as the Spokane Chiefs edged the visiting Tri-City

SPOKANE, Wash. - Mitch Holmberg scored his 62nd goal of the season in regulation and then scored in the shootout as the Spokane Chiefs edged the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-3 on Friday in Western Hockey League action. Holmberg currently leads the WHL in scoring with 118 points in 71 games and has an eight-point lead over the second-leading scorer, Nicolas Petan of the Portland Winterhawks. Eric Williams made 26 saves for the win. Connor Chartier and Keanu Yamamoto also scored for the Chiefs (40-25-6) in regulation and Liam Stewart scored the shootout winner. Jessey Astles had a pair of goals for the Americans (28-32-10), who dropped their fifth straight game, and Parker Bowles scored once. Evan Sarthou turned away 39-of-42 shots in a losing cause. --- HITMEN 5 ICE 4 (SO) CRANBROOK, B.C. — Jake Virtanen had a goal and an assist in regulation and had the shootout winner as Calgary slipped past Kootenay. Brady Brassart, Joe Mahon and Greg Chase also scored for the Hitmen (47-17-7). Luke Philp scored twice for the Ice (39-27-5) and set up goals by Jagger Dirk and Sam Reinhart. Calgarys Chris Driedger made 37 saves for the win. Kootenays Mackenzie Skapski gave up three goals on 16 shots before giving way to Wyatt Hoflin, who stopped 16-of-17 shots in 36 minutes of relief. --- RAIDERS 7 BLADES 2 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Collin Valcourt had two goals and two assists and Leon Draisaitl scored once and set up three more as the Raiders crushed Saskatoon to keep their playoff hopes alive. Josh Morrissey and Dakota Conroy each had a goal and two assists for Prince Albert (34-32-5), which is tied for eighth place with the Red Deer Rebels in the Eastern Conference. Calder Brooks and Gage Quinney added a goal apiece. Cory Millette and Mitch Lipon scored for the Blades (16-50-5), who dropped their 11th game in a row. Nick McBride made 18 saves for the Raiders. Troy Trombley stopped 31-of-38 for Saskatoon. --- WHEAT KINGS 4 PATS 3 (OT) REGINA — Eric Roy scored the winner at 2:18 of the extra period as Brandon slipped past the Pats. Peter Quenneville had two goals and an assist in regulation for the Wheat Kings (33-29-9), who hold down the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, and Richard Nejezchleb added a goal and an assist. Dmitry Sinitsyn, Dryden Hunt and Connor Gay supplied the scoring for Regina (39-25-7), which clinched first place in the East Division despite the loss. Jordan Papirny made 29 saves for Brandon while Dawson MacAuley turned away 31-of-35 shots for the Pats. --- BRONCOS 5 WARRIORS 4 SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Jay Merkley had a pair of goals, including one shorthanded into an empty net, as the Broncos snapped Moose Jaws four-game win streak. Glenn Gawdin, Nathan Burns and Colby Cave also scored for Swift Current (37-25-9) and Eetu Laurikainen made 26 saves for the victory. Bryson Gore scored twice for the Warriors (21-41-9) while Brayden Point and Sam Fioretti had the others. Moose Jaws Zach Sawchenko stopped 33-of-37 shots in defeat. --- BLAZERS 5 COUGARS 1 KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Bolton Pouliot stopped 35 shots, including 17 in the third period, as the Blazers beat Prince George to avoid their ninth straight loss. Collin Shirley, Nick Chyzowski, Cole Ully, Deven Sideroff and Nathan Looysen supplied the offence for Kamloops (14-52-5). Troy Bourke scored the lone goal for the Cougars (26-37-8), who dropped their sixth game in a row. Brett Zarowny allowed four goals on 23 shots for Prince George before Ty Edmonds took over at the 2:20 mark of the third period. Edmonds stopped 9-of-10 shots in relief. --- SILVERTIPS 5 ROYALS 3 VICTORIA — Ivan Nikolishin had a goal and two assists as Everett beat the Royals to improve to 10-0-1 in its last 11 games. Zane Jones, Manraj Hayer, Matt Pufahl and Noah Juulsen also scored for the Silvertips (38-23-9) and Joshua Winquist tacked on two assists. Victoria (48-19-4) got goals from Tyler Soy, Steven Hodges and Mitch Skapski. Everetts Austin Lotz made 23 saves for the win as Patrik Polivka turned aside 26-of-31 shots for the Royals. --- ROCKETS 6 GIANTS 5 VANCOUVER — Madison Bowey and Justin Kirkland each scored twice as Kelowna held off the Giants from a third-period comeback. Myles Bell had a goal and two assists for the Rockets (56-11-4) and Rourke Chartier added the other. Ty Ronning had a pair of goals for Vancouver (32-28-11), which trailed 6-1 after 40 minutes of play, and Dmitry Osipov, Joel Hamilton and Jackson Houck scored a goal apiece. Jackson Whistle made 29 saves for Kelowna. Ryan Kubic allowed six goals on 30 shots for the Giants. --- WINTERHAWKS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 2 KENT, Wash. — Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals and four points as Portland toppled Seattle for its fifth win in a row. Taylor Leier had a goal and an assist for the Winterhawks (52-13-5) while Brendan Leispic and Mathew Dumba each scored once. Roberts Lipsbergs and Ryan Gropp scored for the Thunderbirds (40-24-6). Portlands Brendan Burke made 30 saves for the win as Seattles Taran Kozun turned away 46-of-51 shots in defeat. --- Xavien Howard Jersey . -- When the Los Angeles Kings are on top of their formidable defensive game, they revel in the silence they can create in a frustrated road arena. Chase Allen Jersey . The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists detailed in a report how Russian and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from covering sensitive stories in Sochi such as the abuse of migrant workers and environmental issues. http://www.officialmiamidolphinsfootball.com/authentic-raekwon-mcmillan-jersey-womens . The 27-year-old forward has informed the Leafs that he will be unable to play in Monday nights home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jordan Phillips Jersey . Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Andre Branch Jersey . -- Sami Salo joked that as the shootout went on and on, one thing went through his mind: "Youve got to tie up your skates.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that Donald Sterling is banned for life from the Clippers organization. As well, he has been fined $2.5 million. Finally, Silver will recommend to the Board of Governors that Sterling be forced to sell the team. Fine and Expulsion The fine of $2.5 million was not a surprise. The likely range was somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. However, the NBA went farther than expected by banning Sterling for life from the Clippers. That means that Sterling is not only permanently removed from the day-to-day operations of the league, but he cant be part of the franchise in any way. A suspension of 1 to 2 years was initially expected. Banning Sterling for life is a precedent setting punishment and appropriate under the circumstances. The comments were of course despicable and disturbing. As well, the majority of the NBA player population is of color. According to a 2013 report, 76.3 per cent of NBA players are African-American and 80.1 per cent are of color. So when the majority of the league workforce is African-American, the NBA has no choice but to ask as decisively as possible within its legal framework. Forcing the Sale of the Team This is where things get a bit messy. The NBA by-laws allow the league to remove an owner in limited circumstances, including if the team is in financial distress. We saw something similar in baseball when MLB took over the Dodgers when Frank McCourt made a mess of the team. The NBA by-laws, however, are unlikely to provide a reasonable basis for the league to terminate his ownership. Rather, the NBA will likely look to Article 35 of the NBA Constitution, which allows the commissioner to indefinitely suspend owners for "conduct prejudicial or detrimental to the association".dddddddddddd The NBA needs three-quarters of owners to agree to the sale. This is broad language and does provide an arguable legal basis to remove Sterling. However, I emphasize "arguable." This language does not unequivocally give the NBA the authority to hand down the most dramatic and substantial of all penalties - forcing an owner to sell. So that means its possible that Sterling could fire back with a lawsuit if forced to sell alleging that the leagues owners have acted unlawfully. That type of lawsuit could be worth $100 million plus for Sterling. Thats why the NBA didnt announce Sterling is being forced to sell; rather they announced they would recommend that he be forced to sell and take it from there. As part of that same lawsuit, Sterling could allege that the NBA doesnt have the authority to ban him for life, and that the penalty is disproportionately high. Not only does Sterling have a history of racially insensitive comments, he also has a history of suing the NBA. After acquiring the San Diego Clippers in 1981, Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles without the leagues consent in 1984. David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA at the time, fined Sterling $25 million. What did Sterling do in response? He sued the NBA for $100 million. The fine was later reduced to $6 million. So depending on how Sterling takes Tuesdays news, this may not be done. Blackhawks Jerseys Store Cheap Wild Jerseys Cheap Red Wings Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Penguins Jerseys Store Capitals Jerseys For Sale Blues Jerseys Store Cheap Kings Jerseys Adidas Lightning Jerseys Stars Jerseys For Sale Cheap Predators Jerseys Ducks Store Sharks Jerseys For Sale Cheap Sabres Jerseys Rangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '