Prince George 5 Chilliwack 2
In B.C. Division action Chilliwack start goalie James Priestner was relieved midway through the third period after allowing all five Prince George goals.
Kootenay 5 Edmonton 2
The Oil Kings titled this game as "Hockey Hooky" and played the game at 11:30am so that local students could attend. Despite being outshot Kootenay prevailed with Max Reinhart leading the way with 2 goals and 2 assists.
Calgary 4 Lethbridge 3 (final in a shootout)
The standout in this game was the difference in shots in that Calgary peppered Lethbridge goalie Brandon Anderson with 38 shots while Lethbridge returmed 23.
Red Deer 3 Moose Jaw 0
Saskatoon native Darcy Kuemper registered his seventh shut out of the season for Red Deer as they blanked the Warriors in Moose Jaw.
Spokane 4 Portland 3
Portland made things interesting by scoring two goals less than a minute apart in the third period to nearly tie the game. Portland also pulled goallie Mac Carruth for the extra attacker with at 18:41 mark of the third period to try and tie the game only to fall short.
Prince Albert 8 Brandon 4
Solana Beach, California native Jonathan Parker had five points for the Raiders as he scored three goals and two assists. Brandon lost on back to back nights having falling to Eastern Conference leading Blades the night before in Saskatoon.
Regina 4 Saskatoon 3 (final in a shootout)
The story in this game was the fact the Saskatoon Blades threw everything at Pats rookie netminder Matt Hewitt except for the team bus. Hewitt faced 62 shots throughout the game to take it to overtime and eventually the shoot out.
Medicine Hat 4 Kamloops 1
The story in this game was the top two scorers in the league were meeting in head to head action. Medicine Hat's Linden Vey was trailing Kamloop's Brenden Ranford by one point heading into the game. By the time action had concluded in Kamloops Vey had taken over the scoring lead by one point. Ranford was held pointless and Linden Vey had two points.
TONIGHT'S ACTION
no games scheduled
Alan Caldwell has a comprehensive breakdown of the roster situation in the WHL on his blog Small Thoughts at Large as well as a breakdown of what the goalies on each team has been facing shots wise.
Gregg Drinnan also has some postings on the resolution to the Kamloops situation on his blog Taking Note as well as a more comprehensive review of last night's action.
Cory Wolfe from the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix takes a critical look and factual look at the Kamloops situation which is linked on Gregg Drinnan's blog but deserves special note for the thorough nature of it.
I do find it a little reprehensible that radio personalities like Rod Pedersen and Jon Keen used the Kamloops situation as an opportunity to tee off on Gregg Drinnan. I could start a vitrolic dialogue about both radio personalities but find it is not necessary. People are often fooled that these two and others like them are journalists which I can assure you they are not. Rod Pedersen was one who used his personal blog to convince readers that he was not asked back as the Regina Pats voice when in reality he quit at the 11th hour leaving the organization in a bind. Thankfully Dan Plaster has been a capable replacement for the team.
If Pedersen or Keen can produce a degree from an accredited journalism school proving they have been acknowledged as such I will retract my comments. Until then and I am not a radio personality or journalist to be throwing stones but not the principles of good journalism which is more than I can say about either of the former. In this world of new media anyone can have a blog and call it journalism but when you do not protect the principles of good journalism you are looking for attention.
If you compare the people who were supportive of Gregg Drinnan and the people who piled on because they can not separate personal and professional ethics it would be a decided 95-5% split. As stated yesterday thankfully this matter has now been put to bed and will be a footnote in the history of the WHL, now let their black eye start to heal if it can.
