In brief: Chiefs’ Johnson suspended

Hockey: The Spokane Chiefs will open the Western Conference finals at Portland Friday night without leading scorer Tyler Johnson as he serves a one-game suspension, the Western Hockey League announced Wednesday.

Johnson was give a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for a knee-on-knee hit with Brendan Shinniman of Tri-Cities on Tuesday night in the Chiefs’ 5-4 overtime win in Spokane that sent them into the next round of the playoffs.

The Chiefs won the last two games of their first-round series with Chilliwack without Johnson, who had 115 points and led the league with 53 goals, when he was injured in Game 3.

Dave Trimmer

Vandersloot to throw 1st pitch

Baseball: Record-breaking point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who led the Gonzaga women’s basketball team on a its run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Easter Sunday.

The third pick in the WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky, became the first player in NCAA history to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 assists. She won numerous awards and was a consensus All-American.

The Mariners play the Oakland Athletics in a 1:10 p.m. game on Sunday.

Dave Trimmer

Williams on national team

Golf: University of Washington sophomore and Moscow High School graduate Chris Williams is one of eight American collegiate golfers selected to represent Team USA in the Palmer Cup, it was announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The annual Ryder Cup-style competition that pits eight collegians from the USA and Europe will be played June 9-11 at The Stanwich Club outside of Greenwich, Conn.

Williams joins a USA squad that includes Blayne Barber of Auburn, UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay, Abilene Christian’s Alex Carpenter, Russell Henley of Georgia, Oregon’s Daniel Miernicki, Bank Vongvanij of Florida and Stanford’s Andrew Yun.