G Kurtis Mucha has told the Portland Winter Hawks to bring in some better players or he may ask for a trade before another season gets here. Mucha, who has faced more rubber this season than a dead skunk in the middle of the road, told the Portland Tribune’s Jason Vondersmith that he spoke with Winter Hawks president Jack Donovan before the trade deadline. “I didn’t ask for a trade,” Mucha told Vondersmith. “I told them I hoped they would try to bring some players in and help me. I’ve been here for three years. It’s home, I have great memories, I like playing here, I’ve got an awesome billet, the fans have been good to me. I’ve got nothing to complain about, other than we’re not winning. I don’t want to go anywhere.” . . . Mucha admitted frustration to Vondersmith, something the third-year player from Sherwood Park, Alta., has kept bottled up inside him until now. “You see some players on our team who think they’re better than they are. Too cocky,” Mucha said. “And then there are a couple players who shouldn’t even be in this league. It’s not their fault. They’re being thrown into a situation they’re not used to, and almost set up to fail. But we’ve got nobody else.” . . . And the losing, he added, is getting to him. “It’s not a good thing, really, because I don’t want to be accustomed to it,” Mucha told Vondersmith. “But I don’t know what to do. Hopefully we’re good next season. If not, I think it might be time for a change.” . . .
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored three times in the circus to beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-2. . . . The Warriors (27-14-4-4) are in a three-way tie for fifth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Blades are 17-29-2-2. . . . RW Jordan Knackstedt, C Riley Holzapfel and D Ty Wishart scored for the Warriors in the circus; LW Ondrej Fiala and C Colton Gillies countered for the Blades. . . . Gillies scored twice for Saskatoon in regulation time. Gillies, who has 14 goals, opened the scoring at 15:44 of the first period and forced overtime with a PP goal at 1:07 of the third. . . . The Blades were 1-for-5 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-for-5. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos got circus goals from RW Dale Weise and C Matt Tassone to beat the Regina Pats, 3-2. . . . The Broncos (26-20-0-5) have won three in a row. . . . The Pats (32-15-3-2) are 8-0-2-1 in their last 11 games. . . . The Broncos led 2-0 midway through this one on goals by Tassone and LW Geordie Wudrick. . . . Regina tied it when C Michael MacAngus scored
on a third-period penalty shot and RW J.D. Watt got his 10th at 11:24. . . .
In Medicine Hat, F Yashar Farmanara, the 11th shooter, scored in the circus to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Tigers (28-17-5-1) are tied for fifth with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Rockets (30-15-2-5) are a comfortable fourth in the Western Conference. . . . F Tyler Ennis scored twice for the Tigers in real time, with C Cody Almond doing the same for the Rockets. . . . Kelowna G Torrie Jung made 40 saves through OT. . . .
In Cranbrook, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals, all in the second half of the third period, and beat the Kootenay Ice, 4-1. . . . The Wheat Kings (30-17-0-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Ice (29-16-4-1) had points in its previous six games (4-0-1-1). . . . Brandon LW Matt Calvert broke a 2-2 tie with his 16th and 17th goals at 11:59 and 13:52 of the third period. C Brayden Schenn drew assists on both goals. . . .
In Edmonton, RW Robin Figren scored second-period goals 1:24 apart to get the Oil Kings started toward a 3-0 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . Edmonton G Alex Archibald stopped 18 shots for his second shutout this season and the eighth of his career. . . . The Oil Kings (17-24-4-6) are 13 points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Winter Hawks are 9-40-1-1. . . . According to the Edmonton Sun, Archibald celebrated with a chew of tobacco, which is certain to cause some excitement in the WHL office, which frowns on such activity. . . . The game featured a late third-period line brawl that resulted from a collision between Portland D Scott Gabriel and Archibald. . . .
In Spokane, D Jared Spurgeon set up three goals to lead the Chiefs to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The victory, their third straight, kept the Chiefs (35-10-1-3) in first place overall. . . . The Raiders (16-30-3-2) have lost three straight. . . .
In Seattle, F David Richard’s second goal of the game, a shorthanded effort at 5:58 of the third period, broke a 3-3 tie as the Thunderbirds edged the Everett Silvertips, 4-3. . . . The Thunderbirds (23-17-5-2) stayed two points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers in the scrap for sixth place in the Western Conference. . . . The Silvertips (29-21-0-2) are fifth, seven points ahead of Seattle. . . . Seattle has beaten Everett six straight times this season. . . . Everett went into the game on a six-game winning streak. . . . Seattle had two shorthanded goals in the game, the other coming from C Jim O’Brien in the second period as the home side erased a 2-0 deficit. . . . Everett RW Dan Gendur had a goal and two assists, giving him 32 points in his last 14 games. . . The game drew 5,771 fans, Seattle’s largest crowd this season. . . . F Prab Rai, who is having a wonderful season, had a goal and three assists for Seattle. . . . The Thunderbirds were 1-for-3 on the PP, ending a streak in which Everett killed off 46 straight opposition power plays. . . . Everett F Kyle Beach (concussion) didn’t play, nor did C Vitali Karamnov (bruised clavicle), while D Taylor Ellington (broken foot) will be out for up to three weeks. . . . Seattle LW Jan Eberle (concussion) also was scratched. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., G Chet Pickard stopped 30 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Americans (35-11-1-5) are within a point of the U.S. Division- and Western Conference-leading Spokane Chiefs. Tri-City also is three points ahead of the Vancouver Giants (32-12-1-5), who are the conference’s second seed as the B.C. Division leaders. . . . The Americans won three of four from the Giants this season, including a 3-1 victory in Vancouver on Friday. . . . F Kruise Reddick scored his 20th goal for the Ams, with F Radek Meidl adding his first of the season. . . .
In Prince George, RW Nick Hotson scored twice in the game’s first eight minutes and the Lethbridge Hurricanes went on to a 9-0 victory over the Cougars. . . . The Hurricanes (30-14-2-3), who are in Kamloops on Sunday, are 6-0-1-2 in their last nine games. They remain third in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Cougars (14-34-1-2) have lost seven in a row. They have been blanked in two of their last three home games. . . . G Juha Metsola stopped 22 shots for his first WHL shutout. . . . F Dwight King had a goal, his 21st, and three helpers. . . . C Colton Sceviour scored twice, with F Carter Ashton having a goal and two helpers. . . .
In Kamloops, the Blazers scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 7-4. . . . It was the second time in 24 hours the Blazers had torched the Bruins, having beaten them 7-2 in Chilliwack on Friday. . . . The Blazers (24-24-1-2) moved three points ahead of the eighth-place Bruins (22-22-3-1) in the Western Conference. . . . The third period featured seven goals, the first three from the Bruins and the last four from the Blazers. . . . Kamloops went into the third period with a 3-1 lead, only to have Chilliwack strike for three goals in 2:01. . . . The Blazers tied it on a PP goal by LW Kenton Dulle and put it away with three goals in 2:35. The first of those came from D Nick Ross, who went coast-to-coast and roofed the puck on G Mark Friesen. . . . The Blazers outshot the Bruins, 41-34. . . . LW Ivan Rohac had a goal and two assists for Kamloops. . . . Chilliwack lost RW Matt Meropoulis with a hand injury in Friday’s game. He is shown as being out indefinitely.
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