Tuesday . . .

WHL PLAYOFFS
FOURTH ROUND
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
(Ed Chynoweth Cup)
Calgary (1E) vs. Tri-City (1W)
(Calgary leads best-of-7 series 3-0))
(all times local)
April 30: Tri-City 0 at Calgary 7 (10,980)
May 1: Tri-City 1 at Calgary 4 (10,049)
Tuesday: Calgary 4 at Tri-City 1 (4,699)
Wednesday: Calgary at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
x-Friday: Tri-City at Calgary, 7 p.m.
x-Sunday: Calgary at Tri-City, 5:05 p.m.
x-May 10: Tri-City at Calgary, 7 p.m.
x — if necessary.
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TUESDAY:
In Kennewick, Wash., the Calgary Hitmen closed to within a victory of the WHL title by beating the host Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . The Hitmen, who lead this series 3-0, get their first chance to wrap up their first title since 1999 — that was the first title in franchise history — with Game 4 in Kennewick on Wednesday night. . . . Attendance was 4,699. . . . The visitors took control of this one in the first period, on goals from F Kris Foucault (12:16), D Michael Stone (18:39, PP) and F Cody Sylvester (19:37). . . . The goal was Sylvester’s 11th in 21 playoff games; he had 10 in 68 regular-season games. . . . F Ian Schultz had Calgary’s final goal, shorthanded, into an empty net. . . . Tri-City got its goal from F Kruise Reddick, on the PP, at 17:25 of the third. . . . Prior to Reddick’s goal, the Americans hadn’t scored on their previous 17 PP opportunities, while the Hitmen penalty killers were riding a 32-for-32 streak. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 29 shots. . . . Tri-City G Alexander Pechurskiy, making his first start of the playoffs, turned aside 31 shots. . . . Tri-City starter Drew Owsley had been relieved by Pechurskiy in each of the first two games. . . . The Americans were 1-for-7 on the PP; the Hitmen were 1-for-2.
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Despite the fact that they had a regular-season record of 90-45-3-3 with Hardy Sauter as head coach, the Spokane Chiefs have decided to make a change. GM Tim Speltz told Sauter on Tuesday that the club wouldn’t be picking up his option for next season.
The Chiefs lost a first-round playoff series in seven games to the Portland Winterhawks last season. A year ago, the Chiefs ousted the Seattle Thunderbirds in five games, before losing in seven to the eventual WHL-champion Kelowna Rockets.
“The best way to put it is you can’t hate something for the same reason you like it,” Sauter told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “The expectations are high and although the regular season was fairly good, nobody, including me, likes the fact we didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s a time in my contract when the team had the option to pick it up and obviously they chose to do otherwise.”
Speltz, for his part, told Trimmer: “Looking at it after two years you have to ask yourself, ‘Did your team accomplish what you expected? Did it meet expectations?’ As much as our regular seasons were good — you could say very good — our playoffs weren’t what we expected. Everybody would say that.”
Now you have to wonder if Sauter becomes a candidate for the head-coaching vacancy with the Edmonton Oil Kings?
And does Steve Pleau, a former Chiefs assistant who was fired last month by the Oil Kings, become a candidate in Spokane?
Candidates to replace Sauter also might include two members of the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns staff — head coach Greg Gatto and assistant Michael Dyck.
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The Windsor Spitfires, the defending Memorial Cup champions, will be in Brandon to defend their title. The Spitfires won their second straight OHL title on Tuesday, beating the visiting Barrie Colts, 6-2, to sweep the final series.
Windsor will open the Memorial Cup against the Brandon Wheat Kings, the host team, on May 14. The tournament runs through May 23.
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The QMJHL series, meanwhile, will go at least five games. The host Saint John Sea Dogs got two goals and two assists from Mike Hoffman and beat the Moncton Wildcats, 6-4. The Wildcats hold a 2-1 lead with Game 4 in Moncton on Friday. . . . The Wildcats trailed 5-1 after two periods.
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The big major junior hockey news over the last couple of days had nothing to do with the OHL, QMJHL or WHL championship series that are ongoing. Rather, it all had to do with video games. CBC has reported that NHL 11, the hockey video game from EA Sports, will include major junior teams. Neate Sager of Yahoo!Sports has a story right here.
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The ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., the home of the Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent), is running a deficit. Steve Hunter of the Kent Reporter has that story right here.
According to figures compiled at mib.org, the Thunderbirds averaged 3,853.4 fans per game in their first full season in the ShoWare Center.
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Two years ago, Eric Thurston could have been the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. The WHL team was looking for a head coach to replace Greg Hawgood and Thurston was on the short list of four candidates. However, he chose to withdraw his name and return to the U of Alberta as head coach of the Golden Bears. Now, two years later, he tells Edmonton Journal columnist Dan Barnes that he may be interested in replaced the fired Steve Pleau as head coach of the Oil Kings. "I think I've got one of the best jobs in the country, or North America," said Thurston told Barnes. "But like anybody else, when you see where Billy Moores has gone, where Rob Daum has gone, you want to see what could happen in the sense of getting out there and seeing if you're qualified for that (move)." . . . Moores and Daum are former WHL and U of A coaches who have coached in the NHL. . . . "And if you look at the coaches who have coached in the WHL, I would say to move to the WHL is a very positive step," Thurston added. "You're coaching against the Don Hays (of the Vancouver Giants). You're really in a positive, professional environment. I've got a great job here but I wouldn't want to close any doors.” . . . Thurston has been the Golden Bears’ head coach for five seasons after serving as Daum’s assistant for 10.
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The NAHL’s board of governors has approved the relocation of the Marquette Rangers to Flint., Mich, for 2010-11. The team will be known as the Warriors and will play out of the 4,000-seat Perani Arena and Event Center. The franchise is owned by Asist Entertainment, LLC. Former NHL D Moe Mantha, who is from Ann Arbor, Mich., is among the ownership group and will work as the Warriors’ GM and head coach. . . . The NAHL has 25 teams preparing for 2010-11.
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The Peterborough Examiner reported Tuesday that the OHL's Petes are about to hire former NHLer Dave Reid as their new general manager. The Examiner reports that Reid will sign a four-year contract to replace Jeff Twohey, who was dumped on March 30 after 17 years as GM. Twohey had been part of the Petes organization for 29 years. According to the Examiner, the Petes also interviewed "Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame member and Montreal Canadiens pro scout Doug Gibson, Petes' assistant coach Joe Cirella, OHL Central Scouting director Rob Kitamura, Petes' transitional manager of player personnel Mike Oke and Peterborough native Shannon McNevan, who manages two professional hockey teams in Germany. The Petes received far more resumes interested in coaching positions than the GM's title." . . . The Examiner also reported that Reid will determine the fate of head coach Ken McRae and his two assistants, Ryan Barnes and Cirella. But, according to the newspaper, Reid is believed to have promised a spot on the coaching staff to former NHL G Ron Tugnutt. . . . Reid, who played 17 seasons in the NHL and won two Stanley Cups after having played for the Petes, has been working with The NHL Network and TSN as an analyst. He was to have worked the world championship in Germany later this month but is trying to get out of that assignment.
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F Marek Viedensky, 19, has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. The Saskatoon Blades acquired Viedensky, who is from Handlova, Slovakia, from the Prince George Cougars in January. He finished with 59 points in 61 games. The Sharks selected him with the 189th pick in the 2009 NHL draft.
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Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Ken Schneider is the new head coach of the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings. Schneider was an assistant coach with the team this season. Brad Wells, another former Wheat Kings forward, was the head coach but didn’t re-apply for the position. . . . Schneider is the father of D Mark Schneider of the WHL’s Wheat Kings.
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In Abbotsford, the Hamilton Bulldogs scored a 3-2 victory over the Heat to take a 2-1 lead in the second-round AHL series. The interesting figure was at the end of the summary where it showed the attendance as 2,556. . . . They’ll play again Thursday in Abbotsford.