Thursday . . .

The spring’s first playoff game is in the books. . . . F Joel Broda scored twice and set up another to lead the host Calgary Hitmen to a 5-0 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Broda led the WHL with 53 regular-season goals. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 21 shots. . . . Game 2 is Sunday afternoon in Calgary. . . . Edmonton G Torrie Jung stopped 32 shots.
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More playoff picks:
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province . . .
Vancouver in 4.
Tri-City in 5.
Kelowna in 5.
Spokane in 6.
Calgary in 4.
Saskatoon in 7.
Brandon in 5.
Medicine Hat in 6.
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John Down of the Calgary Herald . . .
Calgary in 5.
Lethbridge in 6.
Brandon in 7.
Swift Current in 6.
Vancouver in 5.
Tri-City in 4.
Kelowna in 4.
Spokane in 5.
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Jeff Bromley, Kootenay NewsAdvertiser . . .
Vancouver in 4.
Tri-City in 4.
Kelowna in 5.
Spokane in 6.
Calgary in 4.
Saskatoon in 6.
Brandon in 5.
Swift Current in 7.
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Nick Patterson, Everett Herald . . .
Vancouver in 4.
Tri-City in 5.
Kelowna in 5.
Spokane in 6.
Calgary in 4.
Saskatoon in 6.
Brandon in 5.
Swift Current in 7.
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SOME NOTES: General manager Roy Stasiuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes says goaltender Juha Metsola likely won’t be available for Game 1 of their series in Saskatoon on Friday night. “We’re hoping for Game 2,” Stasiuk told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “(Wednesday) he was still suffering from a slight headache, so we want to take every precaution so that doesn’t turn into a long-term injury. “The good news is, it’s not a severe concussion. If anything, it’s a mild concussion and he has to come out of that spasm in his neck.” . . . Metsola was injured in a goal-mouth collision in Cranbrook on Saturday. If he can’t play, the Hurricanes will go with Michael Tadjdeh, 17, who was 3.52, .873 in the regular season. . . . Lethbridge’s third goaltender is Brandon Anderson, a 16-year-old from Langley, B.C. He was the 50th selection in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . The Blades will have D Teigan Zahn (hand) back in their lineup. He missed the last eight games. . . . In chatting with Wolfe, Zahn recalled watching from the stands as the Blades made a 10-game playoff run in the spring of 2006: “The second game in Medicine Hat was a triple-overtime game and you gain experience just from watching that. Guys are puking on the bench and you see how physical it is.” . . . Yes, folks, that is playoff hockey at its best.
The Kelowna Rockets have added LW Brett Bulmer, 17, from the major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of Prince George. He had 63 points in 36 regular-season games, good for second in the B.C. major midget league scoring race. . . . F Justin Bernhardt of the Prince Albert Raiders has heard from four AHL teams but isn’t sure what he is going to do. The Raiders lost a play-in game to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday night. On top of that, Bernhardt, 20, told Adam Hawboldt of the Prince Albert Daily Herald that he was playing with a concussion. "I got hit hard about a week ago and got (concussed), but I kept it to myself," he told Hawboldt. "Then in that last game against Edmonton I got hammered in the corner and that really threw it off again. I was kind of out to lunch after that hit — I still am." . . . Meanwhile, Raiders F Ryan McDonald has cut a deal with the Central league’s Rocky Mountain Rage, a team coached by former WHLer Tracy Egeland. The Rage, which plays out of Bloomfield, Colo., is about to begin the playoffs. . . . G Chet Pickard is questionable for the Tri-City Americans’ series opener against the visiting Everett Silvertips on Friday. He has sat out seven games since picking up a concussion on Feb. 28. . . . The Americans definitely will be without D Brett Plouffe (leg). He was hurt Sunday against the visiting Prince George Cougars.
F Lance Bouma (hand) of the Vancouver Giants has received medical clearance to return to action so should play Friday against the visiting Prince George Cougars. He missed 23 games after being injured on Jan. 28. Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that Bouma was on a line with James Wright and Craig Cunningham during Thursday’s practice, and Vancovuer head coach Don Hay says that line will be used against Prince George C Brett Connolly. Of course, as Ewen added: “It was interesting. Hay offers up very few gameplan secrets at playoff time, and has routinely planted things in the press to try to throw opponents off track. He wouldn’t elaborate on that when asked about it later.”
The Spokane Chiefs will be without D Jared Cowen (knee) and D Cory Baldwin (hand) when they open at home Friday against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Jessica Brown, in the Spokane Spokesman-Review, reports that Baldwin likely is out “for at least another four weeks, if not longer.” She also reports that D Trevor Glass, who hasn’t played since Feb. 25, skated Thursday for the first time since being injured in Kamloops. D Mike Reddington (ill) likely won’t play until Game 3 or Game 4 in Kent, Wash.