– The Brandon Wheat Kings gave themselves a big boost in their quest for a playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Friday night. Peter Quenneville scored the game-tying goal with 35.3 seconds left in the third period and Eric Roy scored a power-play goal 2:18 into overtime as the Wheat Kings downed the Regina Pats 4-3. Brandon moved into sole possession of seventh-place, two points ahead of Prince Albert and Red Deer. The Wheat Kings can do no worse than a tiebreaker game for eighth-place and could clinch a playoff spot with a victory or an overtime or shootout loss in their final regular season game on Saturday night. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more on his blog at http://luberslounge.blogspot.ca/
– The upset continued in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League Friday night. Jordan McCallum had a goal and an assist and Byron Spriggs stopped 28 shots as the Winnipeg Blues beat the Selkirk Steelers 3-2 to take a 3-0 lead in the Addison Division semifinal. The Blues finished 34 points behind the first-place Steelers in the regular season. Meanwhile, Zac Robidoux stopped 28 shots for the shutout as Portage blanked Steinbach 2-0 to tie their Addison semifinal 2-2. Saturday’s games include the Virden Oil Captails visiting the Swan Valley Stampeders. The Stamps lead their Sher-Wood Division semifinal 2-1.
– Wheat Kings’ prospect Dylan Thiessen scored a goal in the Winnipeg Wild’s 2-0 win over the Eastman Selects in the opening game of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League Final Friday night. Zach Court also scored for the Wild while Tyler Brown stopped 31 shots for the shutout. Game #2 of the Best-of-Five is Sunday in Beausejour.
– Carl Hagelin’s hat trick gave the New York Rangers a 4-2 win over a struggling Winnipeg Jets team that has lost six in a row. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 shots to tie the Rangers’ record for career wins. Winnipeg has dropped to second last in the NHL’s Central Division.
– Zach Mertens completed his hat-trick with 2:51 left in the third period, snapping a 2-2 tie and lifting the Grandview Comets to a 3-2 win over the Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks Friday night. The result leaves the Best-of-Five North Central Hockey League Final tied 1-1. Game #3 is Sunday in Elkhorn.
– The final is set at the Provincial A/AA High School Hockey Championship in Russell. Garett Rempel and Wyatt Salmon scored a pair of goals each as the Neepawa Tigers downed the host Major Pratt Trojans 4-2 in one semifinal, while Deloraine-Hartney got goals from five different players in a 5-2 win over the Melita-Waskada Devils in the other semifinal game. Neepawa will face Deloraine-Hartney for gold Saturday (2:00 p.m.).
– Sam Geekie netted her second goal of the game in double overtime as the Yellowhead Chiefs beat the Pembina Valley Hawks 2-1 Friday night to tie their Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League semifinal 1-1. Game #3 is Sunday in Pilot Mound. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Avros blanked the Westman Wildcats 4-0 Friday night. The Wildcats still lead their semifinal 2-1 with Game #4 in Hartney on Sunday afternoon.
– The ACC Cougars opened the Hockey Manitoba Senior B Women’s Hockey Championship with a 3-1 victory over the Aces Friday night. The other B Division game saw the Devils beat the Minnedosa Wild 1-0 while the lone A Division game saw the Herd double the Blazing Stars 4-2. Action continues Saturday and Sunday at the Optimist and Kinsmen Arenas in Brandon.
