– It looks like the Brandon Wheat Kings will be in a fill-in situation again Wednesday night when they host the Regina Pats on Game Three of their WHL Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series (7:00 p.m., Westman Communications Group Place). Peter Quenneville and Eric Roy both missed the club’s regular practice Tuesday with undisclosed injuries, setting the stage for Quintin Lisoway to retain his spot alongside Tim McGauley and Richard Nejezchleb for Wednesday’s tilt. Roy’s possible absence would mean Kord Pankewicz would draw into Brandon’s lineup for the second consecutive game. Brandon leads the Best-of-Seven series 2-0. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more on the Wheat Kings’ preparation for Game Three on his blog at http://luberslounge.blogspot.ca/
– Sweeping changes for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. The Blades announced Tuesday that general manager Lorne Molleken and head coach Dave Struch won’t be back next season. Molleken’s second go-around with the Blades as GM and head coach began in 2004 while Struch as promoted to head coach last off-season after spending seven years as Molleken’s assistant.
– The Virden Oil Capitals surrendered three unanswered third period goals and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Dauphin Kings Tuesday night. Cole Hamblin scored the lone goal for the Oil Capitals while Adam Iwan made 21 saves in the Virden net. The Oil Caps now trail the MJHL’s Sher-Wood Division Final 2-0 with Game #3 in Dauphin on Thursday night. CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston has more on Tuesday’s contest here.
– The Anaheim Ducks have reportedly signed former Neepawa Native Matt Bailey. Bailey was a free agent after spending the last four seasons playing U.S. College hockey at Alaska-Anchorage. The 22-year old was a first-team Conference all-star this year after scoring 20 goals and 38 points in 38 games. Bailey sent the 2007-2008 season with Neepawa before moving on to play two seasons in the USHL, landing a scholarship with the Seawolves.
– The Toronto Maple Leafs’ struggles continued Tuesday night with a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Leafs have lost six in a row, all in regulation, and are now in a four-way tie with Detroit, Columbus and Washington for the final two Eastern Conference playoff berths. Other NHL action Tuesday including former Wheat Kings’ captain Mark Stone scoring for Ottawa in their 3-2 shootout loss to Florida while Binscarth product Cody McLeod had his fourth of the season in Colorado’s 5-4 shootout win over Nashville.
– Pittsburgh Penguins centre Evgeni Malkin will miss two to three weeks while recovering from a foot injury. The club says the former MVP was hurt during his first shift in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to St. Louis. Malkin is seventh in the league with 72 points despite missing 11 games for various reasons.
– The Neepawa Tigers are Westman High School Hockey League champions. Hayden Kolesar scored his second goal of the game 2:13 into overtime to lift Neepawa past the Major Pratt Trojans 3-2 on Tuesday night, sweeping the Best-of-Three Final. The Tigers achieved the rare double this year — winning the WHSHL title to go along with their second straight Provincial A/AA High School Hockey crown that they won earlier this month.
– A 12th-place showing for the Virden-based figure skating duo of Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers in their short program at the World Figure Skating Championship in Japan. Lawrence and Swiegers were deducted one point for a fall right at the end of their program, but finished with a score of 59.84. That’s a season-best for their short program and above the 58.97 they scored in the short program at the Sochi Olympics last month. The duo will perform their free skate Wednesday night, at approximately 10:17 p.m. (CDT). You can watch Lawrence and Swiegers’ short program from the Worlds on YouTube by clicking here.
– A very good Tuesday has allowed Neepawa’s Kelly Robertson to vastly improve his playoff chances at the Canadian Senior Men’s Curling Championship in Yellowknife. Robertson beat Ontario 9-2 and Alberta 10-5 to improve his record to 5-and-2, leaving him in a three-way tie for second-place with Alberta and Northern Ontario. Nova Scotia leads the standings with a 6-and-1 record. Meanwhile, Brandon’s Lois Fowler remains tied for first-place in the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship. Fowler won both of her games Tuesday and is tied with Ontario and Saskatoon for top spot.
– Team Rachel Homan is making a lineup change just a couple of days after winning silver at the world women’s curling championship. Longtime second Alison Kreviazuk is leaving the team at the end of the season in order to move to Sweden to be with her boyfriend. The team says Joanne Courtney will join Homan, lead Lisa Weagle and third Emma Miskew beginning next season.
– It’s expected to become official Wednesday. CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will hold a joint media conference at 11:45 a.m., where it’s expected to be announced that the 2015 Grey Cup Game will take place at Investors Group Field. Premier Greg Selinger and Bombers’ president and CEO Wade Miller will also be in attendance at the conference.
– The Dodgers have knocked the New York Yankees off baseball’s payroll perch, part of an off-season spending spree that has the average salary approaching $4 million for the first time. Los Angeles is ending the Yankees’ 15-year streak as baseball’s biggest spenders. The Dodgers have a projected payroll of $235 million, which is 31-million more than New York’s.
– There will be a familiar face in the pace car for this year’s Indianapolis 500 as it has been announced that three-time winner Dario Franchitti will drive the pace lap for the 98th running of the Indy 500 in May. Franchitti was forced to retire in November from injuries suffered in an October IndyCar race at Houston. The four-time series champion won the Indy 500 in 2007, 2010 and 2012.
