Friday . . .

Nine games on Friday night and four of them went to the circus. That means that 13 of the 18 teams in action went home happy. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it? . . . And there also was one game blizzarded out. . . . Blizzarded? Is that a word? If it isn’t, it should be. . . .

FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Kamloops, LW Shayne Wiebe scored in a shootout to give the Blazers a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Blazers (26-28-1-2) had lost four of their previous five games. . . . They are seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Rockets (31-17-2-6) have lost five of their last six games. . . . Wiebe is 2-for-2 in shootout attempts this season. . . .

In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes went to the circus to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 2-1. . . . The Hurricanes (35-15-2-3) were playing their first home game after going 5-1-0-0 on a road swing that included five games in B.C. . . . They are the third seed in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Tigers (31-18-5-2) had won two in a row and five straight on the road. . . . F Dan Iwanski, Lethbridge’s eighth shooter in the circus, got the winner. . . . Lethbridge G Mike Maniago twice made saves in the shootout that kept his mates’ hopes alive. . . . The teams meet again Saturday in Medicine Hat. . . . F Zach Boychuk scored for Lethbridge in the first period, with F Mikael Ahle’n replying for Medicine Hat in the third. . . .

In Moose Jaw, the Regina Pats opened a home-and-home series with the Warriors by winning 4-3 in the circus. . .. . The Pats (34-18-3-2) had lost three straight. They lead the East Division so are the second seed in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Warriors (30-15-4-6) had won their previous two games. . . . The teams meet again Saturday, this time in Regina. . . . Regina C Tim Kraus won this won in the circus’s fourth round. . . . Pats G Linden Rowat stopped 45 shots through overtime. . . . Moose Jaw outshot the visitors 32-12 through 40 minutes but was tied 2-2 because Regina’s Garrett Mitchell and Jordan Eberle scored on the Pats’ first two shots. . . . Regina D Victor Bartley’s goal at 13:31 of the third period forced OT. . . . Final shots were 45-27 for the home team. . . . The Crushed Can was rocking with a sellout crowd of 2,855 in attendance. . . .

In Portland, the Tri-City Americans won their 40th game of the season, beating the Winter Hawks, 5-2. . . . The Americans (40-12-1-2) have won five straight and are the first WHL team to get to 40 victories. . . . Tri-City moved into a tie with the Spokane Chiefs for first place in the overall standings. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-46-1-1) have lost 12 in a row. . . . F Taylor Procyshen led the Americans with two goals and two assists. . . . LW Colton Yellow Horn scored his WHL-leading 38th goal for the Americans. . . . Tri-City G Chet Pickard stopped 35 shots to earn his 35th victory of the season. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels dumped the Calgary Hitmen 3-1, the second time in six days they have beaten one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. . . . Earlier, the Rebels (16-35-4-2) had beaten the Pats 4-3 in Regina. . . . The Hitmen Hitmen (39-14-1-3) had a seven-game winning streak; they are 18-3-0-1 in their last 22 games and had been 5-0 versus Red Deer this season. . . . F Alex Petrovic, 15, scored one of Red Deer’s goals. He was the 33rd pick in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . F Connor Redmond, the 11th pick inn 2007, drew an assist on Petrovic’s goal. . . . Red Deer G Morgan Clark turned aside 42 shots. . . .

In Saskatoon, G Braden Holtby earned his first WHL shutout as the Blades dumped the Edmonton Oil Kings, 2-0. . . . The Blades (19-32-3-3) had lost three straight. . . . The Oil Kings (18-28-4-6) have been blanked for three straight games. . . . Holtby, appearing in his 101st game, stopped 32 shots. . . . F Dan Hulak scored the game’s first goal, his 14th. He has scored Saskatoon’s first goal in three straight games. . . . Saskatoon, 10th in the Eastern Conference, moved to within two points of Edmonton. . . . The Blades will celebrate their building’s 20th anniversary Saturday with a visit by the Brandon Wheat Kings. Those teams opened what was then Saskatchewan Place — it’s now Credit Union Place — on Feb. 9, 1988, with the Blades winning, 4-3. . . . Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken got his 291st coaching victory with the Blades, moving into a tie with Jack McLeod for top spot on the franchise’s all-time list. . . .

In Spokane, a game between the Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds was postponed due to inclement weather. The teams will play the game on Monday. . . . According to a release from the Thunderbirds: The game was “cancelled due to blizzard-like conditions which has forced the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to close all three of the state's primary mountain pass highways. The T-Birds left early Friday morning for the game in Spokane but were not able to clear Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90 before it was closed. The team bus was stopped by WSDOT officials doing avalanche control Friday morning.”

In Brandon, G Andrew Hayes stopped 26 shots to help the Wheat Kings to a 3-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Wheat Kings (32-19-1-2) had lost three of their previous four games. They moved into a tie with the idle Swift Current Broncos for for seventh in the Eastern Conference. . . . Brandon is 4-0 versus Prince Albert this season. . . . Prince Albert (18-33-3-2) went 2-6-0-0 on an eight-game road trip. . . . Brandon got all of its goals in the third period. . . . Hayes lost his shutout when C Max Brandl scored with 1.2 seconds left in the third period. . . . C Andrew Clark (broken leg) was back in Brandon’s lineup after a 19-game sbsence. . . . Brandon D Matt McCue served a one-game WHL suspension for a kneeing incident earlier in the week. . . . D Chad Erb (shoulder) was back in Brandon’s lineup after being out for a week. . . .

In Chilliwack, C Dustin Sylvester scored the winner in the circus as the Kootenay Ice got past the Bruins, 4-3. . . . The Ice (32-18-4-2) is tied for fourth with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Bruins (23-24-3-4), who have lost seven of eight, are eighth in the Western Conference, two points behind the Kamloops Blazers. Chilliwack has three games in hand on Kamloops and will use up one of them tonight in Kelowna. . . . Sylvester was the only skater to score in the circus. . . . Chilliwack G Mark Friesen stopped 38 shots through overtime, five more than the Ice’s Kris Lazaruk. . . .

In Everett, RW Dan Gendur had the winning goal and an assist to help the Silvertips to a 4-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Everett (30-25-0-2) halted a five-game losing skid. The Silvertips moved into fifth in the Western Conference, a point ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Cougars (15-36-1-3) have lost three straight. They have three wins in their last 18 games. . . . Gendur, who was dealt by the Cougars to the Silvertips last season, had a six-point game against Prince George earlier this season. He snapped a 2-2 tie with a third-period power-play goal. . . . Prince George led this one 1-0 and 2-1 before giving up the game’s last three goals. . . . Cougars LW Dana Tyrell scored on a second-period penalty shot. . . . The teams meet in Everett again Saturday night.