Final WHL weekend: What's on the line? . . . Nanaimo team may move . . . Sacilotto off to Croatia

F Jeremy Williams (Swift Current, 2000-04) has signed a one-year extension with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). This season, he had 19 goals and 17 assists in 43 games. . . .

F Dan DaSilva (Portland, 2002-05) has signed a one-year extension with Linz (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He was second in the league’s scoring race this season, putting up 70 points, including 31 goals, in 53 games. . . .

F Byron Ritchie (Lethbridge, 1993-97) has announced his retirement. This season, he had four goals and 15 assists in 35 games with MODO Örnsköldsvik (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He was team captain for two seasons. . . . Ritchie has yet to fully recover from a concussion he suffered in January. Ritchie told Örnsköldsvik newspaper Allehanda: "I do not know if I understand it yet, to be honest. It is a strange feeling that I never had. I have not been able to train at all. I've only been walking the dogs. In the afternoons and evenings, I often get headaches and fatigue. It affected me a lot the first month. I slept really all the time, but now I can live normally. Except that I can't work out. I'm going to focus on being a father now. I want to be involved in my children's sports activities. It feels good that I can focus on the family now."

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We are into the final three days of the WHL’s 2016-17 regular season, and you are wondering what’s up for grabs.

Well, of the 16 available playoff spots only one — the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot — is still available.

The Calgary Hitmen have a three-point edge over the Saskatoon Blades, each team having two games remaining. The Hitmen will go home-and-home with the Kootenay Ice, while the Saskatoon Blades do the same with the Prince Albert Raiders. To the winner goes a first-round matchup with the Regina Pats, the best team in the WHL during this regular season.

In the East Division, the second-place Moose Jaw Warriors and third-place Swift Current Broncos will meet in the first round. They will play a home-and-home series this weekend — the Warriors hold a 3-1-0 edge — which means these teams could end up playing nine straight games against each other.

In the Central Division, the pennant-winning Medicine Hat Tigers and the defending-champion Brandon Wheat Kings will be first-round opponents. The Wheat Kings will be the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card team. The Tigers won three of the four regular-season games between the teams. Don’t forget that Brandon will play its first-round home games in Dauphin, Man., where the Credit Union Centre has 1,763 seats and room for 247 standees.

Meanwhile, the second-place Lethbridge Hurricanes will tangle with the third-place Red Deer Rebels. The Hurricanes are 23 points ahead of the Rebels going into the final weekend. In the season series, Lethbridge was 5-0-1; Red Deer was 1-4-1.

In the Western Conference, we know the eight playoff teams . . . we just don’t know where they will finish. Seriously! Not one of the eight teams knows where it will wind up or who it will meet in the opening round.

In the B.C. Division, the first-place Prince George Cougars hold a two-point lead over the Kelowna Rockets, who are three points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. All three have two games remaining — the Cougars go home-and-home with the Blazers, while the Rockets to the same with the Vancouver Giants.

The fourth-place Victoria Royals can’t advance within the division but will go into the playoffs as a wild-card entry. They hold down the first wild-card spot, one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. The Royals will finish up against the Everett Silvertips, playing one at home and one on the road. The Americans will go home-and-home with the Spokane Chiefs, before a Sunday meeting with the Silvertips.

The Americans also are fourth in the U.S. Division, three points behind the Portland Winterhawks, who have two games remaining. The Winterhawks, who can’t move up in the division, have two games left — against the Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs.

The Thunderbirds go into the weekend leading the U.S. Division by a point over the Silvertips. If it comes down to Sunday night, the Thunderbirds are at home to Vancouver, while the Silvertips visit the Americans.

No matter how it all unfolds, though, the playoffs will begin on March 24.

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The WHL has suspended F Tyler Coulter of the Brandon Wheat Kings for three games after he took a charging major and game misconduct during a 6-3 loss to the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday. Coulter sat out Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw and will miss Brandon last two regular-season games this weekend. . . . The Tri-City Americans will be without F Landon Fuller for one game after he was suspended for a charging major and game misconduct during a 6-1 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday. . . . The Americans will get back D Dakota Krebs after he served a one-game suspension for a cross-checking major and game misconduct during a 5-1 loss to the visiting Everett Silvertips on Saturday.

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The WHL honoured the late Norbert Heinzelmann with one of its 2016-17 Distinguished Service Awards prior to a game in Kelowna on Wednesday night. Heinzelmann, who died on Sept. 2 at the age of 57, was Kelowna’s head scorekeeper and also the head of its off-ice officials since the franchise relocated from Tacoma, Wash., in 1995.

In Kamloops, the Blazers, their off-ice officials and some media members raised $1,015 in memory of Pat Rozek and presented it to the Darcy Robinson Memorial Foundation. The foundation helps Kamloops children who otherwise couldn’t afford to play hockey.

Rozek, who died on Dec. 22 at the age of 64, had been the Blazers’ official scorekeeper for 25 years. He also worked the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and numerous other such events.

Rozek would seem to be a prime candidate for a Distinguished Service Award, too.

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Ken Wagner, the majority owner of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, told a news conference on Thursday that the franchise needs help. In fact, Wagner said that without some local ownership, the team may move elsewhere on Vancouver Island. . . . Wagner told the news conference: “We’ve hit a wall in Nanaimo as an ownership. We’ve tried for a lot of years to make it work. . . . We are done writing cheques. We’re spent out. . . . The business side of it is the numbers are the numbers. The emotional side is we don’t want to move the club.” . . . If local ownership isn’t found in the next two weeks, Wagner said he is looking at moving the franchise or shutting it down. . . . Greg Sakaki of the Nanaimo News Bulletin has more right here.

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ENIO SACILOTTO

Enio Sacilotto of the Victoria Royals has been named head coach of the Croatian national team that will play in the 2017 IIHF World Championship (Division 1, Group B) in Belfast, Ireland, from April 23 through April 29. . . . Sacilotto was an assistant coach with the Royals from 2011-16 before being named director of prospect development and WHL scout prior to this season. . . . Croatia will be in a group with Estonia, Great Britain, Japan, Lithuania and the Netherlands. The tournament winner will be promoted to Division 1, Group A. . . . Sacilotto isn’t a stranger to Croatia, having worked as the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation’s U-18 and U-20 head coach in 2009-10. He also was head coach of Medvescak Zagreb, a Croatian team, when it was in the Austrian league in 2009-10. . . . Sacilotto, who is from Vancouver, B.C., will return to the Royals when the tournament in Ireland is over.

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Players of the national women's team of Russia support your decision #BeBoldForChange pic.twitter.com/9c7Qnr6fV0

— Ludmila Belyakova (@belyakova9) March 16, 2017

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If the playoffs began today . . . 

Eastern Conference

Regina vs. Calgary

Medicine Hat vs. Brandon

Moose Jaw vs. Swift Current

Lethbridge vs. Red Deer

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Western Conference

Seattle vs. Tri-City

Prince George vs. Victoria

Kelowna vs. Kamloops

Everett vs. Portland

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Prince George at Kamloops, 7 p.m.

Vancouver at Kelowna, 7:35 p.m.

Calgary vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.

Medicine Hat at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.

Brandon at Regina, 7 p.m.

Prince Albert at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.

Moose Jaw at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Spokane vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Everett at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Regina at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.

Kootenay at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Victoria at Everett, 7:05 p.m.

Lethbridge at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.

Swift Current at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Saskatoon at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.

Kamloops at Prince George, 7 p.m.

Edmonton at Red Deer, 7 p.m.

Portland vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Tri-City at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.

Kelowna vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7 p.m.

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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Red Deer at Edmonton, 4 p.m.

Spokane at Portland, 5 p.m.

Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 5:05 p.m.

Everett vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 5:05 p.m.

END OF REGULAR SEASON

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Saturday . . .

THE CHILLIWACK/VICTORIA BRUINS:
WHL officials have long said they wouldn’t go back to Vancouver Island unless there were two teams there. That, of course, means Victoria and Nanaimo.
Numerous reports have indicated that the Victoria deal is done — the Chilliwack Bruins have been sold and will be relocated. (With the Bruins having been eliminated from the playoffs Saturday night, there aren’t any tickets to be sold in Chilliwack, so perhaps news will be forthcoming.)
But what of Nanaimo?
"The biggest stumbling block that Nanaimo has is the city doesn't have an adequate facility," Ken Wagner, who owns a piece of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, told Walter Cordery of the Nanaimo Daily News. "It's great news for hockey fans but I don't think it will affect us here in Nanaimo much at all. We haven't had any contact with the WHL but we know they have always said they would prefer to establish a second Island franchise if they were going to return to Victoria."
So what of a new facility for Nanaimo?
John Ruttan, the mayor of Nanaimo, told Cordery that he would love to have the WHL in his city but “not if they expect city taxpayers to underwrite the cost of a new arena."
Cordery’s story is right here.
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Glen Sonmor is one of the grand guys of hockey, and you can bet he has done and seen it all. Sonmor is 81 now and they’ll gather at Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday evening to honour Sonmor and maybe tell a tale or two. Maybe Sonmor will flash back to his days with the Brandon Wheat Kings when the fans would gather at the train station and serenade the team with When Irish Eyes are Smiling.
Anyway . . . Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has today’s good read, a feature look at Sonmor, and it’s a good one. It’s right here.
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From Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal:
DJ Bowen in Jasper has been working overtime to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jasper Arena and he has the Oil Kings playing Prince George in an exhibition game there on Sept. 9. In 1961, the Oil Kings played the Edmonton Flyers to open the building. Glen Sather played for the Oil Kings that game and Doug Messier for the Flyers, and they’ll be hanging their jerseys in the arena to salute that long-ago game. Sather and Messier might not be there, but hopefully they can send video messages. They’re bringing in some of the players from those teams — Gregg Pilling and Vince Downey have committed as ex Oil Kings and they might get Roger Dejordy who played for the Flyers that day. They’re having a banquet on Sept. 8 with the NHL’s icemaker Dan Craig as guest speaker.
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The Kelowna Rockets and Portland Winterhawks will meet in the second round of the playoffs. That series will open games Thursday and April 10 in Portland’s Rose Garden. . . . The Rockets will welcome back F Evan Bloodoff, who missed the four-game sweep of the Prince George Cougars as he served a four-game suspension. . . . The other Western Conference semifinal will feature the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans. It will begin with games Saturday and April 10 in Spokane. . . . F Landon Ferraro of the Everett Silvertips took a cross-checking major at the end of their last playoff game against the Portland Winterhawks. He drew a one-game suspension, so will sit out the first game of next season should he be back in the WHL as a 20-year-old. . . . F Justin Dowling, who played this season with the Swift Current Broncos, scored his first pro goal Saturday night, giving the host Abbotsford Heat a 1-0 AHL victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins. Dowling’s third-period PP goal stood up as former Everett Silvertips G Leland Irving record his sixth shutout of the season.
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Some notes from the Chiefs on their upcoming series with the Tri-City Americans:
The Chiefs won the 12-game season series against the Americans, 7-5-0. At one point, Spokane had won five in a row in the series. Tri-City earned a victory in the last game of the season by a 6-4 score on Saturday, March 19.
The match-up will be the fifth time the two franchises have met in the post-season and the first time since a seven-game Western Conference Championship series in 2008. That series featured five overtime games, including three that went into double overtime. Spokane won Game 7 in Kennewick and advanced to win the WHL final and Memorial Cup.
The Chiefs have won the last three playoff series between the two after the Americans earned a seven-game victory in 1995. The Chiefs won in four games and in five games in the first round in 2000 and 2002, respectively.
SPOKANE AND TRI-CITY PLAYOFF HISTORY
1995: Tri-City wins second-round series 4-3
2000: Spokane wins first-round series 4-0
2002: Spokane wins first-round series 4-1
2008: Spokane wins Western Conference final 4-3
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SATURDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES:
In Saskatoon, D Duncan Siemens, who was a game-time decision, had a goal and three assists as the Blades skated to an 8-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Blades hold a 3-2 edge in the series going into Game 6 tonight in Prince Albert. . . . Siemens left Game 4 with a lower-body injury and it wasn’t know whether he would play in Game 5 until he took the pregame skate. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 30 shots. . . . Saskatoon scored six second-period goals, four of them on the PP, after a scoreless first period. . . . The Blades outshot the Raiders, 54-30. . . . The Blades’ big line piled up 10 points, with Brayden Schenn getting a goal and three assists, Curtis Hamilton going two and one, and Jake Trask getting a goal and two helpers. . . . Saskatoon was 5-for-8 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-7. . . . Attendance was 10,034, the largest crowd in Saskatoon this season. . . . The Raiders took 63 of 104 penalty minutes. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers got goals from eight different players as they dropped the Brandon Wheat Kings, 9-5. . . . The Tigers hold a 3-2 edge in the series with Game 6 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on Monday. . . . With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in their home arena, the Wheat Kings are playing their first-round home games in Winnipeg. . . . F Matt MacKay gave Brandon a 2-1 lead at 6:08 of the second period, but the Tigers then scored four straight goals. . . . F Emerson Etem had two goals and an assist for the Tigers, with F Linden Vey and F Wacey Hamilton each adding a goal and two assists. . . . F Mark Stone had three assists for Brandon, which went the distance with G Corbin Boes, who stopped 30 shots. . . . Brandon G Liam Liston and Medicine Hat starter Tyler Bunz both are out with concussions. . . . G Michael Tadjdeh is serving as Boes’ backup. . . . Medicine Hat G Deven Dubyk stopped 29 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . .
In Spokane, F Blake Gal scored three times to lead the Chiefs to a 6-4 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Chiefs won the series, 4-1, and now will meet the Tri-City Americans. That series opens Saturday in Spokane. . . . Gal’s third goal, at 13:05 of the third period, broke a 4-4 tie. . . . The Bruins trailed 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3, but came back to tie the game each time. . . . F Mitch Holmberg had two goals for the Chiefs, with F Levko Koper helping out with a goal and two assists. . . . F Kevin Sundher had a goal and two assists for Chilliwack, while F Dylen McKinlay scored twice. . . . Sundher was unable to beat Spokane G James Reid on a second-period penalty shot with the Chiefs holding a 3-2 lead. . . . Reid made 21 saves, 16 fewer than Chilliwack’s Lucas Gore. . . . The Chiefs were without F Tyler Johnson for the second straight game. The WHL’s second-leading scorer in the regular season, Johnson hasn’t played since taking an elbow from Chilliwack D Tyler Stahl, who ended up with a major penalty and then was suspended for two games. . . . Attendance was 5,352.
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SATURDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Medicine Hat F Kale Kessy
Chilliwack D Emerson Hrynyk

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