SATURDAY’S GAMES:
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The third game of the series between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Rebels in Red Deer will begin at 7 p.m. The game, which is scheduled for Wednesday, originally was scheduled for 7 p.m., but then was shifted to TBD in order to accommodate a possible Sportsnet telecast. But the Brandon-Edmonton series will go at least five games, with the fifth game set for Wednesday. Sportsnet will televise that game, with an 8 p.m. start time, allowing Game 3 in Red Deer to begin at 7 p.m.
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F Beck Malenstyn of the Calgary Hitmen has a friend in Penticton who is battling cancer. Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun reports that Kaylee Kozari-Bowland, 16, has “a rare, aggressive form of cancer” and “has exhausted all treatments available at the B.C. Children’s hospital, and now her desperate family is looking to a trial at the MD Cancer Center in Texas.” . . . Her family is looking at a bill of $200,000 or more, and Malenstyn wants to help. So he and the Hitmen are putting together a silent auction. . . . Fisher’s story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Brett Hopfe has resigned as director of hockey operations and head coach of the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys. Hopfe has filled both positions for more than three seasons. . . . Hopfe had signed a three-year contract extension on June 10. . . . The Grizzlys finished 24-27-9 this season, good for fifth place in the South Division. They were swept by the Drumheller Dragons in a best-of-five first-round playoff series.———
Happy 61st to @bdnwheatkings legend Ron Chipperfield who's one of few pros to go from playing in Calgary to Edmonton. pic.twitter.com/srONCeYoVm
— O-Pee-Chee Stars (@opeecheestars) March 29, 2015
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s last four goals as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-3. . . . The visitors took a 3-2 lead into the second period. . . . Tigers D Tyler Lewington tied it at 7:43 of the second and gave his guys the lead at 19:52. He’s got eight goals. . . . F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL in points, got his 21st goal at 2:49 of the third and F Chad Butcher scored No. 15 at 7:11 on a PP. . . . Cox also had two assists. . . . F Markus Eisenschmid had two goals, giving him 15, and added an assist for Medicine Hat. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford had three assists, as did freshman D David Quenneville, who enjoyed his first three-point game. . . . Medicine Hat F Dryden Hunt didn’t get a point, thus ending his point streak at 19 games, the longest in the WHL this season. He had 10 goals and 19 assists during his streak. . . . The longest active point streak in the WHL now belongs to Cox, at nine games. . . . Cox has 83 points in 48 games; last season, he finished with 82 in 70 games. He leads the scoring race by eight points over Sanford. . . . Lethbridge F Tyler Wong scored his 20th goal of the season, while F Brayden Burke had two assists. . . . With seven regulars out — including D Tommy Vannelli, Ty Stanton, Kyle Burroughs and Kyle Becker— the Tigers had D Brad Forrest of Calgary and F Ryan Jevne of Edmonton in their lineup. Forrest was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft; he plays for the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. Jevne, who plays for the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons, was taken in the second round of the 2013 bantam draft. . . . F Zane Franklin, the 43rd overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft, made his debut with the Hurricanes. Franklin, from Marwayne, Alta., is playing for the midget AAA Lloydminster Bobcats. He has 31 points, including 11 goals, in 26 games. . . . The Tigers (34-12-2) have won five in a row. . . . The Hurricanes (11-29-6) entertain the Kootenay Ice tonight. . . .
In Red Deer, D Madison Bowey scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Kelowna Rockets a 4-3 victory over the Rebels. . . . Red Deer F Conner Bleackley forced OT with his 23rd goal at 5:29 of the third period. . . . The Rebels took a 2-0 lead with a pair of second-period goals 13 seconds part. . . . F Austin Adamson scored his fourth goal at 3:40 and F Wyatt Johnson added his 20th at 3:53. . . . The Rockets then took the lead with three goals in 2:02. D Madison Bowey got his 12th at 11:55 of the second, with F Justin Kirkland getting his 17th at 13:29 and F Tyson Baillie notching his 30th at 13:57. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistler stopped 24 shots through OT and was perfect in the shootout. . . . Red Deer G Rylan Toth turned aside 36 shots. . . . Red Deer was 0-for-4 on the PP, including a 5-on-3 for 1:54 in the second period as it was leading 2-0. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-3. . . . Red Deer won’t have F Evan Polei in its lineup for up to two months. He suffered an undisclosed injury Saturday against visiting Vancouver. . . . The Rockets (37-8-3), who are in Edmonton tonight, have won three straight. . . . The Rebels (27-14-7) are 7-0-2 in their last nine games. They are second in the Central Division, two points ahead of idle Calgary.
In Regina, F Kris Schmidli had two goals and an assist to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-5 victory over the Pats. . . . Schmidli has six points, three of them goals, in his last two games. . . . Schmidli was plus-4, as was D Dalton Yorke, who, like Schmidli, was acquired from Kelowna. Yorke had one assist. . . . The Raiders took a 4-3 lead into the second period and stretched that to 6-3 on second-period goals from F Jayden Hart, his 20th, and F Craig Leverton, his 15th. . . . The Pats got close when F Adam Brooks got his 17th at 16:44 of the third period and F Taylor Cooper completed his hat trick at 19:07. Cooper, who came over from the Lethbridge Hurricanes during the week, has 15 goals. . . . Cooper also had an assist, while Brooks and F Pavel Padakin had two each. . . . Raiders G Rylan Parenteau came on for Nick McBride after the first period and stopped 28 of 30 shots. . . . The Raiders (19-23-1) have won three in a row. . . . Regina(25-14-3) has lost two straight. . . . 
In Swift Current, the Everett Silvertips struck for three second-period power-play goals — on three consecutive PPs — and beat the Broncos, 3-1. . . . F Ivan Nikolishin, with his ninth, scored 33 seconds into the period, with D Noah Juulsen getting his fifth at 10:05 and F Patrick Bajkov getting No. 14 at 12:24. . . . Nikolishin also had two assists. . . . Broncos F Colby Cave scored his 20th goal at 15:23 of the second. . . . Everett was 3-for-6 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-for-4. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 28 shots, seven more than Swift Current’s Travis Child. . . . F Carson Stadnyk had two assists for Everett. . . . Everett had D Kevin Davis back in the lineup after his missed the first five games of the trip with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Silvertips (26-12-4) went 5-1-0 on their East Division swing. . . . The Broncos, who entertain Edmonton today, slipped to 20-18-5. . . . 
In Moose Jaw, F Axel Blomqvist broke a 3-3 tie at 3:27 of the third period as the Warriors got past the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . The goal was Blomqvist’s 15th of the season and first with Moose Jaw since being acquired from the Victoria Royals. . . . Blomqvist also had an assist, while F Brayden Point drew two helpers. . . . The Oil Kings had successfully killed off 44 straight opposition power plays before F Brett Howden scored his 13th goal, at 16;47 of the second, to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock tied it with his 18th goal at 2:40 of the third. . . . Edmonton D Ashton Sautner had two assists. . . . Warriors F Tanner Eberle got his 25th goal, shorthanded, at 10:17 of the second, giving his side a 2-1 lead. . . . “I’m hugely concerned with the number of penalties we take,” Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team’s website. “We consistently have to kill off six or seven a night and I have a hard time arguing with the calls against, and we’ve been pretty lights out on our penalty kill for a good stretch here. . . . What hurt the most was the shorthanded goal against.” . . . Moose Jaw G Brody Willms made his second career start, and his first at home. He stopped 28 shots to earn his first WHL victory. . . . Edmonton F Davis Koch scored his fourth goal of the season; he’s got goals in three straight games. . . . The Warriors (17-23-4) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Oil Kings (20-17-5), who are in Swift Current for a late afternoon date, had a four-game winning streak end. . . . 
In Cranbrook, F Wyatt Sloboshan scored two second-period goals to help the Saskatoon Blades to a 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Sloboshan, who has six goals, broke a 2-2 tie at 12:47. . . . Ice F Tim Bozon scored his 14th goal at 15:23 for a 3-3 tie. . . . Sloboshan then gave his side a 4-3 lead at 18:57. . . . Goals by F Cameron Hebig, his 10th, at 3:39 of the third, and F Sam McKechnie, his 15th, at 13:43, gave the visitors a 6-3 lead. . . . The teams combined for six second-period goals. . . . F Levi Cable scored twice for the Ice, giving him 19. . . . F Kolton Dixon had three assists for the Blades, while D Brycen Martin had a goal and an assist. . . . F Luke Philp had his 18th goal and two assists for the Ice. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm, in his WHL debut, stopped 28 shots. . . . Ice G Keelan Williams, making his first start since Oct. 22 in Saskatoon, stopped 35 shots. G Wyatt Hoflin had appeared in a franchise-record 29 straight games. . . . Ice D Rinat Valiev (ill) missed his second straight game. . . . The Blades (10-29-3) had lost four straight. . . . The Ice (21-20-1) has lost three in a row. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story 
In Lethbridge, F Adam Tambellini scored twice and added an assist to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Lethbridge F Brayden Burke gave his side a 2-0 lead with his first two goals, at 11:34 and 19:57 of the first period. The latter came via the PP. . . . The Hitmen then erupted for five second-period goals, with Tambellini in on three of them. He’s got 26 goals. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean, 16, scored his first goal in his 31st game. He also has 19 assists. Do they call him Mister Bean? . . . Burke, who turned 18 on Jan. 1, is from Edmonton. He also had an assist, giving him three points. In nine games with the Hurricanes, he had two goals and three assists. . . . G Giorgio Estephan scored his seventh goal and added two assists for the Hurricanes, who were outshot 42-16. . . . G Brendan Burke stopped 13 shots in his first start with Calgary since being acquired from Portland. . . . The Hitmen (23-15-4), who went 3-1-1 on a five-game trip, are 3-0-1 in their last four games. . . . The Hurricanes are 10-24-6. . . . The Hitmen are at home to Brandon this afternoon in a game that will be on Sportsnet. . . . 
In Red Deer, G Rylan Toth stopped 36 shots to spark the Rebels to a 6-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Toth turned aside 14 shots in the first period and 13 more in the second. . . . F Riley Sheen, F Preston Kopeck and F Connor Gay each scored twice for Red Deer, which scored three times in the first and three times in the third. . . . Sheen scored the game’s first two goals, giving him 12. Kopeck has 13; Gay has 22. . . . Kopeck has scored in three straight games after king 10 without a goal. . . . Gay and Kopeck added an assist apiece, while F Conner Bleackley drew two assists. . . . D Colton Waltz scored for Brandon, getting his fifth goal at 9:45 of the second period. . . . Wheat Kings G Alex Moodie stopped 20 shots. . . . Brandon had D Ivan Provorov after he missed six games while with Russia at the WJC. . . . Brandon F Rihards Bukarts returned after a one-game absence. . . . The Rebels (23-14-5) have won three in a row. . . . Brandon (29-9-4), which is in Calgary this afternoon, has lost two straight. . . . 
In Portland, F Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and added an assist to help the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Bjorkstrand, who has seven points over his last two games, has 25 goals. . . . F Alex Schoenborn broke a 2-2 tie for Portland with his 12th goal, on a PP, at 9:48 of the second period. . . . Bjorkstrand added insurance at 12:16, with a shorthanded score. . . . Vancouver F Zane Jones, acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night, was in the Giants’ lineup and got his 19th goal at 15:47 of the second to get his guys to within one. . . . Bjorkstrand put it away at 15:23 of the third. . . . F Tyler Benson scored Vancouver’s first two goals, giving him 10. . . . Portland F Chase De Leo drew an assist to run his point streak to a career-high 17 games. . . . Portland F Evan Weinger had two assists. . . . Winterhawks G Adin Hill stopped 44 shots, 11 more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . Portland is still without F Nic Petan (ill). . . . The Winterhawks (23-18-3) have won two straight. . . . The Giants are 19-21-2. . . . 
In Victoria, F Alex Forsberg scored three times to help the Royals to a 5-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Forsberg was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades prior to the trade deadline. The Blades got him from the Cougars during the off-season. The Cougars selected Forsberg first overall in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Forsberg has 16 goals this season. . . . The Royals had a 5-0 lead in the third period. . . . D Joe Hicketts and F Austin Carroll each had two assists for the Royals. . . . F Brad Morrison, with his 16th, and D Josh Connolly, with his sixth, scored for the Cougars. Connolly was playing his first game since being acquired from Kamloops. . . . Victoria was 3-for-6 on the PP; the Cougars were 1-for-7. . . . Royals G Justin Paulic stopped 27 shots, three fewer than Prince George’s Patrick Gora. . . . The Royals (22-19-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Cougars (20-23-1) have lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . 
In Spokane, the Chiefs scored the game’s first four goals and went on to a 5-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Spokane took a 3-0 lead into the first period with two of its early goals coming via the PP. . . . F Markson Bechtold got his fourth goal at 9:13 and F Liam Stewart got No. 15 at 18:50. . . . In between, F Devon McAndrews scored his third goal of the season. After scoring three times in his first 62 WHL games, 54 of them with the Tri-City Americans, he has three in his last two games. . . . The Blazers scored twice in the second period — F Jesse Zaharichuk, with his second, at 7:27, and F Cole Ully, with his 19th, at 9:18 — but couldn’t get closer. . . . Spokane F Adam Helewka scored his 24th goal to run his scoring streak to seven games. . . . The Blazers held a 31-21 edge in shots. . . . Kamloops F Logan McVeigh played in his 300th regular-season game. He has played 126 games with Kamloops, 28 with the Regina Pats, 76 with the Medicine Hat Tigers and 70 with the Prince Albert Raiders. He has 137 points, including 51 goals. . . . The Chiefs are 23-15-3. . . . The Blazers slid to 14-24-6.
In Brandon, F Rihards Bukarts scored once and added three assists to lead the Wheat Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . After drawing an assist on each of Brandon’s first three goals, Bukarts scored an empty-netter at 19:44 of the third period. He’s got 12 goals. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk broke a 1-1 tie at 14:49 of the second period and D Colton Waltz stretched the lead to 3-1 at 16:06. . . . Hawryluk has 15 goals; Waltz has four. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy had two assists. . . . Brandon G Alex Moodie, making his first home appearance since being acquired from the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 26, stopped 25 shots. . . . D Dustin Perillat had two assists for the Warriors. . . . The Wheat Kings had beaten the host Warriors 3-0 on Saturday. . . . Brandon (26-7-4) has points in seven straight (4-0-2). . . . Moose Jaw (15-19-3) has lost five straight. . . .
In Vancouver, F Scott Eansor broke a 2-2 tie at 17:50 of the third period to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Giants. . . . The Thunderbirds took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by F Lane Pederson, his fifth, and D Ethan Bear, his eighth. . . . F Jackson Houck got Vancouver on the board at 12:25 of the second, with his 13th goal, and F Alex Baer tied it, with his ninth, at 8:28 of the third. . . . Eansor won it with his fifth goal of the season. . . . Seattle G Taran Kozun stopped 33 shots, 12 more than Vancouver‘s Payton Lee. . . . Seattle F Justin Hickman missed on a first-period penalty shot with his side up 2-0. . . . Giants F Vladimir Bobylev had two assists. . . . The Thunderbirds continue to play without F Mathew Barzal (knee). . . . Seattle (16-15-4) has won three in a row. . . . The Giants (16-19-1) went into this one with points in eight straight (7-0-1). . . . The Thunderbirds are fifth in the U.S. Division, but hold down the second wild-card playoff spot. They are three points ahead of the Giants, who are fourth in the B.C. Division, three points behind Prince George. . . . 
In Calgary, G Wyatt Hoflin tied a franchise record as he backstopped the Kootenay Ice to a 4-3 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Hoflin made his 25th consecutive start, tying the Ice franchise record that was set by Todd Mathews from Jan. 21 through March 14, 2009. . . . Hoflin stopped 34 shots and was named the game’s first start. . . . The Ice scored the game’s first two goals, getting them 45 seconds apart in the first period. F Zak Zborosky scored his 11th on a PP at 10:04, with F Jon Martin adding his fourth at 10:49. . . . The Hitmen weren’t able to equalize, although they did get to within 2-1 and 3-2. . . . F Adam Tambellini scored twice for Calgary, giving him 21. . . . Kootenay F Levi Cable, who had four goals and an assist on Saturday when the Ice beat the visiting Hitmen 6-2, scored his 16th goal and added an assist. . . . The Ice (20-17-0) has won five in a row. . . . The Hitmen (19-14-3) have lost three straight. . . . The Ice is fourth in the Central Division, but closed to within a point of the Hitmen with the weekend sweep. . . . 
In Regina, the Pats broke a 1-1 tie with five straight goals as they beat the Swift Current Broncos, 6-1. . . . Regina F Patrick D’Amico broke the tie with his 13th goal at 4:27 of the second period and F Dryden Hunt made it 3-1 with his 13th goal at 8:01. . . . The Broncos had beaten the visiting Pats 5-3 on Saturday. . . . Regina D Colby Williams, playing his second game since returning from a wrist injury, had one assist and was plus-5. . . . The Pats held a 46-24 edge in shots. . . . F Colby Cave scored his 18th goal for the Broncos. . . . Regina D Chase Harrison left in the first period with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return. . . . Regina improved to 21-12-2. . . . The Broncos (18-15-4) had won their previous two games. . . . The Pats are second in the East Division, four points ahead of the Broncos. Regina holds two games in hand. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Justin Gutierrez broke a 2-2 tie late in the third period as the Tri-City Americans beat the Everett Silvertips, 3-2. . . . Gutierrez scored his fifth goal of the season at 13:57. . . . Tri-City D Parker Wotherspoon scored his team’s other two goals. He tied the score 1-1 at 12:22 of the first period and 2-2 at 10:22 of the third. He’s got eight goals. . . . The Americans had been 0-14-1 when trailing going into the third period. . . . F Nikita Scherbak scored his 17th goal for Everett. . . . Americans G Evan Sarthou turned aside 28 shots, 10 more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . The Americans (18-16-1) ended a three-game losing skid. . . . The Silvertips (21-10-4) had won two in a row. . . . The Americans are fourth in the U.S. Division, four points behind Portland with three games in hand. For now, Tri-City owns the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot.
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