Saturday is over . . .

Well, what a Saturday that was. And the result of it all is that the season that was to have ended Sunday now won’t be over until Tuesday.
It seems that at least some members of the Spokane Chiefs got into some food Thursday that didn't agree with their systems. They ended up rather ill and that, combined with some injuries, meant the Chiefs were down to eight healthy players for what was to have been a game in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night.
That game now has been move to Tuesday.
And a game between the host Chiefs and the Kelowna Rockets that was to have been played Sunday now will be played Monday. That game is particularly important because the Rockets are the Western Conference’s third seed and are three points ahead of the Chiefs. Should Kelowna gain one point on Monday it will finish third and meet the Kamloops Blazers in the first round of playoffs. You have to think Kelowna is licking its lips at the thought of a first-round meeting with Kamloops. After all, Kelowna went 9-0-0-0 against Kamloops in the regular season.
“I was surprised by the news,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “I’ve never heard of where a team’s been so sick that they had to postpone two games. But you can’t control sickness, and it’s an unfortunate situation for Spokane, and I think it’s good on our club and Tri-City being able to accommodate them.”
So what are Kelowna’s plans now?
“On Monday, we’re going to leave early and have a pre-game skate in Spokane,” Huska said. “We’ll see what we’re going to do on Tuesday, but we’re definitely going to start our (playoff) preparations that day. As to what type of practice we’ll have, that’s up in the air.”
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Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald reports that the whole thing apparently stems from a team gathering on Thursday night, 24 hours before the Chiefs beat the visiting Americans, 5-2.
“We had a player get sick during the game Friday, a couple after and then it hit,” Spokane general manager Tim Speltz told Fowler. “It’s tough. You hate seeing them like that. We are hoping for better things (Sunday). We had a check (Saturday) afternoon and they were no better.”
According to Fowler: “The 11 players who got sick ordered pizza and Chinese food Thursday night while they were playing cards. Levko Koper got sick between the first and second periods Friday, followed by Jared Spurgeon right after the game.”
The Chiefs already were without five regulars – D Cory Baldwin (hand), D Jared Cowen (knee), D Trevor Glass (shoulder), F Ryan Letts (WHL suspension) and D Mike Reddington (ill) – so all of this left them with but eight healthy players.
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The Americans, meanwhile, will play the visiting Prince George Cougars on Sunday. Tri-City, with a 48-19-0-3 record, still has hopes for a second-straight 100-point season and a second-straight 50-victory campaign. The Americans won 47 games in 2006-07 and 42 last season.
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Of course, it isn’t easy to postpone or cancel a hockey game, not when tickets have been sold well in advance and not when there is a wedding planned for the first intermission.
Dan Mulhausen, the Americans’ director of game-day operations, told Fowler that “an on-ice wedding scheduled for the first intermission had the bride in tears.”
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The afore-mentioned Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier chatted a bit with WHL commissioner Ron Robison on Saturday.
Here’s Robison on the news that the NHL’s Calgary Flames will apply to relocate their AHL affiliate, the Quad City Flames, from Moline, Ill., to Abbotsford, B.C.:
"We're aware there was going to be competition in Abbotsford once the building took shape, and how they were aggressively pursuing a franchise. But we're confident in the Chilliwack market because it's a very good junior-hockey centre and the city supports its teams very well.
"But (relocation) is a concern to us, certainly. We're in discussions internally within the league, and we can't comment on it any further, other than to indicate that our position is we need to protect the interests of league members, and when one member acts on another member,
that's a concern to us."
The Calgary Flames own the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. Abbotsford is located on the Trans-Canada Highway, just west of Chilliwack, which is home to the Bruins. And, of course, Vancouver is home to the Giants.
It was Giants owner Ron Toigo who first expressed WHL bitterness towards the Flames.
“Nice partners," Toigo told the Vancouver Sun on Thursday. “Putting an AHL team into Abbotsford would kill junior hockey in the Fraser Valley. Right away, Chilliwack can’t compete. Nor can the (BCHL’s) Langley Chiefs for that matter.
"If they had no ties to our league, it’s just business. But when you’re a partner in anything, the goal is to make your partners succeed. And that’s the issue I have.”
Oh . . . to be the fly on the wall at the next WHL board of governors’ meeting!
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You may recall Rogers Sportsnet, a Canadian sports TV channel, announcing last month that it would be carrying some NCAA hockey games. Well, Sportsnet also carries Canadian Hockey League games, including the Memorial Cup tournament.
You also may recall that Boston University head coach Jack Parker took time out from his busy schedule at the time to snipe at major junior hockey.
Well, it turns out that major junior hockey wasn’t impressed . . . with Sportsnet or with Parker.
"Given the partnership Sportsnet has with the CHL, we were surprised by (the decision)," Robison told Potenteau. "But we were more disappointed, quite frankly, with the type of comments that came out of the NCAA regarding their motivation for doing that type of deal.
"We've had discussions with Sportsnet on it that will correct the situation and we'll move forward.”
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have renamed one of their individual awards in honour of the late Rob Stouffer. The Rob Stouffer Most Inspirational Player of the Year Trophy will be among the awards handed out Sunday at the team’s annual awards banquet. Stouffer was the team’s trainer for seven years. A Brandon native, Stouffer died last summer after a lengthy battle with liver cancer.
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If the playoffs started today:
(x – indicates team has clinched seed)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
x-Calgary (1) vs. Edmonton (8)
x-Saskatoon (2) vs. x-Lethbridge (7)
x-Brandon (3) vs. x-Kootenay (6)
x-Swift Current (4) vs. x-Medicine Hat (5)
Saturday: Moose Jaw 3 at Brandon 6; Lethbridge 1 at Kootenay 4; Calgary 4 at Medicine Hat 1; Edmonton 2 at Red Deer 3; Swift Current 4 at Regina 2; Prince Albert 4 at Saskatoon 5.
Sunday: Red Deer at Edmonton; Calgary at Lethbridge.
NOTES: It’s down to this . . . Edmonton, with one game left, and Prince Albert, with none, are tied for the last playoff spot. Edmonton is at home to Red Deer on Sunday. If Edmonton wins in regulation or gets a loser point, the Oil Kings are in and will meet Calgary in the first round. . . . An Edmonton loss in regulation and the Oil Kings and Raiders meet Tuesday in Prince Albert in a sudden-death game for that last berth.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(x – indicates team has clinched seed)
x-Vancouver (1) vs. x-Prince George (8)
x-Tri-City (2) vs. x-Everett (7)
Kelowna (3) vs. x-Kamloops (6)
Spokane (4) vs. x-Seattle (5)
Saturday: Chilliwack 3 at Everett 2; Kamloops 1 at Kelowna 7; Seattle 4 at Portland 3 (OT); Spokane at Tri-City (ppd.); Prince George 0 at Vancouver 6.
Sunday: Chilliwack at Portland; Everett at Seattle; Kelowna at Spokane (ppd.); Prince George at Tri-City.
Monday: Kelowna at Spokane.
Tuesday: Spokane at Tri-City.
NOTES (games remaining in parentheses): Kelowna (1) holds a three-point lead over Spokane (2). . . . Seattle moved into fifth and clinched that spot with an OT victory in Portland while Kamloops was finishing its regular season with a loss in Kelowna.
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SATURDAY:
In Brandon, the Wheat Kings doubled the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-3. . . . Brandon finished its season at 48-19-3-2, good for 101 points. It was Brandon’s first time over the century mark since 1995-96. . . . F Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists for Brandon, with F Scott Glennie adding three helpers.
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In Regina, the Swift Current Broncos broke a 2-2 tie with two third-period goals and beat the Pats, 4-2. . . . F Cody Eakin’s 24th goal, at 19:09 of the second period, pulled the Broncos into a 2-2 tie. . . . F Mike Brown got his fourth goal, at 4:55 of the third, to break the tie and F Michael Stickland added his 27th at 10:18. . . . Regina ended a disappointing season by mounting just 12 shots.
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In Saskatoon, F Milan Kytnar scored the only goal of the third period to give the Blades a 5-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Kytnar finished with 27 goals. . . . F Curtis Hamilton scored twice for the Blades to reach the 20-goal plateau in his sophomore season, while freshman F Burke Gallimore got No. 26. . . . G Adam Morrison stopped 30 shots for Saskatoon in improving his record to 9-1-1-0. . . . Attendance was 8,064.
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In Medicine Hat, G Martin Jones won his 45th game of the season as the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Tigers, 4-1. . . . The Hitmen improved to 58-9-3-1 and wrapped up first place overall, the first time they have had the WHL’s best record since 1999-2000. . . . Jones stopped 19 shots in running his record to 45-5-4. . . . Calgary F Carson McMillan got his 30th goal, while teammate Joel Broda added his WHL-leading 52nd.
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In Everett, F Dylen McKinlay’s third goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Chilliwack Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Silvertips beat the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Giants 5-3 on Friday night and then lost to the last-place Bruins the next night. . . . Everett F Kellan Tochkin scored his 20th goal. . . . Chilliwack F Kevin Sundher had a goal, his 19th, and an assist, as did F David Robinson and McKinlay. . . . Bruins G Mark Friesen stopped 31 shots. . . . The Bruins, who have won four straight games in Everett, were 1-for-2 on the PP; the Silvertips were 2-for-7. . . . Attendance was 8,525. . . . The Chilliwack victory, combined with Moose Jaw’s loss to Brandon, means the Warriors will finish with the WHL’s poorest record. . . . The Bruins lost F Ryan Howse with an apparent leg injury after he went feet-first into the boards in the first period. . . . Chilliwack wraps up its season in Portland on Sunday.
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored the game’s last four goals, all in the third period, and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-1. . . . The teams were scoreless through two periods. . . . F Zach Boychuk got Lethbridge on the board first, but the Ice stormed back with four straight goals. . . . Kootenay F Ian Barteaux scored the game’s last two goals – one on the PP and the second a shorthanded empty-netter. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen (concussion) returned from a lengthy absence and played the first period before being relieved by Todd Mathews. Lieuwen was run into by Ice D Ian Barteaux eight minutes into the game. Lieuwen finished the period but was taken out for precautionary reasons. . . . Lethbridge starter Juha Metsola left on a stretcher after a first-period collision. He was on the ice for 20 minutes before being taken to hospital. Early indications are that he has a strained neck (in playoff parlance, that will be an upper body injury). He was on the team bus when it left Cranbrook and headed for home. . . . With the victory, the Ice clinched sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, meaning it will meet Brandon in the first round.
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In Red Deer, F Landon Ferraro got his 37th goal of the season as the Rebels edged the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-2. . . . Ferraro gave Red Deer a 3-1 lead at 19:20 of the second period. . . . The teams meet again Sunday in Edmonton. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots in winning his 20th game.
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In Kelowna, LW Jamie Benn scored twice to lead the Rockets to a 7-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Benn has 46 goals this season. . . . The Rockets won the season series with Kamloops, 9-0, and the teams very easily could be headed for a first-round matchup. The Rockets are the third seed at the moment, three points ahead of Spokane. The Rockets can clinch third by picking up one point on Monday in Spokane. . . . The Blazers will finish sixth. . . . . C Ian Duval also scored twice for Kelowna, while F Stepan Novotny got his 20th. . . . The Rockets, who outshot the Blazers 45-18 in winning 6-4 in Kamloops on Friday, had a 39-19 edge in shots in this one. . . . Both starting goaltenders – Kelowna’s Adam Brown and Jon Groenheyde of Kamloops – were tossed after meeting at centre ice and duking it out halfway through the third period.
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In Vancouver, G Jamie Tucker stopped 23 shots as the Giants blanked the Prince George Cougars, 6-0. . . . The two teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs beginning Friday in Vancouver. So, yes, there was a line brawl in the first period. . . . Vancouver head coach Don Hay would appear to have finished with moving Jon Blum up front. Blum, one of the WHL’s top defencemen, was back on defence and had three assists. . . . Tucker picked up the sixth shutout of his rookie season as he improved to 18-1-0-1. . . . The Giants finished at 57-10-2-3, setting franchise single-season records for most victories, fewest losses and most points (119). . . . In losing their previous two games, the Giants had outshot the opposition 102-32 but were outscored 8-4.
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In Portland, F Jeremy Boyer scored a PP goal just 44 seconds into OT to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory over the Winter Hawks. . . . The victory lifted Seattle into fifth in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Kamloops. . . . Seattle C Jim O’Brien had two goals, giving him 27, and an assist. . . . F Oliver Gabriel forced the OT with his sixth goal for Portland at 5:25 of the third. . . . Portland (19-47-3-2) and Chilliwack (18-46-2-5) are tied for ninth in the Western Conference. They meet Sunday in Portland and the winner avoids the cellar. . . . Attendance was 9,433 as the Winter Hawks saluted the Portland Buckaroos of the old professional Western Hockey League.
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And let us close with a note from a friend, who took time out of his Saturday schedule to write:
“Sunday in the WHL, what I consider to be among the worst of nightmares with circus time could take place.
“Edmonton can celebrate clinching its very first playoff spot versus Red Deer – as long as it happens in the circus.
“Red Deer could celebrate a game-winning goal in OT or the shootout at one end, and the Oil Kings could be pouring off their bench at the same time to celebrate the same loss at the other end.
“Of course those who defend the system would say they earned their point by what they did in the 60-minute game. Something similar happened in the NHL this week, with Detroit taking over top spot in the Western Conference on Thursday by losing to Calgary – in a shootout.
“Imagine though . . . Red Deer, which is not going to the playoffs, can celebrate what hockey calls a ‘game-winning goal,’ and yet Edmonton can celebrate by losing the game.”
But, of course, another way to look at all of this is that should Red Deer win Sunday’s game in the circus, everyone will go home happy. Everyone, that is, except the Prince Albert Raiders.
In the end, their five loser points would be meaningless alongside Edmonton’s 10.