THURSDAY SPORTS PAGE: PLAYOFF BOUND!

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen was a playoff early bird at the Montana’s Brier on Wednesday.

Not only did the host province grab the first of six playoff berths with a day of pool play remaining, McEwen (6-1) secured the top seed in Pool B with a 9-3 win over Nunavut’s Shane Latimer on Wednesday evening.

The top three teams in each pool of nine advance to Friday’s round of six, from which Saturday’s four Page playoff teams emerge.

The top two seeds in each pool have the advantage of a second chance if they drop their first playoff game. McEwen will have choice of stones and last-rock advantage in the first end when Saskatchewan crosses over to meet the No. 2 seed in Pool A.

Saskatchewan caps its preliminary round Thursday against Quebec’s Julien Tremblay (2-5).

“We want to finish 7-1,” McEwen said. “I want to enter Friday playing really well.”

The last Saskatchewan team to win the Brier was Rick Folk’s in 1980. McEwen has skipped a Manitoba team seven times and Ontario once, and has yet to win it.

The 43-year-old from Winnipeg was recruited last year by current teammates Colton Flasch and brothers Kevin and Daniel March to join the Nutana Curling Club team from Saskatoon.

Defending champion Brad Gushue and Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith are both 5-2 behind McEwen.

Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe dropped into a 4-3 tie with Aaron Sluchinski after the Alberta team downed Koe 10-4.

Smith fell 11-3 to Gushue in the morning, but recovered to with a 9-3 win over Kevin Koe at night. P.E.I. can secure the third playoff berth in the pool with a win over Jamie Koe.

Northern Ontario’s Trevor Bonot, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (5-1) shared top spot in Pool A, with Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (4-2) and B.C.’s Catlin Schneider (4-3) chasing the leaders.

Dunstone will face a rested Bonot, who had the day off, on Thursday morning.

“They’re playing great. I mean, the story of the Brier so far,” Dunstone. “When this team’s firing, when this team is going, we’re as hard to beat as anybody on the planet.”

Sunday’s winner will represent Canada at the world championship March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and return to the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C., as defending champion.

NHL

• Stanley Cup contenders aren’t waiting until the NHL trade deadline day to shore up depth for what they hope is a long playoff run. The league-leading Florida Panthers got deeper on the wing by acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa. Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers added a pair of centers in Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from Anaheim. The New York Rangers added a player they coveted in Alexander Wennberg from Seattle. Colorado loaded up by getting defenseman Sean Walker from Philadelphia and center Casey Mittelstadt from Buffalo. The Calgary Flames have traded defenceman Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights for draft picks and defenceman Daniil Miromanov. The Flames will get a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft along with Miromanov.
• Cale Makar had his first career hat trick, Nathan MacKinnon extended his home points streak to 31 games with a goal and three assists and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings 7-2 on Wednesday night.
• Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 54th goal at 4:20 of overtime to lift Toronto past Buffalo 2-1. William Nylander also scored to help Toronto rebound for a 4-1 home loss to Boston on Monday night — with a rematch with the Bruins ahead Thursday night in Boston. The Maple Leafs are 10-2-0 in their last 12 and 36-18-8 overall.
• Alex Killorn scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Anaheim beat Ottawa 2-1 for its third victory in four games.

WHL

BRONCOS 8 OIL KINGS 2

SWIFT CURRENT – Clarke Caswell scored twice as Swift Current Broncos defeated Edmonton Oil Kings 8-2. Luke Mistelbacher, Brady Birnie, Tyson Galloway, Mathew Ward, Connor Hvidston and Ty Coupland all scored once for Swift Current. Broncos netminder Reid Dyck stopped 21 of 23 shots.

HITMEN 3 WHEAT KINGS 2

CALGARY – Oliver Tulk knocked in the game-winning goal at 0:33 in the over-time period as the Hitmen edged the Wheat Kings 3-2.

HURRICANES 5 TIGERS 1

LETHBRIDGE – Logan Wormald scored twice as Lethbridge Hurricanes defeated Medicine Hat Tigers 5-1. Leo Braillard, Dylan Sydor and Carter Dereniwsky all scored once for Lethbridge.

WINTERHAWKS 6 BLAZERS 4

James Stefan scored twice as the Portland Winterhawks downed Kamloops Blazers 6-4. Josh Davies, Nate Danielson, Kyle Chyzowski and Hudson Darby all scored once for Portland.

ROCKETS 6 AMERICANS 1

KELOWNA – Hiroki Gojsic scored twice as the Kelowna Rockets downed Tri-City Americans. Max Graham, Tij Iginla, Gabriel Szturc and Luke Schelter all scored once for Kelowna.

NFL

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills’ salary cap-related purge of players cut deep into the team’s core. Veteran safety Jordan Poyer and center Mitch Morse were among five players the team announced it had released. And cornerback Tre’Davious White is also being cut, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. The person spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity because the Bills did not announce White being cut because of the timing of his release is designated for June 1. Also cut were sixth-year backup cornerback Siran Neal, backup receiver Deonte Harty and running back Nyheim Hines.