Sunday . . .

The Windsor Spitfires, the defending Memorial Cup champions, are still alive. The Spitfires completed their amazing comeback Sunday when they dumped the visiting Kitchener Rangers, 4-1, before 6,545 fans. . . . The Rangers had won the first three games of the series. . . . "We were down 0-3, I went home to my billet house and I wasn't down, I wasn't worried about the season being over," Windsor F Taylor Hall told Bob Duff of the Windsor Star. "I knew that we had a really good chance to come back, and that we had a really good chance to do something special." . . . The Spitfires, of course, opened the 2009 Memorial Cup with two straight losses. Facing elimination, they rattled off four straight victories to win the title. . . . Windsor is the third team in OHL history to come back from a 0-3 deficit to win a series. . . . The Spitfires will open the OHL final on the road against the Barrie Colts on Tuesday.
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Reed Schreck of the Rockford Register Star takes a look at former Spokane Chiefs head coach Bill Peters and his future, considering that his Rockford IceHogs haven’t gotten out of the first round of AHL playoffs during his two seasons there. That piece is right here.
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In Vernon, B.C., the Vipers scored a 7-3 victory over the Spruce Grove Saints in Game 7 of the Doyle Cup series. . . . The Vipers, the BCHL champions for a second straight year, will attempt to defend their Royal Bank Cup title when the junior A championship tournament gets started in Dauphin, Man., on Saturday.
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WHL PLAYOFFS
THIRD ROUND
CONFERENCE FINALS
(Best-of-7)
(x — if necessary)
(All times local)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Calgary (1) vs. Brandon (2)
(Calgary wins series 4-1)
April 16: Brandon 4 at Calgary 2 (8,669)
April 17: Brandon 2 at Calgary 3 (OT) (8,697)
April 20: Calgary 6 at Brandon 3 (4,251)
April 21: Calgary 4 at Brandon 3 (4,363)
April 23: Brandon 1 at Calgary 6 (11,222)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Tri-City (1) vs. Vancouver (5)
(Tri-City wins series 4-2)
April 16: Vancouver 4 at Tri-City 2 (3,899)
April 17: Vancouver 0 at Tri-City 4 (3,875)
April 20: Tri-City 2 at Vancouver 3 (OT) (6,178)
April 22: Tri-City 5 at Vancouver 2 (7,428)
April 23: Vancouver 1 at Tri-City 4 (4,351)
Sunday: Tri-City 5 at Vancouver 2 (5,538)
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WHL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
(Ed Chynoweth Cup)
FOURTH ROUND
(Best-of-7)
(x — if necessary)
(All times local)
Calgary (1 East) vs. Tri-City (1 West)
Friday: Tri-City at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Tri-City at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Rest of schedule TBA
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Tri-City captain Jarrett Stoll hoists the Western Conference championship trophy. (Photo courtesy CJ Relke Photography)

SUNDAY:
In Vancouver, the Tri-City Americans booked a spot in the WHL final for the first time in their 22-year existence, beating the Giants 5-2 and winning the Western Conference final, 4-2. . . . The Americans had been 0-3 in conference finals, losing twice to the Kamloops Blazers (1995, 1999) and one to the Spokane Chiefs (2008). . . . The Americans will meet the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Games 1 and 2 will be played in Calgary on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . “A lot of people thought we’d lost too much (in the way of players) to do well this year, but we had a solid core of guys coming back,” Tri-City GM Bob Tory told Lyndon Little of the Vancouver Sun. “We don’t get a lot of recognition down in our area. We just go about our business quietly and try to do our best.” . . . . F Milan Kytnar gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead on the PP at 9:27 of the first period. . . . The Americans scored two PP goals before the period ended, though, with F Johnny Lazo and F Justin Feser finding the range at 10:08 and 12:49, respectively. . . . F Craig Cunningham pulled the Giants even with another PP goal, this one at 7:35 of the second. . . . That was Cunningham’s 12th goal of these playoffs. He finished the playoffs with 24 points and is second to Calgary F Brandon Kozun, who has 26 points, in the scoring race. . . . The Americans got the winner when F Patrick Holland scored his third goal just 26 seconds into the third. . . . F Kruise Reddick, with his ninth, at 3:06 on the PP, and F Sergei Drozd, with his eighth, at 13:59, added insurance. . . . Reddick also had two assists, while D Tyler Schmidt drew three helpers. . . . The Americans were 3-for-7 on the PP as the Giants continued to have problems on the PK. The Americans won the last three games of the series and totalled five PP goals in those games. . . . F James Henry had two assists for the Giants. . . . Vancouver was 2-for-9 on the PP. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley, who was named the series MVP, stopped 30 shots, while Vancouver’s Mark Segal turned aside 27. . . . In the last three games, Owsley stopped 97 of 102 shots, for a .951 save percentage. He was the first star in each of the last three games. . . . The Giants lost four of eight home playoff games. . . . Attendance was 5,538.
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PLAYOFF NOTES:
The WHL final will feature two veteran coaches — Calgary’s Mike Williams and Tri-City’s Jim Hiller — who are in their first seasons with these teams. Hiller was fired by the Chilliwack Bruins after last season, his third with them. Williamson left the Portland Winterhawks after the 2006-07 season. He was out of hockey for two seasons before signing with the Hitmen. . . . Hiller replaced Don Nachbaur, who left the Americans to sign on as head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. . . . Williamson took over from Dave Lowry, who guided the Hitmen to the final a year ago and then signed on with the parent Calgary Flames as an assistant coach. . . . The Hitmen go into the final on a four-game winning streak, while the Americans have won three in a row. . . .
The Hitmen and Americans met once this season. On Jan. 31, in Calgary, the Hitmen got 35 saves from G Martin Jones and posted a 3-0 victory. G Alex Pechurskiy stopped 29 shots for the Americans. Calgary got its goals from F Jimmy Bubnick, F Ian Schultz and F Joel Broda. Bubnick scored into an empty net. . . . Interestingly, Broda was selected by the Americans with the ninth overall pick in the 2004 bantam draft. On Sept. 25, 2007, the Americans dealt Broda to the Moose Jaw Warriors for F Jason Reese. The Warriors later dealt Broda to Calgary. . . . Calgary D Ben Wilson spent part of Saturday having some dental work done. He took a high stick to the face from Brandon F Scott Glennie during Friday’s 6-1 victory over the visiting Wheat Kings, costing him half a front tooth. One other tooth was cracked. . . . Calgary F Brandon Kozun holds the playoff point lead, with 26, and it sounds as though he is ready for the final. “Everyone’s still pissed off about losing like that, I know I still have that bitter taste in my mouth,” Kozun told Sean Myers of the Calgary Herald. “I’m sick of coming so close. I want to win that championship.” A year ago, the Hitmen lost the WHL final in six games to the Kelowna Rockets.
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Veteran referees Chris Savage and Andy Thiessen worked Game 6 in Vancouver on Sunday. Each ended up with three assignments in the conference finals, Savage working twice in five eastern games and Thiessen drawing two western games. . . . The WHL used 12 referees in the conference finals and those two are the only ones to work three times, so would seem a good bet to get assignments during the final. . . . Here’s a look at other referees who worked during the conference finals, with E signifying an Eastern Conference game and W a Western Conference game: Trevor Hanson (W), Derek Herman (EW), Matt Kirk (EW), Devin Klein (EW), Brett Montsion (E), Steve Papp (W), Graham Skilliter (EW), Regan Vetter (E), Nathan Wieler (WE) and Derek Zalaski (EW).