Thursday . . .

Drew Schoneck, a former WHL player and head coach, now is the general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, a team that is based in Kearney, Nebraska. The Storm is 23-2-6 and in fourth place in the West Division. . . . Schoneck read here that the Swift Current Broncos are looking for a home arena in which to play their first-round playoff games, should they qualify, and it certainly looks as though they will. . . . After reading that, Schoneck emailed with an offer. . . . “Swifty can come play their games here in Nebraska if they want. No charge,” Schoneck wrote in an email. “Not too sure if their first-round opponent would like that so much.” . . . Kearney, a city of about 29,000 people, is located in southern Nebraska. Should the Broncos accept Schoneck‘s offer, fans should know that Kearney is 1,255 kilometres (780 miles) southeast of Swift Current.
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F Shayne Harper of the Everett Silvertips has signed with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. Harper, 20, set a franchise single-season record when he scored his 39th goal in a 5-2 victory over the host Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday night. Harper, who was never selected in the NHL draft, signed a three-year entry-level deal and reports are that he got a US$180,000 signing bonus.
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The Detroit Red Wings are going to spend three days in Kelowna later this month and will hold an open practice at Prospera Place on March 17. The Red Wings play in Calgary on March 15 and in Edmonton on March 19. In between, they will spend time in Kelowna. According to press release from the Kelowna Rockets:
“Players will be in Kelowna for three days while the team has scheduled two practices. The public will be able to watch one of the practices while the other will be closed to the public.
“The open practice will be held from 11 a.m. to noon on March 17. Doors will open at 10 a.m., and the Kelowna Food Bank will be on hand to accept donations as admission to the event. Joining members of the food bank will be students from Okanagan College’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) program who will receive course credits for helping out. . . .
“The Red Wings connection to the Okanagan is well known. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland is a Vernon native while former Rockets assistant coach Jeff Finley is a scout for the Red Wings and lives in Kelowna. Gold medal head coach Mike Babcock played for the Kelowna Wings in the 1982-83 WHL season.”
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Doris Rubel, the Kamloops Blazers’ billeting co-ordinator for most of the last 41 years, will be inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on April 10. Rubel, 74, also worked with the Kamlops Braves, Chiefs, Rockets and Junior Oilers, and has been asked for advice by the likes of the Vancouver Giants and Chilliwack Bruins as they set up billeting programs.
Rubel was presented with the WHL Distinguished Service Award five years ago.
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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-Calgary (6) 46-17-1-2-95
dx-Brandon (5) 45-18-1-3-94
x-Saskatoon (6) 43-16-3-4-93
x-Kootenay (5) 40-22-3-2-85
x-Red Deer (6) 38-24-0-4-80
x-Medicine Hat (5) 36-23-3-5-80
Moose Jaw (6) 32-24-4-6-74
Swift Current (5) 34-29-0-4-72
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Prince Albert (5) 31-31-3-2-67
x — clinched playoff spot.
Wednesday: Saskatoon 3 at Brandon 5; Kootenay 7 at Edmonton 3; Moose Jaw 2 at Medicine Hat 3 (SO); Prince Albert 3 at Red Deer 2.
Thursday: Swift Current at Calgary.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
(top eight advance)
dx-Tri-City (7) 45-18-1-2-93
dx-Vancouver (6) 39-22-2-3-83
x-Everett (6) 42-19-3-2-89
x-Spokane (6) 40-21-3-2-85
x-Portland (5) 40-24-2-1-83
x-Kelowna (5) 31-30-2-4-68
x-Kamloops (4) 30-32-2-4-66
x-Chilliwack (6) 29-31-1-5-64
x — clinched playoff spot.
Wednesday: Spokane 2 at Kelowna 3 (SO).
Thursday: No games scheduled.
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WEDNESDAY:
In Brandon, F Brenden Walker broke a 3-3 tie as the Wheat Kings scored a 5-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The victory allowed Brandon to move one point ahead of the Blades and into first place in the East Division. The Wheat Kings trail the Eastern Conference-leading Calgary Hitmen by one point. . . . Walker scored his seventh goal of the season at 8:00 of the third period, and F Brayden Schenn iced it with an empty-netter, his, 29th, at 19:34. . . . Brandon F Matt Calvert scored his 41st to give his side a 3-1 lead at 4:03 of the second. . . . The Blades tied it on goals by F Josh Nicholls, his 17th, at 6:51, and F Derek Hulak, his 30th, at 15:47 of the second. . . . The game featured two shorthanded goals, one by Saskatoon F Walker Wintoneak and the other by Brandon F Shayne Wiebe. . . . Wiebe finished with a goal, his 22nd, and two assists. . . . Brandon was 1-for-6 on the PP; Saskatoon was 0-for-2. . . . Brandon G Jacob DeSerres stopped 22 shots, three more than Saskatoon’s Steven Stanford. . . . Attendance was 4,601. . . . Brandon won five of eight games in the season series. . . . Some key players were missing from this game. The Blades were without D Jyri Niemi (finger), F Curtis Hamilton (collarbone) and D Teigan Zahn (broken leg) but had F Curt Gogol (thumb) back in the lineup. Brandon was missing D Mark Schneider (concussion), D Ryley Miller (broken jaw), F Paul Ciarelli (thumb) and F Mark Stone (concussion), but welcomed back F Mike Ferland (hand).
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored three times in the shootout and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-2. . . . The Tigers scored twice in the second period, with the Warriors counting twice in the third. . . . Moose Jaw D Kevin Smith forced OT with his fourth goal at 9:49. . . . Medicine Hat got goals from F Bretton Cameron, his 35th, and F Linden Vey, his 24th. . . . Moose Jaw’s first goal came from D Connor Cox, his first, on the PP at 1:46. . . . The shootout went four rounds. The Tigers got shootout goals from F Matt MacKay, Vey and F Wacey Hamilton, with F Jason Bast and F Spencer Edwards scoring for the Warriors. . . . Tigers G Deven Dubyk stopped 35 shots, while Moose Jaw’s Brandon Glover turned aside 29. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Warriors lost two players to undisclosed injuries. D Dylan McIlrath left in the first period and F Quinton Howden departed early in the third. Howden is Moose Jaw’s leading scorer.
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In Edmonton, F Kevin King had a goal and three assists to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 7-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton led this one 2-0 before the first period was nine minutes old, on goals by F Mike Piluso, his 14th, on the PP, and D Dylan Wruck, his fifth, at 8:45. . . . Ice captain Dustin Sylvester got his mates rolling with a shorthanded goal at 15:43 of the first. He has 35 goals. . . . Kootenay then scored four straight goals in the second period, with King getting his 25th, F Steeler Boomer getting No. 26, F Max Reinhart counting No. 20 and F Matt Fraser notching No. 30. . . . Edmonton F Stephane Legault got his first late in the second. . . . The Ice put it away in the third with goals from Fraser and D Brayden McNabb, his 17th. . . . Attendance was 3,452.
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In Kelowna, the Rockets scored twice in the shootout and beat the Spokane Chiefs, 3-2. . . . F Geordie Wudrick scored Kelowna’s first circus goal, meaning he has five goals in as many shootout attempts this season. . . . F Brandon McMillan added the other shootout score. . . . D Jared Cowen and F Mitch Wahl, who was 2-for-2 going in, failed to score for Spokane. . . . The Chiefs forced OT when D Brenden Kichton scored his fourth goal at 10:52 of the third period. . . . Kelowna F Evan Bloodoff got his second goal just 33 seconds into the second period. . . . The teams then traded shorthanded goals, F Tyler Johnson getting his 32nd goal for Spokane at 13:54 of the second and F Brandon McMillan scoring No. 18 for Kelowna at 7:35 of the third. . . . The Rockets had lost seven of eight, while the Chiefs went in having won nine of 10. . . . Attendance was 6,088. . . . Spokane F Kyle Beach, who leads the WHL with 48 goals and is from Kelowna, was kept off the score sheet but did take three minor penalties. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 19 shots, while Spokane’s James Reid turned aside 31. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-7 on the PP; Spokane was 0-for-5. . . . Attendance was 6,088. . . . Among Kelowna’s scratches was F Cody Chikie (shoulder), who apparently is out for the season.
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In Red Deer, F Justin Maylan broke a 2-2 tie at 6:16 of the third period to give the Prince Albert Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Rebels. . . . The victory lifted the Raiders, who had lost four straight, to within five points of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. They have five games remaining. . . . The Rebels had won four of their last five games. . . . The Raiders, who beat the Rebels for the first time in four meetings, led 2-0 early in the second on a first-period goal by D Jordan Rowley, his ninth, and a score by F Jordan Hickmott, his 20th, at 1:30 of the second. Hickmott had gone 13 games without a goal. . . . The Rebels tied it on D Cullen Morin’s fourth goal, at 11:30 of the second, on the PP, and F Andrej Kudrna’s 29th, at 18:23. . . . Maylan won it with his 17th goal. . . . Prince Albert G Garrett Zemlak stopped 24 shots, six fewer than Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper. The two once were teammates with a Saskatoon midget club. . . . Attendance was 4,841. . . . The Raiders were without 36-goal man Brandon Herrod (infected knee).