Things that make me go hmm....

• By the time this playoff series is over, no less than five players will have celebrated a birthday. Clayton Cumiskey celebrated his big day on Saturday night while Rockets forward Brandon McMillan turned 20 today. Tips forward Dan Iwanski blows out the candles tomorrow (Tuesday) while teammate Curtis Kulchar turns 20 on Wednesday. If the series goes beyond four games, Tips goaltender Kent Simpson will turn 18 on Friday when the two teams clash in game five.

Here are the dates:

Cumiskey - Mar 20 (20 years)

McMillan - Mar 22 (20 years)

Iwanski - Mar 23 (20 years)

Kulchar - Mar 24 (20 years)

Simpson - Mar 26 (18 years)

*Rockets d-man Dallas Jackson turns 21 years-old on March 31st.

• You have to hand it to the Tips for making the most of their first round picks in the WHL bantam draft. Since the franchise was born in 2003, the scouting staff have hit a home run. Zach Hamill, Eric Doyle, Kyle Beach, Kellan Tochkin, Kent Simpson and Ryan Murray are all first round selections that have worn a Tips jersey. All six are quality players. The best pick may have been Simpson, considering the Tips picked him 22nd overall in 2007.
• Portland Winterhawks broadcaster Andy Kemper pointed out on his blog last week that he was surprised that Hawks bench boss Mike Johnston was not chosen as the Western Conference coach of the year. Instead Tips coach Craig Hartsburg picked up the honour. Statistically Johnston's numbers were better (season to season improvement) than Hartsburg's, but I wonder why Johnston, who is also the Hawks GM, didn't get the vote for Western Conference executive of the year? Nothing against my friend Bob Tory in Tri City, who has done a terrific job by the way, but Johnston did remarkable work in drafting talent (Niederreiter) and persuading players (Johansen) to join them this season.
• Kelowna Rockets fans won't know this. Tips head coach Craig Hartsburg is a former teammate of Wayne Gretzky's. The two played junior hockey together in Sault Ste. Marie in 1977.
• In case you are wondering, nine American born players are participating in this playoff series. The Rockets have 5 while the Tips have four with birth certificates that say U-S-A. The state of California is represented by five players.
• When the American national anthem is sung at Tips games, when the words "Who's bright stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight" are sung, the fans in unison yell out "fight". So far, Tips fans have been rewarded with two fights in this series with Main-McCrea dancing in game one and Matheson-Elynuik exchanging blows in game two.
• Should the Moose Jaw Warriors be thanking the Kelowna Rockets for a 2-0 lead in their best of seven series with the Calgary Hitmen? Did the Rockets put a sense of playoff doubt in the Hitmen's minds after beating them in two of three games in Calgary in last year's WHL final? The same core of players on this years team, which won 52 games, were part of a group that lost to the Rockets in six games in last years league final. Hitmen forward Joel Broda is still shaking his head over Mark Guggenberger's performance one year ago. Now Warriors goaltender Jeff Bosh is stealing the show.
• I returned home from Everett with just one casualty to my station vehicle, and no, Tips fans are not to blame. A trash bin in the compound at Comcast Arena apparently rolled into the back of my vehicle, breaking the rear signal light. The security at Comcast informed me of the mishap during the second intermission. The parking attendant even went as far to write out an accident report of what happened and who I could contact locally for insurance purposes. This gentleman could have kept his mouth shut and had me notice it once I arrived back in Kelowna with Comcast denying any wrong doing. Instead he took it upon himself to inform me of the unavoidable accident. What does that say about that employee and Comcast Arena? I left impressed.