Wednesday's highlights . . .

It isn’t often that major junior players are critical of teammates but it has happened twice in recent days in the WHL. First, there was Portland Winter Hawks G Kurtis Mucha telling Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune: “You see some players on our team who think they’re better than they are. Too cocky. 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.” . . . Now comes D Garrett Thiessen of the Prince George Cougars. Among other things, Thiessen told Jim Swanson, the sports editor of the Prince George Citizen: “We need to look in the mirror, and figure out who we want to be — if we want to be hockey players. If you don’t want to play, then why are you here? We don’t want guys who don’t want to compete. Guys who were traded here and didn’t want to come to Prince George, that’s fine — I don’t care if they get 200 points, if they don’t want to be here, I don’t want them on my team.” . . . Thiessen is from Prince George and obviously is feeling the sting of playing for a losing team in his hometown. . . .

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The CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 for Week 18, showing ranking, team, record, last week and weeks in rankings:
1. Kitchener Rangers (39-6-1-2) 1 16
2. Spokane Chiefs (37-10-1-3) 2 13
3. Calgary Hitmen (36-13-1-3) 4 14
4. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (35-14-2-1) 5 13
5. Baie Comeau Drakkar (36-13-1-4) 10 11
6. Vancouver Giants (32-12-1-5) 3 15
7. Tri-City Americans (35-12-1-2) 7 18
8. Belleville Bulls (33-10-3-2) 6 5
9. Saint John Sea Dogs (32-13-1-3) 8 5
10. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (32-13-1-3) 9 18

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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Vancouver, the Giants scored three first-period goals and went on to beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 3-1. . . . The Giants (33-12-1-5) had lost two in a row. They haven’t suffered three straight regulation losses since the start of the 2005-06 season. . . . Vancouver is 19-4-1-0 at home. . . . Lethbridge (32-15-2-3) had won four straight, including three on this B.C. Division tour. . . . RW Michal Repik scored for Vancouver in his first game since Dec. 1 when he suffered a concussion. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 26 shots. . . .

In Edmonton, the Oil Kings got goals from five players as they dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-1. . . . The Oil Kings (18-25-4-6) had lost seven of their previous nine games. . . . The Warriors (28-15-4-4) had won seven of eight. . . . The Oil Kings, who were being outshot 7-1 at one point in the first period, scored the game’s first five goals. . . . G Alex Archibald stopped 19 shots for Edmonton, losing his shutout when C Tomas Karpov scored at 2:42 of the third period. . . . Some of the Oil Kings have dyed their hair pink in support of a local charity. For details, visit the Oil Kings’ website. . . . Moose Jaw LW Frazer McLaren sat this one out with a one-game suspension. It seems he has one too many fights off game-opening faceoffs. Three of those and you sit for one. . . .

In Kelowna, the Rockets scored the game’s first four goals and went on to a 5-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Rockets (31-15-2-5) had lost their last two games. They have won eight straight at home. . . . Kelowna is a comfortable fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Silvertips (29-23-0-2) have lost three straight. . . . Everett RW Dan Gendur, who had 18 points in his previous six games, was held pointless. . . . LW Kyle Beach (concussion) was back in Everett’s lineup. . . . The Rockets were without LW Jamie Benn, the sniper on their big line. He sprained his right ankle in practice on Tuesday and is likely to sit for three weeks. . . . Kelowna C Colin Long, who leads the WHL points parade, is fighting a flu bug and didn’t play a whole lot. . . .

QUESTION: Is there a team in the WHL that doesn’t have the flu bug in its dresing room right now?

In Cranbrook, C Ryan White had two goals and three assists to lead the Hitmen to a 6-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . .Calgary (37-13-1-3) has won five in a row. The Hitmen had beaten the visiting Ice 5-1 on Tuesday night. . . . Calgary has 78 points and is tied with the idle Spokane Chiefs for first place overall. The Chiefs hold three games in hand. . . . The Ice (29-18-4-1) has lost three straight and four of its last five at home. . . . Kootenay is sixth in the Eastern Conference, a point behind the Moose Jaw Warriors and Medicine Hat Tigers and one ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Ice captain Steve Da Silva didn’t play another shift after taking a misconduct at the end of the second period. He was penalized for shooting the puck well after the buzzer. . . . C Brock Nixon had three assists for the Hitmen. He and White both finished plus-4. . . . Nixon has 17 points and is plus-12 in 11 games since being acquired from the Kamloops Blazers. . . . White got the Gordie Howe hat trick with a late third-period bout with D Paul Kurceba. . . .

In Portland, G Chet Pickard stopped 33 saves for the shutout as the Tri-City Americans blanked the Winter Hawks, 4-0. . . . The Americans (36-12-1-2) are three points behind U.S. Division-leading Spokane. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-42-1-1) have lost eight in a row and have scored just six goals over that stretch. . . . Pickard has one shutout this season and five for his career. . . . It was the first time this season that Tri-City has posted a shutout; it was the ninth time Portland has been blanked. . . . C Shaun Vey led the Americans with a goal and two assists. . . .

In Seattle, C Branden Silverster scored his first WHL goal to get the Thunderbirds started toward a 3-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Thunderbirds (25-17-5-2) have won six of seven; they are 15-5-3-2 at home. . . . Seattle is sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind Everett and six ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Raiders (17-31-3-2) are 22 points out of a playoff spot. . . . Seattle also got a goal from C Charles Wells, the second of his career. . . . Prince Albert G Steven Stanford stopped Seattle LW Prab Rai on a second-period penalty shot. . . .

In Swift Current, C Levi Nelson and LW Erik Felde scored 1:47 early in the third period to lead the Broncos to a 3-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Broncos (28-20-0-5) have won six straight and are threatening to move up the Eastern Conference standings. They are eighth but are just three points out of fourth. . . . The Blades (17-30-3-2) have lost four straight. . . . LW Ondrej Fiala scored twice for the Blades, getting the game’s first and last goals.