FIVE MINUTE MAJOR It’s a new week in major junior hockey and with that, the first week of regular season action in the WHL and QMJHL has been played.

One standout performance came in the WHL from Brandon’s Roger McQueen. He scored four goals in Friday night’s tilt against the defending champion Moose Jaw Warriors. He’s the first WHL player to score four goals on opening night since Stepan Novotny of the Kelowna Rockets accomplished the feat on Sept. 17, 2009.

On the goaltending side of things, Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Koen Cleaver was named WHL Goaltender of the Week for his performance Saturday night against Red Deer. The rookie claimed his first WHL victory in a 2-1 overtime result on the road against the Red Deer Rebels. The 17-year-old put up a .95 goals-against average and a .968 save percentage to earn himself the first star of the night.

Over in the WHL’s Western Conference, the Victoria Royals made headlines. Defenseman Keaton Verhoeff was named the WHL’s Rookie of the Week. Verhoff led all blueliners with three goals and added an assist for four points to go along with a +6 rating. This helped the Royals to go 1-0-1-0 over the season-opening weekend.

Seven teams in the WHL went undefeated over the opening weekend. The US Division’s Portland Winterhawks and BC Division’s Vancouver Giants both went 2-0. The Wenatchee Wild dominated at home in a 7-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds for a 1-0 record. It was Don Nachbaur’s first victory as Wenatchee’s head coach.

Newest WHL exceptional player Landon DuPont of the Everett Silvertips notched an assist in the team’s 4-3 loss to the Giants at home Saturday night. Everett is set to host undefeated Portland next Saturday, Sept. 28.

Over in the Eastern Conference four teams went undefeated. Those teams were the Saskatoon Blades, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Brandon Wheat Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers.

Six teams in the QMJHL went undefeated over the opening weekend of play. Those teams include the Shawinigan Cataractes, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Moncton Wildcats, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Halifax Mooseheads.

Back in the WHL, the undefeated Portland Winterhawks officially have all their players back. They had a handful of players gone at National Hockey League (NHL) development camps. They’ll now be able to bring what they learned at their respective NHL camps and apply it to the length of the WHL season and likely the postseason.

As the regular season progresses, this is to be expected as NHL teams narrow down their roster. Some players will make the team while others will be sent to the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate and others back to their junior club.

As the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) gets set to drop the puck on the regular season this upcoming weekend, some news broke Tuesday about their officials. The league confirmed they’re going to have four female officials return this season. Those officials include referees Hillary Brennan and Lacey Senuk while Justine Todd and Kirsten Welsh will work the lines.