Friday . . .

FIRST ROUND
Conference Quarterfinals
(Best-of-7)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Calgary (1) vs. Moose Jaw (8)
(Moose Jaw leads series 1-0)
Saturday: Moose Jaw at Calgary, 6 p.m.
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Brandon (2) vs. Swift Current (7)
(Swift Current home games to be played in Regina)
(Brandon leads series 1-0)
Friday: Swift Current 2 at Brandon 5
Saturday: Swift Current at Brandon, 5:30 p.m.
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Saskatoon (3) vs. Red Deer (6)
Saturday: Red Deer at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.
Sunday: Red Deer at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.
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Kootenay (4) vs. Medicine Hat (5)
(Kootenay leads series 1-0)
Friday: Medicine Hat 2 at Kootenay 6
Saturday: Medicine Hat at Kootenay, 6 p.m.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tri-City (1) vs. Chilliwack (8)
(Tri-City leads series 1-0)
Friday: Chilliwack 2 at Tri-City 4
Saturday: Chilliwack at Tri-City, 7 p.m.
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Vancouver (2) vs. Kamloops (7)
(Vancouver leads series 1-0)
Friday: Kamloops 3 at Vancouver 4 (OT)
Saturday: Kamloops at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
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Everett (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
(Everett leads series 1-0)
Friday: Kelowna 4 at Everett 5 (OT)
Saturday: Kelowna at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
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Spokane (4) vs. Portland (5)
Saturday: Spokane at Portland, 7 p.m.
Sunday: Spokane at Portland, 5 p.m.
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FRIDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES:
In Brandon, F Scott Glennie scored one goal and set up three others as the Wheat Kings, the host team for the 2010 Memorial Cup, opened with a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Game 2 is Saturday in Brandon. . . . F Matt Calvert had two goals and a helper for Brandon, while F Brayden Schenn, the third member of the big unit, chipped in an empty-net goal and an assist. . . . F Taylor Vause scored both Broncos’ goal. He gave them a 1-0 lead at 9:21 of the first period on the PP. . . . Brandon got that one back at 15:39 and took control with two second-period goals. . . . Each team was 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . Brandon G Jacob DeSerres stopped 28 shots, while Swift Current’s Morgan Clark turned aside 23. . . . Brandon D Colby Robak had three assists. . . . Attendance was 3,701. . . . Swift Current will be without F Matt Tassone (neck) for the entire series.
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 5-2. . . . The Tigers led 2-1 when F Matt MacKay scored at 17:07 of the first period. . . . Ice F Matt Fraser tied it at 19:30 and D Hayden Rintoul gave the home side the lead at 11:41 of the second on the PP. . . . D Brayden McNabb and F Elgin Pearce each had two assists for the Ice, while F Dustin Sylverster and F Kevin King each had a goal and an assist. . . . The Ice was 1-for-7 on the PP; the Tigers were 0-for-7. . . . Ice G Todd Mathews stopped 25 shots. . . . The Tigers opened with Tyler Bunz, who stopped 20 of 24 shots. Deven Dubyk came on after the Ice’s third goal, at 15:55 of the second, and turned aside six of seven shots. . . . Attendance was 2,335. According to Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, that is “the second-smallest crowd to witness a regular-season or playoff game at the Rec Plex.” The smallest crowd (2,312) occured in Game 4 of the 2004 playoffs as the Ice was swept by the Kelowna Rockets.
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In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans scored four third-period goals and beat the visiting Chilliwack Bruins, 4-2. . . . F Dylen McKinlay gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a PP goal at 11:45 of the first period. . . . The Bruins nursed that into the third period when the Americans struck four times in 4:03. . . . F Kruise Reddick (3:41), F Brendan Shinnimin (4:18), F Neal Prokop (5:07) and F Sergei Drozd (7:44) shot the Americans into control. . . . F Ryan Howse got Chilliwack’s second goal at 13:55 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 3,383. . . . Tri-Ctiy G Drew Owsley and Chilliwack G Lucas Gore each stopped 33 shots. . . . Owsley was making his first appearance since suffering a concussion on Feb. 27. He missed the last eight games of the regular season. . . . The Americans were 0-for-3 on the PP; the Bruins were 2-for-2. . . . “Tri-City is a good team, but it’s frustrating for our guys when they embellish when we touch them,” Chilliwack head coach Marc Habscheid told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “Our leading scorer gets speared and (Kevin) Sundher gets hit in the head and no call. It’s a seven-game series — we’ll show up tomorrow.” . . . Ah, yes, the playoffs and the politicking have started? Actually, you may recalla that it was Calgary Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson who officially got it started after his side dropped Game 1 to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Thursday. . . . The referees in Kennewick were Pat Smith and Brett Iverson.
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In Everett, F Dan Iwanski’s goal at 5:18 of overtime gave the Silvertips a 5-4 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Everett D Curtis Kulchar, who scored one goal in 58 regular-season games, forced OT with a goal at 15:34 of the third penalty. . . . Everett took a 2-0 lead on PP goals by F Byron Froese, at 16:54 of the first, and F Zack Dailey, at 4:40 of the second. . . . Kelowna pulled even when D Antoine Corbin (12:39) and F Geordie Wudrick (18:22) scored second-period goals. . . . The teams each scored twice in the third period. . . . Everett took a 3-2 lead on F Kellan Tochkin’s goal at 5:02. . . . Kelowna tied it with a PP score by Brett Bulmer at 8:42 and then took the lead on D Collin Bowman’s goal at 9:12. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 46 shots. . . . Everett went with Thomas Heemskerk, and he turned aside 30 shots. . . . Everett was 2-for-3 on the PP; Kelowna was 1-for-5. . . . Attendance was 4,129. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday in Everett.
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In Vancouver, F James Henry scored 33 seconds into OT to give the Giants a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Giants opened the scoring when F Craig Cunningham scored shorthanded at 2:54 of the first period. . . . The Blazers then scored three times in 6:08, with D Austin Madaisky getting a PP goal, followed by goals from F Brendan Ranford and F Ryan Hanes. . . . F Tomas Vincour, wearing a full shield after taking a stick to the face during a Thursday practice, scored at 17:52 of the first to keep his mates close. . . .. The Giants tied it on Cunningham’s second goal, at 14:48 of the third period. . . . The Blazers were 1-for-3 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-9. . . . Under heavy pressure in the game’s second half, the Blazers surrendered nine of the last 10 power-play opportunities. . . .. Vancouver G Mark Segal, who was beaten three times on nine shots in the first period, faced just five shots the rest of the way. The Blazers didn’t muster even one shot in the third period. . . . Kamloops G Kurtis Mucha made 33 saves. . . . Attendance was 7,368. . . . The Blazers have asked for assists to be added to each of their three goals. Kamloops has complained in the past about assists not being properly awarded on visiting team goals in Vancouver.
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MEANWHILE . . .
Mike Johnston, the GM/head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, tells Scott Sepich of The Oregonian that whomever starts Game 1 of the series with the Spokane Chiefs will be “the guy for the series.” Johnston has to choose between Ian Curtis, 19, and Mac Carruth, who is 17 and the goaltender of the future in Portland. . . . Don’t be looking for Portland D Eric Doyle, though. Doyle, 20, has been out with a concussion since Feb. 23 when he took a hit from Tri-City Americans F Todd Kennedy. It was Doyle’s second concussion this season -- he got one from a hit from Kamloops Blazers F C.J. Stretch early on. . . . Kennedy served a seven-game suspension; Stretch sat out four games. . . . Doyle has yet to return to contact drills.
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Former WHL commissioner Dev Dley has been appointed to B.C. Supreme Court. Dley, the WHL commissioner before Ron Robison, has been sitting on the provincial court in Kamloops. The appointment to the Supreme Court was announced on Friday. Dley will continue to work in Kamloops.
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Don Nachbaur’s goaltender, Chris Holt, scored a goal in an AHL game on Friday night. Nachbaur, a former WHL head coach, now is head coach of the Binghamton Senators, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Holt is the 10th goaltender in AHL history to be credited with a goal; he is the sixth to actually shoot the puck into the opposition goal. He fired the puck the length of the ice for an empty-net goal as Binghamton beat the visiting Rochester Americans, 4-2. Holt is from Vancouver. He attended the U of Nebraska at Omaha.
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If you missed it, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald did a pretty good profile piece on Silvertips captain Zack Dailey. That story is right here. I have always enjoyed watching Dailey play — he always was effective, it seemed, when playing in Kamloops — and it will be different watching the ’Tips next season without him in the lineup.
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The MJHL’s Dauphin Kings have signed GM/head coach Marlin Murray to a three-year extension that runs through 2012-13. The Kings are the host team for the Royal Bank Cup and are one victory away from reaching the MJHL final. Should the Kings, who went 50-11-1-0 in the regular season, reach the final, they will meet the Winnipeg Saints. Led by G Justin Leclerc, the Saints swept the Winkler Flyers with a 3-2 victory on Friday night. . . . In eight playoff games, Leclerc is 8-0 with a 1.86 GAA and a .937 save percentage. . . . Meanwhile, the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers have picked up their option on head coach Ryan Smith for 2010-11. The Steelers went 36-25-0-1 and finished second in the Addison Division this season. They lost out to Winkler in six games in a division semfinal. Selkirk assistant coaches Justin Harris and Jordan Sobkowicz also will be back.
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F Jordan Eberle scored one minute into his first game with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons but they went on to drop a 5-4 OT decision to the host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. . . . Eberle, a product of the WHL's Regina Pats, finished with a goal, an assist and five shots on goal. . . . Last season, he had nine points, three of them goals, in nine late-season games with the Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.