Wheaties rout Hitmen . . . Calgary coach tossed . . . Rockets come back for victory

F Jason Bast (Moose Jaw, 2005-10) has signed a one-year contract with Visp (Switzerland, NL B). This season, with the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL), he had 30 goals and 22 assists in 52 games. He also saw some AHL action, going pointless in two games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and earning one assist in four games with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL).
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

pic.twitter.com/IRlGwjhqX6
— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) April 25, 2015

In Brandon, the Wheat Kings broke a 2-2 tie with three straight second-period goals en route to a 9-4 victory over the Calgary
Hitmen. . . . The Wheat Kings lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 in Brandon tonight. . . . The Wheat Kings set a single-game high for goals by a team in these playoffs. Calgary and the Portland Winterhawks each have had an eight-goal game this spring. . . . Calgary F Adam Tambellini needed help leaving the ice after going hard into the end boards with the score 2-2 in the second period. He missed a few shifts and while he was gone the Wheat Kings scored three times. . . . F Peter Quenneville scored his fifth playoff

goal on a PP at 9:02, with F Braylon Shmyr adding his first of two goals at 12:17 and F Nolan Patrick getting his fifth at 12:39. . . . Shmyr just happens to be from Calgary. . . . The Wheat Kings, who had the game’s first six shots, had taken an early 2-0 first-period lead as F Jayce Hawryluk, who had missed the previous three games, scored his sixth goal and set up F John Quenneville for his fifth, via the PP. . . . The Hitmen tied it on goals from F Pavel Kamaukhov, his fourth, at 17:34 of the first and F Beck Malenstyn, his first, at 5:26 of the second. . . . John Quenneville finished with two goals and three assists, giving him 14 points in 11 games. D Eric Roy and F Rihards Bukarts, the latter having returned after a three-game absence, each had three assists. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley scored his fifth goal and added two assists. . . . Shmyr’s goals were his first of the playoffs. . . . Brandon D Reid Gow added two assists. . . . Brandon was 3-for-9 on the PP; Calgary was 1-for-6. . . . Calgary F Chase Lang, who missed the last three games of the second round, left in the third period with an apparent right leg injury after Brandon F Duncan Campbell fell on him. . . . Hawryluk left the game late in the second period after blocking a shot by Calgary D Travis Sanheim. Hawryluk returned early in the third period. . . . Brandon D Kale Clague didn’t come out of the dressing room to start the second period, while F Tanner Kaspick didn’t finish the game, either. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields, who surrendered four goals on 19 shots, wasn’t on the Hitmen bench in the third period. . . . G Brendan Burke came on to give up five goals on 22 shots. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny turned aside 34 shots. . . . F Reid Duke was among the Wheat Kings’ scratches, while F Connor Rankin, a 20-year-old with nine goals in these playoffs, didn’t play for the Hitmen. . . . Brandon D Colton Waltz returned after missing the last three second-round games. . . . Calgary took 46 of the game’s 76 penalty minutes. . . . The referees were Adam Byblow and Chris Crich. . . .

Hitmen coach Mark French is headed to the room, but not before a stick slam and toss.
— Robert Henderson (@HendoRob) April 25, 2015

Ch-ch-ching! Calgary head coach Mark French was ejected in the third period after banging on the boards with a stick and then tossing a stick onto the ice. . . . Brandon head coach Kelly McCrimmon has won 61 playoff games, moving him into a tie for ninth with Dean Clark on the all-time list. Don Hay is No. 1, with 103. . . . Attendance was 5,028. . . . Shaw TV is televising this series in its entirety.
Laurence Heinen wrote this game story for the Calgary Herald.

In Kelowna, the Rockets erased a 2-0 deficit with two goals 46 seconds apart in the second period and went on to beat the Portland Winterhawks, 3-2. . . . They’ll play Game 2 tonight in Kelowna. . . . The Rockets took their first lead when F Rourke Chartier got his eighth goal at 15:56 of the second period.

He hit the cross-bar on a breakaway, with the puck then bouncing in off G Adin Hill. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand opened the scoring on Portland’s first shot of the game, 35 seconds in. It was his WHL-leading 11th goal of these playoffs. . . . D Adam Henry upped the lead to 2-0 at 18:00 with his fourth goal. . . . Kelowna D Madison Bowey got his fifth goal, shorthanded, at 1:38 of the second and F Justin Kirkland, with his first, tied it at 2:24. Kirkland was playing only his second game of these playoffs. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle stopped 30 shots, 13 fewer than Hill. . . . Each team was 0-for-2 on the PP. . . . The referees were Matt Kirk and Chris Schlenker. . . . The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, who placed Draisaitl with the Rockets in January, were well-represented with Bob Nicholson, Peter Chiarelli, Craig MacTavish and Kevin Lowe all on hand. . . . Draisaitl had one assist, on Kirkland’s goal. . . . Portland F Nic Petan had one assist as he ran his point streak to 12 games. Petan played in his 83rd career playoff game. That is two shy of D Derrick Pouliot’s franchise record (2010-14). The WHL record his held by F Shay Stephenson, who played in 87 playoff games with the Red Deer Rebels (2000-04). . . . Bjorkstrand scored his 35th career playoff goal, moving into No. 2 in franchise history. He passed F Brendan Leipsic and trails only F Ty Rattie, who had 50. . . . The Winterhawks now have lost Game 1 of all three of their playoff series this spring. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich notes that “since 2011, the Winterhawks are 8-0 in Game 2s after losing Game 1.” . . . Attendance was 5,871; a sellout is 6,007. . . . It will be interesting to see what tonight’s attendance is as this game will be up against Game 6 between the Vancouver Canucks and host Calgary Flames. . . . Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier has a game story right here.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Conor MacEachern, a list player who spent this season with the Cariboo Cougars of the British Columbia Major Midget Hockey League. The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder had 17 points, including four goals, in 33 games with the Cougars. They won the prestigious Mac’s Tournament in Calgary and he was named the top defenceman. . . . MacEachern, who will turn 17 on Aug. 12, is from Charlottetown, P.E.I. The Winterhawks placed him on their protected list in December.
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald takes a look at the offseason that awaits the Everett Silvertips and how much depends on a decision yet to be made by F Auston Matthews, who is in the U.S. National Team Development Program. . . . That piece is right here.
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In the OHL, F Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists, leading the Erie Otters to a 6-3 victory over the host Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Western Conference final is 1-1. . . . McDavid had scored three times in a 6-3 loss on Thursday. . . . McDavid has 30 points, 16 of them goals, in 11 playoff games. . . . They’ll play again Sunday, this time in Erie, and the game will be televised by Sportsnet. . . . In the Eastern Conference final, the North Bay Battalion went into Oshawa and beat the Generals, 6-1, in the opener. They’ll play again Sunday in Oshawa.
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In the QMJHL, the host Rimouski Oceanic beat the Val-d’Or Foreurs 4-3 in overtime in Game 1 of their semifinal. They’ll play again today in Rimouski. Last night, F Anthony DeLuca won it with his third goal of the game, and sixth of the playoffs, on a PP, at 1:50 of OT. DeLuca had forced OT with a goal at 18:55 of the third period. . . . In the other semifinal, the visiting Quebec Remparts beat the Moncton Wildcats 4-1 on Thursday night. Game 2 is scheduled for today in Moncton.
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Former WHL G Andy Desautels (Everett, Prince Albert, 2010-13), who has played out his junior eligibility, will attend the U of Regina and play for the Cougars. Desautels is from White City, Sask., which is just east of Regina. He was a fifth-round selection by the Everett Silvertips in the 2009 bantam draft. He played the last two seasons with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.
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The @CoachStanButler on @OHLBattalion fans: "We call them the 7th Man. They never take a shift off, unlike some of our guys." #OHLplayoffs
— Neate Sager (@neatebuzzthenet) April 25, 2015

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