Wednesday . . .

The Red Deer Rebels have cleared up their 20-year-old situation by placing F Cody Esposito on waivers. The Rebels acquired Esposito from the Spokane Chiefs for F Luke Betts on Nov. 20, 2007 in a swap of then-18-year-olds. Esposito was an eighth-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2004 bantam draft. . . . His departure leaves the Rebels with F Jordie Deagle, F Nathan Green and D Cullen Morin as their 20-year-olds.
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The Chilliwack Bruins have acquired F Colton Grant, 20, from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a 2010 sixth-round bantam draft pick. Grant, selected 22nd overall by the Tri-City Americans in the 2004 bantam draft, had played 211 games with the Tigers, scoring 28 goals and adding 39 assists. The Tigers acquired him from the Americans on June 2, 2006, for a second-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . Grant is likely to play against his former teammates on Friday when they are in Chilliwack. . . . Grant’s departure leaves the Tigers with four 20-year-olds – G Ryan Holfeld, D Mark Isherwood, D Tomas Kundratek and F Bretton Cameron – meaning another move is needed before Oct. 15. . . . The Bruins now have three 20-year-olds, with Grant joining F Andy Smith and D Mitch McColm.
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The Tri-City Americans have assigned D Spencer Humphries, 17, to the BCHL’s Westside Warriors. A list player, Humphries was pointless in one game this season. He played in three games last season. . . . The Americans are carrying 26 players, including 15 forwards and three goaltenders.
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In the QMJHL, the P.E.I. Rocket has named Eric Lavigne as its head coach. He replaces Guy Chouinard, who was fired Monday night with a 5-3-0-2 record. Lavigne was fired in March as head coach of the QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs. He spent more than three seasons there, getting them into the league final in 2007. He has extensive coaching experience in Quebec, including a stint with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes will play their first home game Friday, when the Edmonton Oil Kings visit. The Hurricanes opened with eight road games because the Enmax Centre is undergoing quite a facelift. You can read about it right here.
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D Brett Ponich, the captain of the Portland Winterhawks, is spearheading a silent auction in aid of a friend from his hometown who is a quadriplegic after a diving accident during a high school grad celebration. The Oregonian’s story is right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Brandon, the Calgary Hitmen scored twice in the shootout as they beat the Wheat Kings, 4-3. . . . Brandon F Jay Fehr forced OT with a PP goal at 10:13 of the third period. . . . Calgary got circus-time goals from F Joel Broda and F Brandon Kozun, erasing the 1-0 edge Brandon got when F Matt Calvert, its first shooter, scored. . . . F Kris Foucault, with a goal and two assists, was in on all of Calgary’s regulation-time goals. . . . Calvert had two regulation-time goals for Brandon. . . . Calgary G Michael Snider stopped 30 shots, while Brandon’s Andrew Hayes turned aside 28. . . . Attendance was 4,271. . . . The Hitmen (6-1-0-0) are the CHL’s top-ranked team. . . . Brandon slipped to 4-2-0-1.
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In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored three goals in each period and beat the Regina Pats, 9-6. . . . The Warriors were 5-for-8 on the PP; the Pats were 2-for-4. . . . Attendance in the Crushed Can was 2,495, meaning the joint was jumping. . . . F Brendan Rowinski drew four assists from the Warriors, while F Quinton Howden added a goal and three helpers. F Jason Bast had two goals for Moose Jaw, F Dylan Hood added two goals and an assist and D Travis Hamonic had a goal and two assists. . . . Regina got three goals and an assist from sniper Jordan Eberle, meaning he has 12 points, seven of them goals, in four games. . . . Regina D Colten Teubert had a goal and two assists and was plus-3. . . . Eberle, who scored two PP goals and one shorthanded, spent a lot of his night being shadowed by F Spencer Edwards. Eberle said he hadn’t received that treatment since atom. . . . An atom coach using a shadow? Say it ain’t so, Joe. . . . A yapping Moose Jaw head coach, Dave Hunchak, was given a bench minor at 8:04 of the second period. The Pats scored on the resulting PP, after which Hunchak, taking a page from the book written a week earlier by Regina head coach Curtis Hunt, tossed a water bottle in the direction of referee Devin Klein. Hunt was fined $500 for throwing a water bottle in a game officiated by Derek Zalaski in Prince Albert. . . . “I think it was (worth it),” Hunchak told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “At that point in time I didn’t think our team was playing with enough emotion. For our team to have success we have to play with emotion. I just felt enough was enough. You have to stick up for your guys every once in a while.” . . . Regina took a 4-3 lead just 39 seconds later, but the Warriors rebounded with five of the last seven goals. . . . While Hunchak seems to think a victory over the Pats is worth $500, you have to wonder if his wife agrees.
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In Saskatoon, F Curtis Hamilton scored twice, the first one 15 seconds into the game, and added an assist as the Blades doubled the Kootenay Ice, 8-4. . . . F Derek Hulak had three assists for the Blades. . . . Both teams were feeling fractious, what with four fights in the first 10 minutes. . . . Attendance was 3,560. . . . Saskatoon F Jeremy Boyer, acquired last week from the Seattle Thunderbirds, added his first goal less than three minutes later. . . . The Blades (3-2-0-2) led 5-0 after the first period. . . . Ice captain Dustin Sylvester left in the first period after taking a hard open-ice hit from D Dalton Thrower. . . . Saskatoon D Jyri Niemi had two goals, while D Sam Klassen earned three assists. . . . Kootenay D Brayden McNabb drew an assist and has an eight-game point streak going. . . . The Ice slid to 3-5-0-0. . . . Saskatoon was without F Milan Kytnar, 20, who has an abdominal inury.
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In Everett, the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to five games with a 4-3 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Winterhawks, at 6-1-0-0, are tied with the Calgary Hitmen for the WHL’s best winning percentage. . . . Everett (2-2-0-0) hadn’t played in 10 days. . . . Portland scored three goals on six PP chances; Everett was 2-for-5. . . . F Ryan Johansen scored twice for the visitors, his second goal, at 4:19 of the third on the PP, gave them a 4-1 lead. . . . Portland G Ian Curtis stopped 32 shots, while Everett’s Thomas Heemskerk turned aside 25. . . . Attendance was 3,844. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie (hand) returned after missing the season’s first six games. . . . The Winterhawks are at home to the Tri-City Americans on Friday and the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday, then return to Everett for a Sunday game.
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In Kelowna, the Rockets won a 12-man shootout to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-5. . . . F Brandon McMillan had two goals and an assist for the Rockets (4-2-1-0), while Stepan Novotny added his eighth goal of the season. . . . The Rockets got out to a 3-0 first-period lead, only to have the Tigers tie it with three goals 49 seconds apart in the first three minutes of the second period. . . . The teams would exchange goals until F Bretton Cameron of Medicine Hat (3-1-1-2) forced OT with his second goal, and seventh of the season, at 19:46 of the third period. . . . The Tigers were 0-for-6 on the PP and gave up two shorthanded goals. . . . D Mark Isherwood, the Tigers’ fourth shooter, was the only visitor to score in the circus. . . . McMillan matched that one and F Cody Chikie, shooter No. 12, won it. . . . Attendance was 6,081. . . . Kelowna D Kyle Verdino left the ice in the second period after being hit by F Joey Frazer. Verdino, who suffered a broken ankle, among other injuries, in an offseason car accident, wasn’t able to put weight on his right ankle as he was helped off the ice. He apparently was walking around after the game, but will be re-evaluated on Thursday. . . . Frazer was slapped with a major for checking from behind and a game misconduct.