10 WHL Things, Volume XXXIV – RAIDERS MOVE ON

By Glen Erickson

Some interesting ups and downs in this curious first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. Animosity always surfaces somewhere at some point and the injury bug most definitely rears its ugly head. I do find the antics of various fanbases to be almost as entertaining as the on-ice battles, given the onslaught of post-season hyper-sensitivity. You know spring has certainly sprung in junior hockey communities when your local optometrist is completely sold out of rose-coloured glasses. Read on, if you dare!

1 – Game Seven – It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Any time two teams battle to a seventh and final game, there is always tremendous anticipation. Emotions run high. And so it will be Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert when the Raiders host the Edmonton Oil Kings. The series is tied at 3-3 after Prince Albert’s dramatic 4-3 win Sunday in the Alberta capital. Indeed, the barn will be sold out and it’s the kind of night in a smaller city where I wouldn’t want to be the fire marshall. The Raiders have crawled back from a three-games-to-one deficit and have outscored the Oil Kings through six games,19-15. Each team has won once in the other’s building. During the regular season, the Raiders won three of five against Edmonton, so it looked like a dead heat even before the first round series began. What will the winner have left in the tank when they move on to meet the Medicine Hat Tigers in the second round? Oh, baby! **THE RAIDERS WON GAME 7 BY A 5-0 SCORE.**

2 – ‘Hawks Win – For my money, the most entertaining series I watched in the first round was Portland and Prince George. The recent history, Portland’s six-game win over the Cougars in last season’s western conference final set the stage for this to be a knock-down, drag ‘em out affair. Prince George staved off elimination with a big win Saturday in Portland, then forced game seven with a 4-1 victory Monday. The CN Centre was sold out for games six and seven, announced attendance at 6,016. There was a time the Cougars would barely draw 1,600 fans! However, if the Cougars and the team’s supporters never see another import goaltender from Czechia wearing a Winterhawks jersey, it will probably still be too soon. Last year in the deciding game of the western conference final at the CN Centre, Prince George peppered ‘Hawks keeper Jan Spunar with 49 shots, only to lose 2-1 in double overtime. This time around, in game seven, it was Ondrej Stebetak who stoned the Cats in the series clincher, a 4-2 decision that included an empty netter. Gotta think Portland really enjoyed the long, long bus ride back to Oregon!

3 – M.A.S.H. 98201 – The Everett Silvertips have moved on to the second round, but this is not a healthy bunch right now. “Bruised and battered, but not beaten”, was the call by Silvertips top notch play-by-play voice, Casey Bryant after the Tips scored in double overtime to eliminate the Thunderbirds in game six. And props to rookie goaltender Raiden LeGall for his 93-minute, 57-save shutout in the series clinching contest! The Tips won the regular season championship, the Scotty Munro Trophy with a 48-12-4-4 record and 104 points. Seattle finished with 65 points (30-33-4-1) and eighth place in the conference. But the Silvertips were really in tough against Seattle in a series that has taken an enormous physical toll. Leading scorer Carter Bear did not play, gone for the season with a lacerated achilles. Then, 20-year-old forward Tyler McKenzie winds up in a sling early against Seattle and shortly afterward, the league’s rookie scoring leader, Landon Dupont, joined the walking wounded, along with veteran forward Cole Temple. Defenceman Owen Cooper got banged up early in game six and did not return. Of course, give Seattle huge credit, as the early season western conference cellar dwellers were among the best teams in the league during the second half. While Everett lives to play another day, methinks the Portland Winterhawks might just be licking their chops heading into round two against the ‘Tips, even though Everett held a 6-1-0-1 advantage during the regular season. Right now, these are both very different teams.

4 – Sweep Victory – What do you see as the biggest surprise in the first round? For me, it’s the Calgary Hitmen sweep of the Saskatoon Blades. I think the end result was entirely predictable, but I thought the Blades would give the Hitmen a push. Calgary was among the best teams all season long on home ice, but they didn’t always scare everybody on the road. The Blades have enjoyed some success in recent years at SaskTel Centre. And, Calgary’s overage goaltender Daniel Hauser was on the shelf, too. But Anders Miller took over in the crease and shut the door while his teammates provided rather a master class in the defending zone. The Hitmen outscored the Blades 19-6! Calgary moves on to play the Central Division-rival Lethbridge Hurricanes in round two. Blades supporters are still waiting to celebrate a league championship. It’s what, almost 60 years and counting for one of the WHL’s original franchises. Ugh!

5 – Four of A Kind – A total of four first round series ended in five games. I think these are important results for the teams that move on because effectively, they’ve made quick work of an opponent and will enjoy a bit of a rest before the second round. Winning an elimination game is tough, as teams on the brink typically play hard, desperate hockey, often in front of their home crowd, too. And let’s not forget, when the favoured team in a series wins game five, it’s usually on home ice, so that extra playoff gate sure doesn’t hurt on the revenue side! Medicine Hat dispatched Swift Current, Lethbridge eliminated Brandon, Victoria ousted Tri City and Spokane beat Vancouver. The results set up some dandy conference semi-finals.

6 – Giant Killers – Spokane dismantled the Giants and won in five games, taking full advantage of home ice by winning the extra game and collecting the extra gate. Andrew Cristall and Berkly Catton have carried on with their respective scoring exploits, combining for 26 points in the first round. The Chiefs will take its high-octane show on the road in round two, heading to Vancouver Island to battle the Victoria Royals. Spokane won three of four against the Royals during the regular season.

7 – Royals Flush – The B.C. Division champs handled the Tri City Americans, but did not benefit from an extra home game. The series was scheduled as a 2-3-2 format, and the Royals won twice at home, then twice in Kennewick. Despite dropping game four, the series wasn’t very close, with Victoria outscoring the Americans, 23-9. The Royals have gotten very good goaltending this season from the tandem of Jayden Kraus and Johnny Hicks. Kraus appeared in 46 games, but Hicks has taken over late in the campaign. The Kamloops native sparkled in the first round, earning four victories and compiling a 1.58 goals against average and 94.9% save percentage. The Royals are not at all short of offensive fire power, but this is a team that has really figured out how to defend.

8 – Alberta Break – Lethbridge is moving on after dispatching the Brandon Wheat Kings in five games. This is another one of those convenient pieces of business where the top seed makes a little extra cash by hosting three home games. On the ice, the Hurricanes found a way to neutralize the Wheaties veteran goaltender Carson Bjarnason, who did not play in the final two games of the series. The ‘Canes made life miserable for the Carberry, Manitoba native, who compiled a 4.19 goals against average, with a pedestrian 87% save percentage through the first three games. That’s gotta be a tough pill for the 19-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect. At the other end, Jackson Unger was efficient enough to post a 4-1 record. Last season, Unger was 16-1-2 in the post-season with the eventual league champion Moose Jaw Warriors. The Hurricanes series win was its first since 2018 when, coincidentally, the ‘Canes eliminated the Wheat Kings. Lethbridge will take on the Calgary Hitmen in round two. Calgary held a decisive advantage over the ‘Canes during the regular season, winning six of eight meetings.

9 – Farewell Guys – With the elimination of eight teams after the first round, that’s 24 overage players who have played their last WHL game. These 20-year-olds are often destined for Canadian university hockey, but given developments south of the border of late, quite a few are choosing to head for the NCAA to continue pursuit of education and further hockey development. Six teams didn’t qualify for the WHL post-season, so that’s another 18 overage players done with the WHL. What a thrill it must be to experience a lengthy playoff run and to win a WHL championship as an overage player, then participate in the Memorial Cup tournament. Only three WHL players each season can lay claim to the accomplishment.

10 – Ovechkin: 895 – What a nifty way to spend Sunday morning, watching a bit of hockey history unfold. I’ve said it before, and I believe it to be true; Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career goal scoring record has enabled us all to enjoy GREATNESS…past and present. The National Hockey League really does it right when they acknowledge these milestones and what a terrific celebration at the Nassau County Coliseum, where so much NHL history has taken place. The Great One still owns the record for career goals scored in the regular season and playoffs combined at 1,016…that’s 122 in the post-season to Ovechkin’s 72 playoff tallies. While the Great 8 has 967 goals combined and counting, he will never catch the Gretzky’s playoff total. But, can Ovie score a total of 50 more goals, including regular season play? Let the countdown begin!

RANDOMS – An interesting question surfaced last week. What NHL rule would you change? I would immediately put the red line back in play, calling an offside when a pass from inside the defending zone is received between the red line and the attacking zone’s blueline. Back in the day, we would call it a “two-line pass”, but it was offside and play would be whistled down. Putting the red line back in play would require the attacking zone at each end of the rink to be shrunk a bit, maybe about 3 or 4 feet. This would increase the size of the neutral zone. I think it would be interesting to see how the modern-day players would navigate the neutral zone with their skill and speed. But, what would we lose? For one thing, that play where the puck is hammered all the way down the ice and tipped just outside the blueline to prevent icing would be history. Good riddance! It would be called offside and the penalty for trying it would be a face off deep in the defending zone. I hate the 120-foot stretch pass, it would be long gone, and because of this, we might be able to see a return to a 3-man referee system, too. Oh, to dream. But yes, I know, it’s not happenin’!

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