Here we have Bob Tory, the general manager of the
Tri-City Americans, and rock star Alice Cooper,
the newest member of the team's fan club. You can
figure out who's who, can't you?

The Everett Silvertips have dealt D Griffin Foulk, 17, to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a couple of bantam draft picks. Everett gets a 2014 fourth-round selection and it gets back the sixth-round pick that it gave Seattle for G Daniel Cotton, 18, in October. . . . Put it all together and Everett gets Cotton and a 2014 fourth-rounder for Foulk. . . . Cotton is 6-5-0, 2.77, .914 with Everett. . . . Foulk, from Broomfield, Colo., is pointless in 14 games with Everett this season. Everett had acquired Foulk and a third-round pick from the Edmonton Oil Kings for F Tyler Maxwell, 20, on Nov. 24, 2011. . . .
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JUST NOTES: D Mirco Müller, 17, of the Everett Silvertips is on Switzerland’s roster for the World Junior Championship. The Swiss will play in Group A, along with Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Latvia. The Swiss open Dec. 27 against Latvia. . . . F Sean Monahan of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s has been suspended for 10 games for an elbow to the head of Plymouth Whalers D Colin MacDonald on Sunday. There wasn’t a penalty called on the play. Monahan is expected to be invited to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp.
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The junior B Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League have announced the general manager/head coach Roman Vopat has resigned. . . . Vopat (Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, 1994-96) apparently resigned after being asked to step back from his coaching duties, at least for a bit. . . . Jordan Foreman has stepped in as interim head coach, with help from former Kootenay Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch, who was working as an assistant coach with Vopat. . . . The Dynamiters were 14-9 this season under Vopat. They are 14-11 going into the weekend. . . .
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Former WHLer Victor Gervais (Seattle, 1986-90) has stepped down as head coach of the junior B Westshore Wolves, an expansion team in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. He has been replaced by assistant coach Rob Doyle. . . . "Unfortunately, he's got a young family at home and his decision threw us all for a loop," Doyle told the Victoria Times Colonist. "He just walked into the room after our game last week and said, 'This is it.' " . . . The Wolves were 12-10-0 under Gervais.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Kamloops, the Saskatoon Blades erased a 2-0 third-period deficit and beat the Blazers, 3-2. . . . F Nathan Burns broke a 2-2 tie at 18:59 of the third period with his first goal since joining the Blades from the Vancouver Giants. It was Burns’ seventh game with Saskatoon. . . . G Andrey Makarov stopped 41 shots for Saskatoon. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford picked up an assist for his 300th career regular-season point. He is 10th on the Blazers’ all-time scoring list. All of his points have come with the Blazers. The last Kamloops skater to get to 300 points was Hnat Domenichelli in 1995-96. . . . Kamloops was 0-6 on the PP; the Blades were 0-5. . . . Since winning 14 in a row, the Blazers are 3-6-1. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., Malte Strömwall scored 43 seconds into OT to give the Tri-City Americans a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Tri-City F Mitch Messier had forced OT with a goal at 19:43 of the third period with G Eric Comrie on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Comrie, who made 35 stops, had been winless in five career starts against the Chiefs. . . . The Americans also scored in the final minute of the second period, as D Mitch Topping’s goal left his side trailing 3-2 going to the third. . . . Strömwall also had two assists. . . . The Americans have won four in a row. . . . Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur was behind the bench as a WHL head coach for 999th time. He will get to 1,000 tonight when the teams meet in Spokane. It is only fitting that it happen against the Americans because he spent six seasons, and 423 games, as their head coach. . . . Ken Hodge (Edmonton, Portland, 1,411), Ernie McLean (Estevan, New Westminster, 1,067) and Lorne Molleken (Moose Jaw, Regina, Saskatoon, 1,017) are the only other coaches in WHL history to get to 1,000. . . .

In Edmonton, D Griffin Reinhart’s PP goal in the second period was the winner as the Oil Kings dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-1. . . . Reinhart broke a 1-1 tie. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson and F Dylan Wruck each had two assists for Edmonton. . . . The Oil Kings were 2-for-4 on the PP with their first two goals coming with the man advantage. . . .

In Portland, the Winterhawks got two third-period goals from F Nic Petan and beat the Kootenay Ice, 4-2. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic had an empty-net goal and an assist to run his point streak to 12 games. He also has 10 straight multi-point games. . . . The Winterhawks (19-4-1) have won 15 of their last 16 games and are on point behind the Kamloops Blazers (19-6-2) for first in the WHL’s overall standings. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin stopped 45 shots. . . . The Ice led 2-1 until Petan tied it at 11:37 of the third period and then broke the tie at 17:34. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie had two assists. He’s got points in 17 of his last 18 games, with 34 points over that stretch. . . . Petan, who has 15 goals, is riding a seven-game point streak. . . .

In Calgary, F Cody Sylvester scored two goals and set up another as the Hitmen dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-1. . . . Sylvester drew an assist on the game’s first goal, then scored the next two, giving him 16. . . . F Victor Rask added a goal, his first since returning from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, and added an assist for Calgary. . . . The Hitmen have won four in a row and nine of 10. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger, who has won seven in a row, stopped 24 shots. He is 14-3-2. . . .

In Brandon, G Luke Siemens kicked out 18 shots to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-0 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . Siemens has two shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . F Davis Vandane had a goal and two assists for the Raiders. . . . Brandon D Ryley Miller took a kneeing major and game misconduct at 18:35 of the third period. . . . F Carson Perreaux, who is from Brandon, had Prince Albert’s second goal. . . . F Richard Nejezchleb (shoulder) was in Brandon’s lineup for the first time since Oct. 13. . . . Brandon played without F Alessio Bertaggia and D Ryan Pulock, its leading scorers, both of whom have undisclosed injuries. . . . The teams play again tonight, this time in Prince Albert. . . .

In Red Deer, F Matt Bellerive scored the only goal of the circus and the Rebels beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 2-1. . . . The Rebels are 4-0 since owner/president/general manager Brent Sutter took over as interim head coach, replacing Jesse Wallin. . . . Lethbridge is winless in its last five games. . . . F Conner Bleackley of Red Deer forced OT with a goal at 19:11 of the second period. . . . Lethbridge G Ty Rimmer stopped 44 shots. . . .

In Victoria, the Prince George Cougars got two goals from each of Brett Roulston and Ryan Hanes and beat the Royals, 5-4. . . . F Alex Forsberg had three assists for the Cougars. . . . Victoria F Tim Traber missed his fifth straight game with an undisclosed injury. . . . This was the first of four straight meetings between these teams. They’ll play in Victoria again tonight and then twice in Prince George next weekend. . . . The Cougars continue to be without F Troy Bourke. . . .

In Kelowna, F J.T. Barnett came back from a knee injury to score two goals as the Rockets beat the Regina Pats, 5-1. . . . Barnett, 20, came over from the Everett Silvertips during training camp but suffered a knee injury on the first shift of his first game, on Sept 21, and hadn’t played since then. . . . The Rockets had lost their last two games, both in Kennewick, Wash., to the Tri-City Americans. . . . F Myles Bell, a defenceman when he played for the Pats, had three assists. . . . Kelowna has won seven in a row. . . . The Pats went 2-1-2 on their B.C. Division swing, meaning they lost three times in five games but picked up six points.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Victor Rask, Calgary
D Brady Gaudet, Red Deer

CHECKING-T0-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Joel Edmundson, Edmonton
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From Hockey Business (@HockeyBusiness): “NHL cancelled games thru Dec 14 & All-Star Wknd Jan. 26-27 in Columbus...in other news, fans in Columbus said, "We had the All-Star Game?"
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From Thom Beuning (@ThomBeuning), the radio voice of the Seattle Thunderbirds: “First 9 yrs; ZERO trades between Tbirds & 'Tips. Last 2 months, 2 trades.”


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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Everett Silvertips are disputing the lawsuit that has been brought against them by former general manager Doug Soetaert. That story is right here.
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Former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien is 49 years of age and already he is experiencing memory loss.
Nathan Fenno of the Washington Times has more right here.
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Lorne Molleken will be back behind the bench of the Saskatoon Blades next season. Molleken, who is the Blades’ general manager and head coach, has told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that he will reassess his position(s) after the 2012-13 season, which means after the 2013 Memorial Cup. The Blades will be the tournament’s host team.
Molleken also told Nugent-Bowman that the roster of next season’s team will bear little resemblance to the Saskatoon roster that lost in four games to the Medicine Hat Tigers this week.
That story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles have announced that they won’t bring back assistant coach Kevin Higo, whose two-year contract is to expire on July 31. Higo, from Lethbridge, was an assistant coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors for two seasons (2008-10). . . .
Victor Gervais (Seattle, 1986-90) is the new GM/head coach of the junior B Westshore Wolves, a new club in the Vancouver Island junior league. Gervais has spent the last five seasons with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. This season, he was GM and assistant coach, with Len Barrie as majority owner and head coach. . . . The Wolves will play out of Victoria’s Bear Mountain Arena, which also is home to the Grizzlies. . . .
The U of Alberta Golden Bears have redone their organizational tree. No longer will they have a head coach and an assistant coach; instead, there will be a general manager and a head coach. Stan Marple, the interim head coach last season, will be the first GM, while the search is on for a coach. Evan Daum has that story in the Edmonton Journal right here.
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D Morgan Rielly isn’t yet ready to return to the Moose Jaw Warriors’ lineup; in fact, it sounds as though he may not play for a couple of weeks, although he has been practising for 10 days. Rielly, who had major knee surgery on Dec. 1. He visited with his Vancouver surgeon this week and Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald that Rielly is “week-to-week.” Millar told Gourlie: “The appointment with the surgeon went very well. (Rielly) continues to be on pace to have a chance to play somewhat ahead of schedule. I know there was a lot of speculation and some reports that he would be in the line-up (tonight). He will not be in the line-up. He will not play at all in this series.” . . . The Warriors take a 3-1 series lead over the Regina Pats into Game 5 in Moose Jaw tonight.
Gourlie’s story, and there’s more to it, is right here.
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Is Saskatoon, a city that would be home to an NHL franchise, a good sports town, or not? Les MacPherson, a columnist with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, tackles that question right here.
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D Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades will finish his season with the Lake Erie Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Siemens was selected by Colorado with the 11th pick of the 2011 NHL draft. . . .
D Josh Caron of the Everett Silvertips, who signed a free-agent deal with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, is expected to join the AHL’s Houston Aeros for the remainder of the season. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that F Ryan Harrison has been invited to join the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, and D Brennan Yadlowski may hook up with the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, was busy again on Thursday.
He hit Everett F Ryan Harrison with a ‘tbd’ suspension for a charging major and game misconduct in Game 4 against the visiting Tri-City Americans on Wednesday. Assuming that Harrison, 19, is back in the fall, the start of his season almost certainly will be delayed. . . .
F Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice was hit with a one-game suspension for a game misconduct he took against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday. Reinhart didn’t play last night as the Oil Kings completed a sweep of the defending-champion Ice. . . .
Ice D Spencer Wand also sat out last night’s game after being suspended for a game following a pregame violation on Wednesday. . . .
Regina Pats F Dyson Stevenson won’t play tonight in Game 5 against the host Moose Jaw Warriors. He incurred a one-game suspension after taking a clipping major and game misconduct in Game 4 in Regina on Wednesday. He has a team-high three goals and is tied with F Jordan Weal for the team lead in points, with five. . . .
And, finally, Regina president Brent Parker was fined $2,500 for “inappropriate behaviour” after Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.
Glenn Reid of CBC Regina tweeted: “GM Brent Parker fined $2500 for inappropriate conduct. I thought he was screaming at me for a second there (Wednesday) night.”
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported that Parker “punched a hole in the door of the video replay booth inside the press box” after the game and “also became involved in a heated verbal confrontation with the off-ice officials who were inside the booth.”
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Harder had a busy time of it. He also spoke with Wayne Gretzky, whose good friend, Pat Conacher, is in his first season as the Regina Pats’ head coach. That story is right here.
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Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press reports on a WHL player who received probation and community service after pleading guilty to charges from a high-speed car crash in which his girlfriend was killed. That story is right here.
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THURSDAY’S WHL GAMES:
(If you want WHL facts and stats, get on Twitter and follow @WHLFacts)
In Winnipeg, the Brandon Wheat Kings got a goal at 8:26 of OT to beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 and win a first-round series in five games. . . . The Wheat Kings played their home games in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is in Westman Place in Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings actually scored twice on the game-winning play. F Paul Ciarelli fired a shot that hit the cross-bar in the back of the net. As one of the referees waved it off, F Darian Dziurzynski, who turns 21 today, banged in the rebound. . . . Originally credited to Dziurzynski, the goal was later changed to Ciarelli. . . . The Hitmen killed off a Brandon power play just before the winning goal and, in fact, came close to winning when G Corbin Boes made a tremendous glove save off F Jimmy Bubnick. . . . It is the eighth time in the last 11 seasons that Brandon has moved into the second round. . . . Boes finished with 42 saves. . . . Ciarelli scored at 4:14 of the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. Those were his first two goals of the series. . . . Dziurzynski and Jens Meilleur each had two assists for Brandon as they figured in both Ciarelli goals. . . . The Hitmen played all five games without F Victor Rask (leg), who scored 33 goals in the regular season. . . . Attendance was 4,002. . . . You can bet this series victory meant just a little bit more to Brandon owner/general manager Kelly McCrimmon. His brother, Brad, would have been 53 on Thursday. Brad was the head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the KHL team that was wiped out in a plane crash on Sept. 7. . . . The Wheat Kings will be back in Westman Place for the second round. Brandon will face the Edmonton Oil Kings next, if the Moose Jaw Warriors eliminate the Regina Pats. The Warriors take a 3-1 lead in that series into Game 5 tonight in Moose Jaw. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Rhett Rachinski scored the game’s last two goals as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Kootenay Ice 3-1 and swept the defending champions from the playoffs. . . . Edmonton has won its last 15 games. . . . Rachinski broke a 1-1 tie with his first goal of the series at 14:09 of the second period and added an empty-netter at 19:23 of the third. . . . The Oil Kings, in their fifth season in the WHL, won a series for the first time. They went in having been swept from the first round in both of their appearances. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 25 shots, while Laurent Brossoit of Edmonton turned aside 14. . . . The biggest story of the two games in Cranbrook may well have been the attendance — 2,293 on Wednesday and 2,146 last night. Those are the two smallest Rec-Plex playoff crowds in franchise history. . . . The highlight for the fans may have been when Marian Dixon shot a puck from the far blue-line through a hole in a sheet of plywood and won a truck from Denham Ford. . . . A Thursday night tweet from Edmonton D Griffin Reinhart: “Best comment on the ice goes to my little bro Sam saying ‘If you touch me I'm telling mom’ when we were in a scrum.” . . .

In Kelowna, F Ty Rattie scored four times as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Rockets 5-3 to sweep that first-round series. . . . The Winterhawks will meet the Kamloops Blazers in the second round. That series will open with Games 1 and 2 in Portland’s Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum on April 6 and 7. . . . Rattie scored his club’s first three goals, giving Portland 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads. . . . He later added an empty-netter for his 10th goal in the four games. He also had three assists. . . . Interestingly, in the four games in this series, Rattie had one-, two-, three- and four-goal games. . . . Last spring, Rattie finished the playoffs with nine goals in 17 games. . . . He actually outscored the Rockets, 10-9, in the four games. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi had two assists. . . . Linemates Rattie, Baertschi and Marcel Noebels, who had one helper, each was plus-4.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Curtis Lazar, Edmonton.

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THE COACHING GAME:
Former WHLer Victor Gervais is stepping down as general manager/assistant coach of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Gervais spent five seasons with the Grizzles who are owned by Len Barrie. Barrie also is the head coach, although he hasn’t been behind the bench for a couple of months. The Victoria Times Colonist reports that Barrie is expected to promote assistant coach Rob Doyle to GM and head coach.
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Marlin Murray, the GM/head coach of the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, drew a 12-game suspension for his epic rant and stick-throwing episode from Thursday night’s playoff game against the Winnipeg Saints at the St. James Civic Centre. . . . The Kings also were fined an undisclosed amount. . . . If you haven’t seen Murray in action, the video is right here. He did get his 12 game’s worth.
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Bob Young of the Seattle Times takes a look right here at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash., and its financial situation. The ShoWare Centre is home to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
(If you’re on Twitter, you should be following @WHLFacts)

In Brandon, G Corbin Boes made 34 saves to help the Wheat Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Wheat Kings clinched a playoff spot for the 12th straight season and the 19th time in the last 20 years. . . . D Eric Roy, with his 10th, at 16:56 of the first period and F Michael Ferland, with his 45th, at 0:55 of the second, gave Brandon a 2-0 lead. . . . Both Brandon goals came via the PP and F Brenden Walker assisted on both. . . . F Lukas Sutter got his 28th for the Blades at 5:19 of the second. Sutter had four goals all of last season. . . . The Blades won the season series, 5-3-0. . . . Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM/head coach, tells Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that D Dalton Thrower and F Michael Burns are week-to-week. Both were injured in a 2-0 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert on Wednesday. . . . Saskatoon D Matt Pufahl (broken ankle) hasn’t played since Jan. 28 but may return Friday against Swift Current. . . . The Stanley Cup was in the house and country music start Paul Brandt paid his respects. Brandt is to perform in Brandon tonight. . . . Brandon F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) returned after missing 40 of the team’s last 41 games. . . . The Wheat Kings closed to within a point of the Blades, who are seventh in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Blades, in turn, are one point behind Regina and Kootenay, who are tied for fifth. . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Justin Kirsch scored at 2:31 of OT to give the Warriors a 3-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Kirsch has 20 goals on the season. . . . Moose Jaw F Cody Beach forged a 2-2 tie at 5:50 of the third period. . . . Beach also assisted on F Cam Braes’s 39th goal. . . . Regina, having clinched a playoff spot one night earlier, chose to make healthy scratches out of F Jordan Weal, their leading scorer, along with F Lane Scheidl and D Martin Marincin. . . . The Warriors have won 15 in a row at home and have at least a point in each of their last 20 games at Mosaic Place. . . . Regina G Adam Beukeboom stopped 38 shots, 20 more than Moose Jaw’s Luke Siemens. . . . The Warriors will be the Eastern Conference’s second seed when the playoffs begin. . . . Regina is tied for fifth with Kootenay. . . .

In Swift Current, F Graham Black scored twice, including once on a penalty shot, as the Broncos beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-3. . . . The Broncos erased a 3-1 deficit with Black’s penalty shot goal, at 15:57 of the second, and three goals in 5:06 early in the third. . . . Black also had an assist and was plus-4. . . . Prince Albert F Mark McNeill scored his 30th goal. . . . Raiders F Justin Maylan had a goal, his 25th, and an assist. . . . Broncos freshman F Coda Gordon scored his 29th goal into an empty net. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 34 shots, four more than Prince Albert’s Luke Lee-Knight. . . . Neither of these teams will be in the playoffs. . . .

In Edmonton, D Cody Corbett scored twice as the Oil Kings skated to a 7-4 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Edmonton erased a 2-0 deficit with three goals in 2:26 midway through the second period. . . . Edmonton F T.J. Foster broke a 3-3 tie with his 29th goal at 2:51 of the third period. . . . Corbett has six goals this season. . . . Edmonton D Mark Pysyk picked up one assist but it was a big one — the 100th of this career. He was playing in his 240th regular-season game. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix reached the 100-point plateau with his 42nd goal and an assist. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba had a goal, his 20th, and two assists. . . . Edmonton has won eight in a row. . . . Red Deer took 89 of 156 minutes in penalties handed out by referees Adam Byblow and Fraser Lawrence. . . . Although the online scoresheet doesn’t reflect it, a story right here refers to “a flurry of fights” at 12:33 of the third period. . . . Edmonton F Dylan Wruck left the game at that point with an apparent shoulder injury. . . . Edmonton is scheduled to play in Red Deer on Saturday. . . . “I didn’t like some of the stuff that went on after the whistles,” Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal told Chris O’Leary of edmontonjournal.com. “It was very cheap and very unprofessional. We picked up an injury from it and that’s going to hurt us down the stretch here. But we’ve got guys we can put in the lineup. We have to go in (to Red Deer) next Saturday night. What comes around, goes around.” . . . Edmonton was 3-9 on the PP; Red Deer was 1-7. . . . Attendance was 16,651. . . . The Oil Kings moved past the idle Tri-City Americans and into first place in the overall standings. Edmonton is a point ahead of Portland and two up on the Americans. . . . The Rebels were eliminated from the playoffs earlier in the evening, when Brandon won. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Emerson Etem scored twice, getting his 60th into an empty net, as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Hurricanes, 3-1. . . . Etem is the first WHLer to 60 since F Layne Ulmer did it with the Swift Current Broncos in 2000-01. . . . The Tigers have won five in a row on the road. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 27 shots. . . . Bob Ridley, the legendary voice of the Tigers, called his 3,000th regular-season game. @WHLFacts points out that Ridley will call his 4,000th game when the Tigers play their 61st game in the 2025-26 season. . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Calgary. Medicine Hat can finish no higher than third. . . .

In Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants scored three third-period goals and beat the Blazers, 3-2. . . . F Marek Tvrdon scored twice for the Giants, giving him 27. . . . Vancouver F Nathan Burns broke a 2-2 tie at 12:35 of the third. He has 12 goals, six of them in eight games against the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was 0-4 on the PP, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:39. . . . Vancouver was without F Cain Franson, a 26-goal scorer, who is expected to play today against the visiting Victoria Royals. . . . The Giants remain tied for fourth with Spokane in the Western Conference. They will meet in the playoffs but have yet to decide home-ice advantage. . . .The Blazers are three points behind Portland and two in back of Tri-City in the chase for top spot in the Western Conference. . . .

In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 26 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 3-0 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Simpson has two shutouts this season and six in his career. . . . F Cody Fowlie scored twice for Everett, giving him 12. He opened the scoring at 3:19 of the first and closed it at 5:05 of the third, the latter on the PP. . . . In between, F Josh Winquist got his 18th while killing a penalty at 1:23 of the third. . . . The victory allowed the Silvertips to move past the Royals into seventh place in the Western Conference. Everett is a point ahead of Victoria, with the Royals four points ahead of Seattle and Prince George. . . .

In Kelowna, F Troy Bourke scored twice and added an assist as the Prince George Cougars edged the Rockets, 3-2. . . . Bourke, who has 16 goals, gave his side a 2-0 lead on the PP at 15:42 of the third and then added an empty-netter. . . . F Spencer Asuchak and F Caleb Belter each had two assists for the Cougars. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley, who went over 10,000 minutes player for his career, stopped 19 shots. . . . He lost his shutout when D Myles Bell scored his 15th at 16:01 of the third. . . . The Rockets will finish sixth in the Western Conference. . . . The Cougars, with four games left, are four points out of a playoff spot. . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Portland Winterhawks scored three times in the game’s first 2:52 and went on to an 11-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Portland F Nic Petan picked up four goals for his first WHL hat trick. He’s got 13 goals this season. . . . Portland F Brad Ross added three goals, giving him 42, and an assist. . . . Portland players have enjoyed 12 hat tricks this season. . . . Portland also got four assists from F Ty Rattie, two goals and two assists from F Cam Reid and a goal and two assists from F Brendan Leipsic, who was plus-5. . . . Seattle’s Calvin Pickard, who gave up 10 goals on 52 shots, broke the WHL record for career minutes played by a goaltender. . . . Pickard has played 13,721 minutes over 236 games. The record had been held by Kurtis Mucha, who played 13,708 minutes with Portland and Kamloops (2005-10). . . . The Winterhawks moved into first in the Western Conference, a point ahead of idle Tri-City and three ahead of Kamloops. Portland is second in the overall standings, a point behind Edmonton. . . .

In Spokane, F Colin Valcourt’s 16th goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Chiefs a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Darren Kramer scored his 21st goal at 13:38 of the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. . . . Valcourt scored at 14:07. . . . Spokane D Brendan Kitchton had two assists, giving him 135 in his career. He moved passed Jared Spurgeon and into fourth on the Chiefs’ career list among defencemen. . . . The Chiefs have four games left and remain tied with Vancouver for fourth in the Western Conference. Vancouver has three games to play. . . . Should they end up tied, the first tiebreaker is victories, and the Giants hold a 38-36 edge at the moment.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Darren Dietz, Saskatoon.
F Brody Sutter, Lethbridge.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES
Red Deer at Calgary
Victoria at Vancouver
Everett at Seattle
Prince George at Tri-City
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In the BCHL on Saturday, the Penticton Vees completed their regular season with a 5-2 loss to the Spruce Kings in Prince George. The loss snapped Penticton’s 42-game winning streak.

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