 15:20 of the first period opened the scoring and, with it being Toque Night, resulted in a hail of headwear and mitts from the 6,010 fans in attendance. . . . Scott Doucet’s goal at 11:36 of the second period gave Red Deer a 2-0 lead and proved the winner. . . . Red Deer was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Cougars were 1-for-6. . . .

In Regina, G Kris Lazaruk made 38 saves as the Kootenay Ice dumped the Pats 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Regina (19-11-0-1) had won three in a row, while the Ice (17-10-3-0) has won 10 of its last 11. . . . F Dustin Sylvester scored the shootout goal that won this one. . . . Sylvester’s goal followed circus scores by Regina C Jordan Eberle and Kootenay C Steve Da Silva. . . .

In Swift Current, the Brandon Wheat Kings never trailed as they skated to a 4-2 victory over the Broncos. . . . F Matt Lowry and F Daniel Bartek gave Brandon a 2-0 first-period lead and the Wheat Kings took it from there. . . . C Tyler Dittmer scored his 21st goal of the season for Brandon late in the
third period. . . . The Broncos (15-10-0-5) have lost five of their last six games. . . . The Wheat Kings (18-9-0-1) have won four straight. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., LW Colton Yellow Horn had three goals to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Yellow Horn has 22 points, including 12 goals, over his last 10 games. . . . C Kruise Reddick added four assists for the winners, who also got a goal and two helpers from F Adam Hughesman. . . . It was Teddy Bear Night and the goal that did it came from F Shaun Vey at 13:10 of the first period. . . . Tri-City G Chet Picard made 31 saves to run his record to 16-4-0-0. . . . The Americans won for the 20^th time as they improved to 20-6-0-0. . . . The Thunderbirds (11-10-4-1) had won their last two games. . . . Seattle also had beaten the Americans twice earlier in the season, both times in Seattle. . . . The Americans were without head coach Don Nachbaur, who is in Prince George due to illness in his family. Assistant coach Terry Virtue ran the bench. . . . Tri-City C Taylor Prochyshen (concussion) missed his second straight game. . . .

In Vancouver, the Giants beat the Everett Silvertips 7-0 in a game marred by an injury to Vancouver RW Michal Repik. . . . He left the ice on a stretcher in the third period after taking a hit to the head from Everett D Dane Crowley. Repik, who reportedly was unconscious before he hit the ice, may have a broken ear drum. He will be examined further on Sunday. . . . Crowley was hit with an interference major and game misconduct. . . . Repik scored the game’s first goal, his 17^th, and added an assist. . . . The Giants (19-7-1-3) had lost four of their last five games. . . . Everett (14-14-0-2) has lost four straight. . . . Everett LW Kyle Beach and Vancouver RW Spencer Machacek duked it out off the opening faceoff. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith made 13 saves for the shutout, his league-leading fifth this season and the 16^th of his career. That ties him for ninth on the all-time list, just five behind the record of 21 held by Bryan Bridges (Seattle/Kootenay, 2001-06). Bridges played 213 regular-season games; Sexsmith played in his 93^rd Saturday night. . . . Vancouver F Evander Kane had two goals and C Mario Bliznak had a goal and two helpers.