10 WHL Things, Volume II

By Glen Erickson

It has always been an exciting time for me, September that is. There is a definite shifting of gears this time of year and I like hockey that really matters is quickly approaching. It’s also a great time to reflect on many, many years of Western Hockey League experiences, both pro and con. From time to time, I’ll pull a tidbit or two from the vault, those good old stories from past years that still give me pause to chuckle. Read on if you dare!

1. He’s Back – When the Red Deer Rebels hired 62-year-old Marc Habscheid to take the reigns this season, they chose a man who brings significant hockey and life experience to the job. I liked his take during media availability in Red Deer, August 26, on how the entirety of the hockey world is potentially viewing the impact of the new NCAA Division 1 rules this season. “When a new car comes out, everyone wants to buy that car, they want to drive that car just because it’s new…everyone rushes out to buy that car. Then reality sets in and the new car isn’t new anymore. Then things settle out. Where they’ll settle out, I have no idea. I don’t think anybody does. It’s new right now for the players, for the CHL, for the NCAA. What path it takes, who knows. We (Red Deer) just want to be the best we can be and ensure this is a good experience for the players and we’re maximizing their potential as players and as people.”
2. The New Sherriff – It’s certainly been an off-season of change in Swift Current. Dean DeSilva was announced July 2 as the Broncos new head coach. It’s his first gig as a bench boss in the WHL after four seasons as an assistant with the Everett Silvertips. His message out of the gate is pretty clear. “With losing so many top end players off the top couple of lines, it’s going to be a rebuild,” DeSilva told Shawn Mullin of Swift Current Online. “The players are going to all want to come in and step into different roles, but it’s going to be the development piece. It’s going to be very important to allow them to make mistakes. Work ethic is going to be key. If they don’t work, they don’t play, but we’ll live with the mistakes and then correct them.” Regan Darby, Travis Moen and Roshen Jaswal round out the coaching staff. Gone from last season are forwards Rylan Gould (to Everett), Brady Birnie (to Penticton) and Luke Mistelbacher (to Brandon), while the organization graduated a solid overage group in defenceman Hunter Mayo, forward Carlin Dezainde and goaltender Reid Dyck. The Broncos finished with a 35-30-1-2 record last season, then bowed out in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual league champion Medicine Hat Tigers.
3. Been There, Done That – So many people like to talk about different eras. I suppose I’m one of them, too, as I have no interest in forgetting or downplaying the efforts and achievements by players and coaches during the early years of the WHL. But modern-day players do seem to want to look at the bench these days and see a coach who has been in their skates…as a player. Enter Edmonton Oil Kings new hire, Jason Smith. I’m not sure there is a player in the WHL today who will ever demonstrate the toughness Smith did as a player. I recall the story about Smith, now 51, playing on a broken foot…well okay, it was the ball of his foot. Ugh!! Smith wore the “C” almost everywhere he played, including the NHL, so the leadership thingy cannot be questioned. Edmonton hockey fans know him well as he played eight seasons for the Oilers. A first-round pick, 18^thoverall by the New Jersey Devils at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, Smith has indeed “been there, done that”. He’s a veteran of 1,076 NHL games with five teams, regular season and playoffs combined. Perhaps surprisingly, many who conduct and listen to his interviews will find him to be rather a soft-spoken gentleman, one who will not throw his players under the bus. If young players on the Oil Kings roster want to emulate someone who exudes almost every trait that can lead to a lengthy NHL career, all they’ll have to do is shoulder check while they’re sitting on the bench.
4. Impact Players…Guys I’m Watching – Provided he returns to Seattle, defenceman Radim Mrtka can anchor the Thunderbirds blueline brigade this season. At 6’6” and 216 pounds, he is a big, mobile rearguard with a wingspan and active stick that will give opponents headaches in his defending zone. The Buffalo Sabres made Mrtka the first WHL player selected, ninth overall, at the 2025 NHL Draft, a pick eerily similar in stature to the Sabres selection of Tyler Myers in the first round back in 2008. The 18-year-old Czech-born defender was the T-Birds second round selection at the 2024 CHL Import Draft but didn’t commit to Seattle until late in November. In 43 games, he scored three goals and added 32 assists, while compiling a plus-10 rating. In fairness, that’s a pretty small WHL sample size, but Mrtka has been signed to an entry-level contract by the Sabres. Gotta think he should surface with Czechia at the 2026 World Junior Championship.
5. Impact Players…Part Deux – Look for Hayden Paupanekis to deliver on his promise with the Kelowna Rockets this season. The 6’5, 205-pound forward is a load, acquired from the Spokane Chiefs in the trade deadline deal that saw the Rockets part ways with WHL scoring champ Andrew Cristall. Paupanekis, now 18, endured Kelowna’s horrid second half last season and chipped in with 11 goals and 8 assists in 32 games. His minus-28 rating is more a testimony to how bad the Rockets were, rather than an indictment on the Winnipeg native’s play. Like so many big-bodied juniors, as he becomes more and more comfortable in his frame, his already impressive balance and mobility will continue to improve. I think it’s safe to assume he’ll be surrounded by a more efficient supporting cast this season as the Rockets prepare to host the 2026 Memorial Cup. Paupanekis was selected in the third round, 69^th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens at the 2025 NHL Draft.
6. It’s Official – I’m a big fan of referees, primarily because I know a little bit about the gig. When I skated back in the day as academies began to dot the western Canadian landscape, I always found players pretty easy to work with. But some of the lunacy displayed by coaches and parents challenged my motivation to demonstrate tolerance. One of the standard lines I toss into conversation when I hear nonsensical chirp from “the referees were against us” crowd is, “how is that official supposed to be positioned at the blueline on that zone entry?”. Queue the blank stares, that quizzical look that suggests it’s my question that’s stupid! These days, I really admire the composure and commitment WHL officials bring to their assignments. The mentoring from ageless director of officiating, Kevin Muench, and his eminently qualified team of supervisors has played an enormous role in the development of so many officials. I’ll chat with Muench in the coming weeks for an update on graduates to professional hockey and some of the international assignments earned by those who ply their trade across WHL cities. Muench is currently away on business with the IIHF, an indication of how the reach of the WHL and officials across Canada continues to impact the game globally.
7. PXP – Who is the top play-by-play voice in the WHL? In many cases, I get that fans of a particular team will generally choose their own guy. After all, that’s a diplomatic way to go. I don’t know them all and there are some with lengthy tenure in the booth. Guys like Regan Bartel (Kelowna/Swift Current), Jon Keen (Kamloops/Swift Current), Mike Boyle (Spokane), Thom Beuning (Seattle) and Les Lazaruk (Saskatoon) have all passed the 20-year mark in the league by now. Who did I miss? James Gallo (Moose Jaw), Brad Curle (Calgary) and Dustin Forbes (Lethbridge) have likely all hit double figures, too. At the other end of the spectrum, Will Bryant (Medicine Hat) is entering year two this season while Austin Mattes (Swift Current) and Riley Pollock (Penticton) will each call their first regular-season WHL game September 19. It’s a great mix of veterans and youngsters, students and mentors. Who do you like?
8. Small Thoughts & Big Projects – I continue to marvel at Alan Caldwell’s commitment to an elaborate and informative batch of spreadsheets that provide so much valuable WHL information. If you’re looking for a world-class WHL trade tracker, Caldwell is your guy, though he’ll humbly admit to assistance from colleagues and fans around the Dub. Future draft pick inventory is also something he diarizes in great detail, which requires accuracy in every deal made between WHL teams. Conditional picks can be a nightmare to interpret! You’ll also find some interesting roster information on each team as well. Check it all out on “X”…@smallatlarge…and the links to each of these treasure troves of WHL info are in his profile.
9. Gas City Grease Job – Perhaps I’ve told this story before in this space, but it’s still funny, even if it might be as much fiction as fact. Years ago in the wonderful old Medicine Hat Arena, there was a group of fans referred to as the Zone 2 Boys or Section 2 Boys…something to that effect. They were boisterously supportive of the Tigers and often relentlessly targeted opposition players with slogans, chants and occasional cursing. Many players I’ve spoken with over the years actually enjoyed them, suggesting they found much of it to be quite entertaining. Others, including a few long-in-the-tooth Tigers fans, thought it all occasionally crossed the line. One constant target was the late Leroy Gorski of the Saskatoon Blades. He was a prankster who checked in at about 5’6”, 160 pounds if he was absolutely drenched, but he played big and tough for three seasons in the Dub back in the early 1980’s. He actually billeted with my aunt and uncle. His partner on the blueline for awhile was the late Donn Clark, who went about 6’1, 200 pounds, which made them rather a contrasting pair. I’m told it wasn’t uncommon for the “Boys” to single out Gorski, often referring to his size with somewhat imaginative chirp and vulgarity. As the story goes, on one trip into the Gas City, Gorski decided strike back and before the game, applied a generous layer of Vaseline to the seats the “Boys” would occupy that night. It didn’t go over well with the locals. Meanwhile, in the visitor’s dressing room, guys were just howling. Rumour has it the Blades were only too happy to pay a league levied fine for Leroy’s antics. Gorski passed away in March of 2000 at the age of 37.

Randoms – Interesting comment from the boss, Rod Pedersen, when he opined after a WHL pre-season game last week that “the Brandon Wheat Kings play nasty”. This I’ve got to see! … The Oil Kings list Dr. Bob Ridley Jr. as its team dentist. Hmmm. That name sounds familiar … I’m a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan, but I’m a CFL fan first. Yes, I can watch and enjoy a CFL game that does not include the ‘Riders. I find it interesting to see at this point in the season, every team has played 12 games. With one team sitting out each week with a bye, it’s not often we can look at the standings without one or more of the teams having games in hand. So, how is your favourite team doing? … With most everyone on the planet chiming in on the antics of the woman at the Phillies-Marlins baseball game, I’ll take a swing, too. While I’m very comfortable with my stance our society has for far too long over-valued youth and under valued life experience, this situation clearly demonstrates the opposite. I’m confident if I ever catch a ball at a game, I’ll look around for a kid to toss it to. I’ve done it with pucks at hockey games. I’ve even seen a kid light up when I gave him my stuffed toy to throw on the ice at a Teddy Bear Toss game. That’s what I believe an adult in these environments should do, and an adult should understand the program well before an opportunity arises. This mud-hen in the Phillies jersey completely soiled the sheets … I know I’m not supposed to smile when I have my passport photo taken, but what to do when the young photographer has blue hair, a horseshoe in their nose, a spike through their bottom lip, and erotica tattoos on their neck and arms? At the very least, that look will typically turn a frown upside down, but how am I supposed to hold in the belly laugh?