SUNDAY IN THE WHL:
In Vancouver, C Colin Long scored in the circus to give the Kelowna Rockets a 3-2 victory over the Giants in the night’s lone WHL game. . . . The Rockets (34-21-2-6) are fifth in the Western Conference, a point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Giants (43-13-2-6) are atop the overall standings, two points ahead of the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans and four ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Attendance was 14,279, the largest crowd this season in Pacific Coliseum. . . . The Giants, now 24-5-2-1 at home, are 2-6 in shootouts. . . . Kelowna G Kris Westblom stopped 35 shots and then added three more saves in the circus. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 20 shots. . . . Had the Giants won, they would have clinched first place in the B.C. Division for a third straight season. . . . The Giants are on a real roll. This was their eighth game in 12 nights and they picked up at least a point in every one of them. . . . Kelowna C Cody Almond put his side up 2-1 midway through the third period, only to have F Mitch Czibere tie it 11 seconds later. . . . That was Czibere’s first goal in 20 games. . . . Long picked up an assist in regulation time. He leads the WHL with 92 points, two more than Chilliwack Bruins LW Mark Santorelli. . . . Vancouver was without F Lance Bouma. He incurred a kneeing major in Saturday’s 3-1 victory in Kelowna and was suspended by the WHL for one game. . . . Vancouver F Garry Nunn left early with an undisclosed injury. . . . Former WHLer Oren Koules, now a movie producer (he’s responsible for, among others, the Saw movies), was in the crowd. Koules is in the process of buying the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. According to Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, Koules was with former WHL sniper Len Barrie, whose son, Tyson, is a rookie defenceman with the Rockets. Len also owns the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.
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