Saturday's notes . . .

C Riley Holzapfel, 19, has been named captain of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Alternates will be LW Terrance Delaronde, 20, and RW Brady Calla, 19. . . .

A new name for the Seattle Thunderbirds? Russ Farwell, the Thunderbirds’ general manager, told me Saturday night that with the team moving to Kent, Wash., next season, team officials are pondering changing the name to Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent. Farwell said the team’s jerseys definitely will carry a Kent shoulder patch. More on the Thunderbirds and their impending move sometime Sunday. . . .

D Thomas Hickey, the fourth pick in the 2007 NHL draft, is the new captain of the Thunderbirds. He was told June 10 that he would be the team’s captain. Why was he told so early? Because GM Russ Farwell and head coach Rob Sumner weren’t sure when they would see him again, what with him being involved in the NHL scouting combine, the NHL draft, the Canada-Russia series and the Los Angeles Kings’ training camp. Which is why they flew Hickey into Seattle and met with him over two days. . . . The Thunderbirds didn’t expect to get Hickey back until at least Sunday so were pleasantly surprised when the Kings returned him in time to play Saturday in Kamloops. . . . The alternate captains are RW Bud Holloway, D Benn Olson and RW Josh Schappert. . . .

Glenn Olson, the older brother of Seattle D Benn Olson, is alive and well after escaping with his life when a small plane in which he was a passenger crashed near Port McNeill, B.C., on July 14. The pilot of the plane, which was headed to Merritt, B.C., and the Merritt Mountain Music Festival, was killed in the crash. Reports indicated that Glenn, 23, who played with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice in 2003-04, had suffered a broken right leg, among other injuries. But Benn says that didn’t happen. According to Benn, Glenn suffered six broken ribs, a broken clavicle and a punctured lung. Glenn, who played 21 games last season with the AHL’s Worcester Sharks, is going to take this season off to recuperate and rehab and then give it a try again next season. Glenn attended Saturday’s game in Kamloops between the Thunderbirds and Blazers after being on a hunting trip in the Kootenays. . . .

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Kamloops, the Blazers scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Thunderbirds, 3-2, in overtime. Fans in Kamloops will be talking about the game-winner for a long, long time. RW Juuso Puustinen took a nifty pass from C Brock Nixon, tucked it through the legs of D Steve Chaffin, went in on G Reku Helenius and did a Savardian spin-o-rama that finished with a backhander into the net on the short side. . . . It was Puustinen’s second goal of the game. . . . Puustinen and Helenius are good friends. Both are from Finland and were involved in that country’s under-16, under-17 and under-17 teams, and both hope to play on the national junior team at Christmas. . . . The Blazers have scored four goals in two games. Nixon has a goal and three assists. . . .

The Everett Silvertips lost 5-2 to the visiting Vancouver Giants. That means the Silvertips are 0-2 at home and have given up 11 goals. The end of Saturday’s game was marred by four fights in a 14-second span of the last minute. All told, 180 penalty minutes were dished out in the game. . . . Last season, Everett won all six meetings with Vancouver. . . . Everett C Zach Hamill, the WHL’s defending scoring champ, had one assist in his first game after being in camp with the NHL’s Boston Bruins. . . . Everett has surrendered five PP goals in two games. . . . The Giants are 2-0 after opening with a victory in Portland on Friday. . . .

In Kelowna, the Rockets blew a 5-2 third-period -- they gave up three goals in the last four minutes of the third period -- and lost 6-5 in OT to the Tri-City Americans on LW Erik Felde’s goal at 1:02 of overtime. . . . The Rockets held period leads of 4-1 and 4-2. . . . Attendance was 6,238, giving the Rockets their 121st straight sellout. . . . The Americans, with Felde scoring twice, had won 6-5 in Everett in Friday and are looking to open 3-0 as they play the Bruins in Chilliwack on Sunday. . . . Tri-City C Kruise Reddick was in on his club’s last three goals in regulation, setting up PP scores by D T.J. Fast and C Joel Broda and scoring himself to tie the game 5-5 at 18:31 of the third.

The honour of posting the WHL’s first shutout this season goes to Matt (Tony O) Esposito of the Chilliwack Bruins. He stopped 16 shots for his third career blank job as the host Bruins dumped the Portland Winter Hawks, 2-0. . . . One night earlier, Tony O lost his shutout with 0.1 seconds left in the third period as the Bruins won 2-1 in Kamloops. . . . The Bruins have opened with two straight victories and can equal the franchise record for longest winning streak by beating visiting Tri-City on Sunday night. . . . Portland G Jordan White, 19, was superb as his mates were outshot, 32-16, including 23-5 in the second period. . . .

At Cranbrook, the expansion Oil Kings ran their record to 2-0 with their second straight victory over the Kootenay Ice. On this night, the Oil Kings scored three times in the first period, built the lead to 4-0, led 4-3 later and went on to a 6-3 victory. . . . Edmonton import Tomas Vincour scored his first two WHL goals. . . . The Oil Kings were 4-for-10 with the man advantage. . . . Edmonton, in its home-opener Thursday, beat the Ice, 4-3, on a goal at 19:59 of the third period. . . .

The visiting Calgary Hitmen beat Red Deer 4-1 for an opening-weekend sweep of the home-and-home series with the Rebels. . . . Calgary, which won 3-1 at home on Friday, led 4-0 until late in the third period. . . . C T.J. Galiardi, who joined the Hitmen after playing at Dartmouth last season, scored his first WHL goal to give his mates a 2-0 lead after the first period. . . .

In Prince George, the Spokane Chiefs erupted for five first-period goals and went on to a 7-2 victory over the Cougars. That gave the Chiefs a two-game sweep in Prince George, as they had won 5-2 on Friday. . . . LW Drayson Bowman and RW David Rutherford each scored twice in that first period. Rutherford got his third goal in the second period. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Brandon Wheat Kings completed a two-game sweep of the Blades, winning 6-1. On Friday in Brandon, the Wheat Kings beat the Blades, 5-2. . . . Brandon C Brayden Schenn, a 16-year-old from Saskatoon, had two assists Saturday. He was the ninth overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft. . . . Brandon freshman Scott Glennie scored twice in the first period. . . . “They were on us all night,” Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “They were just like the flies in this building.”

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers got three goals from C Tyler Ennis in beating the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. One night earlier in Lethbridge, the Hurricanes came from 3-1 down late and won 4-3 in OT. . . . The Tigers hoisted their 2006-07 WHL championship banner into The Arena’s rafters during a pregame ceremony. . . . Medicine Hat G Ryan Holfeld, who made 14 saves, turned aside Lethbridge LW Carter Bancks on a late third-period penalty shot to preserve what was a 3-2 lead.