Sports in brief: Beach assigned; Wahl signed

Hockey: The Chicago Blackhawks assigned Spokane Chiefs left winger Kyle Beach – the Blackhawks’ first choice, 11th overall, in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft – to the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs.

Beach, 20 (pictured above), led the Western Hockey League with 52 goals and tied for 11th with 86 points, both career highs, in 68 regular-season games with the Chiefs during his fifth junior campaign.

The Kelowna, B.C, native ranked fifth in the WHL with a career-most 186 penalty minutes and finished fourth on the Chiefs with a career-best 34 assists and plus-22 plus/minus rating.

Forward Mitch Wahl has been signed to an amateur tryout agreement by the Abbotsford Heat, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Calgary Flames. Wahl was Calgary’s second- round pick in 2008.

Wahl just finished his fourth season with Spokane with 30 goals and 96 points, sixth in the WHL. He sits third all time in Chiefs history for career assists with 186 and climbed up to 14th with 98 goals and sixth with 284 points on the franchise’s all-time list.

Rice starts filling staff at BSU

Men’s basketball: New Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice, formerly an assistant at Gonzaga, announced the hiring of two assistants.

Dave Wojcik has been named the associate head coach while Jeff Linder will be the No. 2 assistant. Rice said both men took pay cuts from their previous jobs to come to Boise State.

Wojcik was the No. 2 assistant at Wake Forest. Linder was associate head coach at San Francisco.

Associated Press

This horse had a ghost rider

Horse racing: Wiremealilcheck came from way outside and crossed the finish line with what would have been an impressive win – if his jockey had been aboard.

Jon Court fell off the gelding early in the 5 1/2 -furlong race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., but Wiremealilcheck pressed on anyway, leaving fans to watch the rare spectacle of a horse crossing the finish line first with nobody on his back.

The “victory” didn’t count and Truly Inspired was named the official winner of the race.

Court was able to return to ride later in the day.

Associated Press