— Darren Steinke (@StanksSports) June 28, 2015
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According to a Saturday afternoon tweet from Jay Janower of Global B.C., the Vancouver Giants are “set to announce Lorne Molleken” as their latest head coach. . . . Molleken sat out last season after being bought out when Edmonton car dealer Mike Priestner bought the Saskatoon Blades. Molleken had been the Blades’ general manager and head coach. . . . Molleken also has coached the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats. He has 603 career WHL coaching victories, good for fourth spot on the WHL’s all-time list. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who has covered the Saskatoon Blades for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, reported that the Giants offered Molleken their head-coaching position on an interim basis in November. . . . With the Giants, Molleken will replace Claude Noel, who took over from Troy Ward early last season and wasn’t retained at season’s end. . . . The Giants have missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, including last season.
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The WHL says it had 35 players selected in the two-day NHL draft that wrapped up Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla., the home of the Florida Panthers. That included five first-round selections.
First Round
7. D Ivan Provorov, Brandon Wheat Kings, Philadelphia Flyers.
14. F Jake DeBrusk, Swift Current Broncos, Boston Bruins.
16. F Mathew Barzal, Seattle Thunderbirds, New York Islanders.
26. D Noah Juulsen, Everett Silvertips, Montreal Canadiens.
30. F Nick Merkley, Kelowna Rockets, Arizona Coyotes.
Second Round
37. D Brandon Carlo, Tri-City Americans, Boston.
38. F Paul Bittner, Portland Winterhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets.
41. F Ryan Gropp, Seattle, New York Rangers.
47. F Jansen Harkins, Prince George Cougars, Winnipeg Jets.
51. D Brendan Guhle, Prince Albert Raiders, Buffalo Sabres.
Third Round
65. D Andrew Nielsen, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs.
69. F Keegan Kolesar, Seattle, Columbus.
76. G Adin Hill, Portland, Arizona.
79. D Sergei Zborovskiy, Regina Pats, New York Rangers.
84. F Deven Sideroff, Kamloops Blazers, Anaheim Ducks.
Fourth Round
94. F Adam Musil, Red Deer Rebels, St. Louis Blues.
99. F Austin Wagner, Regina, Los Angeles Kings.
105. F Jesse Gabrielle, Regina, Boston.
106. F Adam Helewka, Spokane Chiefs, San Jose Sharks.
112. D Parker Wotherspoon, Tri-City, New York Islanders.
113. F Brad Morrison, Prince George, New York Rangers.
116. F Glenn Gawdin, Swift Current, St. Louis.
Fifth Round
122. D Devante Stephens, Kelowna, Buffalo.
124. D Ethan Bear, Seattle, Edmonton Oilers.
129. D Sam Ruopp, Prince George, Columbus.
131. F Matt Bradley, Medicine Hat, Montreal.
136. F Pavel Karnaukhov, Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Flames.
143. D Connor Hobbs, Regina, Washington Capitals.
147. D Ryan Pilon, Brandon, New York Islanders.
Sixth Round
152. F Giorgio Estephan, Lethbridge, Buffalo.
173. D Colby Williams, Regina, Washington.
Seventh Round
187. D Chaz Reddekopp, Victoria Royals, Los Angeles.
203. F Matteo Gennaro, Prince Albert, Winnipeg.
205. G Evan Smith, Victoria, Nashville Predators.
210. D Tate Olson, Prince George, Vancouver Canucks.
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The Regina Pats led all WHL teams with five players selected off their roster. Here’s a team-by-team look:
5 -- Regina.
4 -- Prince George, Seattle.
3 -- None.
2 -- Brandon, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Portland, Prince Albert, Swift Current, Tri-City, Victoria.
1 -- Calgary, Everett, Kamloops, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Spokane.
0 -- Edmonton, Kootenay, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Vancouver.
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DRAFT NOTES: The OHL had 31 players selected, while 30 were taken out of the QMJHL. . . . There were 17 Russian-born players selected, the most in 11 years. . . . A year ago, there were 37 WHL players drafted. The record is 43 in 2010 and 2005. . . . There were 37 players drafted who played last season in the USHL. . . . The Prince George Cougars had four players selected Saturday after having had five players taken in the previous six drafts. . . . F Cameron Hughes, who will turn 19 on Oct. 9, was selected in the sixth round by the Boston Bruins. He has 13 points, including three goals, in 34 games as a freshman at Wisconsin last season. His WHL rights belong to the Swift Current Broncos. From Edmonton, the Broncos selected him in the ninth round of the 2011 bantam draft. . . . The Arizona Coyotes selected then-Portland G Brendan Burke in the sixth round of the 2013 draft, but then chose not to sign him. On Saturday, the Coyotes selected Portland G Adin Hill in the third round. Hill beat out Burke for the No. 1 job in Portland last season, and Burke was dealt to the Calgary Hitmen. . . . G Evan Smith of Parker, Colo.,, played four games with Victoria and finished the season with the NAHL’s Austin Bruins, playing 15 regular-season and six playoff games. Still, the WHL is including him in its 35-player total. . . . D Andrew Nielsen of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who went to Toronto in the third round, is a former Red Deer Rebels’ stick boy. . . . F Marcus Vela of the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen was the only player drafted from a junior A team. Vela, who is from Burnaby, B.C., was a seventh-round pick by Spokane in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. He has committed to the U of New Hampshire. . . .In the seventh round, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Finnish D Markus Nutivaara, who is 21 years of age. He had four assists in 35 games with Karpat of the Finnish Liiga last season. Nutivaara was the oldest player to be selected in the 2015 draft. . . . You may have noticed that there were 31 selections in the second round on Saturday. The Chicago Blackhawks received the round’s 24th pick (54th overall) as compensation for not signing F Kevin Hayes, a 2010 first-round selection. . . . All told, 211 players were selected. . . . NHL draft picks by birthplace: Canada, 79; U.S., 55; Sweden, 19; Russia, 17; Finland, 13; Czech Republic, 11; Slovakia, 5; Switzerland, 4; Latvia, 3; and, Belarus, China, Germany, Netherlands, Ukraine, each 1. . . . The CHL has scheduled its 2015 import/goaltenders-not-welcome draft for Tuesday.
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Later Saturday, reports began indicating that various undrafted players had accepted invitations to NHL team development camps. . . . F Dryden Hunt of Medicine Hat will go to camp with Montreal. . . . D Turner Ottenbreit of Seattle is off to Washington’s camp. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz will go to Buffalo’s development camp.
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Chris Pronger hasn’t played an NHL game for more than two years. He now is an NHL employee. His name may be among the latest Hockey Hall of Fame inductees when the list is revealed on Monday. . . . None of that prevented his having been traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. . . . Crazy? Welcome to the NHL’s salary cap world. . . . Adam Gretz of cbssports.com explains it all right here. . . . Ken Campbell of The Hockey News blogs about it right here.
If Coyotes can get deal with Glendale to stay in force, taxpayers helping pay $500,000 salary of a guy who's won't play and works for NHL.
— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) June 27, 2015
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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There were reports on Saturday that Bob Boughner, the head coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, is headed to the NHL. Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Boughner is soon to sign on as an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks. Peter DeBoer, hired earlier as the Sharks’ head coach, is putting together his coaching staff. . . . Boughner coached the Spitfires to Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010. He then joined the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant coach for one season before returning to Windsor.
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Kim Dillabaugh has left the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and signed on with the Philadelphia Flyers. Dillabaugh, who is from Kelowna, spent nine seasons with the Kings, mostly as their director of goaltender development. He was part of two Stanley Cup championships and also helped the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs to a Calder Cup title in 2014-15. . . . With the Flyers, Dillabaugh, 37, will take over from the departed Jeff Reese as goaltending coach. . . . Dillabaugh also has worked with the Kelowna Rockets, serving as an assistant coach and goaltending coach. He helped them to a Memorial Cup title in 2004 and WHL championships in 2005 and 2009. . . . Former NHL G Bill Ranford is the Kings’ goaltending coach. . . . Tim Panaccio of CSN-Philadelphia was the first to report the Flyers had signed Dillabaugh.
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Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Steve Briere as their goaltending coach. Briere is the owner/head instructor of Canadian Professional Goalie Schools. He also works with four U.S. junior teams -- the Topeka Roadrunners (NAHL), Fargo Force and Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL), and Casper Coyotes (WSHL). . . . With Toronto, Briere will replace Rick St. Croix, who was dumped after last season.
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For the love of god people, stop writing articles on the winners and losers in the 2015 NHL Draft. It is pointless to evaluate a draft early
— Shane Malloy (@ShaneMalloy) June 27, 2015
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
In Swift Current, F Dryden Hunt scored two goals and set up another as the Medicine Hat Tigers dropped the Broncos, 5-1. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford scored his WHL-leading 47th goal at 11:13 of the second period for a 2-1 lead. . . . Sanford had the WHL lead until Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand tied him later in the evening. Bjorkstrand later scored again, giving him 48. . . . Hunt, who has 30 goals, scored at 19:52 of the second, on a PP, and again at 1:30 of the third. . . . Sanford also had an assist, getting him up to 88points in 63 games. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox, the WHL scoring leader, drew three assists. He’s got 97 points in 60 games. . . . Tigers F Steve Owre and D Kyle Becker each had a goal and an assist. . . . Owre has 16 goals; Becker has 11. . . . F Jake DeBrusk got No. 37 for the Broncos. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-for-2. . . . Medicine Hat G Nick Schneider stopped 30 shots, nine fewer than Swift Current’s Landon Bow. . . . The Broncos had D Dillon Heatherington back in the lineup. He last played on Jan. 23. . . . The Tigers (39-21-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Broncos (30-27-5) have lost two straight. . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Jesse Shynkaruk scored at 1:31 of OT gave the Warriors a 6-5 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . The Pats led 2-0 on a pair of goals by F Adam Brooks, the second one shorthanded. . . . The Warriors then scored four in a row, with F Tanner Eberle getting two of them in 24 seconds and F Jack Rodewald scoring his 30th. . . . The Pats tied it in the first half of the third period as F Jesse Gabrielle scored his 20th and Brooks completed his first hat trick with his 25th. . . . F Patrick D’Amico gave Regina a 5-4 lead with his 18th goal at 15:28 on a PP. . . . Warriors F Brett Howden got his 15th at 16:56 to force OT. . . . Shynkaruk won it with his seventh goal of the season. . . . Eberle left the Warriors’ bench for the dressing room early in the third period and didn’t return. After the game, Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald tweeted: “Tanner Eberle is still being evaluated, but it looked like a shoulder injury and he has had a previous shoulder surgery.” . . . Rodewald also had two assists, while linemate Brayden Point scored his 29th goal and had two assists. . . . Moose Jaw D Austin Adam also had two helpers. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-for-5 on the PP; Regina was 1-for-3. . . . The Warriors (26-31-5) have won two straight. . . . Regina (33-20-9) is 0-1-2 in its last three. . . . 
In Brandon, F Peter Quenneville scored twice to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Quenneville has 20 goals, and is the seventh player on the Brandon roster to reach that mark. . . . The Wheat Kings built a 5-2 lead before the Ice got two goals in the latter half of the third period to get to within one. . . . Brandon F Morgan Klimchuk iced it with an empty-netter at 19:28 of the third. He’s got 27 goals. Klimchuk also had two assists. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley had two assists as he ran his point streak to 19 games, tied for the longest such streak in the WHL this season. F Dryden Hunt put together a 19-game streak split between the Regina Pats and Medicine Hat Tigers earlier in the season. Hunt put up 30 points, 10 of them goals, in his streak. McGauley has 39 points, including 27 assists. . . . According to Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Wheaties, McGauley has the team’s longest point streak since F Cory Cyrenne went 23 games in 1997-98. . . . F Tim Bozon scored twice for the Ice, giving him 31 this season. He has scored at least 30 goals in each of his four WHL seasons. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 30th goal, while F Sam Reinhart had two assists. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny, making his 13th consecutive start, stopped 26 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings (46-10-7) are 3-0-1 in their last four. . . . The Ice (33-28-3) had points in their previous seven (5-0-2). . . . 
In Kamloops, the Blazers erased a 3-2 third-period deficit and beat the Vancouver Giants, 6-3. . . . F Carter Popoff gave the Giants a 3-2 lead with his 24th goal at 2:23 of the third period. . . . Kamloops D Michael Fora tied it with his fifth goal at 8:16. . . . F Cole Ully of Kamloops broke the tie with his 30th goal at 13:07 and freshman F Quinn Benjafield got his second of the game, and fifth of the season, at 16:20. . . . F Jackson Houck scored his 20th goal for Vancouver in the first period and F Ty Ronning notched his first of the season, also in the first. . . . Ully finished with a goal and two assist, giving him 81 points in 60 games. He also was plus-4. . . . F Logan McVeigh and F Joel Hamilton each had two assists for Kamloops. . . . The Blazers scratched freshman F Deven Sideroff, who left early in the third period of Friday’s 4-2 victory over visiting Victoria with an apparent injury to his right wrist. In his absence, F Jesse Zaharichuk started on the right side with Needham and Ully. Cody Nickolet, who tracks WHL lines and defence pairings, has the Ully-Needham-Sideroff line together for 54 of the Blazers’ 62 games going into last night. . . . Before the night was done, Kamloops head coach Don Hay had cycled a number of skaters through the right wing on that line. Later, he even split up Needham and Ully, putting Ully out with Luke Harrison and McVeigh. It paid off in Harrison’s 12th goal, at 17:37 of the second. . . . Vancouver had F Matt Bellerive (illness) back for the first time since Jan. 25. . . . The Blazers scored four goals on seven shots in the third period. . . . F Tyler Benson had two assists for Vancouver. . . . There were three minor penalties called, two to the Blazers. . . . Neither team scored on the PP. . . . The Blazers (24-33-6) have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (26-33-3) have lost two straight. . . . 
In Spokane, F Curtis Miske scored three goals to help the Chiefs to an 8-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Chiefs took control with five second-period goals. . . . Miske, a freshman from Beaumont, Alta., who turned 18 on Jan. 17, now has five goals in 49 games. . . . Chiefs F Adam Helewka scored twice, giving him 35, and added an assist, while F Kailer Yamamoto and F Keanu Yamamoto each had three assists. Yes, they are brothers. . . . Spokane G Garret Hughson stopped 22 shots. He lost his shutout bid when F Taylor Vickerman scored his sixth goal on a PP at 19:45 of the third period. . . . Tri-City F Beau McCue missed on a second-period penalty shot. . . . Spokane D Riley Whittingham took a charging major and game misconduct at 19:02 of the third period. . . . Tri-City G Beck Warm, a 15-year-old making his first start, stopped 31 shots. With regular goaltenders Eric Comrie and Evan Sarthou injured, Warm is the fifth starting goaltender the Americans have used this season. . . . Spokane leads the season series 7-3-0 with two games remaining. . . . The Chiefs (30-27-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Americans (27-33-3) have lost four in a row. . . . 
In Kelowna, F Kenton Helgesen scored at 15:57 of the third period to give the Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Rockets. . . . Helgesen’s goal was his 20th of the season. . . . Rockets F Leon Draisaitl scored the game’s first goal, his 14th, at 8:40 of the first period. That was his 200th WHL point. . . . Draisaitl was later ejected, taking a major for goaltender interference at 14:31 of the second period. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen tied the game 1-1 with his 19th goal, on a PP at 5:55 of the second. . . . Virtanen also had an assist. . . . Hitmen G Brendan Burke stopped 30 shots. He’s 9-1-1 since being acquired from Portland at the trade dealine. . . . Rockets G Jackson Whistle started for the first time since Feb. 6 when he beat visiting Kamloops, 5-3. He underwent an appendectomy after that start. . . . Whistle turned aside 22 shots in this one. . . . D Josh Morrissey returned to Kelowna’s lineup after a one-game absence, but left in the second period with an apparent left leg injury. According to Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier, Morrissey “got tangled up with Calgary forechecker Carsen Twarynski, went down awkwardly and had to be helped off the ice unable to put any weight on his left leg.” . . . Calgary was 1-for-3 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-for-6. . . . The Rockets remain without injured F Rourke Chartier. . . . The Hitmen (39-19-5) are 5-1-0 on a six-game swing that started with five U.S. Division stops. . . . The Rockets (48-11-4) had won their previous two games. They also had won eight straight on home ice. . . . Fisher’s game story is 
In Kent, Wash., F Oliver Bjorkstrand ran his goal-scoring streak to a franchise record-tying 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . Bjorsktrand scored twice, giving him 48 goals in 49 games, as he took over the WHL’s goal-scoring lead. . . . He now shares the franchise record of 11 straight games with F Tony Currie, who did it in 1976-77, the Winterhawks’ first season in Portland. . . . Bjorkstrand broke a 1-1 tie at 13:40 of first period and later added an empty-netter at 18:01 of the third. . . . The online scoresheet credits Bjorkstrand with Portland’s third goal, a PP score at 2:29 of the second period, but that one is expected to be changed to F Paul Bittner, who also scored another goal. He’s got 29. . . . Bjorkstrand also had an assist. He has 90 points, good for second spot in the scoring race. . . . F Chase De Leo scored his 31st goal and added an assist for Portland, while F Nic Petan had two assists. . . . F Mathew Barzal got his 12th goal and had an assist for Seattle. . . . Portland G Adin Hill was credited with 49 stops, 26 more than Seattle’s Taran Kozun. . . . Portland was 1-for-1 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-3. . . . The Winterhawks (37-20-5) have points in eight straight (6-0-2). . . . Seattle (31-23-8) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . 
In Everett, the Prince George Cougars scored the last five goals and beat the Silvertips, 5-1. . . . F Jake Mykitiuk, who began his WHL career with the Cougars, got Everett on the board with his third goal at 10:16 of the first. . . . Cougars F Chase Witala tied it with his 31st at 13:02 of the first, on a PP. . . . F Aaron Boyd broke the tie with his sixth, at 8:21 of the second. . . . Witala finished with two goals, while F Jansen Harkins had three assists for a third straight game. . . . Cougars D Josh Connolly had two assists, and F Zach Pochiro scored his 16th goal and added an assist. . . . Cougars G Ty Edmonds stopped 27 shots, two more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Prince George was 2-for-4 on the PP; Everett was 0-for-6. . . . The Silvertips were without D Ben Betker, who served a one-game suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct he incurred on Friday night. . . . Everett also was missing two other defence men — Kevin Davis and Tristen Pfeifer, both with undisclosed injuries. . . . The injuries and the suspension meant that Everett dressed just four defencemen, so F Dawson Leedahl helped out on the back end. . . . The Cougars scratched F David Soltes for a second straight game. . . . The Cougars (26-33-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Silvertips now are 37-19-7.
In Saskatoon, G Nik Amundrud stopped 24 shots to help the Blades to a 3-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Amundrud, a 17-year-old freshman from Melfort, Sask., has two shutouts this season. . . . Saskatoon F Brett Stovin scored the game’s first goal, on a PP at 1:09 of the first period. . . . He’s got 19 goals. . . . The Blades were 2-for-9 on the PP, with F Josh Uhrich getting his seventh goal, with the man advantage, at 11:58 of the third. . . . Saskatoon F Garrett Armour scored his first goal at 2:36 of the third. . . . Raiders G Nick McBride stopped 35 shots, including 17 in the opening period. . . . The Blades (14-29-3), who have taken three in a row from the Raiders, are on a season-best five-game winning streak. . . . The Raiders (19-27-1) have lost four straight. They are 3-9-0 since the Christmas break. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story 
In Cranbrook, G Keelan Williams earned his first WHL victory as the Kootenay Ice beat the Prince George Cougars, 7-4. . . . Williams, who normally backs up Wyatt Hoflin, stopped 26 shots. . . . The Ice broke a 2-2 second-period tie with three goals in 6:21. . . . Cougars F Chase Witala tied it 2-2 with his 26th goal at 18:11 of the first, via the PP. . . . Ice F Zak Zborosky broke the tie with his 15th goal at 15:55 of the third, F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 24th at 11:36 and F Austin Wellsby got his first at 12:16. . . . Ice F Levi Cable scored twice, giving him 22, while Descheneau also had two assists. . . . Ice F Luke Philp drew three assists, F Tim Bozon scored twice, giving him 19, and added an assist, and F Sam Reinhart had two assists. . . . Prince George F Jansen Harkins scored his 17th goal and added two helpers, while D Josh Connolly got his ninth goal and also had two assists. . . . The Ice (26-22-1) has won four straight and holds the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, three points ahead of Edmonton. . . . The Cougars (20-29-2) have lost 10 in a row (0-8-2). . . . Prince George is tied with Kamloops and Vancouver for third place in the B.C. Division. . . . 
In Spokane, G Taran Kozun turned aside 20 shots to help the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 2-0 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Kozun has seven shutouts in his career, five of them with Seattle. Of those five, four are against the Chiefs. . . . F Donovan Neuls got the game’s first goal, his fifth, at 9:09 of the first period. . . . D Shea Theodore scored his seventh, on a PP, at 16:09 of the third. . . . Theodore also had an assist. . . . Prior to the game, the Thunderbirds brought in G Logan Flodell, who had been with the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. . . . The Thunderbirds (23-18-6) had lost their last three (0-2-1). . . . The Chiefs (23-20-4), who have been blanked in three of their last four games, have lost six straight (0-5-1). . . . Seattle moved into third place in the U.S. Division, two points ahead of Spokane and Tri-City. . . . The Chiefs scratched seven injured regulars and then lost F Adam Helewka, their leading scorer, and F Kolten Olynek to undisclosed injuries. Helewka left after having been involved in a fight with Seattle F Scott Eansor. Olynek was injured in a collision with teammate Jacob Cardiff. . . . "Two teammates running into each other, but that's the way things are going for us right now," Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur told Chris Derrick of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
In Swift Current, F Braylon Shmyr scored two goals as the Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the Broncos, 5-3. . . . Shmyr has 10 goals this season, and is the 10th Brandon skater with at least that many goals. . . . Brandon F Nolan Patrick broke a 1-1 tie with his 18th goal 30 seconds into the second period. . . . Brandon F Duncan Campbell added his eighth at 5:59 and the Wheaties were never headed. . . . F Morgan Klimchuk, who scored his 100th and 101st regular-season goals one night earlier, and F Tim McGauley each had two assists. . . . McGauley had been credited with two goals and three assists in Friday’s 8-5 victory over visiting Lethbridge. One of those assists was later taken away. He now has 56 points in 46 games, good for a tie for sixth place in the scoring race. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 40 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings (33-9-4) have won four in a row and are just one point behind the idle Kelowna Rockets (34-8-3) in the race for first place overall. . . . Brandon has three victories from four trips to Swift Current this season. . . . The Broncos are 21-20-5. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a game story 
In Saskatoon, F Wyatt Sloboshan scored with 10.8 seconds left in the third period to give the Blades a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart had scored his 10th goal at 17:09 of the third to pull his guys into a 2-2 tie. . . . A scoring change well after Friday’s action gave Reinhart an assist and a share of the Ice’s franchise career points record with F Jarret Stoll (286). Last night’s goal gave Reinhart the franchise record (287). . . . D Nolan Reid had given the Blades a 2-1 lead with his second goal in as many games, this one at 5:27 of the third. . . . Reid went into Friday play with one career goal. He now has three and is on a two-game scoring streak. . . . Sloboshan also had an assist. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm stopped 26 shots, three fewer than the Ice’s Wyatt Hoflin. . . . Hamm, who joined the Blades from the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, has two victories, both over the Ice. . . . The Blades (12-29-3) have won three in a row for the second time this season. They also moved out of the Eastern Conference basement and are one point ahead of Lethbridge. . . . The Ice, which has lost three times to the Blades this season, slipped to 22-22-1. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story 
In Calgary, G Austin Carroll, whose NHL rights belong to the Calgary Flames, scored twice to lead the Victoria Royals to a 4-1 victory over the Hitmen. . . . After the game, the Hitmen held a players-only meeting. . . . Carroll, who now has 28 goals, was a seventh-round selection by the Flames in the 2014 NHL draft. Carroll, 20, is from Calgary. . . . Carroll’s first goal, 30 seconds into the third period, on a PP, gave the Royals a 2-0 lead. . . . Victoria D Joe Hicketts scored the game’s first goal, his ninth, on a PP, at 14:42 of the first period. . . . Hicketts also had an assist. . . . Victoria F Brandon Magee had three assists, and now shares the Victoria/Chilliwack franchise career regular-season points record of 241 with former F Kevin Sundher. . . . Victoria D Travis Brown had three assists. . . . The Royals were 2-for-2 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-1. . . . The Royals (24-19-3), who play in Edmonton this afternoon, have won four straight. . . . Calgary continues to be without F Jake Virtanen and D Travis Sanheim, both out with undisclosed injuries. . . . The Hitmen (23-17-5), who entertain Regina this afternoon, have lost three in a row (0-2-1). Calgary will make F Ryan Getzlaf the inaugural member of their Forever A Hitmen club during this afternoon’s game. . . . Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun has a game story 
In Red Deer, F Adam Musil scored in the ninth round of a shootout to give the Rebels a 4-3 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Musil was the only one of the 18 shooters to score. . . . The Pats erased a 3-1 deficit to force OT. . . . F Adam Brooks scored shorthanded at 10:01 of the second period. . . . He’s got 19 goals. . . . F Taylor Cooper tied it with his 18th goal at 8:44 of the third. . . . Cooper had scored the game’s first goal at 2:02 of the first. . . . The Rebels answered that goal with three of their own, from F Adam Musil, his 11th, D Colton Bobyk, his second, and F Presten Kopeck, his 14th. . . . The Rebels were 0-for-10 on the PP; the Pats were 0-for-3. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 32 shots, six more than Taz Burman of the Rebels. . . . Red Deer (26-14-6) is 6-0-1 in its last seven and trails Central Division-leading Medicine Hat by four points. . . . The Pats (26-15-4) have lost two straight. . . . The Pats play in Calgary this afternoon. . . . 
In Everett, G Austin Lotz stopped 31 shots to help the Silvertips to a 6-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds before 8,317 fans. . . . Lotz has four shutouts this season and 10 in his career. . . . After a scoreless first period, Everett scored twice in the second period and added four more in the third. . . . F Jake Mykitiuk, who scored his first goal of the season in Friday’s 5-3 victory over visiting Spokane, got the winner, scoring at 4:38 of the second. . . . F Carson Stadnyk scored his 16th goal and added two assists, while F Nikita Scherbak got his 20th goal and also had an assist and F Kohl Bauml scored No. 19 and had an assist. . . . F Dawson Leedahl scored his seventh goal and had an assist, and F Remi Laurencelle drew two assists. . . . Everett was 2-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-1. . . . TBird Tidbits (@TBirdTidbits) points out via Twitter that Seattle is 1-8-3 on Saturday nights when it also played the previous night. The Thunderbirds were coming off a 5-2 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna. . . . The Silvertips (28-12-4) have won four straight. . . . Seattle (22-17-5) is 3-1-1 in its last five outings. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., G Evan Sarthou blocked 25 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 7-0 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Sarthou has four shutouts in his freshman season, with the last two coming on back-to-back nights. He beat the Giants 3-0 in Vancouver on Friday. . . . Sarthou was making his 16th straight start. G Eric Comrie is out with an undisclosed injury. . . . This was the first time this season that Spokane has been shut out. . . . On Dec. 31, the Chiefs beat the host Americans, 10-2. . . . F Lucas Nickles scored twice, giving him 16 goals, and added two assists, while D Brandon Carlo scored his third goal and had two assists. . . . Tri-City D Carter Cochrane, who was acquired last week from Everett, had two assists. . . . F Tyler Sandhu, an acquisition from Red Deer, got his 10th goal and also had an assist. . . . Besides Comrie, the Americans also scratched F Richard Nejezchleb (ill) and F Parker Bowles (undisclosed injury). . . . Spokane F Adam Helewka had his franchise record-tying nine-game goal-scoring streak snapped. . . . The Americans (22-21-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Chiefs (23-17-4) have lost three in a row (0-2-1).
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