D Layne Viveiros (Portland, 2011-2015) signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, he had eight goals and 35 assists in 71 games with the Winterhawks. Viveiros is a dual Canadian-Austrian citizen. . . . He is eligible for his 20-year-old season in the WHL, but obviously has decided to go a different route. . . .
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) signed a one-year extension with Herne (Germany, Oberliga). This seaosn, he had 26 goals and 40 assists in 24 games.
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Multiple WHL sources tell me Curtis Hunt will be named the new General Manager of the Prince Albert Raiders, replacing Bruno Campese.
— Tyler King (@tyler_king) June 5, 2015
According to Tyler King, the Prince Albert Raiders have their general manager.
As noted above, King tweeted Friday morning that Curtis Hunt will be the Raiders’ next general
manager.Hunt resigned Friday as general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. King spent four seasons as the Oil Barons’ play-by-play man and also was their manager of communications. He left the club Monday and now is the manager of communications for the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits.
Having spent four seasons working with the Oil Barons, it’s safe to say that King has connections there.
Hunt just completed his first season with the Oil Barons, who were 35-28-6 under him, including all regular- and post-season play.
Hunt, 48, isn’t a stranger to Prince Albert or the WHL.
From North Battleford, Sask., he was a defenceman for three seasons (1984-87) with Raiders. He was a first-year defenceman on the Prince Albert team that won the 1985 Memorial Cup.
He also has been a WHL head coach for eight seasons — Moose Jaw Warriors (2002-04) and Regina Pats (2004-08, 2009-11).
The Raiders have been without a GM since Bruno Campese’s departure last month after eight years in the organization.
The new general manager joins a team that has its coaching staff in place, with head coach Marc Habscheid starting a four-year contract, associate coach Dave Manson starting a four-year extension and assistant coach Kelly Guard on a one-year deal.
The Raiders have a news conference scheduled for Monday morning at which there will be, according to a release, “a major announcement regarding” their hockey operations department.
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A note from Damien Cox, who writes Saturdays in the Toronto Star:“Internally, the (Toronto Maple) Leafs continue to add personnel, although not a general manager yet. On Friday, with the departure of Steve Staios to the new Hamilton OHL franchise, Scott Pellerin was promoted within the player development area. It appears Brandon Wheat Kings owner/GM Kelly McCrimmon has a front office job waiting for him with the Leafs if he’s willing to leave Manitoba. Ditto for Sault Ste. Marie (head) coach Sheldon Keefe in a yet undefined coaching role.”
McCrimmon, of course, also is the Wheat Kings’ head coach.
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The Auston Matthews saga continues, with his agent, Pat Brisson, telling Mike G. Morreale of nhl.com that the projected No. 1 pick in the NHL’s 2016 draft will play with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland’s top pro league or the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. . . . Of course, there isn’t anything new in that, although perhaps this is the first time that Brisson has said the Matthews camp has ruled out the NCAA route. . . . Morreale’s story from Friday is right here.
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Jeff Pearlman, a respected author with a number of solid sports-related books to his credit, took some time on Friday to write about “when guys like Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon turned celebrity.” . . . It’s true. Guys like Smith and Wilbon used to be journalists . . . and highly credible journalists, at that. . . . Pearlman takes a look at that subject in a devastating piece that is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jeff Tomlinson is the new head coach of the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, who play in Switzerland’s National League B. Tomlinson, 45, was an assistant coach with Germany at the IIHF World championship in Prague last month. He has coached in Germany for a number of years. . . . Tomlinson, from Winnipeg, played three seasons (1987-90) with the Prince Albert Raiders. He later played nine seasons in Europe.——
Tim Kehler, a former Swift Current Broncos assistant coach, has been added to the list of presenters at the fifth annual Hockey Coaches Conference that is scheduled for Vancouver, July 24-25. Kehler spent three seasons (2007-10) on the Broncos’ coaching staff. . . . He has spent the last four seasons in Europe, the past three as head coach of Löwen Frankfurt of DEL2. . . . Also on the list of presenters is Victoria Royals head coach Dave Lowry. . . . For more on the conference, click right here.
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The Medicine Hat Regional Event Centre is no more. Canalta Hotels has purchased naming rights for the new facility that is scheduled to open later this year. The arena now is known as the Canalta Centre. . . . Collin Gallant of the Medicine Hat News has more right here.
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THE CONCUSSION REPORT:
From a news release issued on Friday: “The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) supports the education-driven recommendations made by the jury serving on the inquest into the death of Rowan Stringer highlighting the important role an educated coach plays in the prevention, identification, and management of sport-related concussions and return to play for participants.” . . . This is important stuff. The complete release is right here.——
Anthony Davis, the San Francisco 49ers starting right tackle, has retired after five NFL seasons. The 25-year-old Davis, who was the 11th overall selection in the NFL’s 2010 draft, said in a release: “This will be a time for me to allow my brain and body a chance to heal. I know many won’t understand my decision, that’s OK.” . . . Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle has more right here.
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“Two former players have filed a landmark $200-million lawsuit against the Canadian Football League, former CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon, a leading brain injury expert and a Toronto neurology clinic, alleging they knew and withheld information about how repeated brain trauma leads to long-term cognitive problems,” Rick Westhead, TSN’s senior correspondent, reported on Friday. “The lawsuit was filed May 29 in Ontario Superior Court by Korey Banks and Eric (The Flea) Allen.” . . . Westhead’s story is right here.
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Head of WADA-approved lab says she can't in good conscience keep testing CFL players samples. Lots of positive tests, no repercussions.
— Paul Friesen (@friesensunmedia) June 5, 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 Calgary, the Hitmen dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-3. . . . F Radel Fazleev scored the Teddy Bear goal at 1:38 of the first period, getting his 11th of the season on the game’s first shot. . . . Attendance was 17,543, the largest crowd in the WHL this season. . . . The Warriors, who were playing their third game in less than 48 hours, led 3-2 late in the first period. . . . Calgary F Kenton Helgesen tied it with his ninth goal, at 16:13 of the first. . . . The Hitmen then added five more, with F Chase Lang breaking the 3-3 tie with his 13th goal at 6:10 of the second. That was the first of three straight PP goals by Calgary. . . . The Hitmen were 3-for-3 on the PP. . . . Helgesen finished with two goals and two assists, while Lang also had two assists. F Jake Virtanen scored twice, giving him nine goals. D Jake Bean and D Travis Sanheim each had three assists. . . . F Jack Rodewald scored his 17th goal and added two assists for the Warriors, who also battled the flu bug over the weekend. F Brayden Point and F Tanner Eberle, linemates with Rodewald, each had a goal and an assist. Point has 17 goals; Eberle has 15. . . . The Hitmen (17-11-3) have won three in a row. . . . The Warriors (13-14-3) played in three straight Teddy Bear games as they went 1-2-0 in Alberta. . . . 
In Portland, the Winterhawks scored the game’s first three goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . F Miles Koules, acquired by Portland from Medicine Hat earlier this season, got the game’s first goal, his 12th, at 6:37 of the first period. . . . Andy Kemper, who works alongside Portland play-by-play voice Todd Vrooman, tweeted: “With the first-period goal, Miles Koules now has at least one point against all 22 teams in the WHL, including MH and PORT.” . . . F Oliver Bjorkstand scored his 21st goal of the season for Portland, a shorthanded empty-netter. . . . F Cole Sanford got his 19th of the season for the Tigers. . . . Portland F Nic Petan drew two assists, giving him 302 career points, including 201 assists, in 224 regular-season games. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 41 shots, 10 more than Medicine Hat’s Marek Langhamer. . . . The Tigers were 0-for-8 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 0-for-4. . . . Portland F Alex Scheonborn left at 1:42 of the first period with a boarding major and a game misconduct. . . . Medicine Hat was without F Mason Shaw, who is scheduled for season-ending knee surgery. As well, German F Markus Eisenschmid didn’t return from injury over the weekend as had been hoped. The Tigers also lost F Chad Butcher during last night’s game with an undisclosed injury. ““We lost Chad Butcher in the first period tonight, and we’re kind of not sure where he’s at,” Shaun Clouston, the Tigers’ GM and head coach, told Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News. “That was kind of challenging.” . . . The Winterhawks (17-13-3) have won two in a row. . . . Medicine Hat (21-7-2) had a five-game winning streak snapped. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Beau McCue and F Parker Bowles each had a goal and three assists to help the Tri-City Americans to a 5-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . McCue has 12 goals; Bowles has nine. . . . Tri-City D Riley Hillis scored his first goal at 17:12 of the second period to give the Americans a 5-2 lead. . . . Tri-City F Richard Nejezchleb scored his seventh goal and added two assists. . . . F Tim Bozon scored twice for the Ice, giving him 12 this season. Bozon didn’t score in his first two games, but since has goals in 10 of his past 14 games. . . . Ice D Rinat Valiev drew three assists. . . . Kootenay F Sam Reinhart had one assist, running his point streak to 14 games, while F Jaedon Descheneau had two assists and now is on a 13-game point streak. . . . Reinhart has 27 points over those 14 games, while Descheneau has 21 points during his streak. . . . F Coda Gordon of the Swift Current Broncos owns the longest point streak in the WHL this season (15 games). . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 31 shots. . . . The Americans (16-13-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Ice (15-16-0) had a four-game winning streak end. . . .
In Spokane, the Seattle Thunderbirds scored two goals in the game’s first five minutes and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Chiefs, who have lost five in a row. . . . F Nolan Volcan, F Evan Wardley and F Keegan Kolesar each had a goal and an assist for Seattle, while F Donovan Neuls had two assists. . . . Seattle G Taran Kozun stopped 24 shots. He has started Seattle’s past 11 games against Spokane and is 7-3-1. . . . Spokane G Tyson Verhelst turned aside 28 shots. Seattle F Ryan Gropp failed to score on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Veteran F Justin Hickman (ill) was among the Seattle scratches. . . . Seattle improved to 13-13-4, while the Chiefs slipped to 14-12-3. 
In Red Deer, F Wyatt Johnson scored twice to help the Rebels to a 6-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Johnson, who has five goals, broke a 2-2 tie at 12:12 of the second period and made it 4-2 at 16:54. . . . F Grayson Pawlenchuk scored once and set up two others for Red Deer, which was 2-for-2 on the PP. . . . F Conner Bleackley drew three assists for the Rebels. . . . F Jari Erricson scored his ninth goal of the season for the Cougars. . . . F Tyler Sandhu, acquired by Red Deer from the Everett Silvertips earlier in the week, had a goal and an assist in his first game with the Rebels. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos scored two power-play goals and beat the Regina Pats, 3-1. . . . F Carter Rigby snapped a 1-1 tie with his eighth goal, via the PP, at 1:37 of the second period and F Coda Gordon added another PP goal, his seventh goal this season, at 17:29. . . . Swift Current G Landon Bow stopped 32 shots. . . . The Broncos were 2-for-5 on the PP. . . . F Sam Steel got his third goal for the Pats. . . . Regina has recalled D Ryan Krushen, 16, from the minor midget Sherwood Park, Alta., Kings and he was in the lineup for this one. Krushen played in three exhibition games with the Pats before being released from their roster. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s first two goals, both on the PP, and went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-1. . . . The Tigers, the WHL’s top defensive club to this point, have allowed 18 goals in 12 games. . . . The Warriors have dropped 11 straight regular-season games in Medicine Hat. . . . D Tommy Vannelli scored his fifth goal at 3:04 of the second period and D David Quenneville added his second at 8:35 of the third. . . . Tigers F Chad Butcher got his 10th goal of the season late in the third period. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-for-7 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-4. . . . Moose Jaw F Jack Rodewald had one assist to run his point streak to nine games. . . . Tigers G Nick Schneider stopped 24 shots to run his record this season to 4-0-0. Schneider, a 17-year-old from Leduc, Alta., was 6-0-0 with the Tigers last season, after being acquired from the Regina Pats. . . .
In Victoria, the Royals scored two PP goals and beat the Vancouver Giants, 2-1. . . . The Royals have won three straight. . . . D Travis Brown, at 12:52 of the first period, and F Brandon Magee, at 4:32 of the second, gave the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . F Carter Popoff scored for the Giants, at 3:02 of the third. . . . Victoria G Coleman Vollrath stopped 28 shots, one more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . The teams meet in Victoria again tonight. . . .
In Everett, F Nikita Scherbak broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 8:30 of the third period as the Silvertips got past the Tri-City Americans, 3-1. . . . Scherbak added an empty-netter, his seventh goal in eight games, at 18:28. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 35 shots, including all 21 he faced in the first period. The Americans were outshot 21-3 that period. . . . Everett D Kevin Davis, the 11th overall pick in the 2012 bantam draft, had two assists. Davis is from Kamloops. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 12 shots. . . . The game almost didn’t come off as the Silvertips gave serious consideration to postponing it following a shooting earlier in the day at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The Silvertips have a number of season-ticket holders from Marysville. According to Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald: “Silvertips executive vice president Zoran Rajcic said the team was leaning toward postponing Friday's game at Xfinity Arena. However, after consulting with leaders in the community, including representatives from the Tulalip Tribes and the Marysville School District, the Tips decided to play the game as scheduled.” . . . Patterson also reported that the Silvertips “planned several steps to honor the victims during Friday's game. A moment of silence was scheduled prior to the singing of the national anthem; game operations were to be toned down, including not using the goal horn during pregame introductions; and staff members wore red jerseys, which is Marysville-Pilchuck's primary color.” . . .
F Austin Glover of the Kelowna Rockets suffered a broken ankle five games into this season. He ended up undergoing surgery and the ankle now includes a steel plate and five pins.
In Moose Jaw, the Swift Current Broncos ended a three-game losing skid with a 6-3 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Broncos scored the game’s first five goals and coasted from there. . . . F Jay Merkley scored twice for the Broncos, giving him 24 this season. . . . F Graham Black chipped in a goal, his 28th, and three assists for Swift Current. . . . The Broncos had a 45-26 edge in shots. . . . The Broncos (27-21-8) are sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Kootenay Ice and one ahead of the Regina Pats. . . . The Warriors (14-32-8) are 10th, 22 points out of a playoff spot with 18 games remaining. . . . The Broncos were without F Dakota Odgers, who was suspended for one game, and F Bobby Zinkan, who drew a three-game sentence, after an 8-1 loss to the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday night. According to Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos, both were suspended for “entering an altercation while in the process of a line change.” . . . 
In Prince Albert, D Josh Morrissey broke a 2-2 tie at 3:11 of the third period as the Raiders got past the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-2. . . . The Tigers led this one 2-0 midway through the second period. . . . Raiders D Sawyer Lange got his guys on the board with his fifth goal at 10:04 of the second, via the PP. . . . F Chance Braid tied it at 15:28 with his sixth goal. . . . Morrissey has 19 goals. . . . Tigers F Curtis Valk picked up an assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . Raiders F Leon Draisaitl had two assists. . . . The Raiders (25-26-3) are five points behind the eighth-place Red Deer Rebels in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Tigers (32-20-3) remain fourth in the conference. . . .
In Regina, D Dmitri Sinitsyn and D Kyle Burroughs each had a goal and two assists to help the Pats to a 7-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Sinitsyn has four goals this season; Burroughs has six. . . . Regina led 3-0 by 14:15 of the first period and never looked back. . . . Regina unleashed a 62-shot barrage at Blades G Troy Trombley. . . . Regina F Boston Leier scored his 30th goal. . . . The Pats saluted their namesake, the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, on the occasion of its 100th year of service. That has been a focus of Pats’ promotions this season. . . . The Pats also honoured Regina’s Jon Ryan, the punter for the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks. . . . The Pats (28-22-5) are seventh in the Eastern Conference, a point behind Swift Current. . . . The Blades are 15-39-4 and won’t make the playoffs. . . .
In Cranbrook, F Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists as the Kootenay Ice ran their winning streak to five games with a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Reinhart has points in 13 straight games. . . . F Jaedon Descheneau and F Tim Bozon each had two assists for the Ice. . . . The Ice had gone into Lethbridge and won 8-1 on Friday. . . . Reinhart has 76 points, including 27 goals, in 43 games. In 186 career regular-season games, he has 225 points, including 92 goals. . . . The Ice took 65 of 112 penalty minutes. . . . The Ice (30-21-4) is fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind Medicine Hat. . . . The Hurricanes (11-41-5) have the WHL’s poorest record, .004 behind the Kamloops Blazers. . . . 
In Kamloops, G Mack Shields stopped 26 shots as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Blazers, 3-0. . . . Shields, a Saskatoon native who turns 19 on Feb. 13, backs up Chris Driedger. Shields has one shutout this season and three in his career. . . . Driedger blanked the Giants 5-0 in Vancouver on Friday night. . . . Calgary D Jaynen Rissling scored the winner, getting his eighth at 17:30 of the first period on a PP. . . . Hitmen F Brady Brassart, who had his five-game goal streak snapped, drew two assists. . . . Calgary was 2-for-8 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-for-2. The Hitmen have eight PP goals over their last four games. . . . The Blazers took eight minor penalties, with seven of those going to defencemen. . . . Kamloops F Chase Souto took the pregame skate but then was scratched. He apparently was injured in Friday’s 3-1 loss to the visiting Victoria Royals. . . . The Blazers have lost nine in a row. . . . Kamloops (11-40-5) is 1-11-1 since Guy Charron replaced Dave Hunchak as head coach. This is only the second time in Kamloops franchise history that the team has lost 40 or more games. The Junior Oilers lost 53 times in 1981-82; the Blazers lost 41 games in 2007-08. . . . Calgary finished 3-2-0 on its trek through the B.C. Division, winning its last three games. . . . The Hitmen (35-15-6) are five points behind the Central Division-leading Oil Kings. . . .
In Portland, the Winterhawks ran their winning streak to 12 games with a 5-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . It is Portland’s longest winning streak this season. The franchise record (15) is shared by the 1979-80 and 1997-98 teams. . . . The Winterhawks, who had a 14-game winning streak last season, next play Monday afternoon when they meet the Cougars in Prince George. The Cougars are riding a six-game winning streak. . . . F Taylor Leier scored twice for the Winterhawks, giving him 27. . . . Portland D Layne Viveiros, whose father Emanuel is coaching the Austrian men’s hockey team at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, scored his third goal of the season. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand had his five-game goal streak end, but he picked up two assists. . . . Portland F Nic Petan, who is second in the scoring race, scored his 29th goal and added an assist. He now is two points behind Spokane Chiefs F Mitch Holmberg. . . . Leier’s second goal, at 4:16 of the third period, tied the game 3-3. F Alex Schoenborn broke the tie with his 14th goal at 5:49. . . . Petan added insurance just 57 seconds later. . . . Portland (38-12-5) is nine points behind the Western Conference-leading Kelowna Rockets. . . . Everett (26-21-8) is seventh, three points behind the Vancouver Giants and three ahead of the Tri-City Americans. . . .
In Prince George, the Cougars ran their winning streak to six games with a 7-1 triumph over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Cougars had beaten the visiting Rebels 5-3 on Friday. . . . Red Deer has lost six in a row. . . . Cougars F Troy Bourke had two goals, giving him 21, and two assists, while F Jordan Tkatch had four assists. . . . Cougars D Martin Bobos had two assists and was plus-5. . . . F Brad Morrison had two goals, giving him nine, and an assist, while F Todd Fiddler scored twice, giving him 36. . . . Cougars G Adam Beukeboom stopped 17 shots as he won for the second time in two nights. . . . The Cougars (24-26-7) have closed to within two points of Tri-City, which holds down the conference’s last playoff spot. . . . The Rebels (27-25-4) are eighth in the Eastern Conference. . . .
In Vancouver, the Edmonton Oil Kings won their 11th straight game, beating the Giants, 5-1. . . . F Edgars Kulda broke a 1-1 tie with his 20th goal at 19:57 of the first period, via the PP. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar got the game’s first goal, his 30th of the season. He also added an assist. . . . Edmonton was 2-for-7 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-7. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 15 shots in posting his league-leading 35th victory. . . . The Oil Kings are 9-1-0 in games played in B.C. Division arenas this season. On this swing, which involved three games in four nights, they also won 3-1 in Kamloops and 3-2 in a shootout in Kelowna. . . . Edmonton (40-13-1) is the second team with 40 victories this season; the other is Kelowna. The Oil Kings lead the Eastern Conference. . . . Vancouver (27-21-9) is sixth in the Western Conference. . . . 
In Kelowna, the Victoria Royals set a franchise record for points in one season as they dumped the Rockets, 6-4. . . . The Royals now have 78 points, one more than the record that was set last season. On Friday night, the Royals beat the Blazers 3-1 in Kamloops and set franchise records for victories and road victories in a season. . . . The Rockets blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads. . . . Victoria F Austin Carroll tied the game 3-3 with his 27th goal at 11:59 of the second. . . . Victoria F Steven Hodges snapped that tie with his 15th goal at 4:29 of the third and F Logan Nelson, returning from a two-game WHL suspension, made it 5-3 just 25 seconds later. He‘s got 18 goals. . . . Hodges finished with two goals, while teammate Ben Walker drew three assists and D Joe Hicketts had two. . . . The Rockets got a goal and two assists from F Tyson Baillie, who has 22 goals. . . . The Royals, who are 2-0-1 in Kelowna this season, led 42-34 on the shot clock. . . . Victoria is 7-0-2 in its last nine outings and 37-16-4 on the season. That has it third in the Western Conference, three points ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Rockets (43-8-4) continue to lead the overall standings. They are nine points ahead of Edmonton and Portland. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs halted a four-game losing skid with a 7-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Chiefs took a 3-2 lead into the third period and scored the game’s last four goals. . . . F Mike Aviani scored his 31st goal for the Chiefs, while F Marcus Messier, who was acquired from the Americans in January, notched sixth goal of the season and his first with Spokane. . . . Tri-City D Mitch Topping had two assists as he played in his 300th regular-season game. . . . Spokane G Eric Williams turned aside 31 shots, 10 more than Tri-City’s Eric Comrie. . . . Chiefs D Jason Fram had three assists. . . . Spokane F Mitch Holmberg, the WHL’s scoring leader, had one assist. . . . Spokane (32-18-5) is fifth in the Western Conference, six points behind Seattle. . . . Tri-City is eighth, just two points ahead of Prince George.
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