Saturday . . .

Well, I don’t know what I was watching on Friday night but I guess it wasn’t a line brawl.
According to Steve Ewen of The Province (the link to his blog is over there on the left), the WHL has ruled that the first-period incident during the game between the Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants on Friday night that resulted in 100 penalty minutes being issued wasn’t a line brawl. Heck, it wasn’t even a multi-fight situation.
I wasn’t aware of this, but in the eyes of the WHL, according to Ewen, “It takes three fights at the same time for it to be a multi-fight situation.” So, in the WHL, two fights are just two fights, which means a two-goal game isn’t a multiple-goal game . . .
Referees Jeff Ingram and Chris Savage, along with linesmen Ryan Dawson and Chris deHaan, saw fit to hand out six fighting majors, three to each team. But now, Ewen says, the WHL has rescinded the fighting majors given to F Brandon Scholten of Vancouver and F Mark Hall of Kamloops. Apparently, they are to be given double roughing minors.
Geez, press box observers at first thought that Hall had been tossed from the game, because he was escorted out the Zamboni entrance -- it’s the same rink-end gate used by the Blazers -- and he left the ice surface yapping at Giants and pointing to the clock (the home side was leading 2-0 at the time). It turned out, though, that all he had been given was a fighting major and he resurfaced in the penalty box.
(Here’s Ewen: “Word is that Scholten and Hall are getting roughing double minors. It could be some of the toughest roughing ever, if the video does it justice. Wonder if the poor linesman thought he was breaking up a roughing?”)
Why the big deal about all of this?
Well, had the WHL left the penalties in place, this would have been Vancouver’s fourth line brawl of the season, meaning head coach Don Hay would have been suspended for three games.
The WHL intervened, apparently overturned a couple of penalties, and will repair the official game sheet, all of which allowed Hay to work the bench as his Giants lost 3-0 to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday night.
Vancouver now has lost four straight games as it heads into Chilliwack for a Sunday date with the Bruins.
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The Tri-City Americans have added D Riley Guenther, the 63rd pick in the 2009 bantam draft, to their squad for the next 10 days. Guenther, who played for the midget AAA Calgary Northstars, will practise with the Americans before returning home.
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Jesse Wallin, the Red Deer Rebels’ vice-president of hockey operations and head coach, was fined $500 by the WHL on Saturday after his comments following Friday’s 2-1 overtime victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos. PP opportunities in that game were 9-2 in the Broncos’ favour, something that didn’t sit well with Wallin. After the game, in conversation with Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate, Wallin pointed a finger squarely at referee Steve Papp, saying: “I bit my tongue before and I’m tired of it. I just see a pattern there with Steve Papp. 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.” . . . If you were wondering, that’s what $500 gets you in today’s WHL.
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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 (4) 48-17-1-2-99
dx-Brandon (4) 46-18-1-3-96
x-Saskatoon (5) 44-16-3-4-95
x-Kootenay (3) 40-24-3-2-85
x-Medicine Hat (3) 38-23-3-5-84
x-Red Deer (4) 39-24-0-5-83
x-Moose Jaw (4) 33-25-4-6-76
Swift Current (3) 34-30-1-4-73
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Prince Albert (4) 31-32-3-2-67
Saturday: Saskatoon 6 at Edmonton 4; Calgary 6 at Kootenay 0; Red Deer 2 at Medicine Hat 3 (SO); Lethbridge 2 at Moose Jaw 5; Prince Albert 3 at Regina 6.
Sunday: Saskatoon at Calgary; Edmonton at Medicine Hat; Brandon at Prince Albert.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (4) 45-20-1-2-93
y-Vancouver (4) 39-24-2-3-83
x-Everett (4) 44-19-3-2-93
x-Spokane (4) 42-21-3-2-89
x-Portland (3) 41-25-2-1-85
x-Kelowna (3) 33-30-2-4-72
x-Kamloops (3) 31-32-2-4-68
x-Chilliwack (5) 30-31-1-5-66
Saturday: Vancouver 0 at Kelowna 3; Tri-City 3 at Portland 6; Everett 7 at Prince George 2; Spokane 4 at Seattle 1.
Sunday: Vancouver at Chilliwack; Prince George at Kamloops; Tri-City at Seattle.
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SATURDAY:
In Portland, the Winterhawks scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-3. . . . Portland D Taylor Aronson broke a 3-3 tie with his fifth goal of the season at 19:10 of the second period. . . . F Luke Walker, with his 27th, added insurance at 16:57 of the third and F Oliver Gabriel added the empty-netter, his ninth. . . . F Brad Ross had a goal, his 25th, and two assists for Portland. . . . F Brooks Macek had a goal, his 21st, and two helpers for the Americans. . . . With G Drew Owsley still out with a concussion, G Alex Pechurskiy went the distance again for the Americans, stopping 26 shots. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 29 shots. . . . Referees Chris Savage and Nathan Wieler called only four minors, three to the home team. . . . The Americans now are 8-2 against Portland this season. . . . Attendance at the Rose Garden was 10,194 as the Winterhawks inducted the inaugural class into their Hall of Fame. Going in were the late Brian Shaw, former GM/head coach Ken Hodge, former trainer Innes Mackie, who now works for the Americans, and one-time sniper Dennis Holland, who now scouts for the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
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In Edmonton, F Marek Viedensky broke a 4-4 tie at 16:55 of the third period and the Saskatoon Blades went on to a 6-4 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton took a 3-0 lead into the second period, only to have the Blades tie it. . . . Saskatoon F Charles Inglis gave the Blades the lead with his second of the game, and 19th of the season, at 7:07 of the third on the PP. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix tied it with his 17th at 7:21. . . . Viedensky got his 17th on the PP and F Derek Hulak added an empty-netter, his 31st. . . . The Oil Kings have lost four in a row. . . . Edmonton F Michael Burns missed a late second-period penalty shot with the score tied 3-3. . . . Saskatoon F Walker Wintoneak and Hulak each had a goal and two assists. . . . Attendance was 7,852.
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In Kelowna, D Tyson Barrie scored three goals and G Adam Brown earned the shutout as the Rockets dropped the Vancouver Giants, 3-0. . . . Barrie, who has 19 goals, scored PP goals at 2:10 of the second period and 3:09 of the third. Then he added an empty-netter at 19:12. . . . It was his first three-goal game since he was playing midget in Victoria. . . . F Brandon McMillan assisted on all three goals. . . . Brown stopped 26 shots in putting up his sixth shutout of the season and eighth of his career. . . . Kelowna G Mark Guggenberger had blanked the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 on Friday night. . . . The Rockets have won three in a row and four of five, while the Giants now have lost four straight. . . . Kelowna was 2-for-6 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-7. . . . Attendance was 6,258.
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In Cranbrook, F Kris Foucault scored three times against this former team and G Martin Jones put up his third straight shutout as the Calgary Hitmen beat the host Kootenay Ice, 6-0. . . . Foucault’s third goal, at 1:13 of the third period, was his 20th of the season. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Jones stopped 38 shots as he earned his eighth shutout of the season and 16th of his career. That gets him into a tie for 10th on the career shutout list. . . . Jones blanked the Prince Albert Raiders 5-0 on Tuesday and the Swift Current Broncos 2-0 on Thursday. . . . The Hitmen have won five in a row, while the Ice has dropped five of six. . . . This also was Calgary’s WHL-leading 25th road victory. . . . Calgary F Tyler Shattock drew three assists. . . . Calgary was 3-for-6 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 2,876.
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the Red Deer Rebels 3-2 in a shootout. . . . Red Deer led 2-0 early in the second period on goals from D Alex Petrovic, his seventh, and F Adam Kambeitz, also his seventh. . . . F Matt MacKay scored his 22nd for the Tigers at 12:34 of the third and F Emerson Etem tied it with his 35th on the PP at 15:35. . . . F Bretton Cameron and F Tristan King gave the Tigers a 2-0 victory in the shootout. . . . Medicine Hat has won three in a row. . . . The teams went into the game tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . On Friday night, the Rebels received two power-play opportunities while Swift Current got nine as Red Deer posted a 2-1 OT victory. After that one, Red Deer head coach Jesse Wallin sounded off and it cost him $500. Well, in this one, referees Ryan Bonnett and Matt Kirk gave Red Deer one PP opportunity while the Tigers got six.
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In Moose Jaw, F Brandon Rowinski scored his 30th goal to help the Warriors to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Warriors had lost their previous two games. . . . The Hurricanes have lost three in a row. . . . Moose Jaw G Brandon Glover stopped 15 shots, while Lethbridge’s Brandon Anderson stopped 35. . . . Moose Jaw D Dallas Ehrhardt had two assists. . . . The Warriors had six different scorers. . . . Attendance was 2,276.
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In Prince George, F Clayton Cumiskey scored twice to help the Everett Silvertips to a 7-2 victory over the Cougars, who now have lost 12 in a row. . . . The Silvertips moved into a tie with the Tri-City Americans for first place in the Western Conference. Tri-City has one more victory; each team has four games remaining. . . . Everett has won four in a row. . . . F Tyler Maxwell, F Byron Froese and F Kellan Tochkin each had a goal and two assists for Everett, which got 26 saves from G Thomas Heemskerk. . . . D Carter Rigby scored his first WHL goal in his seventh game for the Cougars. . . . Attendance was 1,852.
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In Regina, F Jordan Eberle set up four goals to lead the Pats to a 6-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Eberle became the WHL’s first 100-point man this season. He leads the league with 102 points. . . . F Jordan Weal added two goals and an assist for Regina and now has 99 points. . . . Weal has 35 goals. . . . Regina F Matt Strueby also scored twice, giving him 37. . . . The victory was the 20th of the season for the Pats at home. They are 20-10-1-4 at home. . . . Regina G Damien Ketlo turned aside 38 shots, while P.A.’s Garrett Zemlak stopped 39. . . . Attendance was 4,512. . . . The loss all but ended the Raiders’ playoff hopes. They now are six points out of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot with only four games remaining.
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In Kent, Wash., F Kyle Beach scored twice to become the WHL’s first 50-goal man this season as his Spokane Chiefs beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-1. . . . Beach, who also had an assist, has 51 goals. . . . Beach is the second 50-goal scorer in the CHL this season. F Bryan Cameron of the Barrie Colts has 50 goals in 58 games. No, the QMJHL doesn’t have a 50-goal scorer yet; it has two players each with 47 snipes. . . . Beach got No. 50 on the PP at 8:25 of the first period and added an empty-netter at 19:02 of the third. . . . Spokane F Blake Gal opened the scoring in this one just 14 seconds into the game. . . . The Thunderbirds, who have lost four in a row, got 37 saves from G Calvin Pickard. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 19 shots. He lost his shutout bid when C Lindsay Nielsen scored at 17:56 of the third period.