F Yannic Seidenberg (Medicine Hat, 2003-04) has signed a one-year extension with Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL). In 46 games, he had 12 goals and 10 assists. . . .
D Colton Jobke (Kelowna, Regina, 2009-13) has signed a one-year contract with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). This season, he had four assists in 20 games with the Alaska Aces (ECHL) and he was pointless in 20 games with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). Jobke is a dual Canadian-German citizen. . . .
D Craig Schira (Regina, Vancouver, 2003-09) has signed a two-year contract with Lulea (Sweden, SHL). This season, with HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland, Liiga), he had five goals and 23 assists in 55 games while averaging 24:33 in ice time per game. He also was an alternate captain. . . .
D Daryl Boyle (Brandon, 2004-08) has signed a one-year extension with Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL). In 44 games, he had 11 goals and 21 assists. He is a dual Canadian-German citizen. . . .
D Richie Regehr (Kelowna, Portland, 1998-2004) has signed a one-year extension with Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL). In 51 games, he had 10 goals and 30 assists.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Brandon, the Edmonton Oil Kings, the defending Memorial Cup champions, scored two first-period goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . It was Game 1 of their series, with Game 2 scheduled for Brandon tonight. . . . This is the only first-round series being played with a 2-3-2 format, with the middle three games scheduled for Edmonton. That means tonight’s game takes on even more importance. . . . Brandon was 27-3-6 at home in the regular season. . . . The Oil Kings scored 11 seconds in when F Tyler Robertson, who had one goal in his previous 22 games, found the net. . . . F Brett Pollock made it 2-0 at 11:55. . . . Brandon F Peter Quenneville scored a PP goal at 17:53 of the second to get his guys back in it. . . . Pollock scored off a PP rebound at 1:35 of the third for a 3-1 lead. . . . F Lane Bauer provided more insurance for the visitors at 9:07. . . . Edmonton D Dysin Mayo had two assists, while Pollock had one for a three-point night. . . . Oil Kings G Tristan Jarry was sharp in making 25 saves, five fewer than Brandon’s Jordan Papirny. . . . Edmonton was 1-for-2 on the PP; Brandon was 1-for-4. . . . Brandon had won three of four regular-season meetings, although the teams had only met once since Nov. 22. . . . The Wheat Kings had F Stelio Mattheos in the lineup. The Winnipegger was the first selection in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Edmonton’s lineup included 15 players from last season’s championship club. . . . WHL commissioner Ron Robison presented the Wheat Kings with the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy prior to the game. The trophy is for finishing atop the overall standings in the regular season. . . . Attendance was announced as 3,086. That is 809 below Brandon’s regular-season average crowd.———
Two WHL teams are looking for head coaches. . . . Earlier in the week, the Vancouver Giants revealed that Claude Noel wouldn’t be returning as their head coach. . . . Peter Anholt, who finished the season as the general manager and head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has confirmed to Paul Kingsmith of Global TV that he won’t be back on the bench. Anholt is involved in contract negotiations with the Hurricanes. Assuming he gets a deal as GM, he will hire a head coach and a head scout. . . . There’s more from Kingsmith right here.
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The Brandon Sun has covered a lot of Brandon Wheat Kings playoff games over the years. And it always, always, always has gotten a story from the game into the next day’s paper. That streak may come to an end next week when the Wheat Kings’ first-round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings moves to the Alberta capital. . . . Sportsnet requested a change in starting times for Games 4 and, if necessary, 5, both of which are scheduled to be played in Rexall Place on March 31 and April 1. Rather than starting at 7 p.m., the games are to begin at 8 o’clock. . . . With the difference in time zones, that is 9 o’clock in Brandon. . . . The Sun’s deadline is 11:05 p.m., and it’s doubtful that it can be changed enough to make a difference.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning has signed F Brayden Point, 19, of the Moose Jaw Warriors to a three-year, entry-level NHL contract. Point also signed an ATO (amateur tryout) with the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, and will finish the season there. . . . The Lightning selected Point in the third round of the 2014 NHL draft. . . . This season, he had 87 points, including 38 goals, in 60 games with the Warriors. In 204 career games, he has 236 points, including 99 goals. . . . From Calgary, he was a member of Team Canada as it won gold at the 2015 WJC in Montreal and Toronto.
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The Calgary Flames have signed F Austin Carroll, who turned 21 on Thursday, to an entry-level deal. He led the Victoria Royals in goals (38) and points (77) in the regular season. Carroll, from Calgary, was a seventh-round pick by the Flames in the 2014 NHL draft. . . . In 268 games with the Royals over four seasons, Carroll had 196 points, including 95 goals.
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The Winnipeg Jets have assigned F Axel Blomqvist of the Moose Jaw Warriors to the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps. Blomqvist, 20, was acquired by Moose from the Victoria Royals during the season. From Sweden, he finished the season with 59 points, including 25 goals, in 61 games. The 6-foot-6, 212-pounder was a NHL free agent when he signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Jets prior to the 2013-14 season.
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The Edmonton Oilers have signed D Ben Betker of the Everett Silvertips to a three-year, entry-level NHL contract. Betker, 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, was a sixth-round pick in the NHL’s 2013 draft. From Cranbrook, Betker, 20, had 31 points, including six goals, in 64 gamers this season. In 201 career games, he has 58 points, including 14 goals.
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The AHL’s Toronto Marlies have signed F Jack Rodewald of the Moose Jaw Warriors to an ATO (amateur tryout) for the remainder of this season and to an AHL contract for 2015-16. Rodewald, who turned 21 on Feb. 14, had career highs in goals (35), assists (50) and points (85) this season, all in 71 games. . . . In 255 career games, he put up 166 points, including 76 goals.
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Cody Nickolet, over at Dub From Above, reports that only six WHLers who were selected in the NHL’s 2013 draft haven’t signed NHL contracts. Those six are F Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants (Edmonton Oilers); D Eric Roy of the Brandon Wheat Kings (Calgary Flames); D Mitch Wheaton of the Kelowna Rockets (Detroit Red Wings); G Brendan Burke of the Calgary Hitmen (Arizona Coyotes); D Mark McNulty of the Kamloops Blazers (Detroit); and D Kyle Burroughs of the Medicine Hat Tigers (New York Islanders).
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The Medicine Hat Tigers open a first-round series against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. The Tigers were a bit banged up down the stretch, but reports out of Medicine Hat indicate that F Anthony Ast, F Matt Bradley and D Tommy Vannelli will be available for Game 1. . . . The Tigers will be without D Ty Lewington, their captain, as he serves a one-game WHL suspension. . . .
The Kootenay Ice and Calgary Hitmen open their first-round series tonight in Calgary. The game will be televised by Shaw with Dan Russell calling the play and Bill Wilms riding shotgun. . . .
The Tri-City Americans are huge underdogs as they open a first-round series with the Rockets in Kelowna tonight. The Americans have five injured players who aren’t expected to play — F Parker Bowles, D Carter Cochrane, D Riley Hillis, F Braden Purtill and F Taylor Vickerman. All five are said to be done for the season. . . . The Rockets aren’t expected to have D Josh Morrissey back for this series, but F Justin Kirkland, who hasn’t played since Feb. 14, might return. . . .
The Spokane Chiefs go into these playoffs having lost eight straight playoff games. The Chiefs open in Everett against the Silvertips tonight. . . . Spokane was swept by the Portland Winterhawks in the first round in 2013 and then was swept by the Victoria Royals a year ago. . . . The Chiefs also go into these playoffs having lost their last five regular-season games. . . .
The starting time for Game 3 between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the host Red Deer Rebels on March 31 has been changed. Originally scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, it now is listed as TBD (to be determined). . . . Why? According to a note from the Rebels, it is “to accommodate the possibility of a TV broadcast of the game. . . . Game time will either be 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
The OHL’s Flint, Mich., Firebirds have signed Terry Christensen as general manager and John Gruden as head coach. The Firebirds are the former Plymouth Whalers franchise. . . . Christensen, 60, has been with the Little Caesars program and with the USA Selects Elite AAA junior program of late. He has coached in the ECHL, NAHL, Colonial league and NCAA. . . . Gruden, 44, has been in USA Hockey’s program. . . . The Firebirds have kept assistant general manager Joe Stefan and head scout Dave McParlan, both of whom were with the Whalers.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 Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored the game’s first five goals as they beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 5-1. . . . The Oil Kings took control with two goals in the last two minutes of the first period. . . . F Brett Pollock scored his 26th goal, on a PP, at 18:00 and F Edgars Kulda got his eighth at 19:24. . . . Kulda and D Dysin Mayo each had a goal and an assist. Mayo has 12 goals. . . . Edmonton F Davis Koch drew two assists. . . . Tigers F Matt Bradley scored his 14th goal at 18:22 of the third, on a PP. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 30 shots and earned an assist as he put on quite a display of his puck-handling skills. . . . The Tigers played their third straight game without F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL scoring race. He was serving a three-game WHL suspension. . . . The Oil Kings improved to 27-27-6, while the Tigers slipped to 37-20-3. . . . Brian Swane of the Edmonton Sun has a game story 
In Everett, the Silvertips jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then withstood a furious Lethbridge comeback before beating the Hurricanes, 5-4. . . . F Graham Millar gave Everett a 4-0 lead with his 12th goal at 16:12 of the first period, on a PP. . . . Lethbridge began its comeback seven seconds later on F Jamal Watson’s 23rd goal. . . . F Giorgio Estephan made it 4-2 with his 18th goal, on a PP, at 5:22 of the second. . . . F Brayden Burke got his sixth goal, at 7:14, on another PP, and now it was 4-3. . . . Everett D Noah Juulsen relieved the pressure with his seventh goal at 6:44 of the third. . . . Juulsen had missed the previous two games with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Nikita Scherbak scored his 24th goal and added two assists for Everett, while F Patrick Bajkov got his 22nd goal and an assist, and F Kohl Bauml had two helpers. . . . Scherbak came up short on a penalty shot at 19:33 of the second period, with his side leading 4-3. . . . Watson also had an assist, while F Mike Winther, back after serving a one-game suspension, drew two assists. . . . Lethbridge G Stuart Skinner stopped 34 shots, 15 more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Everett was 2-for-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 2-for-6. . . . The Silvertips (36-17-7) are 1-1-2 in their last four. They snapped the first three-game losing streak of their season with this victory. . . . Lethbridge (18-35-7) has lost four straight (0-3-1).
In Brandon, F Nolan Patrick scored two goals and added an assist to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Patrick, 16, isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2017. He’s got 42 points in 45 games this season. . . . Patrick got the game’s first goal, at 3:26 of the first period, then added an empty-netter at 18:27 of the third for his 22nd goal this season. . . . Brandon led this one 3-0 going into the second period. The Warriors then scored four times in 13:06, with F Tanner Eberle getting his 26th, F Jack Rodewald getting his 23rd and F Brayden Point getting No. 21. . . . Warriors F Torrin White broke the 3-3 tie with his 11th at 14:57. . . . Brandon F Morgan Klimchuk tied it with his 19th goal at 17:20 of the second. . . . Wheat Kings F Peter Klimchuk snapped the tie at 9:51 of the third, on a PP. He’s got 13 goals. . . . D Ivan Provorov and F Rihards Bukarts each had two assists for Brandon. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy played in his 300th regular-season game. He had one assist. . . . Brandon head coach Kelly McCrimmon won his 400th game, the 14th coach in WHL history to get there. Ken Hodge (742), Ernie McLean (548) and McCrimmon are the only members of the 400 club who got there with one franchise. . . . It was John Quenneville bobblehead night. The Brandon forward was back after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. He scored his 16th goal. . . . Warriors F Tanner Jeannot returned after being out since Dec. 10. He missed 18 games with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Wheat Kings (36-9-5) are 7-0-1 in their last eight and remain three points behind Kelowna, which leads the overall standings. . . . The Warriors (20-26-4) have lost two in a row. . . . The Wheaties and Warriors meet again tonight, this time in Moose Jaw. . . .
In Calgary, F Adam Tambellini scored two goals and added two assists as the Hitmen whipped the Prince Albert Raiders, 10-1. . . . Tambellini has 35 goals this season, with nine of them coming over his last five games. He has 12 points in a six-game point streak. . . . Hitmen F Kenton Helgesen also scored twice, giving him 16, as did F Radel Fazleev, who also has 16 goals. . . . Calgary scored 10 times on 35 shots. . . . Hitmen G Brendan Burke stopped 23 shots. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean had two assists. The 16-year-old from Calgary has 29 points, including 26 assists, in 39 games. He had one point, an assist, in his first 15 games. . . . D Travis Sanheim had three assists for Calgary and was plus-5. . . . Calgary F Pavel Karnaukhov scored his 17th goal and added two assists, while F Jordy Stallard, F Jake Virtanen and F Connor Rankin each had two assists. . . . The Raiders lost D Mackenze Stewart to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 8:22 of the third period. . . . The Hitmen were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-6. . . . Calgary (28-17-5), which entertains Edmonton this afternoon, has won five straight, outscoring its opposition 25-5 in the process. The afternoon game is part of a hockey doubleheader, with the NHL’s Oilers and Flames playing in the evening. The same thing happened in Edmonton last season on March 1. . . . Calgary has moved into a tie with Red Deer for second in the Central Division. . . . The Raiders slipped to 20-28-1. They will visit Red Deer tonight. . . .
In Cranbrook, D Rinat Valiev banged home a rebound to give the Kootenay Ice a 4-3 OT victory over the Regina Pats. . . . This was victory No. 700 for the Ice franchise, dating back to 1996-97. . . . Valiev’s seventh goal of the season came at 3:27 of extra time. . . . The Ice took a 3-0 lead in the latter stages of the second period, only to have the Pats come back and tie it. . . . Regina F Pavel Padakin scored his 16th goal of the season at 14:01 of the third period to force OT. . . . Regina F Austin Wagner had scored his 14th just 31 seconds earlier. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 40 shots. . . . Ice D Tyler King had two assist, while F Sam Reinhart also had a goal, his 12th, and an assist on the winner. He is on a 10-game point streak. . . . Regina D Connor Hobbs drew two assists. . . . The Ice began a seven game homestand with this one. . . . The Pats have brought in F Adam Berg, 17, from the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. . . . Kootenay (27-23-1) is at home to Kelowna tonight. . . . The Pats (26-17-6) are 0-3-3 in their last six outings. They are second in the East Division, seven points ahead of Swift Current. . . . Regina is in Lethbridge tonight. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story 
In Lethbridge, F Leon Draisaitl scored the game’s first two goals and the Kelowna Rockets skated to a 6-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Draisaitl, who also had an assist, has six goals. . . . Kelowna F Gage Quinney also scored twice, giving him 12. . . . The Rockets got a goal, his 18th, and two assists from F Justin Kirkland, with F Rourke Chartier and F Tyson Baillie getting two assists each. . . . F Giorgio Estephan scored his 12th goal and added an assist for the Hurricanes. He had 24 points, including 12 goals, in 64 games last season. This season, he has 31 points, 11 of them goals, in 40 games. . . . Kelowna had a 51-25 edge in shots. . . . G Michael Herringer went the distance for the Rockets in his sixth appearance of the season and his first appearance since Jan. 16. He stopped F Jamal Watson on a second-period penalty shot. . . . The Rockets (38-8-4) are 4-0-1 in their last five and will visit the Kootenay Ice tonight. . . . The Hurricanes now are 12-30-6 with Regina coming to town tonight. . . . 
In Portland, F Oliver Bjorkstrand scored once and added two assists, all in the first period, as the Winterhawks posted a 6-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Bjorkstrand has 32 goals. His 32nd allowed Portland to take a 4-0 lead into the second period. . . . Portland F Chase De Leo scored twice, giving him 24, while D Adam Henry and D Layne Viveiros each had two assists. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 29 shots, five more than Cole Kehler of the Blazers. . . . With D Michael Fora and D Patrik Maier injured and D Ryan Rehill serving a one-game suspension, the Blazers had D Conner McDonald, 15, in their lineup. A second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, McDonald plays for the Delta, B.C., midget prep team. . . . The Winterhawks (29-19-3) have won seven straight as they entertain Everett tonight. . . . The Blazers (19-26-6) remain alone in third place in the B.C. Division, two points ahead of Vancouver and Prince George. The Blazers are in Vancouver tonight. . . . 
In Prince George, the Seattle Thunderbirds scored four times in each of the first two periods en route to a 9-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . Seattle F Ryan Gropp broke a 1-1 tie with his 19th goal at 15:16 of the first period and the Thunderbirds ended up taking a 4-1 lead into the second. . . . F Roberts Lipsbergs got his fourth goal at 16:06 and F Scott Eansor scored his seventh at 19:08. . . . Lipsbergs finished with two goals, giving him five, and two assists, while F Mathew Barzal had four assists. . . . F Keegan Kolesar helped out with two goals, giving him 17, and an assist. . . . Eansor also had two assists. . . . The Cougars could have two players suspended for tonight’s rematch, as D Josh Connolly took a slashing major and game misconduct at 2:59 of the second period and D Josh Anderson left with a headshot major and game misconduct at 16:23. . . . Seattle G Logan Flodell made his third career start, all against the Cougars. He is 2-1-0, including a victory in his only Seattle start last season. He stopped 21 shots in this one. . . . Flodell came in from the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks earlier in the week after G Danny Mumaugh chose to retire. . . . Seattle D Jared Hauf sat out a one-game suspension for getting into a staged fight nine seconds into Wednesday’s game in Kamloops. . . . Hauf had played in 193 straight regular-season games. . . . Cougars D Sam Ruopp completed a five-game suspension by sitting out this one. . . . After the game, Tbird Tidbits tweeted: “Winning tonight, TBirds are 3-0 this season when Ryan Gibbons works game and is lower-numbered linesman. They are 0-2 when his number is higher.” . . . The Thunderbirds now are 24-19-6 and are third in the U.S. Division, four points ahead of Spokane and Tri-City. . . . The Cougars (20-30-2) have lost 11 in a two (0-9-2). . . . They’ll play again tonight in Prince George. . . . 
In Spokane, G Coleman Vollrath stopped 29 shots as the Victoria Royals blanked the Chiefs, 3-0. . . . Spokane has been shut out in three straight games and has been outscored 18-1 in their last five outings. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich tweeted: “Spokane has 1 goal on 134 shots in its last 5 games. Seattle has 9 goals on 26 shots tonight.” . . . Vollrath has four shutouts this season and five him his career. . . . The Royals got two goals and an assist from F Tyler Soy. The sophomore has 17 goals. . . . G Greg Chase had two assists. . . . Spokane got D Evan Fiala back from an undisclosed injury, but still had seven regulars out of action with undisclosed injuries. They also scratched G Tyson Verhelst (ill). . . . The Royals (27-20-4) are comfortably ensconced in second place in the B.C. Division. . . . The Chiefs (23-21-4) have lost seven in a row (0-6-1) for the first time since 2006-07. . . . The Royals visit the Tri-City Americans tonight, while the Chiefs are at home to Medicine Hat. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Curtis Sanford took over the WHL goal-scoring lead as his Medicine Hat Tigers got past the Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . Sanford, who also had an assist, has 41 goals, one more than Kelowna F Rourke Chartier. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL scoring race with 85 points, got his 22nd goal and added an assist. . . . F Tyler Sandhu gave the Americans a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal, via the PP, at 4:18 of the first period. . . . Tigers F Matt Bradley tied it with his 11th goal, on a PP, at 9:51. He also had an assist. . . . Cox broke the tie at 19:53 of the first. . . . Tigers G Nick Schneider made 27 saves. . . . Eric Comrie was back in goal for the Americans. Evan Sarthou had made 20 consecutive starts while Comrie was with Canada’s national junior team and then out with an injury. . . . Comrie made 35 saves. . . . The Tigers continue to be without F Steven Owre (jaw), F Anthony Ast (concussion), F Kyle Becker (concussion) and D Kyle Burroughs (suspension), while G Marek Langhamer is nursing a wonky hip. . . . Because of that, the Tigers have D Brad Forrest and F Caleb Fantillo with them on the U.S. trip. Forrest, 17, plays for the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. The Calgary native was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. Fantillo, 16, was taken in the sixth round of the 2013 bantam draft. He plays for the major midget Vancouver North East Chiefs. . . . The Tigers (35-12-2) are on a six-game winning streak. . . . The Americans (24-24-2) have lost two in a row. . . . The Americans are at home tonight against Victoria, while the Tigers visit Spokane tonight. . . .
D Bretton Stamler (Seattle, Edmonton, Swift Current, 2003-08) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL). This season, with the Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL), he had three assists in five games, and he was pointless in seven games with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). . . . 
OK, see if you can follow all of this. . . . On Thursday, the QMJHL announced that Quebecor had purchased the Quebec Remparts. Quebecor already owned a chunk of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, so on Friday the QMJHL announced that it was declaring a moratorium on any dealings between the teams due to the ownership situation. . . . Also on Friday, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens fired general manager Marc Fortier and head coach Patrice Bosch. Assistant GM Daniel Langlois resigned in what apparently was a show of solidarity. The Sagueneens then signed Yanick Jean as GM and head coach; he quit the Victoriaville Tigres in order to move to the Sagueneens. Jean had been with the Tigres since 2007-08. . . . The Journal de Quebec reported that Jean had an out-clause in his contract with the Tigres that allowed him to leave only if he was going to the Sagueneens with whom he played from 1992-96. He also was an assistant coach there from 2002-04. . . . Only in the QMJHL, you say. Pity!
In Kamloops, the Regina Pats scored four times in the first period and went on to beat the Blazers, 7-3. . . . F Dryden Hunt had five assists for the Pats, while F Connor Gay scored three times, giving him 13, and added an assist. It was Gay's second hat trick of the season. . . . Hunt, who turned 19 on Monday, has had at least two points in five of his past seven games. On the season, he's got 31 points, including 19 assists, in 24 games. Last season, he finished with 19 assists in 62 games. . . . Regina D Kyle Burroughs had a goal, his fourth, and an assist, and finished plus-4. . . . The Blazers struggled against Regina’s forecheck through most of this game and, as a result, the home side committed about a month’s worth of turnovers in one night. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram started his sixth straight game but left trailing 3-0 after facing five shots at 5:50 of the first. . . . Regina has won nine of its past 11 games and Cody Nickolet (@DubFromAbove) points out that its top nine forwards have been identical for eight straight games. . . . Regina G Tyler Brown stopped 34 shots in improving his record to 2-1-0. . . . Regina F Austin Wagner was ejected at 2:29 of the second period for a headshot on Kamloops F Cole Ully, who wasn't injured. . . . The Pats (15-10-1) have won two in a row as they go into Kelowna to face the Rockets tonight. . . . The Blazers (11-2-5) are 0-2-1 in their last three and are at home to the Victoria Royals tonight. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans outshot Lethbridge 41-15 en route to a 4-1 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . F Ty Comrie, with his second goal of the season, got the home side started at 16:53 of the first period. . . . F Lucas Nickles, F Vladislav Lukin and F Brian Williams each had a goal and an assist for the Americans. . . . There was a two-fight situation at 12:32 of the third period. . . . The Americans (15-11-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Hurricanes now are 6-16-4. . . . The Americans are scheduled to be at home to Portland tonight, while the Hurricanes play the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . 
F Marcus Messier, 20, is no longer with the Prince Albert Raiders. According to a two-paragraph release from the team, he "has returned home to Camrose to deal with some personal family matters." 
In the OHL, F Connor McDavid put up 42 points in the Erie Otters' first 14 games. He was blanked in No. 15, but has seven points in two games since then. On Saturday, he had his eighth four-point game of the season as the host Otters dumped the Saginaw Spirit, 8-1. . . . McDavid now has 49 points, including 15 goals, in 17 games. . . . He leads the OHL in assists (34) and points. Teammate Dylan Strome is next, with 39 points. . . . Erie F Alex DeBrincat, a freshman, leads the OHL in goals, with 19.
In Saskatoon, F Ryan Graham scored twice and added an assist as the Blades doubled up on the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-2. . . . Graham gave his side 2-0 and 3-1 leads with his fourth and fifth goals of the season. . . . F Ryan Gropp scored his ninth for Seattle (8-7-3), which was without F Mathew Barzal for a second straight game. He has an undisclosed injury. . . . Saskatoon G Trevor Martin stopped 34 shots to get his first WHL victory after three losses. . . . Seattle lost D Evan Wardley to a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 16:34 of the first period. He hit Saskatoon F Nick Zajac, who stayed in the game. . . . The Thunderbirds are 1-1-0 on an East Division tour. . . . The Blades (6-13-0) snapped a four-game losing skid. . . . 
In Everett, the Spokane Chiefs scored the game's last four goals, all in the third period, and beat the Silvertips, 6-4. . . . The Silvertips (12-2-3) have two regulation-time losses this season, both to the Chiefs. . . . Everett had a six-game winning streak snapped. . . . F Nikita Scherbak's 11th goal gave Everett a 4-2 lead at 16:27 of the second period. . . . F Adam Helewka, with his 10th, got the Chiefs to within one on a PP at 1:59 of the third and F Calder Brooks tied it, with his seventh, on another PP, at 10:02. . . . F Markson Bechtold's second goal of the season, at 16:21, proved to be the winner. . . . Helewka had two goals and two assists. . . . The Silvertips, the league's least-penalized team, took five of their seven minors in the third period. . . . The Chiefs (8-5-3) had lost their previous two games. . . . Spokane had F Mitch Lipon (shoulder) and D Tamas Laday (two-game suspension) back in the lineup. Lipon hadn’t played since Sept. 20, meaning this was his second game of the season.
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