Saturday . . .

In an interesting twist, the general manager and head coach of one AJHL team is suing another team in the same league and he’s looking for more than $350,000. Former WHLer Brian Curran, now with the Lloydminster Bobcats, is suing the Brooks Bandits. Kevin Martin of the Calgary Sun has the story right here.
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The ECHL’s Stockton Thunder has signed G Kurtis Mucha, 20, to a five-game amateur tryout contract. Mucha finished his WHL eligibility as the Kamloops Blazers were swept by the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday. Mucha was on the bench Saturday as the Thunder fell 3-2 to the visiting Las Vegas Wranglers. . . . Mucha actually made his pro debut last season, stopping 25 shots on April 3 for the Idaho Steelheads in a game against the Phoenix Road Runners. . . . In order to make room for Mucha on the roster, Stockton G Aaron Sorochan was recalled by the AHL’s Springfield Falcons and subsequently released. . . . Sorochan is a former WHL goaltender. . . . Stockton and Springfield both are affiliates of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Former Kamloops D Ryan Funk played his second game Saturday with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. He was pointless but a plus-2 as Idaho beat the visiting Victoria Salmon Kings, 5-1.
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Former NHLer Bill Muckalt is the first head coach of the NAHL’s newest franchise, which will play out of the 6,000-seat Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M., next season. The franchise is owned, according to an NAHL press release, by Ken Dennis, a Southern California resident who worked in the entertainment industry for over 30 years with Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox as a television producer for hit shows such as “Family Guy,” “The X-Files,” “Millennium” and “Space: Above and Beyond.” . . . Muckalt played eight seasons in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.
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If you haven’t yet seen Abbotsford Heat head coach Jim Playfair in action on Saturday night against the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs, well, you don’t want to miss it. It’s right here, and that’s Dave Sheldon, formerly of the Chilliwack Bruins and Vancouver Giants, calling the action. This is very much a cha-ching moment. You know that Playfair will be making a contribution early in the week.
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Joe Caligiuri won the first battle of 20-year-old goaltenders Saturday as the Dauphin Kings opened the MJHL final with a 1-0 OT victory over the Winnipeg Saints. Caligiuri stopped 25 shots to get the victory over Justin Leclerc, who kicked out 38. . . . F Ryan Dreger scored the game’s lone goal, taking advantage of a partial fan by Leclerc on a loose puck outside his crease Dreger led the MJHL with 53 goals in the regular season but hadn’t scored in eight playoff games. . . . Game 2 is Tuesday in Dauphin.
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One of the fun parts of the WHL playoffs is watching and listening as the coaches work to play the officials. Some of them have it down to a fine art; others are still learning that art.
On Friday night, as the Kootenay Ice dropped a 5-2 decision to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, Jeff Bromley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman dropped a couple of notes about missed calls by the linesmen.
When Bromley asked Ice head coach Mark Holick about that, the response was: "I'm not getting into it. I can't afford to make those comments.”
Meanwhile, in Kennewick, Wash., the Chilliwack Bruins were erasing a 3-1 deficit and beating the host Tri-City Americans, 4-3, in overtime.
The Americans ended up 1-for-8 on the PP in that one, while Habscheid’s Bruins were 1-for-2. The referees were Sean Raphael and Nathan Wieler.
“The officials never gave us a break all night,” Habscheid told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “We had one power play, plus five seconds tonight, and we had one for 55 seconds the last game. I’ve never seen that in all my years of coaching.”
On Wednesday, with Tri-City winning 4-3 in OT on the road, the Americans were 1-for-3 and the Bruins were 0-for-1. The referees were Matt Kirk and Colby Smith.
Of course, in Game 3, the Americans were 1-for-9 and the Bruins were 2-for-7. The referees that night were Steve Papp and Derek Zalaski.
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SATURDAY . . .
FIRST ROUND
(Best-of-7)
(All times local)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Calgary (1) vs. Moose Jaw (8)
(Series tied 3-3)
Saturday: Calgary 7 at Moose Jaw 3
Monday: Moose Jaw at Calgary, 7 p.m.
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Brandon (2) vs. Swift Current (7)
(Brandon wins series 4-0)
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Saskatoon (3) vs. Red Deer (6)
(Saskatoon wins series 4-0)
———
Kootenay (4) vs. Medicine Hat (5)
(Medicine Hat leads series 3-2)
Sunday: Kootenay at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tri-City (1) vs. Chilliwack (8)
(Tri-City leads series 3-2)
Sunday: Tri-City at Chilliwack, 5 p.m.
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Vancouver (2) vs. Kamloops (7)
(Vancouver wins series 4-0)
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Everett (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
(Series tied 3-3)
Saturday: Everett 4 at Kelowna 5
Monday: Kelowna at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
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Spokane (4) vs. Portland (5)
(Portland leads series 3-2)
Saturday: Portland 4 at Spokane 3
Monday: Spokane at Portland, 7 p.m. (Rose Garden)
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In Kelowna, the Rockets scored two goals 22 seconds apart in the third period to erase a 4-3 deficit and beat the Everett Silvertips, 5-4. . . . The series is tied 3-3 and the teams will decide the issue Monday in Evertt. . . . The home team has won each of the first six games. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie, with his second goal of the game, at 9:11 of the third period, on the PP, tied the score. . . . F Lucas Bloodoff, with his first goal of the series, got the winner at 9:33. . . . F Shane McColgan got his first goal of the series for Kelowna. . . . F Scott MacDonald got Everett a 1-0 lead at 4:33 of the first period, but the Rockets scored the next three goals -- McColgan, in the first period, and Barrie and Codey Ito in the second. . . . The Silvertips then got three goals in a span of 7:11 later in the second. F Dan Iwanski, at 12:36, F Byron Froese, at 18:45, on the PP, and F Shane Harper, on the PP, at 19:47, gave the visitors a 4-3 lead. . . . Kelowna G Mark Guggenberger made 12 saves, while Everett’s Kent Simpson kicked out 30 shots. . . . Kelowna F Brandon McMillan, who has yet to score in this series, had two assists, as did D Colton Jobke. . . . Everett was 2-for-3 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-for-2. . . . Attendance was 5,038. . . . That’s right . . . 5,038. . . . Everett was again without D Radko Gudas and D Chris de la Lande, both out with upper body injuries.
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In Moose Jaw, the Calgary Hitmen served notice that they aren’t done yet, as they scored the game’s first three goals and went on beat the Warriors, 7-3. . . . The series, which Moose Jaw had led 2-0 and 3-1, now is tied 3-3 with Game 7 in Calgary on Monday night. . . . . F Del Cowan had two goals, his first of the series, and an assist and was plus-5 for the Hitmen. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick, who was plus-4, got his first of the series to get Calgary going at 12:49 of the first. . . . Cowan made it 2-0 at 18:09, and F Joel Broda upped the lead to 3-0 at 1:40 of the second. . . . F Thomas Frazee, with his fourth of the series, got the Warriors on the board at 4:54, on the PP. . . . D Giffen Nyren got that one back for Calgary seven minutes later. . . . The Warriors then made it interesting, cutting the deficit to 4-3 on goals by D Ryan Stanton, at 16:01, on the PP, and D Connor Cox, at 17:24. . . . But Cowan scored 1:12 into the third and F Ian Schultz closed it out with his fourth and fifth goals of the series. . . . F Quinton Howden, Moose Jaw’s leading scorer in the regular season, returned from a broken collarbone and drew three assists. But he also was minus-3. . . . Moose Jaw D Chad Suer was minus-5. . . . Both goaltenders, Martin Jones of Calgary and Jeff Bosch of Moose Jaw, stopped 36 shots. . . . Calgary forwards twice were penalized goaltender interference. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-for-5 on the PP; Calgary was 1-for-4. . . . Attendance was 2,860.
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In Spokane, the road team won for the fifth time in this series, as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Chiefs, 4-3. . . . This series is being played with a 2-3-1-1 format, with Spokane having the extra home game, if it goes that far. This means that Portland now goes home with a chance to win the series on Monday at the Rose Garden. . . . The Winterhawks, who have scored first in all five games, built up a 4-1 lead before the Chiefs got late goals from F Mitch Wahl, at 13:07 of the third period, and F Kyle Beach, at 19:28. . . . Beach has five goals in the series. . . . F Ryan Johansen scored his first two goals of the series for Portland. . . . F Riley Boychuk and F Luke Walker put Portland out front in the first period and Johansen upped the lead to 3-0 at 11:29 of the second. Walker and Johansen both scored on the PP. . . . D Jared Cowen scored for the Chiefs, on the PP, at 6:08 of the third, but Johansen got that one back at 8:26. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 36 shots, while Spokane’s James Reid stopped 26. . . . Portland was 2-for-3 on the PP; the Chiefs were 1-for-6. . . . There were 21 minor penalties handed out in this game -- 15 in the first period, five in the second and one in the third. . . . Attendance was 4,540. . . . That’s right . . . 4,540.