Saturday . . .

The bearded lady and the lizard man will sleep well tonight. That’s because four of 10 WHL games went to the circus and another was decided in overtime. . . . Oh, there also was a full moon in the Key Arena in Seattle. That's right. Inside the arena. . . . Read on. . . .
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SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, F Mike Brown got the winner in a shootout as the Swift Current Broncos got past the Kootenay Ice, 3-2. . . . The Broncos improved their record to 6-0-0-0. . . . The Ice, which has lost three in a row, already has lost three shootouts and now is 2-3-0-3. . . . RW Keegan Dansereau scored his fifth of the season for the Broncos. . . . Brown was the eighth shooter and the third to score. . . . G Nolan Yonkman (shoulder) isn’t with the Broncos, who had Austin Smith, 15, backing up Mark Guggenberger. Smith, from Calgary, was a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Here’s a note from the blog of Broncos’ radio voice Jon Keen: “The Broncos’ start (6-0-0-0) matches their best start in 11 seasons. They started 1997-98 with seven victories in a row. A victory (Sunday) night in Lethbridge would match their best start in 19 years – they opened 1989-90 with seven straight victories.”
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In Brandon, the Regina Pats scored three third-period goals and beat the Wheat Kings, 4-2. . . . D Victor Bartley scored twice for Regina (2-2-0-2) which had lost twice to Brandon (3-3-0-0) last weekend. . . . Bartley’s second goal, his third of the season, came at 16:03 of the third period and stood up as the winner. . . . Regina RW Jordan Eberle had two assists, while freshman C Jordy Weal, had one assist and now has 11 points in six games. . . . Brandon led 2-1 after the first period. . . . G James Priestner, acquired by Brandon from the Kamloops Blazers earlier in the week, backed up starter Andrew Hayes. It was Priestner’s first appearance in a Wheat Kings uniform. . . . The Brandon Sun’s Rob Henderson reported that one of the fans in attendance was Connie (Mad Dog) Madigan, who played many years in the old professional Western Hockey League and also played Ross (Mad Dog) Madison in the movie Slap Shot.
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In Calgary, G Michael Snider made his first WHL start a good one, stopping 17 shots and leading the Hitmen to a 6-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . D Paul Postma set up three goals for the Hitmen (6-2-0-0). . . . C Brett Sonne had a goal and an assist for Calgary. He has 13 points and is tied for the WHL scoring lead with Vancouver Giants forwards Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel. . . . RW Jimmy Bubnick scored once for the Blazers (3-4-0-1), who trailed 3-2 late in the second period before giving up the game’s last three goals. . . . Kamloops was 0-for-4 on the PP, meaning Calgary’s penalty-killers this season are 36-for-37. . . . Calgary outshot the visitors 40-19, including 16-7 in the third period.
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In Lethbridge, F Colton Sceviour scored one goal and set up four others as the Hurricanes dumped the Kelowna Rockets, 7-3. . . . The Hurricanes (4-2-0-0) had lost their last two games. They now are 3-0-0-0 at home. . . . The Rockets (3-4-0-0) outshot their hosts, 36-21. Kris Lazaruk was in goal for Kelowna, while Juha Metsola went the distance for Lethbridge. . . . F Cody Smuk scored three times for the winners. Smuk, who scored four goals all of last season, told the Lethbridge Herald that it was his first hat trick “ever.” Smuk spent his last two seasons with the Chilliwack Bruins, scoring five goals in 72 games as a rookie and four goals in 60 games last season. . . . The teams were tied 2-2 after one period. Lethbridge scored the next four goals. . . . LW Adam Chorneyko had two goals for Lethbridge, which was 3-for-5 on the PP.
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In Moose Jaw, all three Warriors shooters scored in the shootout as they beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-2. . . . Moose Jaw (4-3-0-0) outscored the visitors 3-2 in the shootout. . . . Red Deer (3-3-0-2) led this one 2-1 after two periods only to have Moose Jaw tie it on C Thomas Frazee’s fourth goal of the season at 4:25 of the third period. . . . Moose Jaw F Joel Broda had a four-game goal-scoring streak end, but he did set up Frazee’s goal. . . . Frazee also had an assist. He had seven points in 43 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season; he has eight points in seven games this season. The Portland Winter Hawks selected him with the 11th pick of the 2005 bantam draft. . . . Red Deer now is 0-3-0-2 on the road. . . . G Devin Dubyk stopped 35 shots, including 19 in the second period, for Moose Jaw in making his first WHL start.
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In Prince Albert, C Ryan Harrison’s goal at 2:10 of OT gave the Raiders a 5-4 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Raiders (4-3-0-0) led this one 3-0 after one period and 4-1 early in the third period. . . . Medicine Hat (3-1-2-1) forced OT on F Sean Ringrose’s goal at 18:17. . . . The Raiders were 0-for-0 on the PP as Medicine Hat took but one minor penalty and it was of the coincidental variety. . . . The Tigers were 0-for-4 on the PP.
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In Prince George, D Dallas Jackson scored the only goal of a shootout as the Cougars dumped the Chilliwack Bruins 3-2 in a game highlighted by couple of multiple-fight situations that resulted in six ejections, three from each team. . . . Jackson drew an assist on Prince George’s third goal and now has nine points in six games. . . . The Cougars (5-1-0-0) led 3-0 at 9:44 of the first period. . . . The Bruins (2-2-1-1) tied it with three third-period goals, the last one a PP effort by F Alexander Wiklund at 18:59 with G Mark Friesen on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . The Cougars had beaten the Bruins 4-1 on Friday and now have swept consecutive weekend doubleheaders at home. They opened the season with two victories over the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Chilliwack, which still is without sniper Oscar Moller, who is in camp with the Los Angeles Kings, was 1-for-8 on the PP. . . . Attendance was a season-high 3,750, thanks at least in part to a promotion involving the Prince George Citizen, which gave out tickets to subscribers.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades halted a three-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Saskatoon (2-4-0-0) had lost four in a row at home. . . . The Americans (3-2-0-0) are 1-1-0-0 on their East Division tour. . . . Freshman F Burke Gallimore had two goals for the Blades, giving him four this season. . . . Tri-City G Chet Pickard left at 7:02 of the third after being beaten four times on 23 shots. He also picked up two minor penalties.
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In Seattle, F Jeremy Boyer’s shootout goal gave the Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Boyer was the seventh shooter in the circus and his goal snapped a season-opening five-game losing streak for the Thunderbirds, who were playing their first home game of the season. . . . Seattle G Jacob DeSerres then stopped Spokane D Stefan Ulmer to end the game. . . . Boyer scored the game’s first goal, on a first-period PP, but Spokane (4-1-0-2) took a 2-1 lead on two goals by LW Drayson Bowman, his third and fourth of the season. . . . Seattle F Lindsay Nielsen forced OT with a goal at 7:35 of the third period. Boyer drew an assist on the goal. . . . Seattle’s final home-opener in Key Arena drew 4,277 fans. The Thunderbirds will move to Kent, Wash., before this season is over. . . . It turns out that this was a home-opener to remember, too, as this fan noted: “A guy in the walkway between 127/128 . . . full on mooned the opposite side of the arena. . . . It was an amazing accomplishment, especially considering nobody from security or the arena staff ever showed up to escort him away. It certainly made the last opening night in the Key a memorable one. :)
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In Vancouver, the Giants, who scored 10 times on Friday, banged in seven and beat the Portland Winter Hawks, 7-1. . . . The Giants (6-0-0-1) have won five in a row. . . . The Winter Hawks (1-4-0-0) have scored three goals in five games. . . . C Casey Pierro-Zabotel had a goal and three assists, while LW Evander Kane had a goal and two helpers. They each have 13 points and are tied for the WHL points lead with Calgary F Brett Sonne. . . . Vancouver beat visiting Seattle 10-2 on Friday to establish a franchise record for most goals in one game. . . . Vancouver D Jon Blum, who had one goal, was plus-4.