They're gone . . .

The first suspensions of these playoffs go to . . . LW Kyle Beach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and D Jyri Niemi of the Saskatoon Blades. In the third period of Game 1 of their series, Beach was given a cross-checking major and game misconduct for a hit on Niemi. . . . Niemi responded by signaling to the Lethbridge bench that his side was up one game. However, he chose to use the wrong finger. . . . Each has been suspended for one game so will miss Saturday’s second game of the series in Saskatoon.