Friday . . .

It doesn’t seem that Regina Pats sniper Jordan Eberle will be off to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers anytime soon. Rather, he will get to spend a second straight spring with the AHL’s Springield Falcons. “We don’t want to rush him into anything,” Kevin Prendergast, the Oilers’ assistant GM, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “Our fans are going to expect a lot out of him. He has that aura about him. We just don’t want to add any pressure on him. We want to bring him along (carefully). Not a whole lot of things bother him anyway but we’re trying to look at who we want to keep here next year. At this point (GM Steve) Tambellini wants to keep everything as quiet as possible around here and see what we’ve got and who we want to keep to move forward with.” . . . Eberle, the 22nd overall selection in the NHL’s 2008 draft, had nine points in as many games with Springfield a year ago.
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Bryan Maxwell, a former player, GM and head coach in the WHL, is to be inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame. That story is right here.
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THE PLAYOFF CHASE
Teams in the running for playoff spots, showing games remaining (d — division leaders, who are seeded one-two; y — clinched division championship; x — clinched playoff spot):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
y-Calgary (5) 47-17-1-2-97
dx-Brandon (4) 46-18-1-3-96
x-Saskatoon (6) 43-16-3-4-93
x-Kootenay (4) 40-23-3-2-85
x-Red Deer (5) 39-24-0-4-82
x-Medicine Hat (4) 37-23-3-5-82
Moose Jaw (5) 32-25-4-6-74
Swift Current (3) 34-30-1-4-73
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Prince Albert (5) 31-31-3-2-67
Friday: Moose Jaw 2 at Brandon 9; Medicine Hat 2 at Kootenay 1; Swift Current 1 at Red Deer 2 (OT).
Saturday: Saskatoon at Edmonton; Calgary at Kootenay; Red Deer at Medicine Hat; Lethbridge at Moose Jaw; Prince Albert at Regina.
Sunday: Saskatoon at Calgary; Edmonton at Medicine Hat; Brandon at Prince Albert.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (5) 45-19-1-2-93
y-Vancouver (5) 39-23-2-3-83
x-Everett (5) 43-19-3-2-91
x-Spokane (5) 41-21-3-2-87
x-Portland (4) 40-25-2-1-83
x-Kelowna (4) 32-30-2-4-70
x-Kamloops (3) 31-32-2-4-68
x-Chilliwack (5) 30-31-1-5-66
Friday: Vancouver 1 at Kamloops 6; Tri-City 1 at Chilliwack 4; Seattle 0 at Kelowna 5; Spokane 4 at Portland 0; Everett 3 at Prince George 2.
Saturday: Vancouver at Kelowna; Tri-City at Portland; Everett at Prince George; Spokane at Seattle.
Sunday: Vancouver at Chilliwack; Prince George at Kamloops; Tri-City at Seattle.
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FRIDAY:
In Kelowna, G Mark Guggenberger stopped 16 shots to help the Rockets to a 5-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent. . . . The shutout was the first of the season for Guggenberger and the eighth of his career. Adam Brown, the Rockets’ other goaltender, has five blank jobs. . . . The Thunderbirds have been shut out six times. . . . Guggenberger’s last start had been on Feb. 21 when the Rockets lost 3-1 to the Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. . . . G Geordie Wudrick scored two first-period goals, giving him 25. . . . He also earned an assist on F Brandon McMillan’s 19th goal. McMillan finished with a goal and two helpers, while D Tyson Barrie had two assists. . . . F Evan Bloodoff scored again. He has three goals in five games since returning from September knee surgery. . . . Attendance was 6,081.
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In Brandon, F Scott Glennie and F Aaron Lewadniuk each had four points as the Wheat Kings skated to a 9-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Glennie had two goals — he has 30 — and two assists, while Lewadniuk had a goal, his 33rd, and three helpers. . . . F Jay Fehr, playing in his 250th game, added three assists and F Matt Calvert had a goal and two assists. . . . D Jordan Hale had one goal and was plus-4. . . . Brandon F Brayden Schenn, a three-year deal with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings in his hip pocket, got his 30th goal. . . . The Brandon Sun reports that Schenn got a US$270,000 signing bonus that is payable over three years. . . . Brandon now has four 30-goal men. . . . The Warriors led this one 2-1 when F Jason Bast got his 28th at 15:50 of the first period. . . . It was all Brandon after that. At one point, the Wheat Kings scored five times in 6:26 of the second period. . . . Brandon was 2-for-6 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-0. . . . Attendance was 5,518.
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In Chilliwack, F Roman Horak and F Jamie Crooks each scored his 20th goal as the Bruins dumped the Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . C Kevin Sundher had two assists for the Bruins, who were 1-for-1 on the PP. . . . The Americans, who had won their last two, were 1-for-4. . . . Attendance was 3,778. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 31 shots, while Tri-City’s Alex Pechurskiy stopped 16. . . . Gore is 3-0 against the Americans this season. . . . The Bruins won the season series 3-1, the first time in their four-season history that they have done that. . . . The Americans are 16-0 against the other B.C. Division teams.
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In Kamloops, the Blazers scored three goals in each of the first two periods and dropped the Vancouver Giants, 6-1. . . . The teams could very well end up meeting in the first round of the playoffs, as the Giants are the Western Conference’s second seed and the Blazers are in seventh place. . . . Kamloops C Mark Hall, who had gone 34 games without a goal, scored for the third straight game. He has four goals this season. . . . F Colin Smith and F Dylan Willick each had two assists. . . . Kamloops G Kurtis Mucha stopped 29 shots. . . . The teams engaged in a multi-fight situation after the Blazers’ second goal. . . . Vancouver head coach Don Hay already has served a one-game suspension after his club was in three such situations. Another suspension could be forthcoming, pending a WHL investigation. . . . Attendance was 4,842.
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In Cranbrook, F Wacey Hamilton broke a 1-1 tie in the second period as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the host Kootenay Ice, 2-1. . . . F Joey Frazer gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with his 17th goal just 26 seconds into the first period. . . . Ice F Jesse Ismond tied it with his 20th at 9:18 of the first. . . . Hamilton scored his 23rd at 2:31 of the second, banging in his own rebound with the teams playing 4-on-4. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz blocked 31 shots, two fewer than the Ice’s Todd Mathews. . . . Attendance was 2,643.
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In Portland, G James Reid stopped 28 shots to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-0 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . Reid has five shutouts this season, two of them against Portland, and nine in his career. . . . Spokane F Mitch Wahl got the game’s first goal, his 29th, at 4:56 of the first period. . . . Spokane F Kyle Beach added his WHL-leading 49th at 7:07. . . . Portland G Ian Curtis stopped 31 shots. . . . Attendance in the Rose Garden was 7,334. . . . This very well may have been a first-round playoff preview. At the moment, the Chiefs hold home-ice advantage, but Scott Sepich of The Oregonian reports that a first-round series between these two would open in Portland because NCAA basketball is booked into the Chiefs’ home arena on the March 19 weekend, which is when the WHL playoffs will begin.
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In Prince George, F Dan Iwanski broke a 2-2 in the third period to give the Everett Silvertips a 3-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . Iwanski, who has 10 goals, scored twice. He tied the game 2-2 at 13:53 of the first period and won it at 3:05 of the third. . . . The Cougars took a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old on goals by F Greg Fraser, his sixth, and F Parker Stanfield, his 11th, on the PP. . . . F Shane Harper, a three-year NHL deal with the Philadelphia Flyers tucked away in his equipment bag, scored his 40th at 12:23. . . . The Cougars have lost 11 in a row. . . . The Silvertips, now two points behind the Western Conference-leading Tri-City Americans, have won eight of 10. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 32 shots, while Hudson Stremmel turned aside 27 shots. . . . Attendance was 2,053. . . . Prince George G Alex Wright, out since breaking his collarbone on Jan. 8, was back in the lineup, serving as Stremmel’s backup.
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In Red Deer, F Willie Coetzee’s overtime goal gave the Rebels a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Coetzee scored his 29th goal on the PP at 4:23 of extra time. Swift Current F Cody Eakin was off for holding at the time. . . . The Rebels were 1-for-2 on the PP; the Broncos were 1-for-9. . . . Swift Current had a PP in OT when D Cullen Morin was penalized for kneeing at 0:14. . . . Red Deer G Kraymer Barnstable stopped 29 shots, while the Broncos’ Morgan Clark turned aside 31. . . . Red Deer F Adam Kambeitz broke a scoreless tie at 4:47 of the second period with his sixth goal. . . . F Justin Dowling, with his 29th, tied it at 16:16 of the third on the PP. . . . Attendance was 4,761. . . . The loser point lifted the Broncos six points clear of the idle Prince Albert Raiders in the race for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. The Raiders have five games remaining. . . . The referees were Steve Papp and Derek Zalaski, and Red Deer head coach Jesse Wallin wasn’t impressed. “I bit my tongue before and I’m tired of it. I just see a pattern there with Steve Papp,” Wallin told Red Deer Advocate sports editor Greg Meachem. “If that’s a nine-penalties-to-two game, then I don’t know . . .  I’ve coached in this league for five years and played in the league for four years, and I have never seen a game that one-sided. He’s the same guy who was here a few weeks ago when Prince George was in town (a 3-1 win for Red Deer on Feb. 19 with the power plays eight-to-three in favour of the visitors). I don’t know what his problem is with our team, but at this time of the year it’s really frustrating, really disturbing. I think it’s an absolute joke.” . . . Cha-ching!
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In Regina, F Jordan Weal scored twice to lead the Pats to a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . F Carter Bancks gave Lethbridge a 2-1 lead with two late first-period goals, his 16th and 17th. . . . Regina scored
twice in the second period, with former Lethbridge F Carter Ashton and Weal getting the goals. . . . Ashton has 24 goals. . . . Weal got his 33rd at
19:28. . . . Regina F Tyler Parker round out the scoring with his first goal
at 6:47 of the third. . . . Attendance was 4,263. . . . Regina F Jordan Eberle had one assist and now has a WHL-leading 98 points. That is two ahead of Weal and four ahead of Calgary Hitmen F Brandon Kozun.