Saturday . . .

Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette takes a look right here at TSN’s zealous approach to covering the World Junior Championship. This one is definitely worth reading.
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The Central league’s Wichita Thunder has acquired C Jason Reese (Vancouver, Moose Jaw, Tri-City, 2003-09) from the Arizona Sundogs for RW Marc Belanger. The deal was made Saturday morning. Reese had 10 points in 16 games with the Texas Brahmas before being dealt to Arizona on Dec. 2. He had two points in 10 games with the Sundogs. Reese had 81 points in 69 games with the Tri-City Americans last season. He is expected to be in the Thunder’s lineup next weekend.
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A WHL scheduling change for you, involving a couple of games later this month.
Originally, the Spokane Chiefs were to have played the Bruins in Chilliwack on Jan. 26 and the Blazers in Kamloops on Jan. 27. But the Olympic torch is to be in Kamloops on Jan. 27, so those two games have been switch.
So the Chiefs now will play in Kamloops on Jan. 26 and in Chilliwack on Jan. 27.
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SATURDAY:
In Calgary, F Tyler Fiddler had a goal and two assists, helping the Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Hitmen (28-12-1-1) had lost four of their last five games, but now are 3-0 against Vancouver this season. . . . Calgary moved into a tie with the Medicine Hat Tigers for second in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Giants (27-15-1-2) had a three-game winning streak end. . . . Fiddler opened the scoring at 1:41 of the first, with his 20th, but F Brendan Gallagher tied it a minute later with his 27th. . . . That set the stage for Calgary to score the game’s next four goals, two of them via the PP, and take a 5-1 lead into the third. . . . Vancouver F Craig Cunningham got his 25th goal, while Calgary F Brandon Kozun had a goal, his 20th, and an assist. That cut Cunningham’s lead atop the WHL point derby to two, 65-63, over Kozun. . . . Calgary was 2-for-2 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-for-5. . . . Vancouver starter Mark Segal was gone before the game was nine minutes old, having allowed three goals on eight shots. Reliever Derek Tendler stopped 20 of 22. That included denying Calgary F Michael Stone on a first-period penalty shot. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones made 19 saves. . . . Attendance was 7,465.
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In Edmonton, Swift Current F Cody Eakin scored in the first round of the shootout and it stood up as the Broncos beat the Oil Kings, 2-1. . . . F T.J. Foster gave Edmonton (10-23-4-7) the lead at 12:41 of the second period, with his third goal of the season. . . . The Broncos (23-18-0-2) tied it when F Justin Dowling got his 20th on the PP at 7:36 of the third. . . . The Oil Kings have lost seven in a row. . . . The Broncos have won six of seven. . . . Swift Current G Morgan Clark stopped 28 shots, while Edmonton’s Torrie Jung stopped 45. . . . Attendance was 4,051. . . . Edmonton F Tomas Vincour and D Mark Pysyk, both of whom left Friday’s 5-3 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants in the first period because of the flu, were scratched.
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In Kelowna, G Kurtis Mucha stopped 42 shots to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-1 victory over the Rockets. . . . The Blazers, who lost 13 games to the Rockets last season are 5-1-0-0 against Kelowna this time around. . . . The Blazers beat the visiting Rockets 6-4 on Friday night. . . . Kamloops (19-20-2-3) has won two in a row for the first time since Nov. 6 and 7. . . . The Rockets are 19-24-2-0. . . . Kelowna got the game’s first goal, when F Lucas Bloodoff got his ninth, and third in two games, at 4:34 of the first on the PP. . . . F Tyler Shattock got the equalizer, his 22nd, on the PP just three minutes later and drew an assist on F Dalibor Bortnak’s fourth at 18:37 of the first. . . . Kelowna G Mark Guggenberger made 21 saves. . . . Attendance was 6,159. . . . Prior to the game, the Rockets presented F Brandon McMillan with a set of golf clubs in recognition of his efforts in helping Team Canada win silver at the World Junior Championship.
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In Cranbrook, F Max Reinhart scored two third-period goals to give the Kootenay Ice a 2-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Ice (25-15-1-2) has won nine in a row and is 15-7-1-1 at home. . . . The Rebels (22-17-0-4) have lost three in a row. . . . Red Deer F Josh Cowen scored his 11th goal, shorthanded, at 8:42 of the third. . . . Reinhart scored on the PP at 12:33 and then got the winner at 15:11. . . . D Hayden Rintoul assisted on both goals. . . . Ice G Todd Mathews stopped 27 shots, while Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper turned aside 25. . . . Attendance was 2,856. . . . Ice F Steele Boomer, with a history of concussions, left in the first period after taking a hit from Red Deer F Jordie Deagle. According to Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman: “Ice head coach Mark Holick said that Boomer was held out for precautionary reason and should be available for Wednesday's game in Edmonton.”
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In Portland, G Ian Curtis stopped 31 shots to help the Winterhawks to a 3-1 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Portland F Brad Ross picked up an assist but had his five-game goal-scoring streak snapped. . . . The Winterhawks led 2-0 after one on goals by F Chris Francis, his 18th, and D Joe Morrow, his second. . . . F Kevin Sundher, with his 18th, got the Bruins close in the second period, but F Nino Niederreiter, with his 24th, iced it for the home side with three minutes left in the third. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 28 shots. . . . Each team was 0-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Winterhawks are 26-16-1-1. . . . The Bruins (20-19-1-5) now are 7-2-0-1 in their last 10. . . . Attendance in the Rose Garden was 7,121.
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In Prince Albert, F Craig McCallum’s 20th goal of the season gave the Raiders an 8-7 overtime victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . McCallum scored at 3:32 of OT while on the PP. . . . The Raiders led this game 1-0, 2-0, 5-4 and 7-6, only to have the Warriors come back each time. The Warriors also held leads, of 3-2, 4-3 and 6-5. . . . Warriors F Brendan Rowinski forced OT with his 26th goal at 19:00 of the third period. . . . F Thomas Frazee had a goal and two assists for the Warriors (22-15-2-2), who had won their last five, while F Dylan Hood had two goals. . . . The Raiders (22-20-1-2) had been beaten three times by Moose Jaw since Dec. 29. . . . McCallum finished with two goals and an assist, while F Jordan Hickmott had a goal and three helpers and F Dustin Cameron had two of each. F Igor Revenko, F Brandon Herrod and D Jordan Rowley each had a goal and two assists. . . . P.A. started G Jamie Tucker, who stopped 12 of 17 shots in half a game. Garrett Zemlak came on to stop 15 of 17 and earn the victory. . . . Moose Jaw’s Jeff Bosch turned aside 34. . . . Moose Jaw was 3-for-4 on the PP; the Raiders were 2-for-6. . . . Attendance was 2,313. . . . Two shattered panes of glass meant the start of the game was delayed for an hour. One pane was shattered as the teams warmed up and a second one blew up during a second warmup session.
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In Regina, the Pats scored three times in the shootout and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 6-5. . . . The shootout went five rounds, with Regina getting goals from F Jordan Eberle, F Carter Ashton and F Jordan Weal, with F Matt MacKay and F Wacey Hamilton counting for the Tigers. . . . The Pats (18-24-3-0) has lost 10 of 11. . . . The Tigers are 25-13-3-5. . . . Regina was 2-for-4 on the PP; the Tigers were 2-for-5. . . . Attendance was 3,741. . . . Eberle had a goal and two assists in regulation, while Weal scored once, his 20th, and added three assists. . . . According to the WHL website, Regina G Brett Martyniuk stopped 23 shots, while the Tigers got 37 saves from G Deven Dubyk. However, the online scoresheet shows each goaltender giving up four goals when it should be five. So watch for an adjustment there.
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In Saskatoon, the Hurricanes got 33 saves from G Brandon Anderson and two goals from F Ryon Moser as they shocked the Blades, 3-1. . . . Moser scored his third and fourth goals of the season at 3:14 and 7:54 of the second period, with F Neil Tarnasky and F Philip Tot assisting on both. . . . Moser had two goals total in his previous 35 games. . . . D Stefan Elliott got his 15th for the Blades at 1:56 of the third, but the visitors got insurance when F Cam Braes notched his 12th on the PP at 4:15. . . . The Blades are 29-9-1-3 and atop the Central Division; the Hurricanes are 14-23-3-2 and in 11th spot. . . . Saskatoon G Adam Morrison stopped six of eight shots and was replaced by Steven Stanford at 7:54 of the second period following Moser’s second goal Stanford stopped 13 of 14. . . . Attendance was 4,187. . . . The Hurricanes were playing without five injured defencemen -- Reid Jackson, Mike Reddington, Max Ross, Derek Ryckman and Luca Sbisa.
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In Kent, Wash., F Charles Wells had two goals and an assist as the host Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Prince George Cougars, 4-1. . . . The Thunderbirds (14-23-2-4) had lost six in a row. . . . The Cougars (9-32-1-1) have lost four in a row and now are 3-20-1-1 on the road. . . . Wells has 12 goals on the season. . . . Seattle got three assists from D Jeremy Schappert, while F Prab Rai added his 24th goal. . . . D Burke Gallimore, acquired from Saskatoon on Friday, got his 13th goal of the season in his first game with the Thunderbirds. . . . Attendance was 4,044. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 31 shots. . . . The Cougars went with Luke Siemens in goal and he stopped 24 shots. They got special dispensation from the WHL to use Siemens, whose WHL rights belong to the Everett Silvertips. Prince George left G Hudson Stremmel (concussion) at home and lost Alex Wright, who injured a shoulder while doing pushups prior to the game.
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In Spokane, G James Reid stopped 34 shots to help the Chiefs to a 2-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . D Jared Spurgeon’s fourth goal of the season, at 13:15 of the third period, broke a 1-1 tie. . . . F Tyler Johnson, in his first game back in his hometown after helping the U.S. to gold at the World Junior Championship, opened the scoring at 3:13 of the second. . . . F Jordan Messier tied it at 8:53 of the third. . . . G Drew Owsley stopped 30 shots for the Americans. . . . The Chiefs (24-15-3-0) had lost seven of nine; they also had lost six in a row at home. . . . The Americans (30-11-0-1) remained one point behind the Saskatoon Blades, who are first overall. . . . Attendance was 10,522. . . . With the U.S. Figure Skating Championships moving into their home arena, the Chiefs will play their next eight games on the road.