– The sale of the Regina Pats and Prince George Cougars is expected to be rubber-stamped by the Western Hockey League’s Board of Governors Wednesday. The Pats are being purchased by a group of Regina business people that includes Brandon product and former Wheat King Todd Lumbard, while the Cougars will now be owned by a Prince George group that includes NHLers Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer. The price tag for the Pats is reportedly 7.5 million dollars, while the Cougars’ sale price is closer to 7 million dollars.
– The WHL will recognize it’s top performer at it’s annual Awards Luncheon Wednesday. No members of the Wheat Kings are up for awards, but it’s safe to say defenceman Ryan Pulock will be named to one of the league’s all-star teams. Mitch Holmberg of the Spokane Chiefs and Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice are the finalists for the Player of the Year Award.
– Brent Wold completed his hat-trick 42 seconds into overtime as the host Dauphin Kings beat the Winnipeg Blues 4-3 Tuesday night at the Western Canada Cup. Brandon product Mitch VanTeeling had the other goal for the Kings as they improved their record to 2-and-1. In Tuesday’s other game, Carson Samoridny scored a power-play goal in overtime as the Spruce Grove Saints edged the Yorkton Terriers 3-2, leaving both teams at 1-and-2. The Blues are also 1-and-2 while the B-C Champion Coquitlam Express are 2-and-0. Coquitlam and Yorkton play in the lone game Wednesday (7 p.m., Credit Union Place). CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more on the Western Canada Cup here.
– Wayne Simmonds scored three times and Steve Mason stopped 34 shots as Philadelphia downed the Rangers 5-2 Tuesday night to even its first-round series at three games apiece. The Flyers visit New York for Game 7 Wednesday night, one of three Game 7’s on the schedule. The Minnesota Wild visit Colorado in their decisive game, and the Los Angeles Kings will try to complete their series rally in San Jose against the Sharks.
– Yellowhead Chiefs’ goaltender Kristen Hunt has committed to play U.S. College hockey with the NCAA Division Three St. Scholastica Saints this fall. The Saints are based in Duluth, Minnesota. Hunt was the Chiefs’ MVP this year, posting a 1.81 goals against average.
– A split for Canada’s teams in the finals of the World Senior Curling Championships in Scotland. New Brunswick’s Wade Tallon downed Sweden 7-2 in the men’s final Wednesday while Nova Scotia’s Colleen Pinkney gave up a steal of two in the eighth end in a 6-5 loss to Scotland in the women’s final. Canada’s husband-and-wife team of Wayne and Kim Tuck finished out of the medals at the 2014 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.
– It looks like status quo in the Border West Baseball League, at least for the moment. League president Keith Gardiner says the Pilot Mound Pilots are still short some players, but are hoping to generate enough interest to continue in the league. The defending champion Morden Mohawks, Baldur, Cartwright, Clearwater and Killarney are the other teams in the league. The 16-game regular season will also include one game for each team against a AAA Midget team based in Baldur. Opening day is May 20th.
– The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are busy preparing for the CFL Draft on May 13th. The Bombers hold the second overall pick and, at this point, it appears they’ll be making a selection with that pick. Winnipeg GM Kyle Walters said at a media event yesterday that he’s taken some phone calls from other teams about trading the pick but, so far, nothing serious has developed. The Bombers are conducting personal workouts with two of the top offensive lineman available in Winnipeg this week in Laval’s Pierre Lavertu and Matthias Goosen of Simon Fraser and Walters says it’s likely they’ll select an offensive lineman with that second overall pick.
– NBA commissioner Adam Silver gave out the toughest penalty he could to LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling after it was confirmed that racist comments caught on an audio recording were in fact made by the 80-year-old. Silver handed down a lifetime ban to go along with a 2.5 million dollar fine and will attempt to make Sterling sell the Clippers franchise.
– Golfers have another option for the early part of the season. The Glen Lea Golf Course opened for the 2014 season on Wednesday.
– The Tri-Star Rural High School Athlete of the Week is Mariah Graham of the Birtle Falcons’ badminton team. Graham won her fourth consecutive girls’ singles championship in Zone Ten to advance to this weekend’s provincial championship. She also participates in soccer, rugby, golf, softball and volleyball.
