Monday . . .

The ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs will be on the move following the conclusion of this season. Former NHL general manager Neil Smith, who owns the Chiefs and is serving as interim head coach, announced Monday that the Chiefs will relocate to Greenville, S.C. That story is right here. And don’t be surprised if one of the big hockey stories of the late spring and early summer concerns minor league relocation.
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F Michael Liambas’s season from hell has continued. Now with the IHL’s Bloomington Prairie Thunder, he will be out for at least six weeks after undergoing emergency surgery to repair a badly cut wrist. An opponent’s skate severed two tendons and cut two others in his right wrist on Sunday. . . . Liambas, you will recall, was suspended for the rest of this season -- he is 20, so that meant his junior career was over -- by the OHL for a horrible hit in October. He later came down with the H1N1 virus and also has served a five-game IHL suspension for a hit in January.
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THE PLAYOFF CHASE
Teams in the running for playoff spots, showing games remaining (d — denotes division leaders, who are seeded one-two):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Brandon (11) 41-16-1-3-86
d-Calgary (13) 40-17-1-1-82
Saskatoon (14) 39-13-3-3-84
Kootenay (13) 37-17-3-2-79
Medicine Hat (10) 33-21-3-5-74
Red Deer (14) 33-21-0-4-70
Moose Jaw (14) 28-22-4-4-64
Swift Current (12) 29-27-0-4-62
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Prince Albert (13) 28-25-3-2-61
Regina (12) 25-28-3-4-57
Monday: Brandon 4 at Calgary 2; Moose Jaw 7 at Portland 6.
Tuesday: Swift Current at Kootenay; Red Deer at Prince Albert; Moose Jaw at Tri-City.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (14) 40-15-1-2-83
dx-Vancouver (12) 36-20-1-3-76
x-Portland (11) 37-21-2-1-77
x-Everett (13) 36-19-3-1-76
x-Spokane (13) 35-20-3-1-74
Kelowna (12) 29-26-2-3-63
Kamloops (11) 27-28-2-4-60
Chilliwack (13) 25-28-1-5-56
x — clinched playoff spot.
Monday: Moose Jaw 7 at Portland 6; Vancouver 8 at Seattle 3; Everett 2 at Spokane 3 (OT).
Tuesday: Seattle at Chilliwack; Moose Jaw at Tri-City.
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MONDAY:
In Calgary, D Alexander Urbom broke a 2-2 tie at 1:16 of the second period and the Brandon Wheat Kings went on to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Urbom added his second goal of the game, and 12th of the season, late in the third period. . . . Brandon, which has won four in a row, now holds a two-point lead over Saskatoon atop the Eastern Conference, but the Blades hold three games in hand. . . . The Wheat Kings, who now are 20-11-1-1 on the road, have won 11 of 12. . . . Brandon F Aaron Lewadniuk and Calgary F Brandon Kozun each scored his 30th goal. . . . Kozun gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 9:14 of the first period. . . . Brandon F Matt Calvert tied it with No. 39 at 10:12 of the first. . . . Brandon F Jay Fehr drew three assists. He was in on both of Urbom’s goals. . . . Brandon G Jacob De Serres, who is from Calgary, stopped 26 shots. . . . Martin Jones turned aside 23 shots for the Hitmen. . . . Calgary had an eight-game winning streak snapped. . . . Brandon won three of four from Calgary this season, including a 6-3 victory in Cowtown on Jan. 29. . . . Attendance for the rare Monday matinee was 8.882. . . . With the victory, Brandon became the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot. Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun explains: “The ninth-place Prince Albert Raiders could theoretically get to 87 points this season to pass the Wheat Kings (86 points) but doing so would require a pair of victories over Swift Current, which would make it impossible for the eighth-place Broncos to pass Brandon, thereby locking up the playoff spot for the Wheat Kings.”
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In Portland, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Winterhawks, 7-6. . . . F Quinton Howden, who had two goals, broke a 6-6 tie with his 25th goal at 17:53 of the third period. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie gave his mates a 6-4 lead just 54 seconds into the third period, after D Joe Morrow had scored a PP goal for Portland at 19:59 of the second. It was Morrow’s second goal of the period. . . . F Brandon Rowinski cut the lead to 6-5 at 8:47 of the third and F Spencer Edwards tied it at 9:37. . . . The Winterhawks had won five in a row, while Moose Jaw went into this one having lost 10 of 12. . . . Moose Jaw held a 42-40 edge in shots and both teams used two goaltenders. . . . Attendance for the matinee at Memorial Coliseum was 4,318.
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In Kent, Wash., the Vancouver Giants overcame a 3-1 deficit and beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 8-3. . . . F Lindsay Nielsen, with his 11th, and F Prab Rai, with two, gave the Thunderbirds a 3-1 first-period lead. . . . Rai has 32 goals. . . . After F Milan Kytnar pulled the Giants to within one, F James Henry tied it with his 20th at 18:42 of the second and F J.T. Barnett gave Vancouver its first lead at 19:35, with his 18th. . . . When Vancouver D Kevin Connauton scored his 20th, on the PP, at 1:23 of the third, Vancouver had three goals in 2:41. . . . Connauton finished with two goals. . . . Attendance was 4,019. . . . Vancouver F Craig Cunningham had three assists and now has a WHL-leading 86 points, two more than Calgary Hitmen F Brandon Kozun. . . . Cunningham wasn’t able to score on an early third-period penalty shot. . . . Kytnar finished with two goals. . . . Nielsen also had two assists for the Thunderbirds. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped four of seven shots before being replaced by Derek Tendler, who stopped all 14 shots he faced. . . . This was the first of 10 straight road games for the Giants. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost 14 in a row. . . . Attendance was 4,019.
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In Spokane, F Kyle Beach continued to light it up, scoring in overtime to give the Chiefs a 3-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Spokane was 3-for-6 on the PP; Everett was 1-for-3. . . . Beach, who has a WHL-high 42 goals, has scored the OT winner in each of Spokane’s last two games. He won this one 1:13 into extra time. . . . Beach has 13 goals over his last 10 games. . . . The Chiefs have won four in a row. . . . Spokane C Mitch Wahl drew three assists. He has 15 points, including 14 assists, over his last six games. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson had a goal to run his goal streak to four games. He has 27 goals and has scored in six of his last seven games. . . . F Byron Froese, with his 24th, gave Everett a 2-1 lead on the PP at 12:16 of the second. . . . Beach tied it at 14:08 of the third. . . . Attendance was 4,829. . . . Everett G Thomas Heemskerk turned aside 45 shots, while Spokane’s James Reid stopped 22 shots. . . . Everett D Radko Gudas took an interference penalty with 22 seconds left in the third period. The Chiefs had five shots in OT, winning it on the last one.