The Prince George Cougars got down to the mandated limit of three 20-year-olds on Saturday by placing G Morgan Clark on waivers. . . . That leaves them with D Sena Acolatse, F James Dobrowolski and F Taylor Stefishen. . . . Clark, who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos over the summer, got into two games with the Cougars. He was 1-1 with a 3.01 GAA and a .875 save percentage.---
The WHL got some pub on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night when the Brendan Shinnimin hit from behind on Josh Nicholls was shown during the second intermission of the game between the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. . . . They combined for 459 points with the bantam AAA Penticton, B.C., Vees last season. F Matthew Needham was selected by the Kamloops Blazers with the eighth pick of the 2010 WHL bantam draft after putting up 253 points, including 94 goals, in 57 games. The Everett Silvertips took linemate Cody Depourg in the 10th round. He had 206pints, 116 of them goals, in 64 games. The Silvertips weren’t able to get a commitment from Depourg so dropped him from their 50-player list. The Blazers have added him to their list. . . . Everett has reassigned F D Jay McGrath to junior A in Saskatchewan. McGrath, 18, had five points in 53 games with Everett last season, but was pointless in five games this season. He was a third-round bantam draft pick in 2007. . . . Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reports that “former Oil Kings coach Steve Pleau, who had time left on his junior contract when he was let go, is living in the New England area and doing some amateur scouting for the (Calgary) Flames.” ---
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
TRI-CITY 3 at BRANDON 1: F Mike Brown set up two goals for the Americans. He sat out Friday’s 6-4 victory over the Pats in Regina because the Americans (6-2-1-0) are carrying four 20-year-olds. . . . This time, G Alex Pechurskiy was the odd-man out. . . . Brandon (4-4-0-0), which trailed 2-0 and 2-1 at the breaks, has lost four in a row after opening with four victories. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley stopped 29 shots. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes turned aside 17 shots. . . . F Jordan Messier got the game’s first goal, his sixth. . . . The Americans have seven Winnipeggers on their roster, while D Brock Sutherland is from Brandon. . . . F David Conrad, who is from Winnipeg, scored his first goal for the Americans and it stood up as the winner. . . . F Adam Hughesman, who also is from Winnipeg, added another goal for Tri-City. . . . Tri-City has five victories in 17 trips to Brandon. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-3 on the PP; Brandon was 0-for-4. . . . Tri-City F Kruise Reddick left in the first period after taking a hit from Brandon F Mark Mieritz. . . . Attendance was 4,421. . . . Checking-from behind count: Two minors, one to Brown and the other to Brandon D Ryley Miller. . . . Tri-City F Neal Prokop, 20, who suffered a badly broken leg during the playoffs last season, rejoined the Americans in Brandon and will continue his rehabilitation with the team. Because he is on the long-term injury list, he doesn’t count as a roster player.---
SWIFT CURRENT 3 at EDMONTON 4: F Stephane Legault set up two goals as the Oil Kings improved to 4-2-0-0. . . . The Broncos (2-6-0-0), who have lost five of six, got the game’s first goal, from F Justin Dowling, but then surrendered three in a row to trail 3-1 early in the third period. . . . F Taylor Vause scored twice for the visitors. . . . Edmonton D Mark Pysyk and D Griffin Reinhart each was plus-4. . . . Reinhart’s first career WHL goal was the winner. . . . The Broncos were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Oil Kings were 0-for-2. . . . Edmonton G Cam Lanigan stopped 23 shots, five fewer than Swift Current’s Mark Friesen. . . . Attendance was 2,654. . . . Edmonton F Jordan Hickmott was tossed early in the second period with an interference major and the automatic game misconduct. The league will take a look into that situation. . . . Checking-from-behind count: One minor, to Edmonton F Cameron Abney.---
KOOTENAY 6 at LETHBRIDGE 3: F Drew Czerwonka led the Ice (3-2-0-0) with two goals. . . . Lethbridge (3-3-0-1) scored first but the Ice got the next six. . . . D James Martin and F Steele Boomer each had two assists for Kootenay. . . . The Ice was 1-for-3 on the PP and now is 2-for-23 on the season. . . . The Hurricanes were 0-for-2. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 19 shots. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 18 of 22 but left at 5:26 of the second with his side trailing 4-1. Dylan Tait came on to turn aside 22 of 24. . . . Attendance was 2,912. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.---
RED DEER 3 at MOOSE JAW 0: G Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots for his second shutout of the season and the eighth of his career. . . . The Rebels (7-2-0-0) went 4-0 on their trip into the East Division. . . . D Colin Archer, who was plus-3, provided the eventual winning goal with his first of the season at 8:30 of the first period. . . . The Warriors slipped to 2-6-0-0. . . . Red Deer F Ryan Nugent-Hopkings had his eight-game point streak snapped. . . . Moose Jaw G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 26 shots. . . . Attendance was 2,730. Yes, the Crushed Can, which has 2,705 seats, was hopping. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.---
PRINCE GEORGE 5 at MEDICINE HAT 3: F Spencer Asuchak led the Cougars (3-4-0-0) with two goals. He also was plus-3. . . . Asuchak, who had 12 goals in 68 games split between the Cougars and Tri-City Americans last season, has six goals this season. He turns 19 on Nov. 22. . . . Prince George F Brett Connolly scored the game’s first goal, his fourth. He has at least one point in each of the Cougars’ seven games. . . . D Jace Coyle had two assists for the Tigers (2-3-0-0) but was minus-2. F Emerson Etem was pointless and minus-3. . . . G James Priestner stopped 20 shots for the Cougars, while Deven Dubyk turned aside 30 for the Tigers. . . . Prince George F Charles Inglis had the Gordie Howe hat trick with an empty-net goal. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.---
SEATTLE 6 at CHILLIWACK 3: F Brendan Rouse scored three goals as Seattle (4-2-0-0) erased a 2-1 deficit with four straight goals. . . . Last season, Rouse totalled six goals in 73 games -- six with the Brandon Wheat Kings and 67 with Seattle. He is a nephew of former WHL/NHL D Bob Rouse, who also is a former Bruins assistant coach. . . . The Bruins (3-2-0-0) had won three in a row. . . . F Colin Jacobs had a goal and two assists for Seattle, which has won three straight, while F Tyler Alos had two helpers. . . . F Roman Horak scored twice for the Bruins. He has 11 points, five of them goals, in four games. . . . F Ryan Howse had a goal, his eighth, and two assists for Chilliwack, which also got two assists from D Jesse Pauls. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 29 shots, seven more than Chilliwack’s Lucas Gore. . . . Chilliwack had an 18-4 edge in shots in the first period. . . . The Bruins were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 1-for-4. . . . Attendance was 3,099. . . . The game featured 10 fighting majors. . . . Checking-from-behind count: One, a minor to Horak.---
PORTLAND 2 at SPOKANE 1: F Sven Bartschi scored both goals for the Winterhawks (6-1-0-1), who had won 3-2 in Spokane on Friday night. . . . Bartschi also scored twice in that victory. . . . Portland has won four in a row. . . . Including last season and its playoffs, the Winterhawks have won 10 straight games in Spokane. . . . F Blake Gal gave the Chiefs (2-5-0-0) a 1-0 lead at 7:53 of the second period. . . . Bartschi, who has six goals, tied it at 14:10 of the second and won it at 18:03. . . . G Ian Curtis, in his first start of the season after returning from offseason shoulder surgery, stopped 34 shots, including 17 in the first period. . . . G James Reid made 22 saves for the Chiefs. . . . Portland had Mac Carruth backing up Curtis. Keith Hamilton, who went 4-1-0-1 (2.63, .925) while Curtis and Carruth were out with injuries, didn’t dress. . . . Portland was 0-for-5 on the PP; the Chiefs were 0-for-8 for the second straight game. . . . Attendance was 5,917. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.---
PRINCE ALBERT 2 at KELOWNA 3 (OT): F Brett Bulmer won it at 3:33 of overtime with, yes, his third goal of the season. . . . The Rockets (1-4-0-0) are the last of the WHL’s 22 teams to record a victory. . . . They had scored just six goals in four losses. . . . The Raiders slipped to 3-5-0-0. . . . F Jonathan Parker gave the visitors a 1-0 first-period lead, with Kelowna F Max Adolph, who is from Saskatoon, equalizing at 19:38 of the second. . . . F Evan Bloodoff gave the Rockets a 2-1 lead at 11:04 of the third period. . . . Prince Albert F Brandon Herrod forced OT with his seventh goal at 11:38. . . . Bulmer scored 30 seconds after the Raiders killed off a tripping penalty to G Jamie Tucker, who made 46 saves. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 29 shots. . . . Prince Albert was 0-for-4 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-9. . . . Attendance was 6,086. . . . The Rockets were without D Tyson Barrie (hamstring). He had played in a 4-1 loss to the Giants in Vancouver on Friday night. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.---
KAMLOOPS 5 at VANCOUVER 4 (OT): D Linden Saip’s second goal of the season, at 3:23 of OT, was the winner. Saip began his WHL career with the Giants and his uncle, Dale, is the Giants’ vice-president of business development. . . . F Chase Schaber and F Brendan Ranford each had a goal and two assists for Kamloops (3-3-0-1), which as won two in a row. . . . The Giants (4-3-1-0) had won three straight. . . . The teams play again Monday afternoon, this time in Kamloops. . . . D Corey Fienhage, who left the U of North Dakota to join the Blazers, had one assist and was plus-3. . . . The Giants got a goal and two helpers from F Craig Cunningham. . . . Schaber, with his fourth, and Ranford, with his sixth, gave Kamloops a 2-0 first-period lead. . . . The Giants then got three straight goals -- from F Matt MacKay, Cunningham and F Marek Tvrdon, his sixth. . . . F JT Barnett, acquired by Kamloops from Vancouver over the summer, tied it at 9:44 of the third. . . . The Giants felt that Barnett should have been penalized for goaltender interference as he ran into G Mark Segal on the play. “The ref's explanation was that I was out of the crease,” Segal told Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun. “I watched the replay and I was in the crease. It's frustrating when that call happened but you can't let it get to you and I struggled with that. I let it get me off my game. Calls like that happen. It's part of hockey. The refs make mistakes and you have to deal with it and I did a poor job tonight.” . . . Cunningham, the Giants’ captain, told Pap: “I don't really want to comment on their third goal. I asked the ref if he saw the replay and he said 'I can't look up.' It's over and you can't go back on it.” . . . F Brendan Gallagher, with his seventh, gave Vancouver the lead at 12:53. . . . Kamloops F Dylan Willick forced OT with his third goal at 13:46. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch stopped 34 shots, nine more than Vancouver’s Mark Segal. . . . Vancouver was 2-for-5 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-4. . . . Attendance was 5,537. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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