Beware the homecoming hero — Mitch Holmberg may be returning to his old stomping grounds, but the Sherwood Park native brings a whole lot of scoring firepower with him into Friday night’s game against the host Edmonton Oil Kings.

Holmberg, 20, in his fifth and final season with the Chiefs, has set a torrid pace early this season, with 10 goals and 21 points through seven games to lead the WHL in scoring. He’s scored WHL and CHL player-of-the-week honours in the past couple of weeks.

Holmberg and his linemate Mike Aviani (seven goals, seven assists in seven games) have helped propel the Chiefs to a Western Conference-best 6-1 record heading into the Oil Kings match (7 p.m., Rexall Place).

“Obviously, I’d love to be a 50-goal scorer in this league,” the undrafted Holmberg told Jesse Watts of whl.ca last week. “But just for right now, I’m focusing on the team and doing what I can to help us get two points.  I think Mike (Aviani) has been going great so far, and things have been happening for us.  It’s funny because we aren’t even really focusing on scoring goals, but it’s just kind of happening for us right now.”

Holmberg was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2008 WHL bantam draft from the bantam AAA Sherwood Park Flyers, with whom he scored 45 goals and 71 points in 33 games in 2007-08. He recorded 41 points in 31 games the next season with the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings before jumping to the Chiefs in 2009-10.

Kootenay Ice adjust roster to shore up ailing defence

In a pinch with just five healthy defencemen on the roster, the Kootenay Ice used forward Jeff Hubic on defence in the Ice’s 5-2 win Wednesday night over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The move came following injuries to rearguards Tanner Faith and Landon Peel. With the blueline corps down to five players, Hubic played defence.

Hubic originally played defence with Kootenay in his 2010-11 rookie season but switched to forward.

Peel, who left Saturday’s game against the Calgary Hitmen with a lower-body injury, is expected back in the lineup on the weekend, when the Ice visit the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday followed by a Sunday home date with the Prince Albert Raiders.

Faith is out of the lineup indefinitely after he suffered an upper-body injury during Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds. He went heavily into the boards in that contest and had to be helped off the ice.

Rebels add pair of Edmonton SSAC grads

Defenceman Nick Charif is now a member of the Red Deer Rebels.

The team announced Thursday it had picked up Edmontonian Charif from the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies, where the 18-year-old has recorded a goal and an assist in eight games.

It’s Charif’s first year in junior hockey.

He played last season with Edmonton’s South Side Athletic Club midget AAA squad – and Charif wasn’t the only graduate of SSAC the Rebels acquired on Thursday.

General manager Brent Sutter also brought in forward Evan Polei, 17, in a trade with the Saskatoon Blades for forward Cory Millette, 18, a third-year Rebels veteran who had played two games Red Deer this season and had been playing with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins.

Polei, an Edmonton native, scored 17 goals and added 15 assists in 34 games last season for midget AAA SSAC.

To accommodate the players acquired in Thursday’s moves, the Rebels reassigned forward Earl Webb, 17, to the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs and defenceman Jake MacLachlan to the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals.

Blades recall defenceman from SJHL

The Saskatoon Blades recalled defenceman Ross Hnidy from the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks on Thursday, releasing defenceman Kevin Pochuk to make room on the roster for him.

Hnidy played one game with the Blades last month before being re-assigned to the Tier II junior club.

Pochuk played five games with the Blades this season, going -2 with six penalty minutes, after being acquired in the off-season from the Red Deer Rebels.

WHL schedule Friday, Oct. 11

Moose Jaw Warriors at Brandon Wheat Kings, 6:30 p.m.
Spokane Chiefs at Edmonton Oil Kings, 7 p.m.
Seattle Thunderbirds at Kelowna Rockets, 8:05 p.m.
Everett Silvertips at Prince George Cougars, 8 p.m.
Prince Albert Raiders at Red Deer Rebels, 7 p.m.
Vancouver Giants at Regina Pats, 7 p.m.
Swift Current Broncos at Saskatoon Blades, 7:05 p.m.
Kamloops Blazers at Tri-City Americans, 8:05 p.m.
Lethbridge Hurricanes at Victoria Royals, 8:05 p.m.

The Spruce Grove Saints are still alive at the Western Canada Cup.

After losing their first two round-robin games at the regional tournament being held this year in Dauphin, Man., the Saints, champions of the Alberta Junior Hockey League,  capitalized on the power play in their game Tuesday against the Yorkton Terriers, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champ, scoring all three of their goals with the man-advantage in a 3-2 overtime win.

Carson Samoridny scored the winner for Spruce Grove, beating Terriers goalie Kale Thomson 7:13 into the extra frame. Parker Mackay, with his second of the tournament, and Cameron Hughes also tallied for Spruce Grove, with Brett Boehm and Tyler Giebel replying for Yorkton.

The host Kings clinched a berth in the playoffs with a 4-3 OT victory Tuesday night over fellow Manitoba Junior Hockey League stablemate, the league champion Winnipeg Blues.

Spruce Grove, Yorkton and Winnipeg all sport 1-2 records following three days of action, while Dauphin holds a 2-1 record and the British Columbia Hockey League representative, the undefeated Coquitlam Express, sits in first at 2-0.

The Terriers and the Express play the only game Wednesday (6 p.m. MT). Thursday marks the final day of round-robin play, with the Saints playing the Blues and the Kings facing the Express.

The playoffs start Saturday, using the Page system: the third- and fourth-place teams face each other Saturday afternoon, with the winner moving on to play the loser of Saturday night’s first- and second-place game, on Sunday.

The winner of the 1-2 game will be crowned the Western Canada Cup winner and will advance to the RBC Cup, the national junior ‘A’ championship, which will be played in Vernon, B.C., next month; the winner of Sunday’s game will also earn a berth in the RBC Cup.

The Spruce Grove Saints are through to the Western Canada Cup playoff round thanks to their win Thursday on the last day of round-robon play.

The Alberta Junior Hockey league champions downed the Winnipeg Blues 5-3 to secure a berth in one of Saturday’s two semifinals at the tournament, which is being held in Dauphin, Man.

The Saints’ win eliminated the Blues, this year’s top team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Five players tallied for Spruce Grove: Nathan Smith, Paul Lovsin, Jake Mykitiuk, Dylan Hollman and Cameron Hughes. Saints goalie Kenny Cameron made 34 saves.

Spruce Grove will face the Coquitlam Express, champs of the British Columbia Hockey League, at 1 p.m. MT Saturday. The host Dauphin Kings will play the Yorkton Terriers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in the other semifinal (6 p.m. MT).

The playoffs use the Page system: the winner of the game between the third- and fourth-place teams — the Saints and the Express — moves on on to play the loser of Saturday night’s first- and second-place game between the Kings and the Terriers, on Sunday.

The winner of the Kings-Terriers game will be crowned the Western Canada Cup winner and will advance to the RBC Cup, the national junior ‘A’ championship, which will be played in Vernon, B.C., next month; the winner of Sunday’s game will also earn a berth in the RBC Cup.

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. – When players stepped onto the ice prior to the initial puck drop in an exhibition game against the Bonnyville Pontiacs in August 2015, the Lloydminster Bobcats knew they would be playing for a chance at winning Hockey Canada’s prized RBC Cup national championship.

Since that brisk Thursday evening at the Lalonde Arena, the Bobcats have played a total of 79 games and finished the Alberta Junior Hockey League regular season with a strong 44-14-2 record and 90 points to finish third place in the North Division. In the post season, they finished second overall after being eliminated, in five games, against the Spruce Grove Saints in the division finals early April.

They now have three days until they step on to the ice for the first time in a competition setting in over a month.

“Part of you thinks ‘it’s about time.’ Then, the other part of you is saying, ‘I wish we could have another week,’” said Gord Thibodeau, the Bobcats’ general manager and head coach. “It’s one of those things —you’re never quite sure that you’ve done everything you can, but you hope you have.”

Throughout the four-week span, Thibodeau said the team has been practicing well and they are more focused than ever.

Now, “it’s just a matter of putting it into play.”

That is the hardest part, Thibodeau said. The coaches and players can talk about it all they want.

“Now you have to actually go out and do it,” he added.

“I think the guys are looking forward to getting on the ice and playing, but it’s going to be difficult. There are some awfully good teams (coming).”

From the 131 junior-A clubs across Canada that started playing at the beginning of the season down to five, the Bobcats will play host to the West Kelowna Warriors (British Columbia Hockey League), the Brooks Bandits (AJHL), the Carleton Place Canadians (Canadian Junior Hockey League, and the Trenton Golden Hawks (Ontario Junior Hockey League).

“I don’t think you can get any better than what is going to be here,” Thibodeau said, adding he has watched all four teams, obviously being more familiar with Brooks and more so with Kelowna over the remaining two.

“Carleton Place and Trenton are two really good hockey teams. They’re very structured and well coached.”

He also recognized Carleton Place being a physical team, while Trenton has a lot of speed to back them up.

“Our work is going to be cutout for us,” Thibodeau said. “For any team, to go through this, and have success, they’re going to have to beat the best.

“And that includes us.”

The Edmonton Oil Kings have plenty of decisions to make heading into the Western Hockey League regular season, but none may be as vital as declaring their three overage players.

They currently have four in training camp.

With another young lineup, the Oil Kings need to get the most out of their 20-year-old veterans to be competitive this season.

“Your 20 year olds need to be important guys for you, they need to be your most veteran players and set a tone for you,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton. “That’s a decision that’s going to play out over time for you. I don’t think we’re in a mad rush to make any decisions there, but ultimately in mid-October, you have to have your 20 year olds set for the year.

“We’re not 100 per cent set to any particular direction at this point, we want to give the guys an opportunity to prove themselves and establish their value in our room and on the ice.”

Goaltender Travis Child, forwards Adam Berg, Jesse Roach and Colton Kehler are the four 20 year olds in training camp. Child and Roach both played in a 3-1 pre-season loss to the Calgary Hitmen at the Downtown Community Rink on Sunday.

Andrei Pavlenko scored the lone goal for the Oil Kings, while Bryce Bader, Justyn Gurney and Jake Kryski scored for the Hitmen.

Oil Kings goaltender Boston Bilous started the game and gave up two goals on 16 shots before being replaced midway through the contest by Child, who stopped 25 of 26 shots.

“Every player wants their 20-year-old year to be their best year,” Hamilton said. “Those are four guys that want to be impactful players for our team this year, and I think every one of those guys is going to set goals for themselves and it’s always tough when you get down to the reality that we can only keep three.”

Despite the competition, Kehler is simply going to focus on his game during training camp and into the regular season. The Oil Kings have one pre-season game remaining, hosting the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday (7 p.m.) at the Downtown Community Arena. They open the regular season, on the road, against the Red Deer Rebels on Sept. 23.

“You can’t really think about it too much,” said Kehler, who is nursing a sore thumb and has yet to play in a pre-season game. “If you overthink it, it’s never good. I trust that I had a good enough summer and made the gains that I had to make to stick around for my 20-year-old year.”

With 18 goals and 33 points last season, Kehler looks a good bet to stick around. The Port Coquitlam, B.C., product is expected to provide a bulk of the offence for the Oil Kings this year.

Edmonton bottomed out last season deciding to undergo a full rebuild and will go into the 2017-2018 year still relatively green.

“I’ve kind of been a secondary scorer for most of my time here, but I feel like I have the ability to step it up,” Kehler said. “I know my offence comes when the rest of my game is well-rounded. I try not to think about offence too much, because I trust that if I’m doing the right things when I get the puck and get it in good spots, the offence will take care of itself.”

Entering his third year with the Oil Kings, Kehler began his junior career as a 16 year old with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the British Columbia Hockey League. He joined the Oil Kings as an 18 year old in 2015 and scored 17 goals in 62 games in his first WHL season.

“It’s crazy, it’s true what they say, it’s the fastest five years of your life if you’re lucky enough to play junior that long,” Kehler said. “It doesn’t seem too long ago that I was in the BCHL as a 16 year old and I seemed kind of lost in the whole junior hockey dynamic. But now as a 20 years old, you stop, look around, and see what you’ve accomplished. It’s definitely an exciting time to be here and I wouldn’t want to spend my 20-year-old year anywhere else.”

Last season, the Oil Kings got the most of their 20 year olds before trading away captain Aaron Irving and leading goal scorer Lane Bauer.

Kehler wants to follow their lead and take his game to a new level in his final year of junior. He also wants to be a solid leader for the club.

“I trust that throughout my five years or junior, I’ve grown up enough and I trust my leadership abilities will come naturally,” Kehler said. “I don’t try to put too much pressure on myself, I just trust that I’ve learned enough and matured enough throughout my time here that it’ll come natural.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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