WHL GOALTENDERS WITH 40 VICTORIES IN ONE SEASON:
49:
Glen Hanlon, Brandon, 1976-77
48:
Corey Hirsch, Kamloops, 1989-90
Grant Fuhr, Victoria, 1980-81
47:
Trevor Kruger, Swift Current, 1988-89
46:
Milan Hnilicka, Swift Current, 1992-93
45:
Bart Hunter, Regina, 1979-80
44:
Kelly Guard, Kelowna, 2003-04
Tim Cheveldae, Saskatoon, 1987-88
42:
Chet Pickard, Tri-City, 2007-08
Matt Keetley, Medicine Hat, 2006-07
Matt Keetley, Medicine Hat, 2005-06
David Lemanowicz, Spokane, 1995-96
41:
Tyson Sexsmith, Vancouver, 2007-08
Norm Maracle, Saskatoon, 1993-94
Travis Laycock, Prince Albert, 1991-92
40:
Kevin Nastiuk, Medicine Hat, 2003-04
Cam Ward, Red Deer, 2002-03
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MOST SHUTOUTS IN A CAREER:
21:
Leland Irving, Everett, 2003-08, 193 games
Bryan Bridges, Seattle-Kootenay, 2001-06 (213 games)
20:
Tyson Sexsmith, Vancouver-Medicine Hat, 2004-08 (125 games)
Justin Pogge, Calgary-Prince George, 2003-06 (151 games)
Dustin Slade, Kamloops-Brandon-Regina-Vancouver, 2002-07, 132 games
19:
Kelly Guard, Kelowna, 2002-04, 115 games
18:
Taylor Dakers, Kootenay, 2003-07, 137 games
Matt Keetley, Medicine Hat, 2003-07, 152 games
17:
Jeff Glass, Kootenay, 2002-05 (143 games)
16:
Kyle Moir, Swift Current, 2002-07 (233 games)
Derek Yeomans, Kelowna-Seattle, 203-07 (171 games)
15:
Devan Dubnyk, Kamloops, 2002-06 (192 games)
Scott Bowles, Calgary-Prince George, 2003-07 (143 games)
Carey Price, Tri-City, 2002-07 (193 games)
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In the upcoming week, Hockey Canada is to begin interviewing the leading candidates for the position as national junior head coach. Scott Morrison of Hockey Night in Canada said Saturday the three coaches who will be interviewed are Peter DeBoer, the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers; Willie Desjardins, the GM/head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers; and, Benoit Groulx, the manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. . . . All three men are veteran major junior coaches. . . . Craig Hartsburg, the head coach of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, was the head coach of the team that won the 2008 World Junior Championship gold medal. . . . The 2009 tournament will be held in Ottawa. . . .
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Dean Clark, the 10th winningest head coach in WHL history, has gotten out of the coaching game, at least for now. Clark, who was fired as general manager and head coach of the Kamloops Blazers on Nov. 7, has joined the Mike Priestner Automotive Group. Clark, who reached a contract settlement with the Blazers last month, has relocated to Edmonton and has begun learning the automobile retail business. . . . Mike Priestner was unsuccessful in an attempt to purchase the Blazers last summer. His son, James, is a goaltender with the Blazers. In fact, he posted his second shutout of the season Saturday as the Blazers beat the Cougars 1-0 in Prince George. . . .
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It was quite a Saturday in the WHL with all 22 teams in action. . . . Three teams went into the night tied for first place overall and all three won, each of them reaching 100 points in the process. It is the first time in WHL history that three Western Conference teams have reached 100 points, something that happened in the Eastern Conference in 1999-2000. . . . The Portland Winter Hawks snapped a 22-game losing streak. . . . The Kamloops Blazers halted a 10-game losing skid. . . . G Tyson Sexsmith closed to within one shutout of the WHL career record. . . . Sexsmith and G Chet Pickard continued their winning ways – each has posted more than 40 victories. . . .
SATURDAY IN THE WHL:
In Medicine Hat, F Tyler Ennis and F Brennan Bosch each scored twice to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Tigers (41-21-5-2) have won four straight and are tied with the Lethbridge Hurricanes for fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Calgary (45-19-1-4) continues to lead the conference. . . . The Hitmen won the season series 4-2 with two of the victories coming in Medicine Hat. . . . Ennis gave his side a 3-1 lead at 1:48 of the third period and later added an empty-netter, his 43rd goal of the season. He trails only Try-City Americans LW Colton Yellow Horn, who has 46 goals. . . . Bosch got goals No. 20 and 21. He also had two assists. . . . Ennis has 90 points, five fewer than WHL leader Colin Long of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Bosch is the first Medicine Hat player to reach 90 points since Chris St. Jacques finished with 92 in 2003-04. . . . F Brock Nixon got his 25th of the season for Calgary. . . . Attendance was – wait for it! – 4,006, the 227th consecutive game (regular season and playoffs) that has been a sell out in the Gas City. . . . Medicine Hat C Bretton Cameron (appendicitis) was scratched. He was hospitalized Friday but released on Saturday. No word on when he’ll play again. . . .
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In Spokane, LW Drayson Bowman and D Jared Spurgeon were in on the game’s first three goals as the Chiefs bounced the Chilliwack Bruins, 5-1. . . . The Chiefs (47-14-1-5) are tied with the Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants for first place overall. Spokane holds a game in hand on Tri-City and two on Vancouver. . . . Bowman scored his 39th and 40th goals and set up another by Spurgeon, who also had two assists. . . . He is the first Spokane player with 40 goals since Greg Leeb did it in 1997-98. . . . Spurgeon has seven points in his last three games. . . . Spokane’s first three goals, all in the first period, came via the power play. . . . D Nick Holden scored his 20th goal of the season for Chilliwack in the third period. . . . The Chiefs were 4-for-5 on the PP; the Bruins were 1-for-4. . . . Spokane G Kevin Armstrong faced only 14 shots. . . . The Chiefs reached 100 points for the third time in franchise history and the first time since 1999-2000 as they won their fifth straight game. . . . The Bruins have lost seven in a row. They are seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. . . .
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In Regina, C Jordan Eberle scored the game’s first two goals and his Pats went on to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Regina now has won five in a row and is atop the East Division, five points ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Raiders (25-29-3-2) are 10th in the Eastern Conference. . . . Eberle, 17, has 42 goals, the third-highest total in the league. . . . F Michael MacAngus added a goal and two assists for Regina. . . .
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In Brandon, freshman F Scott Glennie scored three times to lead the Wheat Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Brandon (40-24-3-2) reached 40 victories for the fifth time in seven seasons. The Wheat Kings are tied for sixth in the Eastern Conference with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Brandon is five points behind the East Division-leading Regina Pats. Brandon has three games left, two of them against Regina. . . . Brandon led 3-0 after a period with Glennie scoring twice. He now has 24 goals. . . . Linemate Matt Calvert drew three assists, Brayden Schenn, the centre on for the New Kids on Brandon’s Block, was held to one assist. . . . Edmonton’s goal came from D Mark Pysyk, the Oil Kings’ first pick in the 2007 bantam draft. It was his first WHL goal. . . . Edmonton (20-37-4-7) has lost six in a row. . . . Brandon held a 46-17 edge in shots. . . . Brandon was 0-for-7 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-for-1. . . .
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In Cranbrook, F Steve Da Silva scored his 38th goal and F Dustin Sylvester got his 35th to help the Kootenay Ice get past the Swift Current Broncos, 3-1. . . . The Ice, which is 8-0-1-1 in its last 10, is third in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers and five behind the first-place Calgary Hitmen. . . .
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In Prince George, the Kamloops Blazers halted a 10-game losing skein with a 1-0 victory over the Cougars. . . . The Blazers (27-37-2-2) are eighth in the Western Conference, two points behind the Chilliwack Bruins. Kamloops has four games remaining; the Bruins have five to play, including a Sunday game against the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Cougars (19-46-1-3) beat the Blazers 6-3 in Kamloops on Friday. . . . This was Prince George’s last home game of the season. . . . Kamloops G James Priestner stopped 35 shots for his second shutout – and his team’s second – of the season. It was the fourth 1-0 shutout in Blazers’ history. The others: Mike Maniago stoppd 28 shots in winning 1-0 in Spokane on Oct. 22, 2005; Dustin Slade turned aside 18 shots in beating visiting Calgary 1-0 on Dec. 5, 2003; and, Steve Passmore, the Blazers’ goaltending coach, made 23 saves in a 1-0 victory in Prince Albert on Feb. 6, 1993. . . . RW Juuso Puustinen scored the game’s only goal on the PP at 6:53 of the first period. . . . The Cougars have been blanked five times this season. . . . Kamloops D Nick Ross, a first-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 NHL draft, was a healthy scratch. . . .
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In Red Deer, the Lethbridge Hurricanes broke a 1-1 tie with four second-period goals as they dumped the Rebels, 5-1. . . . The Hurricanes (42-20-2-3) are tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Rebels (18-44-4-3) have lost three straight. . . . F Zach Boychuk scored once (No. 32), as did forwards Dwight King (30), Mitch Fadden (32) and Colton Sceviour (29). . . .
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In Kelowna, G Chet Pickard stopped 19 shots to help the Tri-City Americans to a 2-0 victory over the Rockets. . . . The victory allowed the Americans (48-16-2-2) to stay in a first-place tie with the Spokane Chiefs and Vancouver Giants. . . . The Rockets (35-25-2-6) are sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Everett Silvertips. Kelowna has lost its last two games. . . . Pickard record his second shutout of the season (it was the sixth of his career) and WHL-leading 42nd victory. . . . F Adam Hughesman, early in the first period, and F Jason Reese scored the goals. . . . The Rockets have been blanked three times this season. They have lost 13 of their last 18 games. . . .
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In Vancouver, G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 23 shots to help the Vancouver Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Giants (46-15-2-6) are tied with the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs for first place overall. . . . The Giants have 100 points for the third straight season. . . . Everett (39-26-0-3), the only team in the league without and OT loss, was 10-0-0-1 in its last 11 games. . . . Everett is fifth in the Western Conference, four points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The game’s only goal came from F James Henry at 2:30 of the second period. It was the freshman’s seventh goal of the season. . . . Everett RW Dan Gendur, his club’s leading scorer, sat this one out with the flu. . . . Sexsmith has a WHL-leading nine shutouts this season – he finished with 10 last season. . . . It was the 20th shutout of his career, tying him with Justin Pogge and Dustin Slade and one off the WHL record shared by Bryan Bridges and Leland Irving. . . . Irving made 41 saves for Everett in this one. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning left in the first period with an upper-body injury. . . . Everett has been blanked five times this season. . . .
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In Portland, G Kurtis Mucha stopped 41 shots as the Winter Hawks finally ended their 22-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Winter Hawks are 10-55-2-1 and have long been out of the playoff picture. . . . The loss stung Seattle (39-22-5-2) which is fourth in the Western Conference but would have moved six points clear of the Everett Silvertips with a victory. . . . C Jacob Dietrich led Portland with two goals, the second one giving the home side a 4-1 lead at 5:21 of the third period. He has 17 goals this season. . . . D Travis Ehrhardt had two assists for Portland. . . Seattle then got close with goals from F Prab Rai and F David Richard. . . . Seattle D Thomas Hickey had a goal and two helpers. . . . Portland was 2-for-8 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-7. . . .
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In Saskatoon, the Blades coughed up a 2-0 lead and then beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 in the circus. . . . The Blades (28-34-3-4) won’t make the playoffs but have won four straight and are 8-2-0-1 in their last 11 as they finish strongly. . . . The Warriors (35-19-6-8) picked up their 14th loser point. They are eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Brandon Wheat Kings and Swift Current Broncos. . . . Moose Jaw captain Riley Holzapfel forced the OT with a PP goal at 11:55 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon won it on circus goals by C Colton Gillies and LW Ondrej Fiala.
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