– Former Brandon Wheat Kings Jason Chimera and Brayden Schenn and the rest of Team Canada open the 2014 World Hockey Championship Friday by taking on France. Chimera is representing our country at the Worlds for the third time, and is the only member of the Canadian team to have won a gold medal previously, doing so in 2007. Schenn is playing at the World Championship for the first time, but did represent our country twice at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
– The Eastern Conference semifinal between the Bruins and Canadiens will shift back to Boston this weekend with the series tied at two games apiece. Matt Fraser scored his first career playoff goal 1:19 into overtime to give the Bruins a 1-0 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night. Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for the shutout. In Thursday’s othe rgame, Teemu Selanne broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal in the second period, and the Anaheim Ducks went on to edge Los Angeles 3-2. The loss ended the Kings’ six-game playoff winning streak, but Los Angeles still leads the series 2-1.
– The Maple Leafs and coach Randy Carlyle have agreed on a two-year contract extension. However, assistant coaches Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon have been terminated. Toronto went 2-and-12 in its last 14 games this season and missed the playoffs. The Maple Leafs were as high as second place in the Atlantic Division.
– The Virden-based figure skating duo of Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers have ended their nine-year partnership. Lawrence is looking to find a new partner and continue skating, and says her preference would be to continue training in Virden. Swiegers will be taking a year off from competitive skating for personal reasons. The duo skated to a 14th-place finish at the Sochi Olympics, and had a 12th-place finish at the World Championship this year. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more including comments from Lawrence here.
– The 2017 and 2018 Royal Canadian Legion National Youth Track & Field Championships have been awarded to Brandon. The event will be held in mid-August, and event chairperson Barb Andrew says up to 1,000 athletes between the ages of 14 and 17 expected to take part. Andrew also says UCT Stadium will need to be refreshed and renovated to host the championships. The event is sanctioned by Athletics Canada, which means some future Olympians could be competing at the event. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more here.
– The CFL has become the first professional football league to allow video review for pass interference. The CFL’s board of governors approved the move yesterday, with coaches are now allowed to challenge both called and potential defensive pass interference fouls under certain conditions. Video replay is being expanded to automatically review all turnovers. Other approved rule changes were mainly to further protect the health and safety of CFL players, while quarterbacks will now be allowed to use their own team supplied Wilson footballs.
– The CFL’s Calgary Stampders released Brandon product Chris Bauman Thursday. Bauman missed the entire 2013 season after suffering a fractured wrist on the third day of training camp, and then suffering a torn ACL in practice in October. During his seven-year CFL career with Hamilton, Edmonton and Calgary, Bauman has 141 catches for 1,855 yards and seven touchdowns.
– The Houston Texans chose South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney with their first overall pick in the N-F-L draft. This draft’s other big name, Texas A-and-M quarterback Johnny Manziel, is headed to Cleveland, but his name wasn’t called until the 22nd pick.
– The Brandon University women’s volleyball team has rounded out their recruiting class for 2014-2015 with the commitment of Winnipeg product Kayla Solomon. The 6-foot Solomon played middle with College Jeanne-Sauve during her final year of high school last fall, and will becomne the first music student to play volleyball at BU. Solomon is expected to red-shirt in her first year with the Bobcats.
– The Calgary-based Mount Royal Cougars have hired a Westman product as their new head coach. Bert Gilling is becoming the team’s new bench boss after 11 seasons as an assistant coach with the Bemidji State Beavers. The Alexander product and former AAA Midget Wheat King takes over a Mount Royal team that finished with an 11-14-3 record last season, their second year in the Canada West conference.
– Opening day for the Manitoba Senior Baseball League has been set for May 27th. The league has released its 2014 schedule, with the Oak River Dodgers hosting the Neepawa Farmers to open the season. The Reston Rockets open defence of their 2013 title by hosting the Brandon Cloverleafs on May 30th, while the Brandon Marlins open their season the same night when they visit Oak River. The regular season runs until July 13th, with the playoffs to follow. The complete MSBL schedule can be found here.
– Kadeisha Buchanan scored her first goal as a member of the Canadian women’s national soccer team last night but they had to settle for a 1-1 tie the United States. Buchanan scored her goal with a header off a corner kick just before the 35-minute mark of the friendly, and for 40 minutes it looked like Canada might finally beat a team they last defeated in 2001. Sydney Leroux tied the game just before the 78-minute mark for the U.S.. The crowd of 28,255 at Investors Group Field is the second largest to watch a Canadian Women’s Soccer game.
