10 WHL Playoff Things, Volume XXXVII

By: Glen Erickson

We’re into the conference finals now and it is crunch time for the four remaining teams. Each has survived and passed the halfway mark in the race to 16 playoff wins and the Ed Chynoweth Trophy.

1 – Game 7 Mayhem – So far through two rounds in the Western Hockey League playoffs, a total of four series have gone the distance. The Portland Winterhawks have won two of those, knocking off the Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips. Both series clinching victories came in enemy territory. Prince Albert eliminated Edmonton in the first round and Lethbridge beat Calgary in round two. The only home team to hold serve in a Game 7 was the Raiders, who were quickly dispatched in the second round by the Medicine Hat Tigers.

2 – It’s Historical – A tip of the hat to long-time DUB media wag, Darren Steinke for his input on this little tidbit. With Portland through two rounds, having played the maximum 14 games to win its first two series, I wondered among colleagues if a WHL team had ever had to win “four” Game 7’s to claim the league championship. According to Steinke, the Swift Current Broncos played 26 games en route to winning the Ed Chynoweth Trophy back in the spring of 2018. Saskatchewan folks will remember that season well, as the Trans Canada trio of the Regina Pats, Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current were among the top teams throughout the entire regular season. Stanks refers to it as that season’s “group of death”, and he’s squarely on the mark! The Broncos beat Regina in 7, then Moose Jaw in 7, Lethbridge in 6 and Everett in 6, the final win a 3-0 shutout in Speedy Creek. Swift Current clinched two series on the road, in Moose Jaw and Lethbridge, and two on home ice.

3 – Chiefs / Winterhawks – Another 10-spot for the Chiefs in the series opener on home ice against the Portland. It’s the first time in the current post-season a team has scored 10 goals in a game. Spokane pulled it off three times during the regular season scoring 12 against Wenatchee, and 10 against Kelowna and Everett. The Chiefs added a pair of nine-goal games as well, over Victoria and Seattle. All five of those contests were played after the Chiefs acquired Andrew Cristall from the Kelowna Rockets at the trade deadline, and he went on to capture the regular season scoring title. The second game went to overtime and Spokane won by the best score in hockey, 6-5. Portland led the game on three separate occasions. The Chiefs have peppered the Winterhawks net with 84 shots through two games. Cristall and Chiefs captain Berkly Catton lead the playoff scoring race with 33 points each, four ahead of Winterhawks Tyson Jugnauth and Kyle Chyzowski. Catton, from Saskatoon, is facing an old foe from his hometown in Winterhawks’ forward Josh Zakreski. Catton played for the Saskatoon Contacts during the 2021-2022 season, while Zakreski skated with the Saskatoon Blazers. Zakreski has 265 WHL games under his belt, while Catton has played 205. The pair are both 19 years old, Zakreski is the elder by 29 days. The series shifts to Portland now for games three and four, where the Winterhawks tend to play with some bite in front of their frenetic fan base.

4 – Tigers / Hurricanes – The Medicine Hat Tigers had a rather lengthy wait – an eight-day respite while waiting for either the Lethbridge Hurricanes or Calgary Hitmen to emerge from the second round. With their 3-1 win at the Saddledome in Game 7, the Hurricanes eliminated the Hitmen to set up another version of the age-old Highway 3 rivalry in Alberta. Lethbridge faced elimination twice in the series against Calgary, as the Hitmen held a 3-2 lead before the ‘Canes won the final two games, outscoring Calgary 9-2 in the process. It was a quick turnaround for Lethbridge – two nights later – and the Tigers proved they most certainly are a different kind of animal. Medicine Hat is fast, physical, highly skilled and generally very disciplined. This is the best team I’ve watched play since witnessing the undefeated playoff run by the 1988-1989 Swift Current Broncos, which eventually won the Memorial Cup. The Tigers bounced the Hurricanes 5-2 and 7-0 in the first two games of the eastern conference final on the weekend and now the series shifts to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena for games three and four. Medicine Hat has chased ‘Canes starter Jackson Unger in both games., in favour of backup Koen Cleaver. Lethbridge just has not been able to find an answer, just no real sustained pressure and the “Canes have been outshot 70-41 so far. In fact, the Tigers have outshot its opponent in every game this post-season – that’s 11 straight contests. And while Gavin McKenna, with seven points in the two games against Lethbridge, continues to garner headline after headline with outstanding play, the most meaningful statistic in my mind is quite apparent. Through 11 playoffs games, the Tigers have surrendered a total of 26 goals. That’s 2.36 per game (yes, the decimal point thing is weird). Defence wins championships, eh?

5 – Good Call, Stripes – The WHL announced its Official of the Year last week and it’s Mike Langin. The 36-year-old Kelowna-area native has been at it awhile with over 550 WHL games under his belt, regular season and playoffs combined. I’m excited for Langin, a solid official who has also carved out a career in the golf industry with Taylor Made and Adidas. That role took him to Saskatchewan for a few years, but he returned to British Columbia in 2024. According to the WHL, his accomplishments in stripes extend beyond WHL ice. He has previously been assigned to the IIHF World Junior Championships on two occasions (2021, 2025). In 2024 he skated in Olympic qualification matches for Group E in Riga, Latvia. He has also been tapped to work the IIHF Men’s World Championships on two occasions (2023, 2024). In 2023, he was part of the officiating crew for the University Cup, the USports Men’s National Championship. What I’ve always admired about WHL referees is the gig is not their primary source of income, yet they remain committed to the league. They also officiate in various leagues and at varied competitions, which means they have to constantly educate themselves on the different rules nuances each league employs. For the average fan and critic, who would have you believe everybody on the planet plays by NHL rules, this is typically an unknown concept and there is generally little understanding that these differences exist. The annual honour is named for former WHL referee, Allen Paradice and is voted upon by WHL general managers.

6 – Expansion Draft – The Penticton Vees are well into the process of building their roster for next season, but the specific rules that will govern the expansion draft surfaced last week. Look over the entire detailed information package on the WHL website but note the Vees will be allowed to carry four 20-year-old players next season. That’s one over the league limit, but one less than the Everett Silvertips were allowed in its first WHL season. The ‘Tips advanced to the WHL final that season, only to lose to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Penticton is allowed to choose one player from each WHL team, but there are some ground rules. The Vees will pick fourth overall at the WHL Bantam Draft in May.

7 – OHHH GAVIN: When Gavin McKenna hit the scoresheet in Game 2 of the eastern conference final, he ran his consecutive game point-scoring streak to 51 games…regular and post-season combined. (He has 29 points in the current post-season.) Many pundits these days are highlighting past streaks, with an emphasis on “since Y2K”. I mean, it’s likely the people creating this convenient content “take” probably wouldn’t know Jeff Nelson from Willie Nelson, though they’ll figure it out during the league final when McKenna reaches 56 consecutive games. But, we are where we are. During the 2005-2006 season, Alexander Radulov of the Quebec Remparts went on a scoring tear, hitting the 50 straight games mark. There is a nifty comparison of the Radulov/McKenna 50-game point scoring streaks on the WHL website, so you can dig that up if you like. For Radulov, he collected 120 points during his heater, while McKenna lit it up for 124 points in his 50 games streak. The primary comparable, I suppose, is that Radulov was in his second season as an import in the QMJHL and was 19 years old at the time. McKenna, also in his second season of major junior, is still only 17 years of age.

8 – BACK IN THE DAY: Radulov’s exploits are memorable in my world as it was that 2005-2006 season when I returned to the WHL media side of things in the then relatively new era of online hockey coverage. We had landed in Kelowna from Edmonton in July of 2005 and I immediately volunteered for the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships. Vancouver was the host city, but preliminary rounds games for the pool that did not include Canada were being played in the cities of Kamloops and Kelowna. Prior to the event, I was granted media accreditation and had to forego the volunteer assignment. Russia was in the pool playing in the Okanagan Valley and its entry that winter included 14 players already drafted by NHL teams. Radulov (Nashville), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Nikolai Kulemin (St. Louis) and goaltender Anton Khudobin (Minnesota) were the top draws. Khudobin was actually playing for the Saskatoon Blades as an import that season. Based on the hype, Radulov’s WJC production was somewhat pedestrian, as he chipped in with four points in six games. American Phil Kessel led the tournament in scoring, one point ahead of Malkin, who really was the belle of the ball at the event, so to speak. He and Kulemin were teammates in Russia at the time, playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk under then head coach, Canadian Dave King. The playoff round moved over to the larger venues in Vancouver and Canada would eventually hammer the Russians, 5-0 in the gold medal finale. McKenna enjoyed his first WJC this past winter, but left with out a medal as Canada dropped a quarter-final contest to Czechia. I suspect he’ll be back for another shot!

9 – Bonus Hockey, Extra Thrills – Of the 73 playoff games so far, WHL teams played 45 games before all first round series were decided. Five of those game went to overtime, with the Everett Silvertips win in Game 6 over the Seattle Thunderbirds the only series clinching contest that required extra time. All told, a total of 15 games to date have gone to overtime, 11 of which were decided in the first extra frame. The home team has won on 10 occasions. Of the four that went to a second overtime period, Game 1 between the Victoria Royals and Spokane Chiefs went the deepest into the night until Andrew Cristall scored at the 18:11 mark. There have been 11 overtimes games in the western conference; four in the eastern conference. Portland has appeared in the most, a total of six, winning twice.

10 – Future Travel Woes? – The remaining WHL teams all have loyal fan bases, but I wonder how many will travel to Rimouski, Quebec if their favourite team earns a berth in the 2025 Memorial Cup? It’s a helluva long cross-country drive, so air travel would seem prudent. But that’s no picnic either and folks may have to fly into YYY! The closest airport is in Mont-Joli, about 30 minutes northeast of Rimouski. If anyone knows about limited airline service and schedules, it’s those from Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, and I can’t imagine the routing from Portland or Spokane. There will be tickets available for those who want to make the trip…just stay in touch with your favourite team’s business office. Hey, where there’s a will, there’s a way!

(Glen Erickson is a hockey writer based in Medicine Hat, AB)