Saturday . . .

JUST NOTES: You may recall a mention here Friday of Eastern Washington University, which is in Cheney. It turns out that the Eagles hockey team is coached by none other than Gary Braun, a former WHL player and coach. He played with the Estevan Bruins and Calgary Centennials and, after a pro career, had WHL coaching stints with the New Westminster Bruins and Spokane Chiefs. He was with the Chiefs when they won the 1991 Memorial Cup. . . . How about the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL? They were 6-for-17 on the PP in an 8-2 victory over the host Plymouth Whalers on Saturday night. Windsor had a 72-21 edge in shots.
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Don Hay, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants, picked up the 87th coaching victory of his WHL career Saturday. That moves him into a tie for second on the WHL’s all-time playoff victory list, with the legendary Ernie (Punch) McLean. . . . McLean’s record was 87-52-9. And, yes, the nine stands for ties. Those were the days when the WHL played eight-point series. The first team to eight points won the series. Oh yes, there also was the odd best-of-nine series back in the day. How about 1966-67 when the Moose Jaw Canucks and Edmonton Oil Kings met up in a semifinal? The Canucks won the series 3-2 with four ties. Seriously. . . . But we digress. . . . Hay’s playoff coaching record is 87-44, which works out to a .664 winning percentage. Ken Hitchcock holds the record, at .695. . . . Former Edmonton/Portland head coach Ken Hodge holds the record for most victories, with 101. He is followed by McLean and Hay, Pat Ginnell (80), Hitchcock (66), Willie Desjardins and Dean Clark (61), Doug Sauter (60), Brent Sutter (57), Jack Shupe (55), Bob Lowes (53) and Marc Habscheid (51). . . . Clark and Habscheid both appeared in seven postseasons, so why aren’t they coaching in the WHL today? Just asking. . . .
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SATURDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES: The line on the night is 1-0, 2-0 and 2-0. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings have a 1-0 lead on the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tri-City Americans hold a 2-0 edge on the Kelowna Rockets, as do the Vancouver Giants on the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The fourth series, between the Calgary Hitmen and Lethbridge Hurricanes, resumes Sunday afternoon in Cowtown.
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In Medicine Hat, F Nathan Green had two goals as the Brandon Wheat Kings doubled the Tigers, 6-3. . . . Game 2 is Sunday night in Medicine Hat. . . . After a scoreless first period, the teams struck for seven goals in the second period, with Brandon getting four of those. . . . And it wasn’t the Wheat Kings’ big guns doing the damage. . . . Del Cowan and Jordan Hale both got their first goals of these playoffs for Brandon. Green has four goals in this postseason, while F Matt Calvert added his fifth. Brandon F Mark Stone closed out the scoring with his first. . . . Medicine Hat got its first playoff goals from D Thomas Carr and F Lindey Vey. . . . Brandon D Keith Aulie and D Colby Robak each finished plus-5. . . . Green also had an assist for a three-point outing. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-4 on the PP; Brandon was 0-for-4. . . . Brandon G Andrew Hayes stopped 28 shots, three more than Medicine Hat’s Ryan Holfeld. . . . Attendance was, yes, 4,006.
An interesting matchup in this series has Medicine Hat D Matt McCue, 20, facing the Wheat Kings, with whom he started the season. When Brandon found itself with four 20-year-old players, McCue was sent to the Tigers for a 2009 sixth-round bantam draft pick. “We are really happy that Matt has done as well in Medicine Hat as he has,” Brandon GM/head coach Kelly McCrimmon told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “We are proud of him that he was able to earn an NHL contract (with the Anaheim Ducks). I think we feel part of that as well, because really he seemed to blossom when he arrived here last year at the trade deadline from Chilliwack. He and I have a great rapport. We are happy that continues. From his standpoint and obviously from ours as well, that will all be backburner until the series is over.” . . . Medicine Hat GM/head coach Willie Desjardins said that he chose to make that trade after McCrimmon gave McCue a hearty recommendation. “It made a difference,” Desjardins told Steinke. “I certainly respect Kelly’s opinion on things. He (McCrimmon) did speak highly of him (McCue). He certainly filled a need on our team.” . . . McCue ended up leading the WHL in penalty minutes, with 195, while scoring six times and picking up 19 assists.
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In Kennewick, Wash., the Americans erased a 2-0 deficit with three third-period goals as they edged the Kelowna Rockets, 3-2. . . . The scene now shifts to Kelowna for games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . Americans F Taylor Procyshen scored a third-period PP winner for the second night in a row. This one came at 17:17. . . . Kelowna F Ian Duval had two seconds left to serve in a hooking penalty, the only penalty of the third period, when Procyshen scored. . . . Kelowna led 2-0 on a first-period goal from LW Jamie Benn, on the PP, and a second-period score from C Cody Almond. . . . Tri-City F Brooks Macek got the Ams started at 5:43 of the third period and Petr Stoklasa tied it with his first of the postseason at 9:44. . . . F Mitch Fadden, who left Game 1 late in the third period after a hit from Kelowna D Tyler Madden, drew assists on Tri-City’s last two goals. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-5 on the PP; Kelowna was 1-for-3. . . . Stoklasa played in Game 1, his first action since suffering a shoulder injury on Feb. 17. . . . Tri-City G Chet Pickard stopped 24 shots, while Kelowna G Mark Guggenbeger stopped 31. . . . Tri-City F Jordan Messier missed on a first-period penalty shot attempt. . . . The Americans were without C Jason Reese, who suffered what appeared to be an injury to his left knee when he got tangled with Kelowna C Colin Long in the third period of Game 1. Reese had 81 points in 69 regular-season games, tying him with Procyshen for the team lead. . . . Attendance was 4,077.
According to Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier: “The Americans did not release Procyshen, 20, for post-game interviews, with Americans general manager Bob Tory stating the 5-foot-10 right winger from Emerald Park, Sask., was receiving medical attention. . . . The Rockets welcomed back F Mikael Backlund. He had missed Game 1 with a lower body injury suffered in Game 4 against the Kamloops Blazers on March 25. "It was fun to play, but I wasn't 100 per cent," Backlund told Potenteau.
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In Vancouver, D Jon Blum scored twice to lead the Giants to a 4-1 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . They’ll next play Tuesday and Wednesday in Spokane. . . . F Casey Pierro-Zabotel, the league’s scoring champ, helped Vancouver with a goal and an assist, as did linemate Evander Kane. . . . The Giants built a 4-0 lead before the second period was half over. . . . Spokane LW Drayson Bowman scored his sixth goal of these playoffs on a third-period PP to ruin Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith’s shutout bid. Sexsmith stopped 18 shots, 12 fewer than Spokane’s Dustin Tokarski. . . . Vancouver was 2-for-9 on the PP, with three of those coming the last half of the third period. The Chiefs were 1-for-4. . . . Attendance was 8,916.