Sunday, February 17, 2008

Sunday notes and highlights . . .

SUNDAY CHATTER: A tip of the cap to Edmonton Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau. When the Oil Kings played in Kelowna on Saturday, he had LW Brett Breitkreuz and D Adrian Van de Mosselaer in the starting lineup. Breitkreuz played for the Rockets last season; Van de Mosselaer is from Kelowna. . . . Former Portland Winter Hawks head coach Mike Williamson is back to work; unfortunately, his new job doesn’t involve coaching. He is the operations manager for Northwest Sleevewear, a company in Portland that does screen printing and embroidering. Kerry Eggers has more on Williamson — and Brent Peterson, another former Portland coach — right here. . . .

SUNDAY IN THE WHL:
In Cranbrook, F Arnaud Jacquemet broke a 1-1 tie in the second period as the Kootenay Ice beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . The Ice (35-20-4-2) is fourth in the Eastern Conference and has won two in a row. . . . Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton tied the game 1-1 at 6:39 of the second period on the PP. . . . Jacquement restored the Ice’s lead three minutes later, also on the PP. . . . The Blades (21-33-3-4) and Edmonton Oil Kings are tied for ninth in the conference, but neither team will make the playoffs. . . . The Ice has clinched a playoff spot for the 10th straight season. . . .

In Vancouver, RW Michal Repik and two goals and two assists to lead the Giants to a 5-0 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Giants (40-13-2-5) lead the B.C. Division and are the Western Conference’s second seed. . . . The Bruins (25-27-3-4) are seventh, a point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . It was Repik’s first career four-point outing. Prior to this one, he hadn’t scored in six games and hadn’t had a point in four. . . . C Mario Bliznak had two goals while LW Spencer Machacek recorded four assists, giving that line 10 points. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 19 shots for his WHL-leading seventh shutout of the season. It was the 18th of his career, tying him for fifth on the WHL’s all-time list. Bryan Bridges holds the record, at 21. . . . The Giants won three games over the weekend. . . . Vancouver is 7-0-1-1 against the Bruins this season. . . . Vancouver RW Garet Hunt took a knee major and game misconduct in the first period. Hunt, who has sat out two suspensions already this season, could be looking at a third. . . . Two defencemen — Dylan Chapman of the Bruins and Mike Berube of the Giants — fought four seconds into the game. Two defencemen . . . four seconds? Gee, you don’t think that one was premeditated, do you? . . .

In Seattle, F Greg Scott’s second goal of the game, just 46 seconds into OT, gave the Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Seattle (32-20-5-2) moved into fifth in the Western Conference, a point ahead of the Everett Silvertips and three behind the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Americans (44-14-1-2) continue to lead the U.S. Division (by six points over the Spokane Chiefs) and the Western Conference (by five points over Vancouver). . . . Scott’s winner, his 29th goal of the season, came on the PP. Tri-City D Jarrett Toll had been penalized for tripping with 15 seconds left in the the third period. . . . Scott also drew an assist. . . . .Seattle C Lindsay Nielsen forced OT with the only goal of the third period, his 12th of the season coming at 15:46. . . . LW Colton Yellow Horn had a goal and two helpers for the Americans. The goal was his WHL-leading 45th of the season. . . . Seattle D Scott Jackson set up two goals. . . . When this one was over, Seattle’s Rob Sumner, in his fourth season as head coach, told Jim Riley of the Seattle Times: "That's the most proud of my team that I've been since I've been the coach here. We were basically four guys down. It was three on the scoresheet, but (winger) Isak (Quakenbush) played after having a fever of 103 degrees all morning. It was down to 101 at game time and he gave us some important shifts." . . . D Steve Chaffin, LW Jan Eberle and C Charles Wells all are out with injuries.

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