Sunday, February 20, 2011

G Shannon Szabados, who once got some exhibition-season playing time with the Tri-City Americans, was the goaltender when the Canadian national women’s team won the Olympic gold a year ago. However, she didn’t get to partake in the immediate post-game celebration. Later, a Canadian men’s curler slashed her on a hand and drew blood. . . . That story, and it’s an entertaining read, by the Edmonton Journal’s Curtis Stock is right here.
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The Hextall name has carried a lot of weight in hockey circles for a long time, and it’s even larger in the Poplar Point, Man., area. The folks there are planning on honouring the Hextall clan Feb. 1-3, 2013. By that time, the Poplar Point Community Club, which is being restored, should be ready. Part of the celebration will include an appearance by the Detroit Red Wings alumni team.
There’s more, from the Portage Daily Graphic, right here.

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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s first five goals and went on to beat the Broncos, 6-5. . . . The Broncos cut into the deficit with four straight goals before Brandon F David Toews got his 15th at 13:43 of the third. That stood up as the winner when Swift Current F Trevor Cameron got his fifth with 1.5 seconds left in the third. . . . The Wheat Kings had beaten the visiting Broncos 10-1 on Friday. One night later, the Wheat Kings struck for five goals in the first 11 minutes. . . . The Wheat Kings couldn’t have picked a better time to win a season-high five straight. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had a goal, his 24th, and an assist, running his point streak to 14 games and his goal streak to seven games. He has five straight multi-point games. He has 29 points in his last 14 games and has nine goals over the last seven games. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal, his 32nd, and three assists. He is riding an 11-game point streak, with 27 points over that stretch. He is third in the WHL scoring race, with 86 points. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Shayne Wiebe, who now has 35. . . . Attendance was 2,233. . . . Brandon, 8-2-0 in its last 10, is seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Edmonton. . . . The Broncos, losers of five straight, slid to 10th, six points out of a playoff spot. . . .
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In Moose Jaw, the Prince Albert Raiders built up a 3-0 lead and hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Warriors had beaten the host Raiders 6-3 on Friday night. . . . F Mark McNeill had a goal, his 25th, and added an assist for the Raiders. . . . D Jordan Rowley’s fourth goal at 2:19 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . F Quinton Howden got his 38th for the Warriors at 10:40 of the third and F Sebastian Svendsen added his 23rd at 17:53. . . . The Raiders held an 18-6 edge in first-period shots, but the Warriors had a 34-22 edge over the last two periods. . . . Prince Albert G Eric Williams stopped 38 shots, 19 of them in the third period. . . . Moose Jaw’s Thomas Heemskerk made 37 saves. . . . Attendance was 2,736, which means the Crushed Can, which has six regular-season games left plus playoffs, was rocking. . . . The Warriors are fifth in the conference and likely will finish there. . . . The Raiders hold down the conference’s last playoff spot by five points over Lethbridge. . . .
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In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes scored a 6-5 shootout victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in the night’s wildest game. . . . Edmonton held a 3-1 lead with 13 minutes left in the third period and was ahead 4-2 when F Kristians Pelss scored his second of the game, and 11th of the season, at 10:40. . . . The Hurricanes then scored three straight goals and Edmonton needed a score from F Jordan Hickmott, his 25th, at 15:52, to force OT. . . . Lethbridge F Mitch Maxwell had the only goal of the three-round shootout. . . . Maxwell had two assists in regulation time. . . . Lethbridge F Graham Hood had a goal and two assists. . . . Edmonton got two assists from F Stephane Legault and F Michael St. Croix. . . . Attendance was 3,300. . . . The Hurricanes, who have 13 games left, are five points out of the conference’s last playoff spot. . . . Edmonton is sixth, one point ahead of Brandon. . . .
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In Medicine Hat, G Tyler Bunz stopped 22 shots to lead the Tigers to a 4-0 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . He has three shutouts this season and five in his career. . . . The victory was the 70th of Bunz’s WHL career which has him fifth on the Tigers’ career list. . . . Regina has been blanked three times. . . . Medicine Hat F Boston Leier scored the game’s first and third goals. They were his first two WHL goals. The 17-year-old from Saskatoon was playing in his 37th game this season. He also played three games last season. . . . Tigers F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race, had a goal, his 40th, and an assist. He has 98 points. . . . F Emerson Etem scored his 33rd goal for the Tigers. It came shorthanded at 19:12 of the first period. . . . F Reid Petryk and D Alex Theriau each had two assists. . . . The Tigers, already without D Matthew Konan (concussion) and D Scott Ramsay (concussion), lost D Jace Coyle on Friday with an undisclosed injury. . . . Medicine Hat dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Tigers, who have clinched a playoff spot, moved into a tie with Kootenay for third in the conference. . . . Medicine Hat is at home to Saskatoon tonight. . . . The Pats are 11th and, with 12 games left, are seven points out of a playoff spot. . . .
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In Red Deer, F Brett Ferguson scored in OT to give the Rebels a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Ferguson, who is riding a 16-game point streak, got his second goal of the game, and 21st of the season, at 1:40 of extra time. He has 25 points over those 16 games. . . . The Rebels coughed up 2-0 and 3-2 leads to the Blazers, who went 3-for-8 on the PP while keeping the Rebels’ PP scoreless in seven tries. . . . That included a major penalty for checking from behind to Kamloops D Josh Caron at 6:14 of the second period. Red Deer F Josh Cowen didn’t return after taking that hit. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch, who stopped 46 shots in a 4-3 OT victory in Edmonton on Friday night, turned aside 42 shots in this one, includig 16 in the second period. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots in earning his 38th victory. . . . Kamloops F Thomas Frazee had two assists. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer forced OT with his seventh goal at 12:32 of the third. . . . Each team has gone to OT in its last three games. . . . The Blazers beat visiting Tr-City 3-2, then won in Edmonton. . . . The Rebels have gone to OT in three straight home games, losing 4-3 to Prince George, then beating Lethbridge 2-1. . . . Attendance was 5,566. . . . Red Deer is second in the Eastern Conference, six points behind Saskatoon, which holds two games in hand. . . . The Blazers are in possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot and they now are four points ahead of Chilliwack, which holds four games in hand. . . .
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In Cranbrook, F Brayden Schenn scored two goals and added an assist as the Saskatoon Blades scored a 5-3 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . Saskatoon F Marek Viedensky broke a 3-3 tie with his 27th goal at 17:53 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon F Jake Trask scored his 25th goal into an empty net at 19:18. . . . Schenn has 14 goals this season. . . . The Ice, which was down 3-1 going into the third period, got a shorthanded goal from F Kevin King, his 29th, at 3:55 and F Jesse Ismond’s second of the game, and 15th of the season, at 12;15. . . . Saskatoon was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Ice was 1-for-3. . . . D Hayden Rintoul had two assists for the Ice. . . . Saskatoon is 18-1-0 against the Central Division, including 14 straight victories. . . . The Blades are 3-0 against the Ice. . . . Attendance was 3,083. . . . Saskatoon, which is in Medicine Hat tonight, continues to lead the Eastern Conference. . . . The Ice is tied for third with Medicine Hat. . . .
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In Portland, F Nino Niederreiter scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Winterhawks clinched a playoff spot. . . . It was Niederreiter’s first hat trick of this season and the second of his career. . . . Niederreiter has 27 goals in 41 games after scoring 36 in 65 last season. . . . Niederreiter, the 18-year-old Swiss sophomore, also had an assist. The four points give him 107 points in 106 career regular-season games. . . . Portland D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn each had two assists. Wrenn has 11 points and his plus-21 in 18 games. . . . Portland F Craig Cunningham had a goal, his 22nd, and an assist, while F Ryan Johansen also scored once, giving him 30, and drew an assist. . . . Portland led 2-0 when the Bruins stormed back and tied with on PP goals by F Robin Soudek and F Ryan Howse. . . . The goal was his 42nd and his franchise-record 17th PP goal of the season. . . . Niederreiter and Johansen then scored at 4;01 and 6:47 of the second period. . . . The Bruins allowed a franchise single-game record 61 shots, which allowed G Braden Gamble to set a single-game record with 55 saves. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 19 shots. . . . Chilliwack F Roman Horak, who was scratched minutes before a 6-2 loss to the host Tri-City Americans on Friday, was back in the Bruins’ lineup. . . . Attendance was 10,145. . . . Portland, which is 8-2-0 in its last 10 leads the U.S. Division by a point over Spokane. The Winterhawks hold a game in hand. . . . Chilliwack is ninth in the conference, four points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Bruins are in Kent, Wash., to face the Seattle Thunderbirds tonight. . . .
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In Prince George, the Everett Silvertips jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed as they beat the Cougars, 4-3. . . . The Silvertips had beaten the host Cougars 4-1 on Friday. . . . Everett F Ryan Harrison got his 20th goal at 18:49 of the second period and it proved the winner. . . . Prince George F Taylor Stefishen got his 20th at 9:27 of the third. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson, making his 14th straight start, stopped 28 shots. . . . Prince George F Charles Inglis, who earlier had scored his 24th goal, failed to score on a penalty shot at 13:50 of the third period with the visitors leading 4-3. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell scored his 38th goal, while Prince George F Brett Connolly got his 36th. . . . Attendance was 2,418. . . . The victory lifted the Silvertips into a tie with the Cougars for sixth in the conference. Each has 13 games remaining. . . . The Cougars do have three more victories. . . .
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In Kennewick, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs scored three second-period PP goals as they beat the host Tri-City Americans, 6-2. . . . The game turned after Tri-City D Sam Grist was tossed with a boarding major at 7:14 of the second period. . . . The Chiefs, who clinched a playoff spot with their third straight victory, scored three PP goals to break open what had been a 1-1 game. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson and D Brenden Kichton each had two goals and an assist. . . . Johnson has a WHL-high 45 goals. His 978 points leave him second in the scoring race, one point behind Medicine Hat F Lindey Vey. . . . Spokane F Levko Koper had two assists, giving him 70 points in 59 games. He has hit career highs in goals (30), assists (40) and points (70). . . . F Blake Gal added a goal and two assists for the Chiefs, who got two assists from F Mitch Holmberg. . . . Gal has six goals in eight games against the Americans this season. . . . F Adam Hughesman scored his 39th goal for the Americans. . . . The Chiefs were 3-for-4 on the PP; the Americans were 2-for-5. . . . Attendance was 5,829. . . . The Chiefs kept pace with Portland and continue to trail the U.S. Division leaders by one point. . . . The Americans are four points behind the Chiefs but do hold three games in hand. . . . The Chiefs are back in Kennewick on Monday to play a game that was postponed due to poor ice conditions on New Year’s Eve. It will be the ninth of 12 meetings, with each team having won four times. . . .
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In Kelowna, F Evan Bloodoff scored the game’s first two goals and the Rockets went on to a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Bloodoff, who has 19 goals, scored shorthanded at 3:06 of the first period and added a PP score at 8:09. . . . The Giants got to within 2-1 and 4-3 but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Kelowna was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-3. . . . F Geordie Wudrick got his 32nd goal for the Rockets, while Kelowna F Mitchell Callahan closed out the scoring with his 20th. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown and Vancouver G Mark Segal each stopped 27 shots. . . . Attendance was 6,134. . . . Doyle Potenteau has the game story over at DubNation. . . . This was the fourth straight game in which the Rockets have beaten the Giants. It also lifted Kelowna back atop the B.C. Division. They are tied with 67 points, but the Rockets, who have one game in hand, have two more victories. . . . The Giants don’t play again until Friday, when they entertain Chilliwack. On that night, Vancouver will induct Boston Bruins F Milan Lucic into its Ring of Honour. Yes, Lucic will be in the house. Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald talked with Lucic about it and the story is right here.

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SATURDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Chilliwack F Roman Horak
Spokane D Cogbin Baldwin
One major:
Kamloops D Josh Caron

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