What DId You Miss Wednesday?

Courtesy: Chris Mast/Everett Silvertips

--The Swift Current Broncos can confirm their reservation for the Mastercard Memorial Cup on Friday.  Stuart Skinner outduelled Carter Hart in Game 4 on Wednesday night in Everett as the Broncos blanked the Silvertips 1-0 to take a 3-1 lead in the best of seven.  Skinner stopped 32 shots for his 5th  shutout of the playoffs while Colby Sissons 2nd period power-play goal at the 14:35 mark stood up as the winner.

--The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers played the longest game in the history of the American Hockey League. Alex Krushelnyski's goal in the 5th overtime gave Lehigh Valley a 2-1 win.  Goalie Alex Lyon stopped 94 shots to record the win.  Surprisingly enough, that is not an AHL record as Michael Leighton stopped 98 years ago in a losing effort in what had been the longest ever AHL game before Wednesday night.

--The Pittsburgh Penguins will not look the same next season, general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday.

After the Penguins failed to win a third straight Stanley Cup championship by losing to the Washington Capitals in six games in the Eastern Conference Second Round, Rutherford said change is inevitable. The core will remain intact, but after attempting to keep the roster stable the previous two seasons, he wants to upgrade this offseason.

  "I can't give you a definite answer on who that's going to be right now and exactly which positions, but we're a good team. We will be a good team going forward.
"I think it is fair to say this will be a different looking team by the time we open next season. It doesn't mean there's going to be drastic changes and a lot of changes, but there will be changes in the areas that will become necessary."

--The New York Yankees made it 17 wins in their last 18 games as they came back to beat Boston 9-6. The win puts the Yankees into first in the AL East. The last time they won 17 of 18 was June 1953

--Golf's unofficial major starts Thursday as the Players Championship begins in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Most of the game's big names are there including Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.  Tiger Woods is also in the field.


--The Raptors  will stay the course despite yet another loss at the hands of Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers

Raptors president Masai Ujiri appeared before the media for his year-end press conference and gave an impassioned plea against tearing down the roster.
"Tanking? We're not doing that here," Ujiri told reporters.
Toronto enjoyed a 59-win season and captured the No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history, but in accordance with the pattern of this five-year run, the Raptors failed to translate their regular-season success to the playoffs. They were swept for the third time in four seasons with the Game 4 loss being a 35 point defeat