WHL HEADLINES

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S WHL MATCH-UPS – Ryan Stone (pictured) and the Brandon Wheat Kings (38-19-5-1) welcome the Saskatoon Blades (34-20-5-6) tonight in the back half of a home-and-home series between the East division rivals.
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rThe Wheat Kings, who hold a three-point lead over the Blades for the division lead, managed a 5-4 overtime win last night in Saskatoon for their 12th straight victory. Eric Fehr scored his league-leading fifth overtime winner of the season in last night’s triumph.
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rThe Blades – second in the East division – are 4-6 in their last 10 outings after last night’s loss to Brandon. Saskatoon is 16-14-4 on the road this season. The Blades have scored a league-high 104 goals on the road this season.
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rIt’s the 10th meeting of the season between the Blades and Wheat Kings. Brandon has a 5-4 edge in the season series through the first nine meetings.
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rElsewhere tonight, the Calgary Hitmen (32-21-8-4) welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers (37-19-4-2) in a key Central division match-up.
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rThe Hitmen, who currently sit third in the Central division, are coming off Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Lethbridge and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 outings. Ryan Getzlaf (26g-22a) leads the Hitmen in scoring with 48 points this season.
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rThe Tigers, who sit second in the division – four points ahead of the Hitmen, are coming off Sunday’s 1-1 tie with Moose Jaw and are unbeaten in their last three outings. Netminder Matt Keetley is 4-1-1 and has allowed only seven goals in his last six starts.
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rIt’s the sixth and final regular-season meeting between the Tigers and Hitmen. Medicine Hat has won all five previous encounters this season.
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rThe Kelowna Rockets (39-12-11-2) welcome the Spokane Chiefs (22-30-8-2) tonight.
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rThe Rockets, who top the B.C. division and the league, are coming off Saturday’s 4-1 win over Kootenay for their fourth straight victory. The Rockets are unbeaten in their last 23 games on home ice, dating back to the end of October.
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rThe Chiefs, who trail Tri-Cities by one point for fourth in the U.S. division, are coming off Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Seattle and have dropped three of their last four contests. Spokane is 9-20-1 on the road this season.
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rIt’s the fourth meeting of the season between the Chiefs and Rockets. The series is deadlocked at 1-1-1 through the first three encounters.
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rThe Moose Jaw Warriors (12-41-10-1) host the Prince Albert Raiders (26-29-5-4) tonight in an East division battle.
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rThe Warriors, who currently occupy fourth in the East division, are coming off Sunday’s 1-1 draw in Medicine Hat and are winless in their last five outings. 16-year-old Riley Holzapfel leads all Warriors rookies in scoring with 15 goals and 27 points.
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rThe Raiders, who sit third in the East division, are coming off last night’s 3-1 win in Regina and have won three of their last five games. The Raiders are 10-19-3 on the road this season.
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rIt’s the ninth meeting of the season between the Raiders and Warriors. Prince Albert leads the series 5-2-1 through the first eight meetings.
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rThe Seattle Thunderbirds (38-20-2-2) welcome the Vancouver Giants (30-26-3-4) tonight.
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rThe Thunderbirds, who top the U.S. division, blanked Spokane 3-0 on Sunday and have dropped only one of their last five outings. Seattle is unbeaten in their last five games at home.
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rThe Giants, who sit third in the B.C. division, are coming off Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Everett and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 contests. The Giants are 9-19-3 on the road this season.
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rIt’s the sixth and final meeting of the season between the T-Birds and Giants. Seattle has won all five previous meetings with the Giants this season, shutting the Giants out three times and outscoring them 17-3.
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rThe Swift Current Broncos (19-34-6-3) host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (35-15-12-1) in a Central division contest tonight.
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rThe Broncos, who sit fifth in the Central division, were defeated 4-1 by the Tigers on Saturday and have dropped five straight contests. The Broncos are 12-17-3 on home ice this season.
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rThe Hurricanes, who top the Central division and lead the Eastern conference, are coming off Sunday’s 3-2 overtime triumph over Calgary for their eighth straight victory. The ‘Canes are an impressive 17-8-5 on the road this season.
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rIt’s the seventh of eight regular-season meetings between the Hurricanes and Broncos. Lethbridge is undefeated versus the Broncos this season, with five wins and a tie through the first six encounters.
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rIn other action on Wednesday night, the Tri-City Americans (23-31-6-3) host the Kamloops Blazers (24-32-6-2).
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rThe Americans, who currently hold a one-point edge over Spokane for fourth in the U.S. division, are coming off Sunday’s 3-3 draw versus Everett and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 contests. The Ams’ penalty-killing unit has been solid at home this season, allowing just 19 power play goals.
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rThe Blazers, who sit fourth in the B.C. division, are coming off Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Cougars and are an even 5-5 in their last 10 contests. The Blazers have managed only seven road wins this season.
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rIt’s the third meeting of the season between the teams. The teams split the first two encounters this season.
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rFEHR SETS NEW O/T MARK
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rBrandon Wheat Kings forward Eric Fehr fired his fifth overtime game-winning goal of the season in Tuesday night’s 5-4 victory over Saskatoon, setting a new Western Hockey League record for overtime goals in a single season.
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rFehr’s five extra-frame winners this season eclipses the old WHL record of four, set in 1990-91 by Frank Kovacs of the Regina Pats.
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rThe 19-year-old sniper from Winkler, Manitoba currently leads the WHL in goals (52), power play goals (27) and points (92).
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rWHL UPCOMING T.V BROADCASTS
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rSHAW
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rSaturday, March 5
rKelowna @ Vancouver
r7:00 p.m., British Columbia region
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rSunday, March 6
rBrandon @ Moose Jaw
r7:00 p.m., Saskatchewan and Manitoba regions
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rRogers Sportsnet
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rFriday, March 4
rMedicine Hat @ Red Deer
r7:00 p.m. MT (West and Pacific regions)
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rWHL Announces Player Suspensions
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rKarey Pieper of the Red Deer Rebels has been suspended for two games for receiving a major and game misconduct for checking-from-behind versus Moose Jaw on February 26th.
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rBoris Leckovic of the Swift Current Broncos has been suspended for two games for receiving a gross misconduct versus Medicine Hat on February 26th.