Wednesday's stuff . . .

Question of the night: Isn’t it about time that the WHL did away with its goal judges?
Why?
Because what purpose do they serve?
Case in point . . .
Late in the first period of a playoff game in Kamloops on Wednesday night, Kelowna LW Jamie Benn split the defence and went in alone on Blazers G Justin Leclerc. Benn tried to squeeze the puck through Leclerc’s pads and the disc disappeared. Goal judge Fred Persello turned on the red light.
Neither referee signaled a goal.
So . . . what happened?
Steve Papp was the referee in the neutral zone, so he wasn’t any help. Dan Cowley, the other referee, was out of position, over along the right-side wall. So he was in trouble.
The four officials huddled behind the Kamloops goal and ultimately signaled for video review. But not once did any of the four on-ice officials even acknowledge Persello’s presence or the fact he had turned on the goal light.
That being the case . . . why is he there?
If goal judges are going to be ignored perhaps teams should start treating those two spots as priority seating and sell tickets to them. Maybe there could be some kind of promotion involving seats in a red-light district. Hey, it’s just a thought.
In the end, video review awarded the goal to Benn, which pulled the Rockets into a 1-1 tie in a game they would go on to win 5-3.
———
F Garry Nunn of the Vancouver Giants sat out a second straight game for disciplinary reasons Wednesday night in Prince George. No one is saying what Nunn did, just that the 27-goal man broke a team rule.
“I want to make sure there are consequences for his actions,” head coach Don Hay told Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun before the fourth game of the Giants’ series with the Cougars. “He let his teammates down, he let the coaching staff down and, obviously, he let himself down. It's a decision he'll regret. We try to get across to guys life is all about making the right decisions.”
Nunn had a goal and three assists in the first two games of the series.
Unfortunately, with the team not willing to say what it was Nunn did, fans are free to speculate.
———
A note from Graham Kendrick of the Portland Winter Hawks:
“Former Portland Winter Hawks defenceman Michael Sauer made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers on Tuesday night and, in doing so, became the 100th former Winter Hawk to go on to play in the NHL.
“Sauer, called up by the Rangers on Monday, played for the Winter Hawks from 2004–07 and registered 56 points in 124 games before being traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers during 2006-07. He was drafted by the Rangers in the second round, 40th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.”
———
Former Kootenay Ice star forward Steven Da Silva of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies was named the CIS's rookie of the year on Wednesday night. A freshman, Da Silva led Canada West with 41 points this season. He became the first freshman in Canada West history to be named the conference's MVP. . . . Former WHLer Eric Thurston of the Alberta Golden Bears was selected as the CIS's hockey coach of the year. He is in his fourth season with the Golden
Bears, who are the top seed at the CIS championship tournament. Last summer, Thurston was an early candidate for the then-vacant head-coaching position with the Kamloops Blazers but he withdrew his name from consideration. . . . The CIS national tournament begins Thursday in Thunder Bay.
———
WEDNESDAY’S PLAYOFFS: The seasons ended four teams as four series ended in sweeps. The Calgary Hitmen, Brandon Wheat Kings, Vancouver Giants and Kelowna Rockets all moved on, while the Edmonton Oil Kings, Kootenay Ice, Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers are done. . . .
———
In Kent, Wash., F Ondrej Roman scored 10 minutes into the second period to break a 2-2 tie as the Spokane Chiefs beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 3-2. . . . The Chiefs lead the series 3-1. . . . Game 5 is Saturday in Spokane. It originally was scheduled for Friday but was moved to Saturday to avoid a conflict with an NCAA basketball game featuring the Spokane-based Gonzaga Bulldogs and North Carolina Tarheels in Memphis. . . . The teams were tied 2-2 going into the second period. . . . Roman’s goal came on the PP. . . . The Chiefs were 1-for-4 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-for-3. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski stopped 28 shots. Seattle’s Calvin Pickard stopped 33. . . . Attendance was 2,872. . . . The Chiefs won Game 3, 5-1, in Kent on Tuesday. Spokane got a lift in that one with the return of D Trevor Glass, 20, and F Ryan Letts, 19. Glass, who came back to play in his 60th WHL playoff game, hadn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury in Kamloops on Feb. 25. He drew assists on two PP goals Tuesday and assisted on one in Game 3. Letts was serving a 10-game WHL suspension.
———
In Lethbridge, F Zach Boychuk scored two third-period goals to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 in Saskatoon on Saturday and Game 6 in Lethbridge on Monday. . . . F Gaelan Patterson gave the Blades a 1-0 lead at 16:38 of the first period. . . . Boychuk, who has five of his side’s none goals in the four games, tied it at 3:08 of the third period and won it at 10:57. . . . F Colton Sceviour and F Dwight King drew assists on both Lethbridge goals. . . . Lethbridge G Juha Metsola had 22 saves, as did Saskatoon G Braden Holtby. . . . Saskatoon was 0-for-4 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-for-1. . . . Attendance was 2,912. . . . Lethbridge F Carter Bancks (upper body) sat out a second straight game.
———
In Cranbrook, F Brayden Schenn’s goal at 17:20 of the third period gave the Brandon Wheat Kings a 4-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Wheat Kings won the series, 4-0. . . . Brandon led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 at 4:39 of the third period. . . . But Ice captain Andrew Bailey, a 20-year-old in his final game, scored two PP goals — at 7:47 and 12:04 — to tie the score and set the stage for Schenn to score his fourth goal of the series. . . . Brandon got 28 saves from G Andrew Hayes. The Ice’s Todd Mathews stopped 22 shots. . . . Brandon F Matt Calvert, who opened the scoring in the first period, was stopped on a penalty shot at 19:55 of the second period. . . . Attendance was 2,443.
———
In Medicine Hat, F Tyler Ennis scored three times, giving him seven in four games, as the Tigers beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-3. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 in Swift Current on Friday and Game 6 in Medicine Hat on Sunday. . . . Ennis scored two first-period goals as the Tigers erased a 1-0 deficit and took a 3-1 lead into the second. . . . The teams split two goals in the second as Ennis completed the hat trick with the game’s key goal, a shorthanded effort at 19:44. . . . F Bretton Cameron added his first two playoff goals for the Tigers. . . . F Taylor Vause got his fourth goal of the series for the Broncos, on the PP at 11:04 of the third. . . . The Broncos were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Tigers were 0-2. . . . Swift Current is 8-for-22 on the PP in the four games. . . . Attendance was 3,962. . . . Swift Current D Eric Doyle left early in the first period after taking a crushing hit from Medicine Hat D Matt McCue. Doyle had to be helped to the dressing room. His status for Game 5 isn’t known.
———
In Prince George, F Lance Bouma scored twice, the second breaking a 2-2 tie in the second period, as the Vancouver Giants beat the Cougars, 3-2. . . . Vancouver won the series, 4-0. . . . The Cougars had a 3-2 lead in the first period when Vancouver D Jon Blum tied it on the PP at 15:23. . . . Bouma’s second goal, at 6:16 of the second, stood up as the winner. It, too, came via the PP. . . . Bouma turned 19 on Wednesday. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 26 shots; Prince George G Kevin Armstrong turned aside 45. . . . Attendance was 2,594. . . . Pat Quinn, one of the Giants’ minority owners, was in the house. . . . The Giants also scratched F Adam Basford, due to a death in his family. . . . Cougars C Brett Connolly, the first 16-year-old since Patrick Marleau (Seattle, 1995-96) to score 30 goals in the WHL, didn’t get a goal in the four games. He had two assists. . . . A note from Prince George Citizen sports editor Jim Swanson: “Alas, the upset didn’t happen, and the Cougars are now into a long off-season that will bring a new head coach and, once again, speculation about the long-term future of the franchise following another winter of declining attendance. Owner Rick Brodsky, who was in the building for both home games, has said the team will be here next season but has refused to put that stamp on anything beyond that.”
———
In Edmonton, the Calgary Hitmen scored a 4-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Calgary won the series, 4-0. . . . Calgary, which finished atop the WHL’s overall standings, scored two goals in each of the last two periods. . . . There was an interesting scrap just 1:16 into this one as Oil Kings F Brett Breitkreuz got into it with Calgary D Alex Plante. The Oil Kings are owned by the Edmonton Oilers, who hold Plante’s NHL rights. . . . The Oil Kings opened the scoring when Brent Raedeke scored on a first-period PP. . . . F Kris Foucault, a trade deadline acquisition from the Kootenay Ice, scored twice for the Hitmen, giving him four in the series. . . . Calgary put it away early in the third when F Kyle Bortis and F Brandon Kozun scored 33 seconds apart. . . . Edmonton G Torrie Jung stopped 39 shots, while Calgary G Martin Jones turned aside 19 shots. . . . Attendance was 6,387.
———
In Kamloops, LW Jamie Benn had a goal and three assists to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-3 victory over the Blazers. . . . The Rockets won the series, 4-0. . . . The Blazers held 2-1 and 3-2 leads as the teams exchanged goals into the second period. . . . But the Rockets scored the game’s last three goals. . . . Gord McGarva, who works alongside play-by-play man Regan Bartel on Kelowna broadcasts, during the first period of the game: “C.J. Stretch bumped into Ryley Grantham after that last whistle. It's interesting how he waits until the linesman's there to do that. Maybe he should do it without a linesman — he might need a C.J. Stretcher.”
———
In Everett, the Tri-City Americans led 2-0 and 4-1 at the intermissions as they doubled the Silvertips, 4-2. . . . The Americans lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Everett on Friday. . . . F Jason Reese and F Mitch Fadden each had a goal and an assist for Tri-City, which got 26 stops from G Chet Pickard. . . . It was Pickard’s 13th playoff victory, breaking the franchise record that had been held by Brian Boucher. . . . Everett G Thomas Heemskerk turned aside 27 shots. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell scored his fifth goal of the series in the third period. . . . The Americans were 2-for-4 on the PP; the Silvertips were 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 3,114.