Due to a scheduling conflict in Spokane, the Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers, should they meet in the first round of playoffs, will go with a 2-3-2 format. Games 1 and 2 would be played in Spokane on March 21 and 22. But rather than play Games 3 and 4 in Kamloops, on March 25 and 26, which was the original plan, the teams would play three games there — on March 26, 28 and, if necessary, 29. . . . Games 6 and 7 would be played in Spokane on April 1 and 2. . . . The conflict is with the NCAA Division I women's basketball regional. . . . “We’ve got four days to play four games,” Spokane GM Tim Speltz said. . . .
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The Brandon Wheat Kings Alumni Association, under president Ken Schneider, is working on a reunion that is to be held in the Wheat City, July 24-26. With that in mind, the association is looking to hear from former players, coaches, media, etc. . . . For more information, email the Wheat Kings' office at office@wheatkings.com. . . . Or, go to the Wheat Kings’ website (www.wheatkings.com) and click on the Alumni button. . . . And there’s a third option. . . . You can call Schneider (204-727-5566) or Donna Hamm, who is chairing the reunion committee, at 204-728-0968. . . .
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WEDNESDAY IN THE WHL:
The Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans both won so remain tied for the WHL overall lead and the U.S. Division lead. The Chiefs have three games left — two against the Portland Winter Hawks and a Saturday date with the Americans in Kennewick, Wash. The Americans have two games to play, the other one Friday against the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Vancouver Giants, the B.C. Division champs, are four points off the pace with three games left. . . . The Seattle Thunderbirds didn’t play Wednesday and are three points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets, who are a point up on the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Chilliwack Bruins, who are 0-7-1-1 in their last nine games, are seventh, three points up on the Kamloops Blazers, who are 1-10-1-0 in their last 12. . . .
In the Eastern Conference, the Kootenay Ice are the team to watch these days. The Ice won again last night and now is third in the conference, three points behind the first-place Calgary Hitmen with each team having two games to play. The Ice and Hitmen finish up by going home-and-home — in Cranbrook on Saturday and in Calgary on Sunday. If the Ice wins both, they finish first. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers are tied for fourth, one point behind the Ice. Lethbridge has three games left, the Tigers two. . . . The Regina Pats clinched the East Division pennant Wednesday so will be the conference’s second seed. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings and Swift Current Broncos both won Wednesday, so moved past the Moose Jaw Warriors, who now are eighth. . . . All teams take Thursday off — presumably to do the computations and figure out exactly what is what — before finishing up with 10 games Friday, 11 Saturday and six Sunday. . . .
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In Moose Jaw, the Regina Pats wrapped up first place in the East Division with a 5-4 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Pats (43-21-4-2) have won six in a row. They will finish first in the division for the first time since 1997-98 so will be the Eastern Conference’s second seed. . . . Regina took five of eight games from Moose Jaw to win the Mayors Cup. . . . The Warriors (36-20-6-8) are 22-5-4-4 at home. They also are 6-2-1-2 in their last 11 overall. . . . Moose Jaw opened the scoring when F Joel Broda counted shorthanded at 5:01 of the first period but the Pats responded with the next four goals. . . . RW Scott Doucet scored two of the four, while D Logan Pyett got his 20th and set up two others and C Jordan Eberle earned three assists. . . . Moose Jaw got two goals from C Jason Bast, who has 34 of them. . . . In the end, Regina F Matt Strueby’s sixth goal of the season, at 12:42 of the second period on a PP, was the winner. It gave Regina a 5-2 lead. . . . At one point, the Warriors received five straight PPs. . . . Moose Jaw was 1-for-8 on the PP; the Pats were 2-for-7. . . . Moose Jaw got to within 5-4 on D Keaton Ellerby’s PP goal at 2:11 of the third period but couldn’t get the equalizer. . . . Moose Jaw outshot the Pats 36-21, including 16-3 in the third period, but Regina G Linden Rowat was sharp. . . . Regina scratched C Tim Kraus (ill) for a second straight game. . . . The WHL’s No. 1 rivalry featured three bouts including one between two Czech rookies — Regina’s Rudolf Cerveny and Moose Jaw’s Tomas Karpov, who has dropped the mitts in two straight games. . . .
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In Cranbrook, F Steve Da Silva scored twice to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice (42-20-5-3) has won four in a row and took five of six from Lethbridge this season. . . . The Hurricanes (43-21-2-3) had won two in a row. . . . Lethbridge was 0-for-5 on the PP, including three in the first half of the first period. . . . Da Silva has 40 goals, a career high. He scored 38 times last season. . . . Ice G Kris Lazaruk stopped 30 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,031. . . . The Ice knows it will finish at least fifth in the conference. . . .
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In Saskatoon, Swift Current G Travis Yonkman stopped 48 shots, three of them in a shootout, as the Broncos beat the Blades, 2-1. . . . The Broncos (40-23-1-6) have won 40 games for the first time since 2001-02. They went 7-1 against the Blades. . . . Saskatoon (28-34-3-5) had won five in a row. . . . Saskatoon G Braden Holtby appeared in his 26th straight game. . . . F Keegan Dansereau, who like Yonkman is from Saskatoon, scored the winner in the circus. . . . F Levi Nelson scored for Swift Current in the first period, with Saskatoon F Chris Durand focing OT by scoring at 3:25 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon had a 46-32 edge in shots through OT. . . . Saskatoon LW Ondrej Fiala and C Colton Gillies had eight-game point streaks snapped. . . .
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In Brandon, the Wheat Kings completed a sweep of Prince Albert by beating the Raiders 4-3 in the sixth meeting between the teams. . . . The Wheat Kings (41-24-3-2) are tied for sixth in the Eastern Conference with the Swift Current Broncos, a point ahead of Moose Jaw. . . . However, Brandon can finish no better than fifth in the conference so will open the playoffs on the road. . . . .The Raiders (25-40-3-2) have lost four of their last five. . . . F Andrew Clark had two goals and an assist for Brandon. . . . Clark was back on a line with Tyler Dittmer, who had three helpers, and Matt Lowry, a trio that played awfully well together earlier in the season. . . . Attendance was 5,904. . . . Brandon was 3-for-8 on the PP; P.A. was 1-for-3. . . . Brandon D Daryl Boyle picked up his 100th career assist on one of Clark’s goals. . . . In fan voting, Brandon LW Matt Calvert, 18, was named the team’s Shoppers Drug Mart Fans’ Choice Player of the Year. He has 62 points in 70 games and is plus-26. Calvert plays on Brandon’s superb all-rookie line, alongside Scott Glennie and Brayden Schenn. . . .
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In Everett, F Adam Hughesman broke a 1-1 tie at 4:08 of the third period and the Tri-City Americans went on to a 3-1 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Americans (50-16-2-2) have won 50 games for the first time in franchise history. They have set franchise records for victories and points in a season and yet could finish third in the conference. . . . Tri-City has won its last three games. . . . The Silvertips (39-27-0-3) went in having won five of six. . . . Tri-City held a 47-24 edge in shots, including 22-6 in a scoreless first period. . . . Leland Irving was terrific in Everett’s goal. . . . Hughesman has 17 goals this season. . . . LW Colton Yellow Horn scored his WHL-leading 47th goal. He left the game in the third period with a leg injury and didn’t return. . . . Everett has three games left, including two against the Seattle Thunderbirds, and must win out if it hopes to finish fourth and have home-ice advantage in the first round. . . . F Cameron Abney, a 1991-born player who spent the season with the junior B North Delta, B.C., Devils, has joined the Silvertips for the rest of the season. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-4 on the PP; Everett was 0-for-1. . . .
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In Kamloops, the Chiefs erased a 2-1 deficit with three goals in the second half of the second period and went on to a 4-3 victory over the Blazers. . . . The Chiefs (49-14-1-5) won their seventh in a row and tied a franchise record for points in a season, with 104. The 1995-96 Chiefs went 50-18-4, with the 4 representing ties. . . . The Chiefs are a WHL-best 24-7-1-2 on the road. . . . The Blazers (27-38-2-2) are 1-10-1-0 in their last 12 games. . . .
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In Kelowna, the Rockets got two goals from C Colin Long and beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 5-4. . . . The Rockets (37-25-2-6) moved into fifth in the Western Conference, a point ahead of Everett. . . . Kelowna won seven of 10 games with Chilliwack. . . . The Bruins (26-34-4-5) have lost nine in a row but are still seventh, three points ahead of Kamloops. . . . The Bruins are at home to the Blazers on Friday. . . . Long has 31 goals and leads the WHL with 98 points, three more than Chilliwack F Mark Santorelli, who had one assist. . . . Chilliwack held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Kelowna scored three straight goals, with D Luke Schenn getting his seventh at 17:42 of the second period and Long scoring at 7:24 and 10:24 of the third. . . . Kelowna outshot the visitors 32-11. . . . RW Evan Pighin had two goals for the Bruins, giving him 19.