Hitmen stay alive

THE CHAMPIONSHIP: The Calgary Hitmen found some life in the WHL’s championship final Wednesday night, scoring a 6-2 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna. . . . The Rockets hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 5 in Calgary on Thursday night. . . . Both teams and media covering the series boarded a charter flight to Calgary immediately after the game. The media was to be seated in the middle of the plane, as though Regan Bartel, John Down, Scott Fisher or Doyle Potenteau could keep Ryley Grantham from paying a visit to the Hitmen should he choose to do so. . . . Had the Hitmen lost, they would have had a long bus ride home. . . . F Brett Sonne led the Hitmen with two goals and two assists, his first points of the series. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 35 shots. . . . Kelowna actually held a 2-1 lead, only to have Calgary count the game’s last five goals over the last 30 minutes. . . . Leading 2-1, the Rockets had a two-man advantage for 53 seconds. They failed to score and the Hitmen tied it about three minutes later. . . . F Mikael Backlund scored both of Kelowna’s goals and now leads the WHL playoffs with 13 goals. . . . Kelowna got 28 saves from G Mark Guggenberger. . . . Calgary was 3-for-4 on the PP, after going 0-for-10 over the first three games. Kelowna was 0-for-5. . . . Attendance was 6,526, the second-largest crowd in Prospera Place history. There were 6,547 fans in the house on May 23, 2004, when the Rockets won the Memorial Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques. . . . Kelowna’s scratches included F Jamie Benn and F Kyle St. Denis, both of whom are believed to have concussions.
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Curtis Hunt as the head coach of the Regina Pats? Again? Hey, why not? . . . Hunt left the Pats last summer after signing on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. However, when the Senators fired head coach Craig Hartsburg, Hunt found himself as the head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. . . . Now the Pats have fired his replacement, Dale Derkatch, and Hunt is interested in at least talking to Regina GM Brent Parker. . . . “There’s obviously unfinished business (in Regina), at least from my perspective,” Hunt told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “I think we did some real good things in the time I was there. It’s obviously unfortunate the way things went this year. I’m interested in talking to Brent to find out what he and (owner) Russ (Parker) are thinking. I wouldn’t be averse to that.”
Check out Harder’s blog Slap Shots — there’s a line over there on the left — for a good analysis of the start of the Pats’ coaching search.
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The Spokane Chiefs won’t renew the contract of assistant coach Leigh Mendelson. He signed with the Chiefs on Sept. 2, spending just one season under head coach Hardy Sauter. The Chiefs say the search for a replacement will begin immediately. . . .
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If you were wondering, the Memorial Cup opens May 15 in Rimouski with the host Oceanic meeting the WHL champion. . . .
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In the OHL, the Windsor Spitfires dumped the host Brampton Battalion 4-1 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the OHL’s championship final. Game 5 is Friday in Windsor. . . . Andrei Loktionov had two goals for Windsor, which got 40 saves, including 22 in the second period, from G Andrew Engelage. . . . In the QMJHL, Yannick Riendeau had two goals and three assists to lead the visiting Drummondville Voltigeurs to a 9-2 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes. Riendeau had two goals and two assists Tuesday, in a 5-4 victory. . . . Drummondville leads the championship series 3-1 and can wrap it up Friday at home. . . . Drummondville was 7-for-16 on the PP, with those seven goals coming on its first nine PP opportunities. . . . Shawinigan was 1-for-6.
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WHL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL (all times local):
Friday: Kelowna 3 at Calgary 1
Saturday: Kelowna 5 at Calgary 2
Monday: Calgary 0 at Kelowna 2
Wednesday: Calgary 6 at Kelowna 2
Thursday: Kelowna at Calgary, 7 p.m.
x-Saturday: Calgary at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
x-Monday: Kelowna at Calgary, 7 p.m.

x — if necessary.
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THE PICKS:
John Down (13-1), Calgary Herald: Calgary, in 6.
Jeff Bromley (12-2), Kootenay NewsAdvertiser: Calgary, in 6.
Alan Caldwell (12-2), Small Thoughts At Large: Calgary, in 6.
Scott Fisher (12-2), Calgary Sun: Calgary, in 6.
Dan Russell (11-3), CKNW Radio, Vancouver, and Shaw Cable: Calgary, in 5.
Gregg Drinnan (11-3), Kamloops Daily News: Kelowna, in 6.
Rob Vanstone (11-3), Regina Leader-Post: Calgary, in 4.
Cory Wolfe (11-3), Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Kelowna, in 6.
Kevin Mitchell (10-4), Saskatoon StarPhoenix: Calgary, in 7.