– The Brandon Wheat Kings’ season concluded on Friday night. Sunday, the 2013-2014 edition of the team met for the final time. It isn’t often a team is satisfied when losing out in the playoffs, but a second round exit this season has to be considered a successful one for Brandon considering where the team was at just 12 months ago. The Wheat Kings not only missed the playoffs in 2012-2013, but the organization also seemed to have lost its winning culture. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke wraps up Brandon’s season at http://luberslounge.blogspot.ca/
– Defenceman Eric Roy is the latest Wheat King to have his season extended. The Calgary Flames’ draft pick is joining the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat for the remainder of the season. Ryan Pulock has joined the New York Islanders’ farm team and could make his AHL debut on Monday night when the Bridgeport Sound Tigers host Adirondack while John Quenneville will play for the Canadian team at the World Under-18 Hockey Championship that begins later this week.
– The Dauphin Kings extended the MJHL’s Turnbull Cup Final Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Blues. Brent Wold’s goal wtih 6:54 left in the third period snapped a 1-1 tie while Jordan Piccolino stopped 27 shots in the Kings’ net in his first start of the 2014 post-season. The Blues still lead the League Final three games to one with Game Five Tuesday night at the MTS IcePlex in Winnipeg.
– Neepawa Natives’ forward Luke Karakas has committed to the NCAA Division III Wisconsoin-Superior Yellowjackets. Karakas has ten goals and 19 points in 31 games with the Natives after being acquired from Winkler in early December. Meanwhile, Waywayseecappo forward Craig Fournier has committed to play for Division III Minot State next season. Fournier had nine goals and 22 points in 56 games with the Wolverines this season.
– The final day of the NHL regular season Sunday had only one meaningful game, with Tampa Bay downing Washington 1-0 in a shootout to earn home-ice advantage for their first round series with Montreal. That series begins Wednesday, as does Pittsburgh-Columbus and Dallas-Anaheim. Colorado-Minnesota, St. Louis-Chicago, San Jose-Los Angeles and New York Rangers-Philadelphia begin Thursday while Boston-Detroit opens Friday.
– It was an award winning season for Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Quick. Crosby captured his second career Art Ross trophy. The Pittsburgh star led the NHL in scoring with 104 points. Washington’s Ovechkin won his fourth Maurice Richard trophy after leading the league with 51 goals. And Quick won his first William M. Jennings trophy for allowing the fewest goals through at least 25 games with the LA Kings.
– Brett Morrison scored twice to help the Deloraine Royals to an 8-1 victory over the Altona Maroons in Hockey Mantioba Senior A Provincial Championship play Sunday night in Killarney. Ryan Adams and Blaine Jarvis added a goal and an assist each as Deloraine finish 2-and-0 in Pool B and advance to this weekend’s semifinals. The Royals defeated the NCHL Champion Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks 8-4 in their opening game of the Championship on Friday. The C-Hawks face Altona Thursday at the MTS IcePlex in Winnipeg, with the winner moving on to Saturday’s semifinals.
– The ACC Cougars came home from the Western Shield Senior B Women’s Hockey Championship in Red Deer with a silver medal. The Cougars dropped a 1-0 decision to the Kamloops Vibe in Sunday’s gold medal game, with Kamloops goaltender Ashley Fisher stopped all 24 shots she faces. Brianna Workman stopped 17 shots in goal for ACC. Cougars forward Brittany Phillips finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 11 goals and 12 points in five games.
– Reid Carruthers is moving back to skip, and he’s taking Derek Samagalski with him. Rob Fowler’s lead is joining a new team being formed by Carruthers, who spent the last couple of years as second for Jeff Stoughton. Samagalski’s departure from the Fowler team comes after third Allan Lyburn already announced he was taking a year away from the game. Fowler and second Brendan Taylor are now looking for two new teammates.
– Bubba Watson has earned his second green jacket in three years by taking advantage of a two-hole turnaround at the Masters on Sunday. Watson was three shots behind third-round co-leader Jordan Spieth early in the final round and trailed by two before things changed during the eighth and ninth holes. That’s where Spieth carded consecutive bogeys while Watson birdied each hole, giving the 2012 champion a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
– As Bubba Watson won the Masters Sunday, no one took any snapshots with their cellphones. And selfies with the fairway in the background were a no-no. The Masters is a tech-free zone. No cellphones. No video screens. No electronic scoreboards.
– Mark Buehrle is having a sparking start to the season. The Blue Jays lefty gave up one run on five hits with no walks through seven innings as Toronto shelled Baltimore 11-3 Sunday. Buehrle has won his first three starts of the season and allowed just two runs in 21 innings for a 0.86 earned-run average.
– The Toronto Raptors are on the verge of their best season ever. Toronto can set a new franchise record for wins in a season Monday night in Milwaukee against the league-worst Bucks. The Raptors tied the record with their 47th win Sunday night with a 116-107 victory in Detroit.
