Thursday is over . . .

The Lethbridge Hurricanes and their fans are breathing easier today. X-rays on the right ankle of F Zach Boychuk, who was injured while playing for Team Canada on Wednesday night at the World Junior Championship, were negative and he is listed as day-to-day. He plans on testing the ankle with a skate on Friday and there is a chance he could play in Canada’s semifinal game on Saturday.
--------
JUST NOTES: The Medicine Hat Tigers have brought in D Dylan Busenius, the 16th overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, and he’ll play Friday against the host Swift Current Broncos. Busenius plays for the midget AAA team in Sherwood Park, Alta. . . . The Tigers, of course, are without D Matt McCue, 20, who has signed an NHL contract and is joining the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL farm team, the Iowa Chops. . . . Former WHL D Justin Palazzo, 19, has decided to join his hometown junior B team, the Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior League. Palazzo is scheduled to play Friday against the Border Bruins in Grand Forks, B.C. He last played junior B with the Sicamous Eagles in 2004-05. He went on to play in the WHL for the Prince Albert Raiders and Vancouver Giants, before ending up last season with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. Palazzo is nearing the completion of his electrical apprenticeship at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. . . . With G Kevin Armstrong (knee) on the limp, the Prince George Cougars have brought in Joel Danyluk, 18, to back up Joe Caligiuri during a weekend doubleheader against the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Regina Pats D Matt Delahey (right shoulder) has been told by doctors that he will be sidelined for at least four weeks. He was injured late in the Pats’ 1-0 loss to the host Saskatoon Blades on Tuesday. . . . When the Tri-City Americans beat the visiting Spokane Chiefs 6-1 on New Year’s Eve, attendance in the Toyota Center was 6,042 and that’s a single-game record for the facility. The previous record of 6,010 had been set on numerous occasions in the franchise’s early days. . . . D Tyler Wotherspoon, the 23rd pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is expected to play a game or two this weekend for the Portland Winter Hawks who are at home to the Everett Silvertips on Friday and in Spokane on Saturday. Wotherspoon plays for the major midget Valley West Hawks and has 13 points, along with 59 penalty minutes, in 22 games. . . . The Anaheim Ducks, having lost D Kent Huskins (broken right foot), have recalled D Brendan Mikkelson from the AHL’s Iowa Chops. Mikkelson, who played for the Vancouver Giants, was a second-round pick in the NHL’s 2005 draft.
--------
G Braden Holtby stopped 32 shots for his second straight shutout as the host Saskatoon Blades dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 on Thursday. . . . Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton scored the game’s first goal and also had an assist. . . . Saskatoon F Travis Toomey (broken collarbone) returned from a 21-game absence and scored once. . . . Holtby blanked visiting Regina 1-0 on Tuesday. . . . Holtby has four career shutouts, two shy of the Saskatoon franchise record that is held by Ed Humphreys (1970-73). . . . Holtby has appeared in 150 regular-season games with the Blades, tying Trevor Robins (1989-92) for the franchise record. . . . The Hurricanes have lost five in a row. . . . G Brandon Anderson, the 50th selection in the 2007 bantam draft, made his WHL debut for the Hurricanes. He made 29 saves. . . . The Blades also had two players make their WHL debuts – D Duncan Siemens, the third overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, and C Brent Benson, who was taken sixth overall. . . . The Hurricanes, however, were able to dress only 14 skaters, four under the maximum.
Meanwhile, the Regina Pats were losing 6-3 to the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. The Pats have lost six of seven games without RW Jordan Eberle and D Colten Teubert, who are with Team Canada. . . . The Raiders have won three straight and are back in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They are five points behind the seventh-place Pats, who are one point ahead of Lethbridge. . . . F Brett Leffler scored all three of Regina’s goals. He has 22 this season, one fewer than Eberle. . . . Leffler’s three straight second-period goals gave his side a 3-2 lead but the Raiders scored the game’s last four goals. . . . P.A. got three assists from D Nathan Deck. . . . Prince Albert F Justin Bernhardt got his 21st goal, while Dustin Cameron scored No. 20 and Ryan McDonald added his 24th. . . . Regina F Graham Hood injured a hand and was to have X-rays done after the game. . . . Regina is without Eberle, Teubert, C Jordan Weal and F Rudolf Cerveny, all of whom are at tournaments, and the injured D Matt Delahey. As GM Brent Parker told the Regina Leader-Post’s Rob Vanstone: “It’s like going to a gunfight with a BB gun.”