– The Edmonton Oil Kings came out flying and never looked back in an 8-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers to open the WHL’s Eastern Conference Final Friday night. Curtis Lazar and Cody Corbett scoring in the opening 66 seconds for the Oil Kings, with Edmonton then expanding their lead to 7-0 with five goals in the first nine minutes and three seconds of the second period. Game Two of the Best-of-Seven series is Sunday afternoon in Edmonton.
– The Kelowna Rockets came back from a 3-0 first period deficit to beat the Portland Winterhawks 5-4 in the opening game of the WHL’s Western Conference Final Friday night. Justin Kirkland and Tyson Baillie had a goal and two assists each for the Rockets. Game Two goes Saturday night in Kelowna.
– The Western Hockey League announced the finalists for its Player of the Year award Friday. Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice is the Eastern Conference nominee after finishing in a tie for fourth in league scoring with 105 points. The Western Conference nominee is Mitch Holmberg of the Spokane Chiefs, who led the WHL in goals with 62 and points with 118. The Player of the Year and the rest of the WHL Awards will be handed out on April 30th in Calgary.
– Canada’s Under-18 team tries to improve to 2-and-0 Satuday when they take on Germany at the World Under-18 Hockey Championship (8 a.m. CDT). Wheat Kings’ forward Jayce Hawryluk is expected to play for Canada Saturday after missing the tournament opener Thursday with an upper body injury that was originally sustained in Brandon’s second round series with Edmonton. The Canadian team also includes Wheat Kings’ players John Quenneville and Ryan Pilon and Elkhorn product Travis Sanheim.
– Blaine Jarvis had three goals and two assists to pace the Deloraine Royals to a 7-3 victory over the Red River Wild in semifinal action Friday night at Hockey Manitoba Senior A Provincial Championship. Tanner Waldvogel and Jon Naturkach added a goal and two assists each for the Royals. The Altona Maroons blanked the Morden Redskins 1-0 on Mark Hildebrand’s overtime goal in the other semifinal. Deloraine and Altona will meet in the Provincial Senior A Final Saturday.
– Who needs home-ice advantage? The Montreal Canadiens are heading back home with a 2-0 series lead after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in Game 2. Rene Bourque scored twice for the Habs while Carey Price made 26 saves. Elsewhere Friday night, Pavel Datsyuk scored with just three minutes left in regulation as Detroit shut out the Boston Bruins 1-0 in Game 1 and Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 to take a 2-0 series lead.
– The Brandon Bobcats men’s volleyball team has their first recruit of the off-season, announcing the commitment of 6-foot-7 middle James Weir. Weir was born in Saskatoon but has spent the past few years living in Australia with his family. He recently helped the Canberra Heat win a silver medal in the Australian Volleyball League men’s championship. Weir will join the Bobcats this fall. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more on this story here.
– Brandon product Mike McEwen and his Fort Rouge team were the only foursome to make it through the round-robin at the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship unscathed. McEwen finished atop Pool A with a 5-and-0 record, completing the feat with a 7-6 victory over Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs in the final draw. McEwen and Brad Gushue, who finished atop Pool B with a 4-and-1 record, get byes into the semifinals. Kevin Martin plays John Epping and Kevin Koe faces Jacobs in the quarter-finals.
– A very European look to the top of the women’s standings at the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship. Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni finished atop Pool A with a 4-and-1 record and Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson topped Pool B at 4-and-1. They both get byes to the semifinals whileRachel Homan plays Stefanie Lawton and Jennifer Jones battles Even Muirhead in the quarter-finals.
– The Bear is calling it a career. Kevin Martin says he will retire from curling after this season. The Edmonton skip won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games as well as a silver in 2002. He’s a former world champion and has four-career titles at the Brier.
