Wednesday is over . . .

JUST NOTES: D Mark Schneider of the Kamloops Blazers, who is from Brandon, isn’t going to get to play in his hometown. The Blazers open a six-game road trip in Brandon on Friday but Schneider is out with a knee injury. He suffered an MCL injury in his right knee during a Monday practice and is out indefinitely. . . . The situation has Portland has claimed the blog of Winter Hawks’ play-by-play voice Andy Kemper. It’s linked from over there on the left and you should visit to read his reasoning. . . .

WEDNESDAY IN THE WHL:
In Vancouver, G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 23 shots as the Giants blanked the Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-0. . . . The Giants (41-13-2-5), who have won four straight, are 23-5-2-0 at home. They are three points behind the Western Conference-leading Tri-City Americans. . . . The Oil Kings (19-31-4-7) have lost three straight and seven of eight. . . . Sexsmith leads the WHL with eight shutouts. This was the 19th shutout of his career. That ties him with former Kelowna Rockets G Kelly Guard for fourth on the all-time list, behind Bryan Bridges (21), and Justin Pogge and Dustin Slade, each of whom put up 20. . . . Sexsmith, who set a franchise record for single-season victories (37), has recorded two straight shutouts since he was named the most over-rated player in the Tri-City Herald’s Best of the West survey. . . . “First of all, when those surveys come out, we don’t allow our players to vote on that question, we don’t believe in that,” Giants assistant coach Craig Bonner told the Vancouver Sun. “It’s a little bit of a popularity contest and some jealously comes to play. Tyson’s been asked about it, but he’s dealing with it the only way he can — by letting his play do his talking.” . . . RW Spencer Machacek had two goals and two assists, with D Jon Blum and RW Michel Repik adding a goal and two helpers apiece. . . . Vancouver held a 54-23 edge in shots on goal. . . . The Giants went 3-for-8 on the PP, as they scored on their first three man advantages. . . . The Giants were without RW Garet Hunt, who drew a two-game suspension for a kneeing major he incurred Sunday against Chilliwack. . . .

In Saskatoon, C Travis Toomey and LW Ondrej Fiala each had two goals to help the Blades to a 7-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Blades (22-33-3-4) had lost two in a row. . . . The Raiders (21-35-3-2) had won their last two games and three of their last four. The loss eliminated them from playoff contention. . . . This game originally had been scheduled for Feb. 12 but was postponed after a conflict over arena availability. . . . Fiala scored twice with his father, Jiri, and brother, Lukas, in attendance. They are visiting from the Czech Republic. . . .

In Brandon, G Joe Caligiuri stopped 30 shots to lead the Wheat Kings to a 1-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . F Jay Fehr scored the game’s only goal, his 11th of the season, at 6:45 of the third period. . . . Moose Jaw G Joey Perricone turned aside 34 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings (35-21-2-2) had lost two in a row, but clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot with the victory. They are seventh in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Moose Jaw. . . . The Warriors (30-18-5-6) have lost five in a row. . . . Caligiuri has three shutouts this season. . . . Brandon was without its three 20-year-olds — D Daryl Boyle (ankle), LW Tyler Dittmer (broken finger) and D Theran Yeo (ankle). . . . Moose Jaw continues to play without C Riley Holzapfel (abdominal strain). . . . The star of the night, however, may have been Rick Johnston, a 46-year-old fan from Brandon. He won $10,000 in the second intermission by finding the range in the Brandon Sun Hit-the-Hole Shootout. . . . Moose Jaw LW Frazer McLaren served Game 3 of a three-game WHL suspension. . . .

In Everett, LW Ondrej Roman scored the winner in the circus as the Spokane Chiefs dumped the Silvertips, 4-3. . . . The Chiefs (42-13-1-5) have won three in a row and have closed within two points of the Western Conference-leading Tri-City Americans. Both teams have 11 games remaining. . . . The Silvertips (34-25-0-3) had a five-game winning streak snapped. They are sixth, two points behind Seattle. . . . The Silvertips will visit Spokane on Friday. . . . RW Shane Harper had two goals for Everett, while C Zach Hamill had a goal and two helpers. . . . Spokane led this one 3-1 at 3:03 of the second period, only to have Everett come back on PP goals by Hamill, at 14:40 of the second, and Harper, at 6:37 of the third. . . . Spokane was 1-for-4 on the PP; Everett was 3-for-5. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 shots through OT; Everett’s Leland Irving turned aside 38 shots. . . . Everett was without D Graham Potuer, who started serving a two-game suspension. He got hit under supplemental discipline for an unpenalized hit on Seattle D Steve Chaffin on Saturday. Chaffin is out with a concussion. . . . Everett still is without two veteran defencemen — Taylor Ellington (foot) and Mike Alexander (shoulder). . . .
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In Red Deer, D Victor Bartley’s two PP goals helped the Regina Pats to a 5-1 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Pats (37-20-3-2) had lost two in a row. . . . Regina leads the East Division — and is the Eastern Conference’s second seed — by four points over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Rebels (16-39-4-2) had been 3-0 against Regina this season. Red Deer has lost five straight. . . . Regina led 4-0 after 20 minutes. . . . Red Deer lost rookie F Landon Ferraro when he re-aggravated a rib injury in the second period. . . . Regina C Tim Kraus played in his 300th regular-season game. He celebrated with a goal and two assists. . . . C Scott Doucet, who was dealt by Red Deer to Regina earlier in the season, had two assists. . . . Attendance was announced as 5,712, although Red Deer Advocate sports editor Greg Meachem pointed out that “roughly half” of those fans “were not actually in attendance.” . . .

In Seattle, the Thunderbirds dumped the Prince George Cougars 6-1, a decision that allowed the idle Chilliwack Bruins to clinch a Western Conference playoff spot. . . . The Thunderbirds (33-20-5-2) are 21-5-3-2 at home. They have closed to within one point of the fourth-place Kelowna Rockets. The teams meet in Kelowna on Friday. . . . The Cougars (17-41-1-3) had a two-game winning streak end. . . . One more loss or a Kamloops victory and the Cougars officially will be eliminated from the playoff chase. . . . RW Prab Rai, who left the Cougars last season and eventually was dealt to the Thunderbirds, had two goals for Seattle. He has 13 this season. . . . RW Greg Scott also scored twice for the winners, giving him 30 on the season. . . . Prince George G Real Cyr stopped 26 saves as he played despite hearing of a death in his family prior to the game. . . .

In Swift Current, LW Erik Felde scored at 2:23 of OT to give the Broncos a 4-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Broncos (35-22-0-5) had lost two of three going in. They have clinched a playoff spot and are sixth in the Eastern Conference. But they are only four points behind Regina, which, as East Division leaders, is the conference’s second seed. . . . The Ice (35-20-5-2) had won its last two games. . . . Felde has 23 goals this season, four of them winners. . . . The Ice, which is fourth in the conference, four points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes, led 2-0 before the Broncos scored three straight goals . . . Ice C Steve Da Silva forced OT with a goal at 16:30 of the third period. . . . Kootenay G Kris Lazaruk stopped 37 shots, 10 more than Swift Current’s Travis Yonkman.