10 WHL Things From Glen Erickson, Holiday Edition

It’s hodge podge time coming off the break in the Western Hockey League schedule and I think we can expect a big news week in the coming days. Proceed with caution!

1 – Trade Deadline – It’s just around the corner, January 8 at 6:00pm MT. I wonder who will make the big splash? The Edmonton Oil Kings are stronger today with a pair of acquisitions December 27. Jaxon Fuder, who has signed an ELC with the Dallas Stars after attending it training camp on an amateur tryout agreement, comes over from the Red Deer Rebels with the expectation that when he returns from injury, he will add some forward depth, scoring and grit. Defenceman Austin Zemlack, 20, acquired from the Tri City Americans, played his 200^th WHL game Sunday afternoon. He’s the second player to return to the WHL from the NCAA this season and he’ll add depth and experience in Edmonton. Both Fuder, 19, from Cold Lake and Zemlack (Fort MacMurray) are northern Alberta lads who should enjoy the Oil Kings haunts at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

2 – Anybody’s Guess – I think it’s a six-horse race at best this season, with the Ed Chynoweth Trophy in mind. Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Prince Albert and Brandon are the top four teams in the eastern conference right now. Over in the western conference, Everett and Prince George are solid and I’m not sure who else in the conference might challenge either. Can any of Saskatoon, Calgary, Tri City, Portland or Spokane give the upper-echelon teams a scare? I dunno. Kelowna knows it will play in May, so I think they’ll be heard from in the next 10 days. What does each contender need to bolster its roster for the second half and the post-season? Every team would love to add an edgy power forward with some scoring touch or a top-four defenceman. Are all of the top teams satisfied with their goaltending? So, who are the best available right now, the key word being “available”. I wonder what might be in store for the likes of Braeden Cootes, Roan Woodward, Cameron Schmidt, Evan Gardner, Luke Vlooswyk, Ashton Cumby, Hunter Laing, Radim Mrtka, Harrison Brunicke, Luke Cozens. And will there be any more returnees from the NHL or NCAA?

3 – HITTIES ON THE ROAD: Calgary Hitmen made their return after the break on the road in Kamloops, a 9-5 loss. It was their first of four games on the road against B.C. Division foes including Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George. Then, in a bit of a scheduling quirk, the Hitmen return to Calgary for three games in five nights before heading back to the Okanagan Valley the weekend of January 16 and 17 to play in Kelowna and Penticton. That’s lots of roadwork!

4 – A Pretty Good Year – The Medicine Hat Tigers just keep on winning. It’s 12 in a row and counting for defending league champs. At 24-6-3-2, the Tigers trail the Prince Albert Raiders (25-5-4) by one point in the eastern conference standings. For the calendar year of 2025, Medicine Hat has compiled a 68-13-5-2 record in regular season, post-season and Memorial Cup games combined. Regular-season only; it’s 50-9-5-2 by my count, with a game in Red Deer on Tuesday night. Only the Everett Silvertips regular season success is close, at 47-11-4-4 with a game in Portland on Wednesday.

5 – Goal Scoring Update – Last season a total of 5,233 goals were scored in 748 regular season games. That’s an average of 6.99 per game. Medicine Hat led the way with 300 goals scored and Spokane was next at 292. At the bottom end, Regina scored only 170 times, then Red Deer with 174. Through December 29, a total of 392 games this season, the teams have combined for 2,832 goals. That’s an average of 7.22 per contest. The Tigers, without much-ballyhooed forward Gavin McKenna, lead so far with 162 goals, 11 ahead of Brandon. Swift Current has tallied only 88 times, with Wenatchee next at 91.

6 – 2026 WJC – A few takeaways from the current WJC from a grumpy observer…I hope WHL teams get all their players back in good health…If Team Canada can run the table through the playoff round at the 2026 World Junior Championship in Minnesota, it will mark the 20^th gold medal earned at the tournament since 1982…Yes, my fellow countrymen, let’s self-loathe ourselves again and again, shall we? It’s our fault as Canadians that attendance in Minnesota hasn’t been off the charts. Perhaps Minnesota’s Somalian community should be taking some heat for not stepping up to support the event? Might these folks have a few bucks to spare?…On-air personalities I miss at the WJC; Dennis Beyak and Ray Ferraro. Guys I wish had stayed home this time around? Let’s just say there are at least a couple…Team Canada didn’t shake hands with Team Czechia after their game Friday night. This ought to get the non-ticket buying, self-righteous, online ragers all fired up. Mole Hill, meet Mountain…I enjoy that teams at the WJC no longer seem to be intimidated by Team Canada. If that forces our guys to up their game, great! Just go out there and get it done…We’re a few years into the brave new world of political messaging through sports and the WJC has taken a hit of sorts. This tournament hasn’t been the same in recent years without the Russians participating…I don’t think the YouTube generation of hockey players shoots the puck enough…I didn’t mind the play by Finland’s defenceman Veeti Vaisanen, who delivered an old school, “eat wood” cross check to Czechia’s hard-charging forward Tomas Poletin. Did you know Vaisanen played for KooKoo Kouvola in Finland before coming over to the WHL last season? Maybe that explains the cross-check? Sure, Vaisanen was ejected, but that’s a play I think will be seen and heard across the WHL. In the defending zone, Vaisanen and his Medicine Hat Tigers blueline brigade teammates don’t take any crap…Whatever happened to the forearm shiver?…Will Sweden go undefeated in round-robin play again?

7 – Spengler Cup – Did you happen to notice the WHL alumni content on Canada’s entry this year? Joe Hicketts, Nolan Allan, Calen Addison, Mason Shaw, Taylor Gauthier and James Reimer. These players have been able to enjoy professional careers, not all of them in the NHL. A loss in the quarter finals was a crummy end for the group representing Canada.

8 – Embrace the MADNESS – It was a good read. Well, for me, a good listen as I prefer audiobooks to paperbacks these days. “Madness – The Rise and Ruin of Sports Media” by Mark “Hebsy” Hebscher is indeed, insightful. Hebscher handled the narration, too, which I liked because in my view, it adds authenticity to the publication. I’m not sure how many modern-day “journalists” are aware of the history a guy like Hebscher can speak to. Frankly, I’m not sure the youngsters would even care, in large part because they have no choice moving forward. Modern-day sports reporting is packaged in so many different ways these days, none of which demonstrates much of a commitment to true journalism. But the history is absolutely crucial! I remember animated conversations with some veteran Edmonton sportswriters back in the day when I opined they might show the salespeople at their publications a bit more respect. Of course, they all panned me, preferring to suggest that it was they and their coverage that made the newspapers successful. So, when Hebscher spills the beans about revenue generated back in the day by classified (and display) advertising, it kind of makes my point. These days, there simply is not enough time available for the proper amount of research to be done by journalists, many of whom have to break news, rather than entirely research it first. Sadly, I think that’s a disservice to both the journalists and the readers. In fact, most sports media types these days are doing twice as much work for half as much pay compared to those who came before them. Hebscher explains this devolution in great detail. He also hit the nail squarely on the head with his take on how leagues and teams have taken complete control of messaging in recent years, so much so that many publications simply cut-and-past from press releases if they even care to publish a game coverage piece. I give the book two thumbs up, for sure, though Hebscher’s objective truth about sports media’s downward spiral isn’t going to change a thing moving forward.

9 – RANDOMS – Headline in the CHL release: “79 past and present CHL players are bound for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship”. I’ve never seen the words “past and present” used before…Since joining the Prince Albert Raiders in a deal with the Calgary Hitmen before the break in the schedule, 18-year-old forward Brandon Gorzynski from Scottsdale, Arizona, has scored four goals and five assists in the four games….An interesting take, for all seasons, from Kelowna Rockets play-by-play voice Regan Bartel, while on the road this month during on the team’s run through the East Division. Bartel is a Saskatchewan lad who knows a bit about the winter months: “Out here on the prairies, drivers practically thank you for walking in front of their vehicle. They wave, smile, and make sure you, as a pedestrian, get where you’re going. In B.C., slowing someone down on their 15-minute commute earns you a look that could cut sheet metal.” Bartel would know. Kelowna, for all of its glorious attributes, is home to the worst, small-city, daily traffic congestion I’ve witnessed anywhere. Pedestrians aren’t safe until they’re home…The Brandon Wheat Kings are 9-1 in its last ten games. Over in the western conference, Everett is 8-2 in its last ten…Crazy stat? The Prince George Cougars have been outshot by its opponent 16 times this season. The Cougars record in those games is 11-4-1…The Silvertips have been outshot only three times this season, compiling a 3-0 record in those games…There are a few teams that don’t give opponents much hope when they lead after two periods. Edmonton (20-0-1), Medicine Hat (17-0-1) and Prince George (14-0-1) have yet to lose in regulation when they head into the final frame with the lead. Everett (21-1-2) and Prince Albert (20-1-1) are pretty good frontrunners, too…The Tigers are the most penalized team in the eastern conference with 486 PIM’s.

10 – Great Canadian 2025 Sports Stories – Three fights in the first nine seconds between the USA and Canada at the Four Nations Cup…Game 7 of the 2025 World Series…The Rachel Homan rink’s 32-game winning streak that spanned 413 days without a loss…Canadian tennis professional Victoria Mboko defeats four grand slam winners enroute to her first WTA win at the National Bank Open in Montreal…Canadian A.J. Ewart from Coquitlam, B.C. wins the 2025 PGA Tour Qualifying School tournament…Is Summer McIntosh any good?…The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the 2025 Grey Cup champions. Yeh baby!

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