10 WHL Things By Glen Erickson, Volume XII

You are entitled to “your truth”. Speak it and share it all you like. However, if it’s not consistent with the “objective truth”, nobody has to buy what you’re selling:

1.   GAME OF THE WEEK: Cougars 3, Oil Kings 2 – I could get used to this! My pick last week for game of the week was indeed one of the best I’ve watched during the current campaign. It took place at the raucous CN Centre in Prince George Saturday night. God love Victory+! And kudos to the fanbase in BC’s Northern Capital, 5,500 strong who probably had an inkling of what they were in for, while trying to coax the Cougars to its fifth straight win on home ice. Edmonton arrived a bit perturbed, coming off a loss in Kelowna that snapped its nine-game winning streak. With the win, Prince George is now 8-2 in its last ten games. Give the rosters a look and you’ll see both teams have a great mix of proven Western Hockey League veterans and solid, young, capable contributors. Neither team is shy on depth in goal, possessing a couple of the top tandems in the league. It’s a shame the Oil Kings (18-6-1-1) and Cougars (16-7), which lead their respective division standings, will not meet again this season until perhaps at some point in May of 2026.

2.   Game of the Week II – I’m curious to see how WHL supporters in P.A. turn out when the Medicine Hat Tigers visit the Prince Albert Raiders Saturday night. The Raiders, 16-1-4, have the best winning percentage in the league at .875, just a smidge ahead of the Everett Silvertips. I feel Medicine Hat, 14-6-3-2, is better than what is actually a pretty darn good record so far. Based on starts the past couple of weeks, it appears import goalie Michal Orsulak has taken over as the number one in Prince Albert. Orsulak, from Czechia, landed in Hockey Town North this season and has appeared in 12 games. His 1.91 goals against average is tops in the league. The Tigers graduated sensational overage netminder Harrison Meneghin at the end of last season and are patiently waiting on returnee Jordan Switzer to provide a similar standard this season. I’m confident the Raiders compliment of veterans has its second-round playoff defeat to Medicine Hat in the back of their minds. The Tigers swept Prince Albert in April enroute to capturing the WHL championship.

3.   Miller Time – Portland Winterhawks captain, Ryan Miller, is certainly on a heater of late. The 18-year-old from Medicine Hat has a point in 17 consecutive games, the longest streak in the league this season. “He became the first player here at 17 to be an alternate captain in over 20 years, which is a pretty remarkable story in and of itself,” said Josh Critzer, Director, Marketing & Communications for the Winterhawks. “As an 18-year-old now, to be named captain was pretty special, both for Ryan and for our organization. He’s a tremendous leader and I know the guys love following him. He’s really good in the community as well and he’s good with our fans. And, he’s producing on the ice. But people don’t see what he’s doing off the ice, helping a lot of these rookies and younger guys who are coming in. And even Ryan at 18, he’s one of the younger guys! But it’s his third season, he played here with us as a 16-year-old. He’s been around.” Indeed, Miller has already appeared in 33 playoff games for the Winterhawks. That’s valuable experience. Portland, now 13-11, is currently jostling for second place in the US Division.

4.   New Digs in the Rose Quarter – Critzer is excited about the completion of the extensive renovations at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The price tag came in around $50M, and for those of us in Canada, think “US Dollars”! According to Critzer, the facility is classified as an historical building in the United States. “There were a lot of things that were done over about two summers, they kind of did it in a couple of phases,” Critzer said. “All the seats were still original, and things like that. It needed a facelift. It still has the same kind of charm; it’s still the Glass Palace. It’s just amazing to walk around on the concourse and be able to look out and see the city at night as the sun’s coming down and looking at the bridges. It has all the history and memories, but now it’s a state-of-the art facility. We’re one of a few teams still playing in its original building.” The completion of the renovations is timely for the Winterhawks as the organization is celebrating its 50^th year in the WHL.

5.   Kettle’s Boiling – The crummy news out of Kelowna last week regarding the status of defenceman Peyton Kettles is unsettling. The 18-year-old rearguard underwent surgery in Pittsburgh to repair a nagging shoulder injury, and he’s done for the season after appearing in only three games as a member of the Rockets. Kettles, from Winnipeg, was acquired October 30 by the Rockets in a trade with the Swift Current Broncos. The entire mess confirms how important it is for teams to be as diligent as possible when embarking on any trade, especially when moving significant assets. Kettles was pegged as an important piece on the Rockets blueline this season, with the 2026 Memorial Cup on the horizon. The Penguins selected Kettles in the second round, 39^th overall, at the 2025 NHL Draft, so you’ve got to think the NHL organization was aware of and likely endorsed the deal. I imagine both Kettles and the Pens envisioned a lengthy playoff run in the WHL and Memorial Cup tournament appearance as a real blue-chip-type developmental opportunity as a highly touted prospect. There are rumblings about the league office looking into the trade to ensure everyone had its ducks in a row. Regardless, the Rockets lose a top-tier defenceman along with the assets moved to Speedy Creek that could have been utilized to further build its roster this season. Despite the speed bumps for Kettles, he was signed this week by the Penguins to an entry level contract.

6.   Lethbridge Bound – Looking forward to a jaunt along Highway 3 in Alberta this week to take in the second game of the CHL / USA Prospects Challenge Wednesday. Of the 22 CHL players who appeared in the 2024 edition, 16 were selected at the 2025 NHL Draft. Game one goes in Calgary Tuesday, and both contests will be telecast on TSN across Canada. And I like this wrinkle; if after the completion of the second game, the Series is tied at two points each, a “third” game will be played to determine the Series winner. There will be a flood after the conclusion of the second game. The teams will then change ends and play a three-on-three 20-minute period(s) until a goal is scored. The winning team will win the Series. A total of nine WHL players are slated to suit up during the event. Among the group of forwards are Mathis Preston and Chase Harrington of the Spokane Chiefs, J.P.  Hurlburt (Kamloops) and Liam Ruck (Medicine Hat). On defence, it’s Carson Carels (Prince George), Ryan Lin (Vancouver), Gio Pantelas (Brandon) and Daxon Rudolph (Prince Albert). Goaltender Harrison Boettiger (Kelowna) will also participate. Hurlburt, who leads the WHL l in scoring with 44 points, and Boettiger, are Americans, both playing in their first season in the DUB. Among skaters, Rudolph was the first overall selection at the 2023 WHL Draft, Preston was third, Lin, who leads all WHL defenceman in scoring with 28 points, was sixth, Ruck was ninth, Carels (15^th) and Pantelas (19^th). Harrington went eighth overall at the 2022 WHL Draft. Willie Desjardins (Medicine Hat) will serve as Head Coach, joined on the bench by Mike Johnston (Portland). Jayce Desjardins (Medicine Hat) is along as the Video Coach. Support staff from both the Calgary Hitmen and Lethbridge Hurricanes will work the series, led by Head Athletic Therapist Mikki Lanuk (Medicine Hat). If my deduction processing is correct, Preston, Harrington, Lin and Boettiger will miss one WHL game each this week while attending the festivities in Calgary and Lethbridge.

7.   Desjardins Speaks – It’s a big deal for Willie Desjardins, too, whose storied coaching career has included Hockey Canada posts in past years. Of note, he was the head coach for Team Canada at the 2010 WJC in Saskatoon. In Calgary, he answered questions from the media after a quick skate about day one festivities at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge and other issues. “It’s always fun for a coach to work with this much talent and I think for the guys, they just wanted to get together a little bit, and I thought it was a good start,” Desjardins said. “This one is interesting. It’s maybe not so much Canada against the USA. We have Europeans, Americans on our team. We’re really proud of the CHL, we believe it’s a great development league and we want to showcase that.” He was asked how the landscape has changed in junior hockey over the past year, as it relates to the CHL and NCAA. “Well, there’s lots of high-end guys that would be here that aren’t here, so that’s a definite change” Desjardins said. “How that works out, nobody knows yet. There’s a lot of different dynamics going on right now. I do think it’s good for players to have a choice. I personally believe the portal really hurt the NCAA because if players didn’t like it, they didn’t have to fight through and get better, they just went some place else. It’s a little bit like that in our league, too. I think that hurts both leagues a little bit.”

8.    All in the Family – I had the pleasure on many occasions to watch Juuso Valimaki play in the WHL as a member of the Tri City Americans. From Finland, the import rearguard played 175 games in the DUB and was a solid offensive contributor with 156 career points. At the 2017 NHL Draft, the Calgary Flames selected him in the first round, 16^th overall. He played in both the 2017 and 2018 WJC’s and was slated to play for Finland in the 2025 Four Nations Face-Off. Valimaki, now 27, has appeared in 273 NHL games while battling injuries over the years. Most recently, he underwent major surgery in January to repair his ACL. The recovery time was said to be eight or nine months, which means he may be about ready to return to the ice with the Utah Mammoth. In the interim, I suspect he has had some time to keep an eye on the exploits of his cousin, Sami, also 27. This past weekend, Sami won his first PGA Tour event, the RSM Classic at Sea Island, Georgia, picking up a cool $1.26M. It was Sami’s 54^th start on the PGA Tour. He has also won twice in Europe on the DP Tour. According to Puck Pedia, Juuso’ s career earnings are reported to be about $9.03M. If my calculation is close to accurate, Sami’s career earnings are now just shy of $9M.

9.      DUB Randoms – I’m still trying to get used to some of the new arena names across the WHL. The Marchant Crane Centrium in Red Deer has me perplexed. How long before a Freudian slip becomes Marchant Centre Cranium…Speaking of Red Deer, the Rebels import forward Samuel Drancak has scored a goal in eight straight games, the longest streak in the league this season. The 19-year-old from Czechia is playing his third full season in the WHL…Heckuva week for the Medicine Hat Tigers, who played four games in five nights, three on the road and three against the Calgary Hitmen. The Tigers secured seven of a possible eight points, losing in overtime at Red Deer and defeating Calgary twice at the Saddledome and once in the Gas City…I don’t care at all for the new schedule format on the WHL website. I do like the look, no doubt, but it’s not nearly as functional for searches online as the old format that seemed more spread sheet based. Reverse improvement seems alive and well…On the upside, the content creators have certainly upped their game over the past couple of seasons. Of that, there is no doubt…An interesting stat line concerning the Kamloops Blazers. Through 25 games, the Blazers have allowed 101 goals against. The team has also scored 101 so far. Same for the Seattle Thunderbirds through 20 games; 77 goals for and 77 goals against…Still with the Blazers, my weekly Harrison Brunicke “watch” confirms the young defenceman is still stuck at nines NHL games played. Brunicke (“broon-ihk”) is said to be the first South African-born player to suit up in the NHL. Will he just continue to practice with the Pens, then be released to Hockey Canada for the 2026 WJC? Is he headed back to Kamloops? When will the Pens announce a decision? Stay tuned.

10.  Randoms, Part Deux – Goaltenders Josh Ravensbergen (PG) and Raiden LeGall (Everett) lead the DUB with 12 wins. Ondrej Stebetak (POR) and Ethan Eskit (VIC) lead the way among netminders in appearances with 19… Defenceman Mazden Leslie of the Kelowna Rockets played in his 300^thcareer regular season game this past weekend, scoring once and adding an assist in the Rockets 2-1 win over Portland at Prospera Place. Leslie, now 20, played his first 280 games with the Vancouver Giants, which selected the Lloydminster-native 10^th overall at the 2020 WHL Draft…The Everett Silvertips continue to lead the WHL standings. Through 23 games, the ‘Tips are 18-2-2-1 for 39 points…Hurlburt, Terik Parascak (PG) and Lydnen Lakovic (MJ) lead the DUB with 18 goals each…Among defencemen, Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo lead the way with 12 and 11 goals, respectively. They are teammates in Medicine Hat…There are a number of informative statistical categories on the WHL website. For players, they’re categorized as “All Players”, “Defencemen” and “Rookies”. I’d like to see another category added; “Import Players”…Prince George leads the way with the top power play production in the DUB at 38.2% (34 for 89). Brandon is next at 33.8% (25 for 74). On the penalty kill, Calgary has been the stingiest at 85.9% (10 for 71). The Cougars are next at 84.6% (12 for 78)…Three teams – Portland, Spokane and Swift Current – are undefeated at 2-0 in games that have been decided by the shootout. Five teams – Prince Albert, Prince George, Saskatoon, Seattle and Tri City – haven’t been to a shootout so far.

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