THURSDAY SPORTS: BLADES PUMMEL PATS

WHL

BLADES 9 PATS 1

SASKATOON – Hudson Kibblewhite scored twice, Egor Sidorov added a goal and two assists and the Saskatoon Blades pummelled the Regina Pats 9-1.

Fraser Minten, Vaughn Watterodt, Brandon Lisowsky, Easton Armstrong, Ben Saunderson and Misha Volotovskii contributed a goal apiece for Saskatoon (34-9-2-3).

Corban Almen had the lone goal for Regina (17-24-4-2).

Elsewhere in the Dub on Wednesday:

RAIDERS 4 REBELS 3 SO

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Sloan Stanick scored the game-winning goal in the shootout as the Prince Albert Raiders halted the Red Deer Rebels’ comeback effort with a 4-3 win Wednesday in Western Hockey League action.

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ROCKETS 4 WINTERHAWKS 3

PORTLAND, Ore. – Ethan Mittelsteadt had a goal and an assist as the Kelowna Rockets edged the Portland Winterhawks 4-3.

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SILVERTIPS 8 AMERICANS 2

KENNEWICK, Wa. – Hayden Smith scored two goals, Beau Courtney added a goal and two assists and the Everett Silvertips cruised past the Tri-City Americans 8-2.

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BRONCOS 6 HURRICANES 0

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Josh Filmon had two goals and one assist, Reid Dyck earned a 28-save shutout and the Swift Current Broncos blew out the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-0.

Connor Gabriel, Connor Hvidston, Conor Geekie and Petr Pavelec also chipped in goals for Swift Current (23-18-3-2).

NHL

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks have acquired forward Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames, the team announced Wednesday night.

In exchange, the Flames will receive forward Andrei Kuzmenko, defencemen Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round draft pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick.

The 29-year-old Lindholm joins the NHL-leading Canucks having posted nine goals and 23 assists in 49 games for the Flames so far in 2023-24.

Lindholm was traded to Calgary in 2018 by Carolina and enjoyed the best years of his 11-year career with the Flames, including a career-best 42-goal season in 2021-22.

Kuzmenko, 27, has struggled this season, with only eight goals and 21 assists in 43 games so far and has been a healthy scratch multiple times.

Kuzmenko signed a two-year, US$11 million contract extension in January 2023.

The forward has been open about his point production struggles this season and has been moved up and down lines by Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.

ON THE ICE

KINGS 4 PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Turcotte had his first NHL goal and assist and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Wednesday night to snap a four-game skid in the final game for both teams before the NHL All-Star break.

DUCKS 3, SHARKS 2, OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Troy Terry tied it with 1:01 remaining in regulation and assisted on Frank Vatrano’s goal with 52 seconds left in overtime in Anaheim’s 3-2 victory over San Jose.

SENATORS 3, RED WINGS 2, OT

DETROIT (AP) — Shane Pinto scored on a tip-in at 2:05 of overtime to lift Ottawa past Detroit 3-2.

NFL

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — It was a defensive-centric head coach that brought the Seattle Seahawks their only Super Bowl title.

The Seahawks are hoping a newer — albeit much younger — version can return them to the elite of the NFL after hiring Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as their new head coach on Wednesday.

Macdonald, 36, arrives in Seattle as the youngest head coach in the league and half the age of the man he’s replacing — Pete Carroll who was let go after 14 seasons in charge during the most successful run in franchise history.

Macdonald spent the past two years running Baltimore’s defense, including this past season when the Ravens finished with the NFL’s best regular-season record and reached the AFC championship game before losing to Kansas City.

This will be the first head coaching position at any level for Macdonald. But he’s been surrounded by successful coaches as he moved up the ranks, starting with an extended run on the staff of John Harbaugh in Baltimore before spending a season on now-Chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff in college at Michigan.

Seattle made it clear that Macdonald was one of its top candidates when it didn’t move forward on a hire prior to the conference championship games. Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn seemed a clear front-runner because of his past connections to Seattle. But the longer the Seahawks went without moving ahead with Quinn, the more it became obvious there were other options being considered.

Macdonald and Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson were the last two interviewed by the Seahawks before the final decision was made.