10 WHL Playoff Things, Volume XXXV

By Glen Erickson

We’re well into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. A total of eight teams remain in the race to 16 wins and the coveted Ed Chynoweth Trophy. Access to all playoff games through the Victory+ app has been very well received. And with the future in mind, how about that draft lottery program!

1 – Hurricanes / Hitmen – Not sure how many WHL fans, even those residing in Lethbridge, thought the Hurricanes could roll into Calgary and knock off the Hitmen twice at the Saddledome. But that is exactly what occurred in the Stampede City this past weekend. The Hitmen posted the best home record in the league during the regular season, 26-6-1-1, a winning percentage of .794, but Lethbridge has outscored Calgary 6-1 through two games, including a 4-0 win in game one. Hurricanes goaltender Jackson Unger has stopped 66 of 67 shots through two games, while the Hitmen have used both Daniel Hauser and Anders Miller so far. The ‘Canes appear to be getting a complete effort up and down the lineup – there’s not a Lethbridge skater among the top 25 in playoff scoring. The teams will get reacquainted at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Tuesday and Wednesday night.

2 – Silvertips / Winterhawks – If there is any notion that winning the Scotty Munro Trophy as the WHL regular season champions came easy for the Everett Silvertips, the group mustered up a most gritty first round effort to advance to the western conference semi-final round. The injury bug chipped away at Everett’s top six forward group and its blueline brigade during the first round, yet the Silvertips gutted out a series victory over the game Seattle Thunderbirds. Two of the ‘Tips four wins came in extra time, including the series clincher at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Washington. True to form, Everett went to overtime in its first two games against the Portland Winterhawks at Angels of the Wind Arena and earned victories on each occasion, moving to 4-0 in overtime games during the current post-season. The Silvertips have managed to hang in there long enough to get healthy again, and this would seem to make the league champs even more formidable. The Winterhawks will not go quietly, and home ice this week will give them a huge boost. For Everett, it’s apparent a little belief and success through adversity can certainly go a long way.

3 – Tigers / Raiders – The result after two games was probably predictable, but perhaps the manner in which the Medicine Hat Tigers won the first two games had some scratching their heads. The Prince Albert Raiders were a legit long shot heading into the series, but they have given the Tigers everything the eastern conference champs can handle. The Tigers have gotten great press all season long for its tremendous offensive depth, and rightfully so, but anybody paying attention knows this team has an incredible ability to defend. But that attribute has been tested mightily by Prince Albert, which has outscored Medicine Hat 7-3 in the third period through two games. The upstart Raiders scored four times in the third period to force overtime in game two, before the Tigers scored midway through t he first extra frame to take a 2-0 series lead. Medicine Hat won 13 of it last 14 regular season games, including 10 straight to end the season, and the team is 6-1 in the post-season. It seems unlikely the Raiders can win four of the next five to eliminate Medicine Hat, but you gotta know the Art Hauser Centre will be rockin’ and rollin’ this week for games three and four.

4 – Chiefs / Royals – What a raucous start in game one as Victoria and Spokane went rather deep into Sunday evening before the Chiefs prevailed in the second overtime period, 4-3. Spokane needed a gutsy third period comeback to force extra time. Royals goaltender Johnny Hicks was his usual post-season stubborn self, stopping 53 shots on the night as Spokane dominate territorial play. But the plucky Royals took full advantage in game two, scoring five times on 21 shots to even the series with a 5-1 triumph. Hicks made 40 saves. The teams now head to Vancouver Island for three games at the Save On Foods Memorial Arena and they’ll play ‘em all. The series schedule is another of the 2-3-2 variety.

5 – Draft Lottery Musings – So much is made of securing the first overall pick in any draft, be it WHL, NHL, NBA or NFL. I get the fascination, but seriously, wouldn’t the most coveted pick at the 2025 WHL Draft be #23? That would mean you won the league! Alright, I digress! It wasn’t really a surprise when the Regina Pats won the 2025 WHL Draft Lottery last week. Both the Pats and Edmonton Oil Kings went into the festivities with the best odds to win. Regina’s pick is their own. The Oil Kings acquired its stake in a trade with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Although Pats general manager Alan Millar didn’t divulge anything regarding the pick they’ll make, the Pats will most certainly use the first overall selection to tab local product, Maddox Schultz, who absolutely lit up the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League this past season as a 14-year-old with 93 points in 44 games as a member of the Regina Pat Canadians. His presence in the Pats organization would create an instant, obvious marketing strategy, much like the what the ownership group had to work with when Connor Bedard played in the Queen City. We’ve long experienced an era where local players don’t often stick around and play at home…I remember decades ago when the Pats had the late Doug Wickenheiser – Regina-born and raised – in its lineup for three seasons. Schultz, now 15, will lead the Pat Canadians into the national championship tournament, the 2025 Telus Cup, at the Chilliwack Coliseum next week. It’s a building that will soon house a WHL expansion franchise.

6 – Kelowna Denied – The Rockets were the only other team with an opportunity to win the draft lottery and the first overall selection. Had Kelowna won, I’m confident they would’ve kept the pick to select Schultz. But now that they are sitting right where they stared before the lottery, with the third pick, I’m doubly confident it will be packaged in a trade of some sort. The Rockets are looking to bolster its roster for the 2025-2026 season, which will culminate with hosting the 2026 Memorial Cup.

7 – Media Coverage – I watched the draft lottery Thursday on Victory+ while on the road between Medicine Hat and Saskatoon. Admittedly, I didn’t expect an hour-long production, but it’s testimony to how the quality of content emanating from the WHL office continues to evolve and improve. Now, full disclosure here, I’m comfortably old school in my WHL views, and I think it’s a sad disservice these days that so many fans of the WHL do not have access to the incredible newspaper coverage that existed back in the day. There were amazing beat writers at the newspapers in every WHL city for years and these people were absolute workhorses, tremendously committed to their craft and coverage. As junior hockey fans, we were very, very blessed! But I want to give some props to the team at the WHL office. The draft lottery show was just terrific, as professional a piece as I can ever remember coming out of the league HQ. It was a job really well done!

8 – C’mon Ref! – As teams are eliminated early on in the post-season and the field is reduced, so too are a number of officials utilized by the league. As much as the teams and their respective fanbases yearn for long playoff runs, the referees are also motivated to be a part of the championship journey. The officials are evaluated constantly throughout the regular season and playoffs, and the top performers earn the late season assignments. With fewer games being played as the playoffs wind down, the number of opportunities for them reduce and the league begins to rely only on its best personnel. There will be a number of familiar names wearing the stripes these next six weeks as the upper echelon among WHL officials includes a host of veteran referees with a wealth of experience. Of course, their performances will never satisfy the overwhelming majority of ticket-buyers and couch potatoes, those who typically consider themselves the smartest people in the arena. I’ve said it many, many times in the past…I would hate to have to watch a hockey game where the referees make as many mistakes as the players.

9 – Winterhawks Savvy Recruiting – Has any WHL team done a better job recruiting “from” the NCAA than the Portland Winterhawks? Defenceman Tyson Jugnauth (Wisconsin) has played a total of 133 games and chipped in with 164 points since landing in the WHL. He led the league in scoring by a defenceman this season with 89 points and is among the top scorers in the current post-season. And how about forward Alex Weiermair (Denver), who arrived in Portland in early December and proceeded to collect 46 points in 41 regular season games. He’s added 10 points in nine playoff games. Jugnauth, a Seattle Kraken draft pick, will return to the NCAA next season with Michigan State, while Weiermair could return to the Winterhawks as an overager.

10 – RANDOMS – I’m a big fan of sports history. On consecutive Sundays in April, we have been able to watch Alex Ovechkin and Rory McIlroy achieve incredible significant milestones. At 62 years of age, I have had the great fortune to see so many sporting highlights, some that I recall watching on black and white television picture tubes back in the day when young Internet warriors hadn’t even begun their journey down a fallopian tube. But modern-day fans, young people who’ve enjoyed the sporting world in this era of social media with all of its upside and nonsense, should really savour these special moments. They are tremendously poignant moments in history, monumental achievements, wonderful learning opportunities, and proof positive that live sports continues to exist for our entertainment as the best possible version of reality TV.

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