Taking Note

The Kamloops Blazers might be without D Brandon Underwood (knee) and D Austin Madaisky (neck) for the remainder of the season. Both players were injured in a 2-1 victory over the visiting Chilliwack Blazers on Friday night. . . . Underwood left early in the first period and was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he was escorted to the dressing room. He is believed to have suffered ligament damage, but more will be known on Monday. . . . The Blazers are saying Madaisky suffered a fracture to his seventh cervical vertebrae. He was injured in the third period on a hit by Chilliwack D Brandon Manning, who dumped the puck into the Blazers zone and then raced in on the forecheck. He hit Madaisky, who went back first into the boards. Manning was given a boarding major and game misconduct; the WHL suspended him -- length to be determined -- on Saturday. . . . Underwood and Madaisky are veteran defencemen. Without them, Kamloops is down to five defencemen, including freshman Brady Gaudet, 16; veteran Josh Caron, who recently returned after missing 41 games with a broken collarbone; and, freshman Corey Fienhage, 20, who played a total of 51 games over the last three seasons with the USHL’s Indiana Ice and the NCAA’s North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
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DEPT. OF DISCIPLINE: Dave Hunchak, the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, has been fined $500 for throwing a water bottle onto the ice during the third period of an 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday night. . . . Chilliwack Bruins D Brandon Manning is on a TBD suspension for a boarding major and game misconduct during a 2-1 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday night. Manning hit Kamloops D Austin Madaisky in the third period. Madaisky left the game and didn’t report; he was scratched from Saturday’s rematch in Chilliwack. . . . Vancouver Giants D Darren Bestland also is on a TBD suspension for a charging major and game misconduct he incurred during Friday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . .
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JUST NOTES: Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath left the Warriors’ 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer in the second period Friday and didn’t return. He apparently has a knee injury. . . . If you happen to be in Las Vegas and think you saw a familiar face or two, well, you just might be correct. The WHL’s board of governors and general managers are in the Nevada city for meetings on Monday and Tuesday. . . .
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James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail checks in on G James Reimer (Red Deer, 2005-08), who has taken the Maple Leafs and Toronto by storm. This, folks, is a neat story. Check it out right here.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Regina, the Pats erased a 1-0 deficit with four first-period goals and went on to beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 5-4. . . . F Tanner Olstad had two goals and an assist for Regina, while F Jordan Weal had a goal and two helpers. . . . The Pats lead the season series, 4-2. . . . Prince Albert G Jamie Tucker left the game in the first period after sustaining a cut to his blocker hand. He stopped all six shots he faced. Eric Williams replaced him and was beaten five times on 32 shots. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt turned aside 36 shots. . . . Regina took 65 of 122 penalty minutes. . . . Attendance was 4,097. . . . The victory lifted Regina to within two points of the ninth-place Raiders and within three of eighth-place Brandon in the Eastern Conference standings. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Jordan Peddle broke a 3-3 tie with two late goals and the Broncos beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-3. . . . Swift Current had lost its last eight games. . . . Peddle, who also had an assist, scored his seventh goal of the season at 16:47 of the third period and later added an empty-netter. . . . F Justin Dowling drew three assists for the Broncos. . . . Swift Current D Tanner Muth scored his first WHL goal on a second-period PP. The 17-year-old Calgarian was playing in his 75^th career game. It was his 27^th game of this season. . . . Attendance was 1,921. . . . The Broncos are seventh, one point ahead of Brandon and three behind Edmonton. . . .
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In Saskatoon, G Steven Stanford stopped 23 shots to lead the Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . It was Stanford’s second shutout of the season and the fourth for the Blades. . . . Lethbridge has been blanked seven times, twice by Saskatoon. . . . F Brayden Schenn had a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) for Saskatoon, which got two assists from each of F Marek Viedensky and D Darren Dietz. . . . Schenn’s scrap was with Lethbridge F Cam Braes in the third period. . . . Attendance was 4,791. . . . The Blades now hold a five-point lead atop the Eastern Conference and have two games in hand on the idle Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Hurricanes are tied for 10^th with Regina. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice got two goals from F Cody Eakin as it skated to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Eakin has 25 goals this season. . . . Ice D James Martin and F Matt Fraser each had a goal and an assist, while F Max Reinhart had two assists. . . . Eakin scored the Ice’s first two goals, the second coming shorthanded just seven seconds into the second period and breaking a 1-1 tie. . . . F Andrej Stastny had a goal, his sixth, and an assist for the Giants. . . . Attendance was 3,476, the largest crowd for a game in Cranbrook this season. . . . The Giants had won their last three games, all on the road. They don’t play again until Saturday when them meet the Kamloops Blazers in Whitehorse, Yukon. . . . The Giants remain the Western Conference’s second seed as they lead the B.C. Division by three points over Kelowna. . . . The Ice is eight points behind Red Deer. . . .
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers got 36 saves from G Tyler Bunz as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1. . . . Tigers F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race with 84 points, was held to one assist. . . . Bunz lost his shutout bid when F Dylan Hood got his 24^th goal at 17:14 of the second period. . . . F Emerson Etem got his 29^th goal for the Tigers. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Warriors were without D Dylan McIlrath, who tweaked a knee in Friday’s 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . The victory lifted the fourth-place Tigers five points clear of the Warriors and kept them within one point of Kootenay. . . .
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In Chilliwack, the Bruins snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Blazers had beaten the Bruins 2-1 in Kamloops on Friday and 5-1 in Chilliwack the previous Saturday. . . . Kamloops took a 2-0 lead into the second period but the Bruins erased that with two quick goals by Ryan Howse. He got his 34^th goal 43 seconds into the period, then scored on the PP at 4:00. . . . Chilliwack F Roman Horak got his 22^nd goal just 24 seconds into the third period. . . . Bruins F Kevin Sundher had three assists. . . . Kamloops F Bernhard Keil scored his second goal of the season; it was his first goal since Oct. 13. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 36 shots. . . . The Blazers were without three injured veterans -- F Chase Schaber (leg), D Brandon Underwood (knee) and D Austin Madaisky (neck). . . . Attendance was 2,988. . . . This was an important victory for the Bruins, who are ninth in the Western Conference. They closed to within one point of the Blazers and hold four games in hand. . . . Next up for the Bruins are two games with Kelowna and two with Tri-City. . . .
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In Portland, the Winterhawks unleashed a 54-shot barrage as they beat the Tri-City Americans, 8-2. . . . F Craig Cunningham, F Ryan Johansen and D Tyler Wotherspoon each had a goal and two assists for Portland, with F Ty Rattie scoring twice. Rattie has 24 goals. . . . Portland led 3-0 before the game was 11 minutes old. . . . Portland was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Americans were 1-for-8. . . . The Americans took 74 of the game’s 128 penalty minutes in a game that took two hours 46 minutes to play. . . . Attendance was 7,145. . . . Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin had his point streak stopped at 21 games. He had 46 points during the streak, the longest in the WHL this season. . . . Portland was without F Brad Ross (concussion), who was injured Friday. . . . The Winterhawks lead the Western Conference and are five points ahead of Spokane, which is second in the U.S. Division. . . . The Americans slipped back to third, a point behind Spokane. . . .
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In Prince George, G Ty Rimmer stopped 23 shots to lead the Cougars to a 3-0 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Cougars had beaten the Rockets 4-2 on Friday night. . . . The Cougars went into the weekend having lost six in a row to Kelowna. . . . It was Rimmer’s third shutout of the season and the Cougars’ fifth. . . . The Rockets have been blanked four times. . . . F James Dobrowolski got his 15^th goal for the Cougars at 19:18 of the first period. F Taylor Stefishen later added his 16^th and F Troy Bourke got his 14^th. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown was lifted after Bourke’s goal at 6:03 of the second. Brown stopped 11 of 14 shots. Reliever Jordon Cooke came on to stop 27 shots. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-8 on the PP; the Cougars were 0-for-7. . . . Attendance was 2,060. . . . Kelowna again was without F Mitchell Callahan (head), who was injured Wednedsay. . . . The Cougars are sixth in the conference, a point ahead of Everett, while Kelowna remains three points behind Vancouver. . . .
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In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 35 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Simpson lost his bid for a shutout when T.J. Foster scored his 20^th goal on a PP at 19:53 of the third period. . . . The Silvertips had killed off 29 opposition power plays in a row. . . . Simpson is 5-1-1 with a .956 save percentage over his last seven games. . . . Everett D Rasmus Rissanen scored his first goal of the season on a PP at 19:04 of the first period. A sophomore from Finland, Rissanen, 19, had four goals in 71 games last season. Last night, he played in his 50^th game of this season. . . . F Josh Winquist had two assists for Everett. . . . Attendance was 6,345. . . . The Oil Kings went 1-2-1 in their four-game swing into the U.S. Division. They didn‘t visit Spokane, a stop they made earlier in the season on a trip that took them, in order, to Prince George, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Spokane and Cranbrook. . . . Edmonton heads home in sixth place, three points ahead of Swift Current. . . . Everett is seventh in the Western Conference, one point behind Prince George and five ahead of Kamloops. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., F Mitch Holmberg scored two goals and added an assist to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 5-1 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Chiefs were 4-for-8 on the PP. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson got his WHL-leading 39^th goal and added two assists. He now has 86 points, one behind Medicine Hat F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race. . . . Spokane D Reid Gow and D Brenden Kichton each had two assists. . . . Chiefs G Mac Engel stopped 26 shots. F Luke Lockhart had Seattle’s goal, opening the scoring with a shorthanded marker at 5:04 of the first period. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 54 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,388. . . . The Chiefs moved past Tri-City and into second in the U.S. Division, five points behind Portland. . . . Seattle is 10^th, two points behind Kamloops, which holds down the conference’s last playoff spot. The Thunderbirds are in Kamloops on Wednesday.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Five minors:
Moose Jaw F Jesse Paradis
Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin
Tri-City D Sam Grist (two minors on two separate plays)
Spokane F Dominik Uher