SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29
Western Hockey League–6 games:
Saskatoon Blades at Brandon Wheat Kings
(CJWW’s broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. with the Palliser Rooms E-Q-3 Cutting Edge Pre-Game Show and the play-by-play at 7 p.m. The Blue and Gold have 24 wins, 8 losses, 2 extra time losses for 50 points…good for 1st place in the Eastern Conference. Brandon has 17 wins, 12 losses, 5 extra time losses for 39 points…good for 3rd place in the East. The Bridge City Bunch’s next home game is Monday when they host the Wheaties. Game time is 4 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.)
Regina Pats at Moose Jaw Warriors—7 p.m.
Swift Current Broncos at Medicine Hat Tigers—8 p.m.
Red Deer Rebels at Lethbridge Hurricanes—8 p.m.
Edmonton Oil Kings vs Vancouver Giants—9 p.m. at Langley, B-C
Kamloops Blazers at Kelowna Rockets—9:05 p.m.
(The Prince Albert Raiders return to action tomorrow when they are home to Moose Jaw. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. P-A has 17 wins, 16 losses, 2 extra time losses for 36 points…good for 7th place in the Eastern Conference.)
**********
The I-I-H-F World Under-20 Hockey Championship continues today and runs through Friday, January 5th in Gothenburg, Sweden. Team Canada is one of 10 nations taking part. They are split into two pools of five teams each for preliminary round-robin play, followed by an eight-team straight knock-out playoff. Team Canada has 2 wins, 0 losses for 6 points…tied for 1st place in Pool A. Sweden has 2 wins, 0 losses for 6 points…tied for 1st place in Pool A. Among the players on Team Canada’s roster are Saskatoon Blades’ centre Fraser Minten plus Saskatoon product and Moose Jaw Warriors’ centre Brayden Yager. On today’s schedule…
Team Canada vs Sweden–12:30 p.m.
Slovakia vs Norway—5 a.m.
Finland vs Latvia—7:30 a.m.
United States vs Czechia—10 a.m.
**********
The Spengler Cup, an annual international men’s hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland, continues today and runs through Sunday. There are six teams taking part, including Team Canada, with the straight knockout playoffs starting today. Team Canada finished preliminary round play with 1 win, 1 loss for 3 points…good for 2nd place in Pool B. On today’s quarter-finals schedule…
Team Canada vs Kal-Pa Kuopio (Finland)—1:15 p.m. (Winner advances to play H-C Dynamo Pardubice (Czechia) in a semi-final game tomorrow.)
H-C Ambri-Piotta (Switzerland) vs Frolunda H-C (Sweden)—8:10 a.m. (Winner advances to play H-C Davos (Switzerland) in a semi-final game tomorrow.)
**********
The Circle-K Classic Male Under-18 Hockey Tournament continues today and runs through Monday in Calgary. There are 32 teams from around the world taking part, including the Prince Albert Mintos, Swift Current Legionnaires and Warman Wildcats from the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 Triple-A Hockey League. The 32 teams are divided into eight pools of four teams each for round-robin play, followed by playoffs. On today’s schedule for the Saskatchewan teams…
Swift Current Legionnaires vs Detroit Victory Honda—11 a.m.
Prince Albert Mintos vs Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minnesota)—1:45 p.m.
Warman Wildcats vs Bishop Kearney Selects (Rochester, New York)—7:15 p.m.
**********
National Hockey League—9 games:
New Jersey Devils at Ottawa Senators—6 p.m.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Columbus Blue Jackets—6 p.m.
New York Rangers at Florida Panthers—6 p.m.
Nashville Predators at Detroit Red Wings—6 p.m.
Washington Capitals at New York Islanders—6:30 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars—7 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at St. Louis Blues—7 p.m.
Arizona Coyotes at Anaheim Ducks—9 p.m.
Philadelphia Flyers at Seattle Kraken—9 p.m.
**********
The Provincial Under-18 Girls and Boys Curling Championships continue today and run through tomorrow in Moose Jaw. Twelve Girls teams and 10 Boys teams are taking part with the fields split into two even groups for preliminary round-robin play, followed by four teams qualifying for Page Playoffs. Draws today go at 9 a.m. and 12:30, followed by tie-breaker and playoff draws.
**********
National Lacrosse League–Week 5 of the season starts with 3 games:
Philadelphia Wings at Halifax Thunderbirds—5:30 p.m.
Georgia Swarm at Buffalo Bandits—6:30 p.m.
Rochester Knighthawks at San Diego Seals—9 p.m.
(The Saskatchewan Rush are off until Sunday when they are home to the Albany Firewolves. First face-off is 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre. The Pre-Game Show on 92-9, The BULL runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The BULL will also have a 30-minute Post-Game Show. The Rush have 1 win, 2 losses…tied for 8th place. Albany has 3 wins, 0 losses…tied for 1st place.)
**********
National Basketball Association–10 games:
Toronto Raptors at Boston Celtics—6:30 p.m.
New York Knicks at Orlando Magic—6 p.m.
Brooklyn Nets at Washington Wizards—6 p.m.
Milwaukee Bucks at Cleveland Cavaliers—6:30 p.m.
Sacramento Kings at Atlanta Hawks—6:30 p.m.
Philadelphia 76ers at Houston Rockets—7 p.m.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets—8 p.m.
Charlotte Hornets at Phoenix Suns—8 p.m.
San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trailblazers—9 p.m.
Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Clippers—9:30 p.m.
**********














