Wednesday . . .

OK, so much for the first round. . . . It ended Wednesday night with the round’s biggest upset as the Lethbridge Hurricanes, seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference, went into Saskatoon and beat the No. 2 Blades, 4-3. . . . That sends Lethbridge on to meet the No. 1 Calgary Hitmen in the second round, while the No. 3 Brandon Wheat Kings get the No. 5 Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Lethbridge will open in Calgary with games on Friday and Sunday. . . . Brandon will play in Medicine Hat on Saturday and Sunday. Brandon’s home rink, Westman Place, is unavailable due to the presence of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. . . . F Colton Sceviour gave Lethbridge a 2-0 lead with goals at 14:30 of the first period and 1:25 of the second and the Blades never caught up. . . . Sceviour, who had three goals in the series, also had an assist on F Zach Boychuk’s seventh goal, a PP score that gave the visitors a 3-1 lead at 5:40 of the third. . . . Lethbridge D Luca Sbisa added a PP score at 12:21 for a 4-2 lead. . . . Saskatoon captain Derek Hulak got his guys within one at 16:33. . . . Lethbridge was 2-for-4 on the PP; Saskatoon was 1-for-3. . . . Lethbridge G Juha Metsola made 24 saves; Saskatoon’s Braden Holtby stopped 22. . . . Lethbridge F Carter Bancks (upper body) played for the first time since Game 2. . . . Attendance was 10,284.
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Well . . . the jerseys aren’t even dry and Dean Chynoweth has left Swift Current. At least, that’s according to the rumours and speculation. However, the general manager and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, who lost Game 7 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday night, tells Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that he doesn’t want to go anywhere. That story is right here.
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Far too often, we all are guilty of forgetting that junior hockey players are teenagers, many of them away from home for the first time, all of them trying to find their way through this sometimes big, ugly world. Oftentimes, as we watch them entertain us, we don’t know what kind of day they’ve had or what is going on in their worlds. Take the case of Vancouver Giants F Adam Basford, 20, whose mother, Debbie, died of breast cancer two weeks ago. Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun has that story right here.
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WHL commissioner Ron Robison confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Shaw TV will provide coverage of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs. That series opens with games in Vancouver on Friday and Saturday nights. The series also is available in Western Canada on Star Choice. . . . And it’s available in the U.S. on Comcast Digital Cable Channel 79.
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D John Negrin of the Swift Current Broncos is off to join the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Quad City Flames, who operate out of Moline, Ill. Negrin was selected by the Flames in the third round of the NHL’s 2007 draft. . . . F Colin Long of the Kelowna Rockets is the Husky WHL player of the month for March. Long, 19, had 14 points in the Rockets’ last seven regular-season games. . . . The Kootenay Ice has hired Geoff Davidson as director of sales, replacing Rick Allen, who, according to the team, “has left the club to pursue other business interests.” Davidson, who has been doing an internship with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, is from Invermere, B.C. The Ice also named Tiffany Harris director of marketing. She has spent three years with the team as an account executive.
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BACKLUND UPDATE: Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, updates us on F Mikael Backlund. On his blog, Bartel notes: "If I was putting money on it, Backlund will play in this series, but Game 1 looks doubtful." . . . I had a spy down there on Tuesday and he saw Backlund riding the bike and felt he looked pretty good. Of course, it's kind of tough to play Game 1 while riding an exercise bike, isn't it?