10 WHL Things, Volume 1 2025-26

By Glen Erickson

We’re back at it for the 2025-2026 Western Hockey League season, at least to start, and one has to wonder what’s in store for WHL fans. To suggest the league has been faced with many challenges since the turn of the century, especially after the coronavirus panic took the world by storm, would be rather an understatement. I continue to ponder how the business side can actually thrive in each market, even though I’m an unabashed supporter with lifelong ties to the WHL. As is annually the case, I’m hoping for the best:

1. Roster Juggling – It’s that time of year again, with training camps in the books and pre-season games on the docket for a couple of weeks. It’s also that time of year when junior teams begin to lose players to National Hockey League training camps. Indeed, September and October tend to be all about roster juggling. As much as it’s always interesting to see who the newbies are on each WHL roster, it’s fun to watch how many players hang around in professional ranks as the hockey world kicks back into gear. Which WHL-eligible player do you think will stick around with his NHL team this fall?
2. Coaching Carousel – There has been a noticeable changing of the guard in the Central Division, at least behind the benches. Three teams have new head coaches. Marc Habscheid returns to the WHL as head coach in Red Deer. Dustin Friesen takes over in Calgary. Matt Anholt has been promoted to head coach in Lethbridge. Over in the B.C. Division, Derrick Martin had the interim label removed in Kelowna and the Rockets have also added Don Hay to the staff as an assistant coach.
3. New Rink Names – A few teams have new sponsorship agreements that included naming rights on their respective home turf. In Brandon, the Wheat Kings will play at Assiniboine Credit Union Place, formerly Westoba Place or the Keystone Centre, depending upon your lifelong frame of reference in the WHL. In Red Deer, the game sheets will read Marchant Crane Centrium this season, rather than Peavey Mart. Last season in Moose Jaw, a new deal saw the Warriors headquartering at the Temple Gardens Centre, which was originally tabbed as Mosaic Place when it opened a few years ago. If you look back a few seasons at the game sheets, the new arena names have replaced the old names, which is perhaps just a function of the software. Have I missed any others? It reminds me of so many PGA Tour events that switch name sponsors every few years. I remember during my junior golf days when Seve Ballesteros won the Greater Greensboro Open back in 1978, a storied stop on the Tour for decades. Today, in association with the same event, Seve is revered as a former Wyndham Championship winner. Of course, naming rights will always be a source of revenue. I just hope the WHL teams are in for a piece of the pie.
4. Star Power – The Regina Pats made a big splash at the 2025 WHL Draft and junior hockey fans can look forward to a healthy dose of first overall pick Maddox Schultz this season. Schultz, now 15 years of age, is a bit of a rarity these days as a local kid playing for the WHL team in his hometown. The Pats suggest he’ll share playing time this season with his U18 team, the Regina Pat Canadians. Dub fans can expect to see Schultz play about half of the Pats games. And don’t sleep on Liam Pue, the Pats second first round pick, who they selected third overall. The 15-year-old Langley, B.C.-native will spend the season in Saskatchewan, also splitting time between the Pats and Pat Canadians. The pair, considered a huge part of the Pats future, will celebrate their 16^th birthdays a month apart early in 2026.
5. Onward and Upward – The Medicine Hat Tigers and Kelowna Rockets will head north to Whitehorse, September 11-14 for the WHL Yukon Showcase, presented by Casino Mining. The teams will play two pre-season games at the Takhini Arena, with proceeds from the venture pegged for the Sport Yukon Recreation Fund. This isn’t the WHL’s first foray into Canada’s great white north. In February of the 2010-2011 season, the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers made the trek to Whitehorse and played a regular season game as part of the Scotiabank Hockey Day celebration. The Giants won, 3-2. Back in 2005, the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Kootenay ICE played a pair of exhibition games in Yellowknife, NWT.
6. Great Defenders – The 2025 WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers will be an interesting team to watch this season. Frankly, another Medicine Hat/Spokane league final would not surprise me at all. Last season, so much fanfare ruled the day, almost every day, as junior hockey fans couldn’t seem to get enough Gavin McKenna news, notes and video. And while the phenom was a treat to watch, I have made the comment many, many times; the Tigers seldom received the credit it deserved for keeping the puck “out” of its own net last season. The team’s ability to defend was a solid team effort…a master class and it was not all about goaltending. Heading into the 2025-2026 campaign, it’s conceivable the Tigers had nine or 10 legit WHL defencemen at training camp. The core group includes Bryce Pickford, Jonas Woo, Josh Van Mulligen and two imports from Finland, Veeti Vaisanen and Niilopekka Muhonen. Medicine Hat, with its tremendous depth, will again be formidable on the backend this season.
7. Will the Grass Be Greener – The big news most of last season and during the off-season was the potential impact of players making commitments to NCAA Division 1 programs. Every league tends to promote what it believes to be its star players and heading into the 2025-2026 season, one wonders if there is a player who might become the WHL’s “face of the league”. Who will take over as the WHL’s most prized marketing commodity this season? Will it be a player in his 2026 NHL draft year? Or, will it be an already established WHL veteran?
8. Tyson Barrie Retires – I found this poignant as I watched Barrie back in the day when I was a member of the host committee for the annual KIMMT Invitational Major Midget Tournament in Kelowna. He was a member of the Victoria Grizzlies at the time, and all eyes were on the diminutive rearguard during that event as he had already committed to the Rockets. Barrie appeared in 307 WHL games, 51 of those in the post-season. He collected 272 points and as his junior career progressed, he became more and more an integral offensive contributor for the Rockets. On May 9, 2009, he tallied the game winner in overtime of Game 6 of the WHL Final Series at Prospera Place in Kelowna. Long-time NHLers Jamie Benn and Mikael Backlund assisted on the goal that sent the Rockets to the 2009 Memorial Cup in Quebec. Barrie went on to play 869 NHL games, regular season and playoffs combined. Benn (1,392 games) and Backlund (1,108) are still active in the NHL. Tyler Myers (1,127) was also on the ice for Kelowna when Barrie scored that championship winning marker. In goal for the Calgary Hitmen that night? Martin Jones, who played in 529 NHL games; 31 of them were shutouts. I can’t say for certain, but Michael Stone may have been on the ice for the Hitmen, too. All told, for the WHL players on the ice that shift, it’s an impressive 5,025 NHL games, at least…and counting.
9. NHL Prospects – A nifty project undertaken by Cami Kepke over the summer is a series of articles on the WHL website highlighting each NHL team’s prospects with ties to the Dub. It’s been done in alphabetical order, with the New York Islanders the most recent entry. There is some real good information for consumption, and it serves as a terrific reminder the WHL continues to produce elite talent. The league provides a proven pathway to the NHL, along with a myriad of other professional hockey opportunities worldwide. The WHL Scholarship Program has also proven to be both an important incentive for the teams to provide, and a valuable reward for players and their families.
10. Will You Be Watching? – How much time will junior hockey fans devote this season checking in on NCAA Division 1 hockey games? Is there legit interest in the performance and development of each dearly departed teenager who opted out of the WHL for college life south of the 49^th parallel? Of particular note is Gavin McKenna, who along with Jackson Smith takes to the ice for Penn State University on October 3 against Arizona State to start much ballyhooed NCAA careers. Shea Van Olm, who led the WHL in goal scoring as a 20-year-old with the Spokane Chiefs during the regular season last year, is also on the Nittany Lions hockey roster. However, my real hope is the Canadian “elbows up” types who boastfully toss around their “buy Canadian” mantra, might give USPORTS hockey the attention it deserves. The quality of play is perhaps our country’s best kept hockey secret, populated primarily with CHL graduates. I would suggest it’s a damn solid made in Canada product.