There was a special moment during the first period of Saturday’s WHL game in Saskatoon. . . . Jack Brodsky, the man who runs the Blades, saluted Doug McConachie, who retired earlier this month after a lengthy run as the sports editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. . . . McConachie, who was born with silver hair rather than a silver spoon, spent 45 years in the newspaper business and was a contributing member of the Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association. . . . He leaves the business knowing that he never lost a game. . . . He also leaves holding the world record for: Most ski junkets, one winter, for a sports editor from the flatlands. . . . Here’s hoping McDoug, as he is affectionately known, enjoys a long and healthy retirement. . . .
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Former WHLer Bryan Kauk will win the Mike Ridley Trophy as the MJHL’s leading scorer and also has been named the winner of the Steve (Boomer) Hawrysh Award as the league;s most valuable player. The late Steve Hawrysh, who was one of the game’s good guys, was a major push behind the MJHL and the Dauphin Kings so it is somehow fitting that Kauk, a left winger with the Kings, would be named the MVP. With four nights left in the regular season, the Kings have scored 230 goals this season and Kauk, 20, has been in on 126 of them. Kauk has an 18-point lead over F Matthew Gingera of the Winnipeg Saints, who have one game remaining. . . . Kauk leads the MJHL with 78 assists; Gingera leads in goals (65). . . . Former WHL goaltender Gavin McHale of the Portage Terriers also was nominated for the MVP award. . . . Voting for the award was done by the MJHL’s 11 head coaches. . . .
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SATURDAY IN THE WHL:
In Saskatoon, the Blades struck four times on the power play en route to a 4-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . C Colton Gillies and D Jyri Niemi each scored twice for the Blades, who were 4-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Pats were 0-for-4 with the man advantage. . . . Gillies has 19 goals; Niemi has 12. . . . The Blades (24-33-3-4) are 7-3-0-2 in their last 12 games; however, they won’t make the playoffs. . . . The Pats (37-21-4-2) continue to lead the East Division so are the Eastern Conference’s second see. . . . Regina scored the game’s first goal when C Kirt Hill got his 11th just 53 seconds into the first period. . . . Saskatoon D Sam Klassen had three assists. . . . Regina D Logan Pyett will be hearing from the WHL office after incurring a gross misconduct sometime after the end of the game. . . . The game didn’t feature any of histrionics of the last couple of meetings between these teams. Which doesn’t mean there wasn’t some conversation. . . . Saskatoon C Mike Reich, who was involved in some of the goings-on earlier, watched this one from the press box. . . . “We had a couple of games in a row where there were some melees,” Regina assistant coach Terry Perkins told Corey Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, “but that’s in the past. Probably not having Mike Reich on the ice (helped avoid a repeat). He seems to want to get things started all the time — I guess because he can’t do anything else right out there.” . . . To which Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken responded: “Mike Reich, in every game that we’ve played the Regina Pats, has done a tremendous job. It’s funny that (Perkins) would make a comment like that because I know (Pats head coach) Curtis (Hunt) wouldn’t. We played against Mike Reich when he was a Regina Pat and he was a pain in the ass to play against. For their assistant coach to make a comment like that, it goes in this ear and right out the other ear. It was a mutual agreement between myself and the league that (Reich) wouldn’t play (Saturday) so that Terry Perkins wouldn’t get upset.” . . . Too bad these teams won’t meet again until next season. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s first three goals and went on to beat the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . Moose Jaw (31-18-6-6) snapped a six-game losing streak. The Warriors are eighth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Kamloops, two games into an East Division swing, has lost five in a row and only has two victories in its last 10 games (2-7-1-0). . . . The Warriors were 2-for-12 on the PP; the Blazers were 2-for-7. . . . In its first two stops on this trip, Kamloops has given up 20 power-play opportunities. . . . Moose Jaw held a 45-29 edge in shots. . . . LW Terrance Delaronde, who was dealt by Kamloops to Moose Jaw last summer, got his 12th goal at 11:54 of the second period, on the PP, and it stood up as the winner. . . . D Nick Ross had a goal and an assist for Kamloops, which is eighth in the Western Conference. . . .
In Brandon, the Kootenay Ice jumped out to a 4-0 lead by midway through the second period and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . The Ice (37-20-5-2) is 8-2-1-1 in its last 12 games and fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Wheat Kings (36-22-2-2) are tied for sixth in the conference with the idle Swift Current Broncos. . . . RW Arnaud Jacquement scored the game’s first two goals, giving him 24 on the season. . . . Ice C Steve Da Silva set up his club’s first three goals. . . . C Brayden Schenn, 16, got his 25th goal of the season for Brandon. . . . The Ice outshot its hosts, 44-34. . . . Kootenay finished a three-game foray into the East Division with five of a possible six points. . . . Brandon D Dan Boyle (shoulder) was back after a three-game absence. . . .
In Prince Albert, G Steven Stanford stopped 33 shots to lead the Raiders to a 4-3 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Raiders (23-35-3-2) have won two in a row and are tied with Edmonton for 10th in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Bruins (26-28-4-4) are seventh in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Kamloops. . . . Chilliwack led this one 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 in the second before the home team scored the game’s last four goals. . . . RW Justin Bernhardt and RW Matt Robertson each had a goal and two assists for the Raiders, while C Ryan McDonald had two goals, giving him 24. . . . Robertson has 25 goals; Bernhardt has 24. . . . Chilliwack LW Mark Santorelli had a goal and an assist. He remains second in the WHL points race but now trails Kelowna Rockets C Colin Long by just one point – 91-90. . . .
In Kelowna, Vancouver captain Spencer Machacek had a goal and two helpers as the Giants dumped the Rockets, 3-1. . . . The two teams meet in Vancouver in the WHL’s only Sunday. . . . The Giants (43-13-2-5) moved into first place in the WHL’s overall standings, a point ahead of the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs and three points up on the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Vancouver has won six in a row and is 10-1-1-0 in its last 12 outings. . . . The Rockets, with three victories in their last 12 games, are fifth in the Western Conference, three points behind Seattle and a point ahead of Everett. . . . Vancouver, which is 33-0-0-0 when leading after two periods, took a 3-1 lead into the third. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith put up his 38th victory of the season with 17 saves. . . .
In Seattle, the Thunderbirds beat Portland 6-2, their 10th victory over the Winter Hawks this season. . . . D Scott Jackson, who has played in 316 regular-season games, was honoured by the Thunderbirds and responded by scoring a goal to break a 1-1 tie. He is fifth on the franchise’s games-played list. . . . Seattle (35-20-5-2) has 16 victories in its last 20 games and has moved to fourth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Kelowna. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-52-1-1) have lost 17 in a row. . . . F Taylor Peters, the 68th pick in the 2007 bantam draft, scored his first WHL goal in his third game with Portland. . . . Seattle LW Jan Eberle, in his second game after missing 17 with a concussion, notched his sixth goal of the season. . . . Portland G Kurtis Mucha stopped 51 shots, while Seattle’s Jacob DeSerres, who is quietly having a fine season behind Riku Helenius, stopped 24 shots. . . . Attendance was 8,369. . . .
In Calgary, D Jerrid Sauer had a goal and two assists to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Medicine Hat (36-19-5-2) is fifth in the Eastern Conference, but just two points behind Kootenay and four in arrears of Lethbridge. . . . The Hitmen (43-17-1-3) remain atop the conference and are seven points ahead of Lethbridge in the Central Division. . . . F Brennan Bosch’s PP goal at 5:03 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie. . . . The Tigers wrapped it up on C Daine Todd’s empty-netter. . . . This was Medicine Hat’s first victory over Calgary in five clashes this season. The Hitmen went into this one having outscored the Tigers 17-4 in those four victories. . . . Attendance was 15,005. . . .
In Red Deer, F Zach Boychuk scored in the circus to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Hurricanes (39-17-2-3) are third in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Kootenay. . . . Lethbridge F Mitch Fadden forced the OT with his 30th goal of the season, at 18:40 of the third period. . . . D Luke Egener got his first of the season for the Rebels. He gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead with a PP goal at 11:57 of the third period. . . . Red Deer G Morgan Clark stopped 35 shots through OT. . . . Lethbridge G Juha Metsola made 17 saves and added three more in the circus. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs struck for the game’s first four goals and went on to beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-3. . . . Spokane (43-14-1-5) moved into a tie with Tri-City for first in the U.S. Division. They are one point behind the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Giants. . . . Tri-City had won four straight games in Spokane. . . . C David Rutherford had two goals for Spokane, while C Mitch Wahl scored once and set up two others. . . . G Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots for the Chiefs. . . . Attendance was 10,366. . . . The Chiefs and Americans have to play each other three more times. . . . Tri-City, which has lost three in a row, has 10 games remaining; Spokane has nine. . . . The Chiefs were without C Justin McCrae (knee). He has missed two games since being injured Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to Everett.
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