Stetson Zacharias is going to be just fine, despite suffering a small fracture to his skull after being hit by a puck during a WHL game in Swift Current on Saturday.
Stetson is six months old.
"My little guy was sleeping on my lap and a puck came over the glass and hit him in the head," Stetson’s mother, Brianna, told Adriana Christianson of CJME. "It was very scary but the paramedics were there immediately and they kind of took over and took very good care of him."
There’s more on this story right here.
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Player agents, including Pat Brisson of CAA and Don Meehan of Newport Sports, are openly encouraging the CHL to change a policy that restricts the length of time players have to take advantage of their education packages. Brisson and Meehan are two of the most-prominent agents in the hockey world. Rick Westhead of TSN has more right here.
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D Ty Lewington of the Medicine Hat Tigers has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Lewington, the Tigers’ captain, was a seventh-round selection in the 2013 NHL draft. From Sherwood Park, Alta., he has 38 points, including 30 assists, in 60 games this season. . . . Last season, he finished with 38 points, including 31 assists, in 68 games. . . .
F Jake Leschyshyn, the sixth overall pick in the 2014 bantam draft, has been added to the Regina Pats’ roster. The Pats acquired Leschyshyn from the Red Deer Rebels in January. Earlier, he played three games with Regina. . . . The son of former NHL/WHL D Curtis Leschyshyn, Jake played this season with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. . . . The Pats next play Friday when they meet the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . .
Ch-ch-ching! Alan Millar, the general manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors, has been fined $500 “for comments to officials” after a 6-2 loss to the Pats in Regina on Sunday. . . .
Barry Sawchuk has left the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. He had been director of player personnel since coming to the Bobcats with head coach Garry VanHereweghe in 2012. . . .
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THE WHL PLAYOFF PICTURE:
EAST DIVISION: Brandon (8 games remaining) won at home last night and clinched first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1995-96. The Wheat Kings are tied with Kelowna (8) in the race for first place overall. . . . Regina (9) will finish second in the division. . . . Swift Current (8) lost at home ad remains third, but now is just six points ahead of Moose Jaw (8), which won at home. . . . The Warriors also are eight points behind Edmonton (7), which holds down the conference’s second wild-card berth. . . . Prince Albert (9) is six points behind Moose Jaw and 12 points out of a playoff spot.CENTRAL DIVISION: Calgary (7) lost on the road but remains atop the division, two points ahead of Medicine Hat (7), which also lost on the road. . . . Red Deer (8) won on the road and is third, seven points behind Medicine Hat and seven ahead of Kootenay (8), which holds the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . Edmonton (7) won on the road and now is two points behind Kootenay.
B.C. DIVISION: Kelowna (8) has clinched first place in the Western Conference. . . . Victoria (8) will finish second. . . . Prince George (8) won at home and is third, three points ahead of Vancouver (8), which lost on the road, and Kamloops (8). . . . Vancouver and Kamloops are four points behind Tri-City (8), which won at home and holds down the conference’s second wild-card berth.
U.S. DIVISION: Everett (8) sits atop the division, four points ahead of Portland (10). . . . Seattle (8) is third, six points behind Portland and seven ahead of Spokane (10). . . . Spokane holds the conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . Spokane is seven points ahead of Tri-City (8), which holds down the conference’s second wild-card spot.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern ConferenceBrandon vs. Edmonton
Calgary vs. Kootenay
Regina vs. Swift Current
Medicine Hat vs. Red Deer
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Western Conference
Kelowna vs. Tri-City
Everett vs. Spokane
Victoria vs. Prince George
Portland vs. Seattle
(NOTE: Team with home-ice advantage shown first.)
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon, F Peter Quenneville broke a 1-1 tie with goals 1:25 apart and the Wheat Kings went on to a 7-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Quenneville finished with three goals, giving him 23, and an assist. He scored at 3:13 and 4:38, the latter on a PP, of the second period as the Wheat Kings broke the 1-1 tie and took control. . . . Brandon scored six times in the second period when it had a 26-5 edge in shots. . . . Wheat Kings F Tim McGauley ran his points streak to 20 games with his 38th goal and two assists. McGauley has 42 points, including 13 goals, in the 20 games. It’s the longest point streak in the WHL this season. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy had three assists, while F Morgan Klimchuk had two. Brandon forwards Tyler Coulter, Braylon Shmyr and Duncan Campbell each had a goal and an assist. Coulter has 15 goals, Shmyr has 16 and Campbell has 11. . . . F Brayden Burke scored twice and added an assist for Lethbridge, giving him eight goals, while F Tyler Wong got his 24th goal and also had an assist. . . . Brandon G Alex Moodie made his first start since Jan. 30 and stopped 24 shots. While he recovered from a suspected concussion, G Jordan Papirny made 13 straight starts. . . . Brandon F Quintin Lisoway left in the first period with an apparent leg injury. According to Bruce Luebke, the Wheat Kings’ radio voice: “Early indications are a knee injury that could sideline Lisoway for a while.” . . . The Wheat Kings (47-10-7) are 4-0-1 in their last five games. They also have gone over 100 points. . . . The Hurricanes (19-36-8) are 1-1-1 in their last three outings. . . .
In Swift Current, F Brooks Maxwell had a goal and three assists as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Broncos, 6-2. . . . Red Deer, which was 4-for-4 on the PP, took a 2-1 lead into the second period where it scored four times. . . . Maxwell has 20 goals. . . . Rebels F Riley Sheen broke a 1-1 tie with his 19th goal at 17:17 of the first period. . . . F Wyatt Johnson got his 24th goal, shorthanded, at 3:15 of the second to give the Rebels a 3-1 lead. F Preston Kopeck then scored twice on the PP for a 5-1 lead. He’s got 19 goals. . . . Sheen also had two assists, as did Johnson. . . . Red Deer F Scott Feser scored his 13th goal and added an assist. . . . F Coda Gordon scored twice for the Broncos, giving him 23 goals. . . . Rebels G Taz Burman stopped 24 shots. . . . The Broncos were 2-for-6 on the PP. . . . The Rebels (33-21-10) had lost their previous two games (0-1-1). . . . The Broncos (30-29-5) have dropped four in a row. . . . The Red Deer Advocate has a game story right here. . . . 
In Moose Jaw, G Zach Sawchenko turned aside 33 shots to lead the Warriors to a 3-0 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Sawchenko, 17, has four career shutouts, all of them this season. . . . F Jayden Halbgewachs’ third goal of the season, at 2:53 of the first period, stood up as the winner. . . . F Brayden Point scored his 30th goal at 19:28 of the first period and added an assist. . . . The Warriors welcomed back F Axel Blomqvist (groin) from a three-game absence and he scored his 23rd goal. . . . Moose again was without D Tyler Brown, F Jaimen Yakubowski and F Tanner Eberle. . . . The Warriors improved to (27-32-5). . . . The Tigers (40-22-3) had won their previous three games. . . . 
In Saskatoon, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s first two goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Blades. . . . Edmonton F Brandon Baddock scored his 16th goal, on a PP, at 5:56 of the first period and F Mads Eller got No. 6 at 11:08. . . . The Blades got into it in the second period and trailed 3-2 going to the third. . . . F Mason McCarty, with his sixth, and D Kolton Dixon, with his third, sandwiched Edmonton F Brayden Brown’s fourth goal. . . . Oil Kings F Lane Bauer scored his 22nd goal at 9:24 of the third and D Ben Carroll got an empty-netter at 18:50. He’s got seven goals. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 21 shots, 10 fewer than Saskatoon’s Nik Amundrud. . . . F Andrew Koep had two assists for Edmonton. . . . The Oil Kings (30-28-7) have points in four straight (4-0-1). . . . The Blades are 19-41-4. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. . . .
In Prince George, F Cal Babych broke a 2-2 tie 20 seconds into the third period as the Cougars got past the Calgary Hitmen, 3-2. . . . Babych has five goals. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen scored his 20th goal, on a PP, at 16:18 of the first. . . . The Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the second period, on goals from F Jansen Harkins, his 20th, at 5:55 and F Aaron Macklin, his fifth, at 7:15. . . . F Radel Fazleev pulled Calgary into a tie with his 18th goal, shorthanded, at 9:15 of the second. . . . D Tomas Andrik had two assists for the Cougars. . . . Babych also had an assist. . . . Prince George G Ty Edmonds stopped 34 shots, nine more than Calgary’s Mack Shields. . . . Calgary was 1-for-4 on the PP; the Cougars were 0-for-2. . . . Prince George (27-33-4) has won four in a row. . . . The Hitmen (40-20-5) had won their previous two games. They are 6-2-0 on an 11-game road trip. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., G Evan Sarthou came off the injury list to stop 33 shots and lead the Americans to a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Sarthou hadn’t played since Jan. 25 and was shown as being out week-to-week on Tuesday’s WHL injury report. He now has seven shutouts this season, with five of them coming in his last seven starts. . . . He is tied for the WHL lead in shutouts, with Landon Bow of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Lucas Nickles’ 22nd goal, coming at 2:02 of the third period on a PP, was the winner. . . . F Tyler Sandhu got his 14th goal and added an assist, and F Richard Nejezchleb scored No. 17 in to an empty net. . . . G Beck Warm, 15, who had started Tri-City’s previous game was on the bench in support of Sarthou. . . . Giants G Payton Lee stopped 27 shots. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-5 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-for-5. . . . Vancouver D Shaun Dosanjh, who had been out since Dec. 30, played in his second game in as many nights. . . . The Giants have been blanked in two straight games. . . . On Wednesday morning, after the Giants were beaten 7-0 by the Chiefs in Spokane the previous night, Vancouver GM Scott Bonner told News 1130 Sports: “We were out-worked, out-classed, out-everything . . . no push back, it’s unacceptable.” . . . The Americans (28-33-3) snapped a four-game losing skid. . . . The Giants (26-35-3) have lost four straight.———
THURSDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)Brandon at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Lethbridge at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Red Deer vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
Regina at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Portland, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Everett vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
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