Friday . . .

The Portland Winterhawks have deleted Czech F Radim Valchar, which means he may be headed for the ECHL. Valchar had 41 points in 67 games last season, but is a two-spotter — a 20-year-old import. . . . The Winterhawks will go with the two imports they selected in the CHL’s 2009 import draft — Swiss F Nino Niederreiter, 17, and Swedish F Jacob Berglund, who turns 18 in November. . . . Scott Sepich, a freelancer who writes for The Oregonian, reports that the Winterhawks have assigned F Killian Hutt to the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel. Hutt suffered an offseason injury and reported to Portland’s camp overweight.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 8-1. . . . Rich Preston, Lethbridge’s new GM and head coach, was behind a WHL bench for a regular-season game for the first time since leaving the Regina Pats after 1996-97. . . . The Ice had a 48-14 edge in shots on goal, including 39-4 through two periods. . . . D Hayden Rintoul had four assists for the Ice, which got two goals from F Max Reinhart. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen lost his shutout bid when F Cam Braes beat him with seven seconds left in the third period. . . . In order to accommodate renovations in their home arena, the Enmax Centre, the Hurricanes will play eight straight road games to open the season. . . . In Phoenix, D Luca Sbisa scored a PP goal at 1:23 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. Sbisa, 19, started the last NHL season with the Philadelphia Flyers. He now is with the Ducks and still is eligible to play for the Hurricanes, who hold his WHL rights.
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In Swift Current, the Broncos came awfully close to giving up a 6-2 lead before hanging on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-5. . . . This was Swift Current GM/head coach Mark Lamb's first regular-season game behind the bench. . . . The Broncos led 6-2 with less than four minutes to play when the Warriors exploded for three quick goals. . . . D Travis Hamonic, back from the New York Islanders’ camp, was in Moose Jaw’s lineup and had two assists. . . . F Quinton Howden, the first overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft, had three assists for Moose Jaw. . . . F Cody Eakin led the Broncos with two goals and an assist.
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In Red Deer, the Calgary Hitmen got three goals from F Tyler Fiddler as they dumped the Rebels, 6-2. . . . Fiddler, a 19-year-old from Prince Albert, scored three goals in 64 games last season. Last night, he scored his three goals in an 8:09 span in the second period. . . . F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, had one of Red Deer’s goals. . . . Former Vancouver Giants G Kraymer Barnstable came on in relief of Red Deer starter Darcy Kuemper late in the second period. . . . The game marked a return to the WHL for Calgary head coach Mike Williamson. The former Portland head coach had been away for two seasons after being unable to come to terms with the Winterhawks’ then-owners. This was his 220th WHL coaching victory.
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In Prince Albert, the Raiders dumped the Brandon Wheat Kings, 6-1. . . . The Wheat Kings are missing 12 players off last season’s team, including six who are at NHL camps. . . . The Raiders are missing D Ryan Button, who is in camp with the Boston Bruins. . . . Brandon plays the Pats in Regina on Saturday. It is the first time since 1994-95 that Brandon opens with two road games. Back then, the Wheat Kings swept two games from the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . The Raiders scored the game’s last five goals.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades got two goals from F Travis Toomey and beat the Regina Pats, 5-1. . . . Saskatoon G Adam Morrison stopped 17 shots. . . . Prior to the game, the Blades raised the East Division pennant from last season, the first such occurrence in Saskatoon in 15 years. . . . Yes, the rivalry still is alive. The teams staged a line brawl in the third period. . . . Regina F Garrett Mitchell returned from the NHL’s Washington Capitals in time to play, but the Pats were missing F Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers), D Colten Teubert (Los Angeles Kings) and D Matt Delahey (New Jersey Devils). . . . The Blades were missing F Milan Kytnar (Edmonton) and D Jyri Niemi (New York Islanders).
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In Chilliwack, F Shayne Wiebe had a goal and two assists to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-3 victory over the Bruins. . . . Wiebe had 14 points, including 10 goals, in eight games against the Bruins last season.
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In Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds jumped out to a 4-0 lead and hung on to beat the Everett Silvertips, 4-3. . . . Seattle got a goal and two assists from freshman F Colin Jacobs, the 67th pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He is from Coppell, Texas. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 46 shots. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson was lifted after surrendering four goals on 18 shots. Thomas Heemskerk came on to stop all 17 shots he faced. . . . Sophomore Swedish D Stefan Warg was returned to the Thunderbirds by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks prior to the game and he was in the lineup. . . . However, Seattle still is waiting for clearance to use Russian F Mikhail Sentyurin.
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In Prince George, Spokane F Levko Koper scored three goals as the Chiefs beat the Cougars, 6-3. . . . Attendance was 4,985. . . . Prince George G James Priestner stopped 46 shots. . . . The Cougars were outshot 37-9 through 40 minutes. . . . Spokane forwards David Conrad and Tyler Johnston had a goal and two helpers each.