– The Brandon Wheat Kings open their Eastern Conference semifinal in Edmonton on Thursday night. The Wheat Kings will have their hands full with an Oil Kings’ team that not only led the conference in scoring, but also allowed the fewest goals of any team in the WHL. Brandon hasn’t won in Edmonton since December 31, 2009 – losing ten straight regular season and playoff games at Rexall Place since. You can hear the contest on CKLQ, with our pre-game show starting at 7:35 p.m. For more on the Wheat Kings, visit Bruce Luebke’s blog at http://luberslounge.blogspot.ca/.
– Forward Dylan Butler and goaltender Michael Stiliadis of the Dauphin Kings were named players of the month in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Butler had six goals and 12 points while Stiliadis was 9-and-0 with four shutouts and a 1.22 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. The Winnipeg Blues won the other two monthly honours with Channing Bresciani being named the top defenceman while Clay Tait was recognized as the best rookie in March. Dauphin and Winnipeg are set to face off in the MJHL’s Turnbull Cup final.
– The Ottawa Senators are running out of time. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist to lead the New York Islanders past the Senators 2-1. Ottawa is five points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with six games to go. In other action, the Oilers fell 3-2 against the Ducks, the Red Wings beat the Bruins 3-2 and the Kings blanked the Coyotes 4-0.
– Chicago Blackhawks’ captain Jonathan Toews has been shut down for the rest of the regular season due to injury, but is expected to be ‘100 percent’ for the playoffs. Toews has 28 goals and 68 points in 76 games for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
– A strong finish to the round-robin for Canada’s Kevin Koe at the World Men’s Curling Championship. Koe and company beat Germany 11-5 and Scotland 7-5 to finish with a record of 8-and-3. The Canadian team, which includes Brandon product Nolan Thiessen at lead, will face Norway in Friday’s Page 1-2 Playoff.
– The 2015 curling season will be minus ‘Johnny Mo’. Former Olympic champion John Morris is taking next season off to pursue educational and career opportunities. Morris played with Jim Cotter’s rink out of B.C. this season and the team finished runner-up at the Brier and the Canadian Trials.
– Jose Bautista homered twice to help lead Toronto to a 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Mark Buehrle gave up four hits and struck out 11 batters over 8 2/3 shutout innings for the Blue Jays.
– DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 29 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Houston Rockets 107-103. The Raptors have a 2 1/2 game lead atop the Atlantic Division and tied for third-place in the Eastern Conference.
– Andrew Harris has put pen to paper with the B.C. Lions on a contract extension through 2015. Last season, the Winnipeg product ran for 998 yards and led all CFL running backs with 61 catches for 513 yards. Harris was the team’s nominee as top Canadian for the second straight year.
