EASTERN CONFERENCE
Brandon vs. Kootenay
Medicine Hat vs. Edmonton
Regina vs. Swift Current
Red Deer vs. Calgary
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THE STANDINGS . . .
East Division
Brandon 70
Regina 56
Swift Current 47
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Central Division
Medicine Hat 62
Red Deer 58
Calgary 53
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Wild Card
Edmonton 50
Kootenay 45
Moose Jaw 42
Prince Albert 39
NOTES: With the schedule heading into the last 25 games, only Saskatoon and Lethbridge are out of the playoff picture. . . . Under the new playoff format, the Brandon Wheat Kings, with the conference’s best record, would get rewarded by having to ride the bus to Cranbrook. . . . With loser points, eight of the Eastern Conference’s 12 teams have winning percentages of .500 or better, but only five actually have more wins than losses.
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The first-round matchups in the west would look like this:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kelowna vs. Tri-City
Everett vs. Seattle
Victoria vs. Prince George
Portland vs. Spokane
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B.C. Division
Kelowna 71
Victoria 53
Prince George 42
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U.S. Division
Everett 60
Portland 53
Spokane 50
——
Seattle 49
Tri-City 46
Vancouver 40
Kamloops 38
NOTES: As things stand right now, all five U.S. Division teams would be in the playoffs. . . . If Vancouver and/or Kamloops is to qualify, they likely are going to have to do it inside the B.C. Division, rather than through the wild-card route. . . . The Giants, who open a six-game Central Division trip on Tuesday in Cranbrook, are two points behind Prince George and six points from the final wild-card spot. . . . In these days of three-point games, six points is a lot to overcome with 28 games remaining. . . . Kamloops is four points behind Prince George and eight points from the second wild-card spot. . . . Seven of 10 Western Conference teams, including all five in the U.S. Division, have winning percentages above .500. Six teams, four of them in the U.S. Division, actually have more wins than losses.
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Bob Green, the architect of an Edmonton Oil Kings team that has played in three straight WHL championship finals, has been promoted by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Green now is the Oilers’ director of player personnel. The move had been rumoured to be in the works for the past month. . . . Green, who had been director of free agent scouting, will “oversee all aspects of our scouting department,” Oilers GM Craig MacTavish said in a news release. . . . Green moved from the Medicine Hat Tigers to take over as the Oil Kings’ general manager and built the Oil Kings into a team that won two WHL titles in three years. . . . Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun has more on this story right here.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Calgary, F Adam Tambellini scored three times to lead the Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . F Austin Wagner gave the Pats a 1-0 lead with his 13th goal at 6:18 of the first period. . . . Calgary scored the next four goals, with Tambellini getting three of them. He’s got 29 goals now. . . . He tied the score at 7:23 of the first period and D Keegan Kanzig gave Calgary the lead with his first goal of the season at 5:42 of the second. . . . Tambellini then scored at 13:12 and again at 13:55, the latter on a PP. . . . Calgary F Connor Rankin scored his 24th goal and added two assists, and D Ben Thomas had two assists. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields was sharp, making 31 stops. . . . Prior to the game, Calgary inducted F Ryan Getzlaf as the inaugural member of Forever A Hitmen. . . . The Hitmen (24-17-5) snapped a three-game skid (0-2-1). . . . The Pats (26-16-4) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . .
Congrats to @bmagee18 on becoming the Royals' all-time franchise leading scorer with 242 points (104g-138a)! pic.twitter.com/WK1kG3L9u7
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) January 19, 2015
In Edmonton, F Greg Chase scored at 3:24 of OT to give the Victoria Royals a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Chase, who scored twice in this one, has 12 goals. . . . The Royals had taken a 3-1 lead into the third period, only to have Edmonton score two goals 10 seconds apart late in the period to force OT. . . . F Lane Bauer scored his 17th goal at 16:15 and F Luke Bertolucci got his sixth at 16:25. . . . Victoria F Brandon Magee drew an assist on F Alex Forsberg’s goal at 15:40 of the first period to set a Chilliwack/Victoria franchise record for career points. . . . Magee now has 242 points in 293 regular-season games. The previous record (241) had been held by F Kevin Sundher (2007-12). . . . Victoria G Justin Paulic made 37 saves, 11 more than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . One night earlier, Paulic, who was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors at the trade deadline, stopped 20 shots in a 4-1 victory in Calgary. . . . The Royals (25-19-3), who won three games in 48 hours in Alberta, have won five straight. . . . The Oil Kings are 22-18-6. . . . Edmonton next plays on Thursday morning — yes, morning — in its annual CN Hockey Hooky game. The Kootenay Ice will provide the opposition with game time set for 11:30.—-
Happy 52nd b'day to Dean Kennedy. The rugged former King & Sabre D-man's NHL career included season as Jets captain. pic.twitter.com/x7DR0VUE4Q
— O-Pee-Chee Stars (@opeecheestars) January 19, 2015
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The Saskatoon Blades lost a pair of players Thursday when D Ryan Coghlan and F Landon Welykholowa left for junior A teams. . . . Coghlan has joined the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, while Welykholowa is off to the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. . . . Coghlan, a 19-year-old from Nanaimo, had six points, including two goals, in 22 games with the Blades. He started the season by going pointless in two games with the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Welykholowa, an 18-year-old Calgarian, was pointless in one game with the Calgary Hitmen, then had five goals and four assists in 31 games with the Blades. . . . The Blades brought in F Brayden Uhrich, younger brother of F Josh Uhrich to practice and he may make his WHL debut tonight in Lethbridge. Brayden, 17, has been playing minor hockey in Rosetown, Sask., after going to camp with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Blades will be without F Garrett Armour, who will be serving a two-game WHL suspension for a boarding major he incurred on Saturday.
F Ty Ronning is expected to be in the Vancouver Giants’ lineup tonight for the first time this season. Ronning, a first-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, has been out since injuring a collarbone during the exhibition schedule. . . . Last season, as a freshman, Ronning had 20 points, nine of them goals, in 56 games. . . . Ronning, 17, is the son of former WHL and NHL F Cliff Ronning. . . . The Giants, who are at home to the Medicine Hat Tigers tonight, have also brought in D Matt Barberis. He was the 20th overall pick in the 2013 bantam draft and is playing with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League. He is from Surrey, B.C.
Regina Pats fans are expected to get their first look at F Jake Leschyshyn tonight against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Leschyshyn, 15, was acquired this week from the Red Deer Rebels and is expected to be a key component on the Pats’ roster in future seasons. After all, Red Deer selected the Saskatoon native with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . He is eligible to play five games with the Pats before his team, the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers, has its season end. . . . Asked by Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post about the trade, Leschyshyn replied: “I was pretty shocked at first. But with the Memorial Cup being held there (next season) I know Red Deer is definitely going to be stacking up to try to win the whole thing. Regina on the other hand is looking to build for the future. I thought I’d fit well in Regina.” . . . Leschyshyn’s father, Curtis, is a former WHL and NHL defence man who coaches his son with the Blazers. Last season, Curtis was an assistant coach with the Saskatoon Blades, working under head coach Dave Struch, who now is the Pats’ lead assistant.
The Prince George Cougars have signed G Patrick Gora, an 18-year-old from St. Albert, Alta. Gora was a ninth-round pick by the Regina Pats in the 2011 bantam draft. He has been playing with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, going 19-4-1, 1.98, .922. . . . Gora is expected to join the Cougars in time for tonight’s game in Victoria against the Royals. . . . The Cougars are carrying three goaltenders, with Gora joining Ty Edmonds, 18, and Tavin Grant, 16. 
F Nic Petan, who starred for Canada as it won the gold medal in the 2015 World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto, won’t play for the Portland Winterhawks tonight when they meet the Chiefs in Spokane. Petan apparently is ill.
F Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings is playing a regular shift, killing penalties and manning a point on the power play. He’s a 16-year-old freshman whose father played with the Wheat Kings and Buffalo Sabres, whose uncle was an NHL defence man and whose grandfather played in the CFL. Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press has more 
Bob Green, who had a whole lot to do with the building of the Edmonton Oil Kings into a Memorial Cup championship team, is being promoted within the Edmonton Oilers organization. Bob McKenzie, the Ultimate Insider, tweeted Thursday that Green “has been elevated to oversee EDM player development.” . . . Green has been the Oilers’ director of free agent amateur scouting. . . . Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal has more 
In Victoria, F Dryden Hunt, in his first game with Medicine Hat, scored the winning goal and added an assist as the Tigers got past the Royals, 3-2. . . . The game had been scheduled for Wednesday, but the Tigers were waylaid in Revelstoke, B.C., because the Trans-Canada Highway was closed due to avalanche control. They weren't able to get to Victoria until Wednesday night. . . . Hunt and D Kyle Burroughs, who were acquired this week from the Regina Pats, made their Tigers debuts. . . . Hunt’s 15th goal gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead at 10:29 of the third period. It came via the PP. . . . Burroughs drew an assist on Hunt’s goal. . . . Hunt now is riding an 11-game assist and point streak. . . . Tigers D Ty Schultz, a 17-year-old freshman from New Westminster, B.C., broke a 1-1 tie with his first goal at 4:08 of the third. He was the 16th overall pick in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . F Austin Carroll had two assists for the Royals. . . . D Joe Hicketts was back in Victoria’s lineup after helping Canada win gold at the WJC. . . . F Alex Forsberg made his debut with the Royals after coming over from the Saskatoon Blades, while G Justin Paulic, acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors, was on the bench in support of Coleman Vollrath. . . . The Tigers (28-9-3) have won four in a row. . . . The Royals (20-19-3) had a three-game winning streak end.
Green their director of amateur free-agent scouting. . . . The 52-year-old Green, the WHL’s executive of the year in each of the last two seasons, spent six seasons as the Oil Kings’ GM. . . . According to an Oilers news release: “Green . . . will work closely with the Oilers Hockey Operations department and Amateur Scouting staff, assisting with identifying and recruiting NCAA, CHL and select European free agents, as well as develop a free agent priority list.” . . . Under Green, the Oil Kings have been in the last two WHL championship finals, winning it all in 2011-12. . . . There was no announcement involving a new GM for the Oil Kings, but speculation is that Randy Hansch, the assistant GM and director of player personnel, may be in line for a promotion and that it may come as early as today.
season begins. That’s because there really isn’t anything new regarding a possible sale of the franchise.
McCrimmon, a former Raiders defenceman, went on to star for the Brandon Wheat Kings, who will provide the opposition on Sept. 27. Kelly McCrimmon, Brad’s brother, is the Wheat Kings’ owner/GM/head coach. . . . Brad, the SJHL’s defenceman of the year as a 16-year-old with the Raiders, went on to a lengthy pro career and was into coaching when he died in a plane crash with the KHL’s Yaroslavl Lokomotiv on Sept. 7, 2011. . . . The McCrimmons are from Plenty, Sask. . . . Also being inducted into the Wall of Honour will be builders Jim Bristowe and Doug Winterton. . . . Bristowe worked as a minor official and linseman and then took over as the public address voice, a position he held for 27 years, through 1999-2000. He also served on the franchise’s board of directors. . . . Winterton also served on the board and was a charter member of the Raiders’ Booster Club. Like Bristowe, Winterton also billeted players, including Brad McCrimmon.
victory over the Ottawa Jr. 67’s in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Sunday. . . . The Chiefs are the fourth team to win back-to-back titles, the others being the Couillard/Gouverneurs de Ste-Foy (1978, 1979), Prince Albert Mintos (2006, 2007) and Notre Dame Hounds (2009 and 2010). . . . Red Deer G Matt Zentner stopped 27 shots for the shutout. . . . Zentner was a 10th-round selection by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Chase Thudium, Trey Degraaf, Ryker Lee, Chris Gerrie and Ian McLellan had the goals. . . . The 2014 tournament will be held in Moose Jaw, with the Moose Jaw Generals as the host team.
In Edmonton, F Brooks Macek scored Calgary’s last two goals as the Hitmen came from behind to beat the Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . Macek tied the game at 7:56 of the third period, via the PP, and won it 6:59 of OT. . . . “It was a nice pass from Greg (Chase),” Macek told Crash Cameron of the Edmonton Sun. “He saw me, dropped it to me and I just saw top shelf, far side and I took it. Nobody wanted it to be our last game. Nobody thought anything about a Game 7, we just wanted to focus period by period.” . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger was tremendous in making 36 saves. . . . When the game ended, folks were talking about a second-period save he made on Edmonton F T.J. Foster to keep the score at 2-0. "That was a desperation move," Driedger told Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun. "I threw out an arm and, luckily got it. You don't make those too often. Most of the time, they're going to find the back of the net. It was nice to get one in a game like this." . . . Edmonton took at 3-1 lead into the third period. . . . F Brady Brassart scored on a PP just seven seconds into the period to get Calgary to within one. . . . Brassart has nine goals this spring; Macek has eight. . . . Edmonton D Ashton Sautner opened the scoring at 13:27 of the first. It was his third goal of the series; he had two goals in 62 regular-season games. He has four goals in 121 career regular-season games. In 26 playoff games, he has scored three times. . . . Brad Curle, the radio voice of the Hitmen, pointed out that Macek scored at 6:59 of overtime and at 6:59 Mountain Time. . . . The Hitmen are 3-0 in playoff OT games against the Oil Kings. . . . Calgary is 5-2 in OT games in these playoffs, including 2-0 against Edmonton. The Oil Kings are 0-3. . . . Game 7 will be played Tuesday in Edmonton. The WHL final opens Friday in Portland.
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