– The Brandon Wheat Kings’ top scorer will miss the rest of the regular season. Jayce Hawryluk has been handed a four-game suspension by the Western Hockey League for the charging major he took in last Friday’s game against Edmonton. The suspension is Hawryluk’s third this season, which factored into the league’s decision. Hawryluk has already sat out one game, but will miss the final three games of the regular season this week to complete the suspension.
– Wheat Kings’ fans will get a glimpse of their future for the rest of the Western Hockey League season. The club announced Monday that Nolan Patrick will join the team for the rest of the season. Patrick was the fourth overall pick in the 2013 Bantam Draft and finished in a tie for third in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League scoring race with 33 goals and 63 points in 39 games with the Winnipeg Thrashers.
– A WHL player remains in Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, where doctors continue to treat him for Neisseria Meningitis. Tim Bozon of the Kootenay Ice was diagnosed with the illness following a game against the Saskatoon Blades earlier this month and admitted to hospital on March 1st. He was placed in a medically induced coma last Thursday. Many teams in the WHL have prepared ‘get well’ cards in the last week, and invited fans to sign them before sneind them to the Bozon family.
– The Western Hockey League Player of the Week is Leon Draisaitl of the Prince Albert Raiders. Draisaitl had five goals and four assists for nine points in three games last week, leading the Raiders to three straight victories.
– Carter Johnson scored a power-play goal 3:34 into the second overtime period as the Swan Valley Stampeders edged the Virden Oil Capitals 4-3 Monday night. Johnson’s winning goal came 40 seconds after Virden defenceman Kevin Pochuk was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Curtis Oliver, Cole Hamblin and Ben Williams scored the goals for Oil Capitals, who let a 3-1 third period lead slip away. The Stampeders lead the Best-of-Seven Sher-Wood Division semifnial 2-0 with Virden to host Game #3 on Thursday night (7:30 p.m., Tundra Oil & Gas Place).
– The Winnipeg Jets had to settle for a single point after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche Monday night, with Matt Duchene scoring the winning goal for Colorado. Dustin Byfuglien scored both goals for Winnipeg and Al Montoya stopped 31 shots in the Jets’ net. The Jets have lost four in a row, and are four points behind Dallas for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
– Monday’s NHL game between the Dallas Stars and the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets was called off in the first period after Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench. Dr. Gil Salazar said Peverley was successfully treated for a cardiac event. Peverley was in good condition late Monday night. Peverley missed the start of the season because of a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat, a condition diagnosed during a training camp physical.
– Olympic champion Kaitlyn Lawes was in Brandon Monday, making a stop at Meadows School and then having a meet-and-greet at Brandon Source for Sports as part of her Goldline Tour. Lawes and the rest of the gold medal winning curling team have been on a whirlwood tour since the end of the Sochi Games, and she says one of the joys of winning the gold medal is getting the chance to share it with her fellow Canadians. The foursome has one more big gig later this month, as they present one of the awards at the Juno’s in Winnipeg. CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston spoke with Lawes on Monday. You can listen to that interview here.
– Brandon product Daren Millard was named one of the cornerstones of Rogers Sportsnet’s NHL coverage next season Monday. Rogers also said in a release that CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos will join Hockey Night’s Ron MacLean and Don Cherry as other ‘cornerstones’ of the new hockey coverage.
– It appears a minor league baseball team’s new, bacon-themed merchandise is very popular. The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs say they have sold almost 3,300 of the bacon hats that their players will wear for Saturday games this season. They’ve also sold 1,500 bacon-strip scratch-and-sniff T-shirts that promise to smell through at least 10 trips in the washing machine. The IronPigs launched their new line of merchandise on February 24th.
