OK. All of you who are wishing you had been in Regina on Friday night please raise your right hand. . . . The rest of you are lying. . . . Reggie Dunlop and Mr. Oglethorpe are believed to have been on the premises. . . . As you shall see, no one summed this game up any better than Saskatoon C Colton Gillies. . . . But you’ve got to think that Richard Doerksen, the man who doles out the discipline, will have the last word on this one. . . . The attendance, however, is sure to soften the blow. . . . So we’ll lead with Saskatoon at Regina. . . .
FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Regina, things went about as expected as the Pats and Saskatoon Blades held a rematch of a game the previous week that included a line brawl. . . . This one began with Saskatoon F Mike Reich getting a misconduct for stirring the pot during the pregame warmup. . . . It ended with a line brawl. . . . In between, the Blades skated to a 6-2 victory. . . . Attendance was 6,075. . . . And you have to wonder how many fans left the game because they didn’t like the evening’s entertainment. . . . As the Regina Leader-Post’s Greg Harder wrote: “The pre-game hype for the Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades spawned B-movie titles like ‘Brawl at the Brandt’ and ‘Rumble in the Stubble.’ The feature presentation was all that and more — with some horror mixed in for good measure.” . . . The earlier game resulted in $2,000 in fines and a couple of suspensions. There will be more – cha-ching! – from this one. . . . Both coaches, Curtis Hunt of Regina and Lorne Molleken of Saskatoon, will be suspended. “Obviously, Curtis and I will be sitting at home (Saturday night) watching the games on the Internet and eating popcorn,” Molleken told Harder. . . . The first fight came at 2:40 of the first period with heavyweights Josh Elder of Regina and Garrett Klotz of Saskatoon dancing. . . . Goals? Oh yes, there were some, weren’t there? Saskatoon got two goals each from Chris Durand and Darian Dziurzynski. . . . The referee was Derek Zalaski. . . . “I have no comment on the referees,” said Hunt. . . . “How could you not enjoy that game?” Saskatoon C Colton Gillies said. “That’s old-fashioned hockey.” . . . More from Harder: “Reich received a subsequent 10-minute misconduct with three minutes remaining and had to be restrained from going after a fan on his way to the dressing room. The fan then threw his beer on to the Blades’ bench, at which time Klotz had to be restrained from going into the stands. The fan was thrown out by security while waving his hands in the air.” . . . And a grand time was had by all. . . . All told, the teams combined for 253 penalty minutes, 130 to the Blades. . . . The teams meet for the last time this season on Feb. 23 in Saskatoon. . . . Get your tickets now. . . .
In Chilliwack, the Vancouver Giants scored four times in the first period en route to a 6-2 victory over the Bruins. . . . Vancouver (34-12-1-5) has beaten Chilliwack six straight times this season after the Bruins won the first two meetings – one in overtime, the other in a shootout. . . . F James Henry had two goals for Vancouver. . . . RW Michal Repik scored and has a goal in two straight games after returning from a concussion suffered Dec. 1. . . . Vancouver held a 19-3 edge in shots in the first period. . . . The shots were 46-15 at game’s end. . . . The Bruins, losers of five straight overall and four in a row at home, are 22-24-3-2 and eighth in the Western Conference. . . .
In Brandon, rookie F Brayden Schenn had two goals and three assists as the Wheat Kings dropped the Red Deer Rebels, 9-0. . . . Schenn has 21 goals this season. . . . Brandon G Andrew Hayes stopped 18 shots for the third shutout of his freshman season. . . . Brandon (31-18-0-2) had lost 9-2 in Calgary in its previous outing. . . . The Rebels (14-34-4-2) have lost seven of eight. . . . Brandon went 4-0 against Red Deer this season. . . . Each member of Red Deer’s top line – Troy Ofukany, Landon Ferraro and Brandon Sutter – was minus-4. . . .
In Calgary, G Dan Spence turned aside 21 shots as the Hitmen dumped the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-0. . . . It was Spence’s third blank job this season and 10th of his career. . . . Spence was 9-0-0-1 with a 1.67 GAA and .931 save percentage in January. . . . The Hitmen (38-13-1-3) moved into first place overall, one point ahead of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Oil Kings (18-26-4-6) have lost nine of 10 on the road. . . . The Hitmen won the season series, 6-2. . . . Edmonton assistant coach Rocky Thompson will be writing a cheque to the WHL office early in the week after getting tossed late in the third period. . . .
In Kelowna, the Lethbridge Hurricanes whipped the Rockets, 9-4. . . . The Hurricanes (33-15-2-3) went 4-1-0-0 in their B.C. Division tour, blitzing the opposition 30-10 in the process. They twice scored nine goals and pumped in eight once. . . . Kelowna (31-16-2-5) had won eight straight at home. . . . F Zach Boychuk led the Hurricanes with two goals and two assists. . . . The visitors scored 30 seconds in and led 3-0 after eight minutes. . . . F Lucas Bloodoff scored twice for Kelowna. . . . F Dwight King and F Carter Bancks also scored two each for Lethbridge. . . . F Mitch Fadden added a goal and two helpers. . . .
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored a 3-2 circus victory over the Spokane Chiefs in the opener of a home-and-home series. The teams meet Saturday in Spokane. . . . The Chiefs got off to a 2-0 first-period lead before the Ice came back on goals by Dustin Sylvester, his 26th at 19:12 of the first, and Steve Da Silva, his 29th at 2:53 of the third. . . . The Ice (30-18-4-1) is tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Chiefs (37-10-1-4) lead the Western Conference but now trail the Calgary Hitmen for first place overall. . . . Ben Maxwell and Dustin Sylvester had circus goals for the Ice. . . . Maxwell, who had missed most of the season with a thigh injury, saw irregular ice-time early but was taking a regular shift by the third period. . . . The Ice had lost three in a row. . . . Spokane had won five in a row. . . .
In Portland, G Dustin Butler stopped 42 shots to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the Winter Hawks. . . . Butler began his career with Portland and played more than three seasons there before being dealt to the Kamloops Blazers. He was moved to Prince Albert early this season. . . . The Raiders (18-31-3-2) had lost four of five. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-43-1-1) got 42 saves from G Kurtis Mucha. . . . The Raiders broke a 2-2 tie with third-period goals form Justin Bernhardt, at 2:07 on the PP, and Dustin Cameron, into an empty net at 19:48. . . .
In Prince George, the Cougars erased 2-0 and 3-1 deficits and beat the Kamloops Blazers, 5-4. . . . The Cougars (15-34-1-2) snapped a seven-game losing streak. They are 16 points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Blazers (24-27-1-2) have lost three in a row. . . . The teams meets again Saturday in Prince George. . . . The season series is tied 3-3. . . . LW Dana Tyrell tied the game 4-4 for the Cougars just 1:39 into the third period. Tyrell’s 21st goal of the season came when a PP slapshot by D Kalvin Sagert bounced in off his right cheek. That would be butt cheek. . . . Sagert scored the game-winner with 8:35 left in the third. It was the first regular-season game-winner of his WHL career; this was his 319th career game. His career began with the Blazers, who made him the 15th pick of the 2002 bantam draft. . . . Sagert has one playoff game-winner to his credit. . . . This one was his second goal of the season. . . . G Real Cyr stopped 39 shots for P.G. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos went to the circus to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-3. . . . “I think next time we come here, we’re going to bring a chicken and do a sacrificial thing here at centre ice to try and break the hex here,” Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald after his club fell to 0-4 against the Broncos. The first three games had been played in the Crushed Can in Moose Jaw. . . . The Warriors actually took a 3-2 lead in the third period on goals 33 seconds apart from Joel Broda and Neal Prokop. . . . The Broncos tied it on a PP goal by C David Stiler at 12:54. . . . Swift Current’s Keegan Dansereau was the only one of five circus shooters to score. . . . Moose Jaw LW Frazer McLaren exited 27 seconds into the first period with a boarding major and game misconduct. . . . The Broncos (29-20-0-5) have won six in a row. . . . The Warriors (28-15-4-5) have lost two straight. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., C Shaun Vey scored with 15 seconds left in the third period to give the Tri-City Americans a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Seattle took a 2-1 lead into the third period only to have D Brett Plouffe tie the score at 11:19 of the third period – it was his first goal of the season – to set the stage for Vey. . . . G Chet Pickard stopped 23 shots for the Americans as he picked up his 32nd victory of the season, one shy of Brian Boucher’s single-season franchise record. . . . The Americans (37-12-1-2) have won nine of 11 games and are 21-4-0-1 at home. . . . The Thunderbirds (25-17-5-2) had won three in a row and six of seven.
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