TUESDAY’S GAMES:
Petan started the the winner with end-to-end rush and chip, Koules won a battle with Bear on the boards to get it back to Petan at the dot.
— Scott Sepich (@SSepich) April 8, 2015
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Jack Nicolle, who once owned a piece of the Regina Pats, died in a Regina hospital on April 1. He was 79. Nicolle, who had suffered a stroke five days earlier, owned a piece of the Pats, along with Huddy Bell, Morley Gusway, Bill Hicke and Ted Knight. . . . Nicolle was one of a kind. Oh, how I loved to listen to the man laugh. At one time, Nicolle owned part of Mutt and Jeff’s Bar & Grill, along with then-Saskatchewan Roughriders stars Jeff Fairholm and Dave Ridgway, and I sometimes would stop by just to chat and to laugh. . . . Regina is much richer for having had Nicolle, but is much poorer now that he is gone.
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G Evan Sarthou of the Tri-City Americans will play for Team USA at the 2015 IIHF U-17 World championship in Switzerland, from April 16-26. Sarthou, 17, is from Black Diamond, Wash. He was 11-15-2 with seven shutouts with the Americans this season. He had a 3.10 GAA and a .906 save percentage. His six shutouts were one shy of the team’s single-season record that is held by Carey Price.
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D Josh Morrissey of the Kelowna Rockets, who has been out with a leg injury since Feb. 28, is back practising and he isn’t wearing a non-contact jersey. The Rockets won’t say whether he’ll play Friday when they open at home against the Victoria Royals. Initially, it was thought he might be out until at least April 20. . . . Warren Henderson of Kelowna Capital News also reports that Rockets F Tyrell Goulbourne will play Friday after sitting out two games with an undisclosed injury, while F Justin Kirkland is still out.
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F Reid Duke of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who hasn’t played since Feb. 13, is back practising, but it’s not known if he’ll play Friday in the series-opener against the visiting Regina Pats. . . . When Duke does return, the Wheat Kings’ lineup will be gaining a point-a-game forward, as he had 51 points in 52 games when he was injured.
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F Coda Gordon of the Swift Current Broncos has joined the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush. Gordon, 20, played 258 games with the Broncos. He put up 244 points, including 98 goals. He was a sixth-round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 2012 NHL draft, but was never signed. . . .
D Dillon Heatherington of the Swift Current Broncos has signed an amateur tryout deal with the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Heatherington, 19, had 15 points, including one goal, in 48 games with the Broncos this season. He also was a member of the Canadian team that won the World Junior Championship. In 247 career games with the Broncos, he has 87 points, 13 of them goals. The Blue Jackets selected him in the second round of the NHL’s 2013 draft.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The OHL’s Sarnia Sting has fired head coach Trevor Letowski and chosen not to renew the contract of assistant coach Andy Delmore. Former NHLer Derian Hatcher, who is one of the Sting’s new owners, is the team’s new head coach. . . . Hatcher and F David Legwand of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators purchased the Sting earlier this year. . . . The Sting lost a first-round playoff series in five games to F Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters.——
Jason Stephens is the new GM/head coach of the junior B Golden Rockets, who play in the Kootenay International Junior League. Stephens, from Red Deer, is a coaching veteran familiar in Alberta hockey circles. This season, he was the head coach of the Red Deer Aero Chiefs minor midget AAA team. He spent more than four years as head coach of the Sylvan Lake Admirals, a senior men’s AAA team. Stephens also is the head coach of the Canada’s national inline hockey team. . . . Stephens takes over from Ty Davidson, who resigned following the end of this season. Davidson later signed on as head coach of the KIJHL’s Sicamous Eagles.
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@petan19 !!!!! Yeah baby. Love beating the birds!!!
— Brendan Leipsic (@28LEIP) April 8, 2015
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In Saskatoon, F Brett Stovin, the team captain, scored three times and added an assist as the Blades dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-1. . . . Moose Jaw F Axel Blomqvist scored his 18th goal 28 seconds into the game. . . . The Blades then scored the next six goals — one in the first period, three in the second and two in the third. . . . Stovin, who has six goals over his last four games, broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 3:13 of the second period. . . . He added a second goal at 10:51 of the middle period and completed the hat trick at 14:23 of the third with the game’s last goal. He’s got 18 on the season. . . . Saskatoon F Nick Zajac and F Ryan Graham each had a goal and two assists. Graham has 13 goals; Zajac has six. . . . Blades F Wyatt Sloboshan, playing on his 18th birthday, had two assists, as did F Josh Uhrich. . . . The Blades were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-for-3. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm ran his record to 3-0-0 with 31 saves. . . . The victory came on Saskatoon GM/head coach Bob Woods’ 47th birthday. . . . The Blades (13-29-3) have won a season-high four in a row. They are at home to Prince Albert this afternoon in a game that is to be televised by Sportsnet. . . . The Warriors (20-25-4) had won their previous two games. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story 
In Brandon, the Wheat Kings erased a 2-1 deficit by scoring seven times en route to an 8-3 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Regina took a 2-1 lead into the second period and, in fact, held that lead almost 14 minutes into the period. However, Brandon exploded for seven goals in a span of 18:55 to take control. . . . Wheaties F Ryan Duke tied it 2-2 with his 14th goal at 13:40 of the second and D Ryan Pilon’s eighth goal, on a PP at 15:12, gave the home side the lead. . . . Pilon, Duke and F Nolan Patrick each scored twice, with the latter reaching the 20-goal plateau. . . . Brandon D Ivan Provorov and F Tim McGauley each had three assists and F Morgan Klimchuk, who was acquired from Regina prior to the trade deadline, had two. . . . F Adam Brooks scored his 20th goal for the Pats. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 24 shots in winning for the 29th time this season. . . . Brandon had a 55-27 edge in shots. . . . The Wheat Kings were 3-for-4 on the PP, scoring three of its first four goals with the man advantage. . . . Brandon (35-9-4) has won six in a row, matching its longest winning streak this season. The Wheat Kings remain one point behind the Kelowna Rockets, who hold down first place in the overall standings. . . . Regina (26-17-5) has lost five in a row (0-3-2). . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a game story 
In Edmonton, the Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Oil Kings, 5-2. . . . D Marshall Donald, with his second goal, and F Brett Pollock, with his 22nd, gave Edmonton a 2-0 first-period lead. Donald was acquired from Calgary at the trade deadline. . . . Calgary F Adam Tambellini tied it with two goals, giving him 32, at 4:21 and 13:39 of the second. The second goal came via the PP. . . . Tambellini has six goals in his last three games. . . . F Elliott Peterson snapped the tie with his fifth goal, at 1:58 of the third, on a PP. . . . F Beck Malenstyn, with his sixth, and F Connor Rankin, with his 25th, scored nine seconds apart later in the third for insurance. . . . Rankin, F Pavel Kamaukhov and D Travis Sanheim each had two assists for the Hitmen. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields stopped 21 shots, 10 fewer than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . The Hitmen (26-17-5) have won three straight. . . . The Oil Kings (22-20-6) are 0-2-1 over their last three outings. . . . The Oil Kings entertain Medicine Hat this afternoon, while the Hitmen are at home against Vancouver. . . . 
In Red Deer, the Rebels scored the game’s first four goals and went on to a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Thirteen Red Deer skaters earned at least a point, with F Brooks Maxwell the only one with two. He got his 15th goal and added an assist. . . . Vancouver F Zack Jones scored his 22nd goal at 6:48 of the third to get his guys to within two, at 4-2, but Red Deer D Haydn Fleury scored his third goal, on a PP, at 12:20. . . . Vancouver F Carter Popoff scored twice, giving him 20, and added an assist. . . . Red Deer G Rylan Toth stopped 28 shots. . . . Red Deer was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-3. . . . The Rebels (27-14-6) have points in eight straight (7-0-1). They are six points behind the Central Division-leading Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Giants, who were playing their fourth road game in five nights, slipped to 20-26-2. The Giants play in Calgary this afternoon. . . . Vancouver, Kamloops and Prince George are tied for third place in the B.C. Division. The way things are looking, one of those teams will get into the playoffs; the other two will miss out. . . . 
In Cranbrook, F Austin Vetterl scored twice to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Vetterl, who has six goals this season, gave the Ice a 3-1 lead at 6:32 of the second period and added a shorthanded goal at 3:41 of the third for a 4-2 lead. . . . F Jake DeBrusk scored both Broncos goals, giving him 27. . . . F Luke Philp scored his 22nd goal and added an assist for the Ice, which got two assists from F Levi Cable. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 23rd goal this season; it was the 100th regular-season goal of this career. He has 245 points in 239 games. . . . F Colby Cave had two assists for the Broncos (21-22-5), who have lost three in a row. . . . The Ice (25-22-1) has won three straight. . . . The Ice is at home to Prince George tonight. . . . 
In Spokane, G Evan Sarthou posted his fourth shutout in his last five starts as the Tri-City Americans beat the Chiefs, 2-0. . . . With Eric Comrie, Tri-City’s No. 1 goaltender, first with Canada’s national junior team and now injured, Sarthou has been the go-to guy. The 17-year-old — he’s a late-97 — from Black Diamond, Wash., was a third-round pick, 65th overall, in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Over his last five games, Sarthou has stopped 134 of 137 shots. That’s a .978 save percentage. . . . Sarthou has 10 victories this season and has put up shutouts in six of them. . . . Sarthou and Swift Current G Landon Bow lead the WHL in shutouts. Bow has been in 44 games; Sarthou has been in 24. . . . Carey Price holds the Tri-City single-season shutout record, with eight. . . . F Lucas Nickles scored his 18th goal 41 seconds into the third period. . . . Nickles drew the lone assist on F Beau McCue’s 18th goal, into an empty net, at 19:51. . . . The Chiefs lost D Matt Sozanski (shoulder) in the first period. They already were without F Calder Brooks, F Hudson Elynuik, D Evan Fiala, D Jordan Henderson and F Blair Oneschuk, all out with undisclosed injuries. . . . The Americans (24-22-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Chiefs (23-19-4) have lost five straight (0-4-1). . . . The Americans travel to Portland tonight, while the Chiefs are at home to Seattle. . . . 
In Victoria, G Justin Paulic stopped 26 shots to help the Royals to a 6-0 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Paulic, a trade deadline acquisition from Moose Jaw, is 4-0-0 with the Royals. That was his first shutout with the Royals and the third of his career. . . . The Blazers had beaten the Royals 4-3 in OT on Friday night. . . . Last night, F Brandon Fushimi’s 10th goal, at 8:08 of the first period, got things started. . . . The Royals then scored four straight PP goals. . . . Fushimi, who also had an assist, got Victoria’s sixth goal. His two goals were the only two not scored via the PP. . . . D Jack Walker scored his 11th goal and added two assists. . . . F Brandon Magee scored his 15th goal and had an assist. . . . F Matthew Phillips, who scored his first WHL goal in his first game on Friday, had two assists, as did sophomore F Tyler Soy. . . . Kamloops D Michael Fora, who didn’t play after the first period on Friday, was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Royals (26-19-4) have points in their last seven games (6-0-1). . . . Kamloops (18-25-6) had won its previous four games. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., F Miles Koules scored at 1:52 of OT to give the Portland Winterhawks a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Koules has 21 goals this season and two of them have been game-winners in Kent. . . . Seattle F Ryan Gropp forced extra time with his second goal of the game, and 18th of the season, at 11:55 of the third period. . . . This was the Thunderbirds’ Teddy Bear game and D Jared Hauf scored the goal that launched the stuffed toys at 5:50 of the first period. . . . Attendance was announced at 6,208, the third-largest crowd in the ShoWare Center’s existence. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand had opened the scoring, with his 28th goal, at 1:53. . . . F Nic Petan scored his seventh goal and added two assists, including one on the winner. . . . F Donovan Neuls had two assists for Seattle. . . . F Paul Bittner drew two assists for the Winterhawks. . . . Portland G Adin Hill was outstanding, with 42 saves, 17 of them in the second period. . . . The Winterhawks (27-19-3) have won four in a row. . . . The Thunderbirds (22-18-6) have lost three straight. . . . Portland entertains Tri-City tonight; the Thunderbirds are in Spokane. . . . Seattle and Spokane are tied for third place in the U.S. Division, two points ahead of Tri-City. . . . 
In Kelowna, the Rockets scored five times in the second period en route to an 9-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Rockets F Tyrell Goulbourne tied the game 1-1 at 16:24 of the first period and broke the tie at 4:26 of the second with a SHG. He’s got 17 goals this season. . . . Goulbourne also had three assists. . . . Kelowna beat Everett 5-3 on Friday night. . . . The Silvertips were playing their fourth road game in five nights, having swept the Cougars in Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . F Nick Merkley scored twice, giving him 16, and added an assist for Kelowna, while F Rourke Chartier moved back into the WHL goal-scoring lead with his 40th goal in his 40th game. He also had two assists. . . . Kelowna F Leon Draisaitl scored his fourth goal into an empty net with 5:49 to play in the third period. Trailing 6-3, Everett head coach Kevin Constantine went with the extra attacker with ample time remaining. . . . Kelowna D Cole Martin had two assists and was plus-6. He now leads the WHL at plus-38. In his last two-plus seasons, Martin is plus-146. . . . F Nikita Scherbak had two assists for Everett. . . . The Rockets (36-8-3) have won two in a row. They continue to lead the overall standings by one point over Brandon. . . . The Silvertips (30-14-4) are atop the U.S. Division. . . . Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier has a game story 
Later, the Prince Albert Raiders, with whom Draisaitl played the previous two seasons, issued this two-sentence news release: “The Edmonton Oilers have released Leon Draisaitl back to the Prince Albert Raiders pending a trade of his WHL rights. More details to follow in the coming days.” 
In Saskatoon, F Braden Christoffer scored with 3.3 seconds left in the third period to give the Regina Pats a 5-4 victory over the Blades. . . . F Cameron Hebig’s seventh goal, 18 seconds into the third period, gave Saskatoon a 4-3 lead. . . . Regina F Carter Harrison scored his second goal of the season at 6:02 to tie the game. . . . Christoffer won it with his 11th goal. . . . F Sam Steel had a goal, his ninth, and two assists for the Pats. The goal was a shorthanded effort. . . . Blades F Brett Stovin scored the Teddy Bear goal, his 10th, at 2:21 of the first period. . . . Saskatoon D Jordan Thomson was back in the lineup after missing 16 games with a concussion. . . . Regina improved to 19-11-1, while the Blades (7-24-3) lost their 10th straight (0-8-2). . . . After the game, Bob Woods, the Blades’ GM and head coach, was talking change. “There are going to be changes. End of story. I don’t care,” Woods told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “I’ll play with 16- and 17-year-olds because they’re supposed to make those types of mistakes. Eighteen, 19-, 20-year-olds aren’t supposed to make those types of mistakes. They’re not setting a good example right now. That just says that they’re not the right types of leaders.” . . . Nugent-Bowman’s game story is 
In Medicine Hat, F Cole Sanford and F Trevor Cox each had two goals and three assists to help the Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Steve Owre, the third member of that line, had a goal and an assist. . . . Owre and Cox were plus-5; Sanford was plus-4. . . . Sanford is up to 23 goals, while Cox and Owre each has 11. . . . The Tigers improved to 23-8-2. . . . The Raiders (15-18-1) have lost five in a row (0-4-1). . . .
In Vancouver, G Cody Porter stopped 27 shots to lead the Giants to a 4-0 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Porter has two shutouts in his freshman season. . . . D Mason Geertsen scored twice, giving him four, and added an assist. . . . Vancouver was 3-for-5 on the PP; Victoria was 0-for-5. . . . The Giants, who are 5-0-0 under head coach Claude Noel, held a 51-27 edge in shots. . . . Victoria scratched F Brandon Magee with an undisclosed injury. . . . Vancouver (15-18-0) has won six in a row and vacated the Western Conference basement in the process. The Giants now are ninth, one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Royals (17-16-2) have lost two in a row. They were beaten 6-3 at home by the Giants on Friday night. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has more 
In Spokane, F Liam Stewart broke a 3-3 tie late in the third period as the Chiefs beat the Prince George Cougars, 3-2. . . . Stewart scored his 11th goal at 15:56. . . . The Chiefs took a 2-0 lead in the first period. . . . F Hudson Elynuik scored his first goal, a Teddy Bear goal, at 9:16 and F Adam Helewka got No. 16 at 14:22. . . . D Marc McNulty scored both Prince George goals, at 18:45 of the first and 7:18 of the second. . . . He’s got six goals this season. . . . Attendance was 8,038. . . . The Chiefs (16-12-3), who visit Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday, have won two in a row. . . . The Cougars (17-16-0) had a four-game winning streak end. . . . 
In Everett, F Remi Laurencelle broke a 2-2 tie in the second period and that goal stood up as the winner as the Silvertips got past the Tri-City Americans, 4-2. . . . Laurencelle, who has seven goals, scored at 10:36 of the second. . . . F Kohl Bauml added insurance with his 12th at 13:45. . . . The third period was scoreless. . . . Each team scored twice on the PP. . . . Everett G Carter Hart turned aside 21 shots, 14 fewer than Tri-City’s Evan Sarthou. . . . D Noah Juulsen drew two assists for Everett (19-8-4). . . . D Brandon Carlo had two assists for the Americans (17-14-1), who are at home to Portland tonight. . . . Everett F Nikita Scherbak returned after a one-game absence due to the flu. But F Jake Mykitiuk (flu) sat this one out. Everett continues to be without D Ben Betker (concussion). 
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. 
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