THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

The wait continues for round two of the WHL playoffs between the Regina Pats and the Brandon Wheat Kings. The two teams will have enjoyed a total of eight days off between the end of round 1 and game 1 of round two on Friday in Brandon. Personally I don’t think the break will afford either team an advantage in the series. The only area it might help is when it comes to injuries. We will see if the Wheat Kings will get Morgan Klimchuk and Reid Duke back for the series. Klimchuk missed games 4 and 5 against Edmonton in round 1.

At the end of the day it should be a great series. The rivalry has grown over the last two years and should make for some exciting hockey. Yes the Wheat Kings are heavy favorites but the Pats believe they will give them a good run.

The Pats will be without James Hilsendager on the back end for the first two games of the series due to suspension. Chase Harrison is the likely candidate to step up and play with Sergey Zborovskiy on the second pairing. Zborovskiy was an game changer in round 1, going plus 7 in four games.

Will be interesting to see how Jesse Gabrielle and Morgan Klimchuk (If he plays) will affect the series against their former teams.

This is the second straight year the two teams will meet in the post season and the 9th time in the history of the WHL. The two clubs are 4 and 4 in the previous 8 playoff meetings.

REGULAR SEASON STATS BREAKDOWN – During the regular season the Pats went 3-5-0-0 against the Wheat Kings. The Wheat Kings outscored the Pats 36-23 in those eight games and outshot them 272-249.

The Pats powerplay was 17.8 percent going 5 for 28 while the Wheat Kings were 12 for 37 for 82.2 percent.

Even strength the Wheat Kings outscored the Pats 20-15. The Pats scored twice shorthanded in the series and once into an empty net while Brandon had one short handed goal which went into an empty goal. The Wheat Kings had two others into an empty cage.

REGULAR SEASON PLAYER STATS – Braden Christoffer led the Pats with 4 goals and 7 assists in the eight games. Pavel Padakin had 3 goals and 3 assists in the series while Adam Brooks scored 3 times and had 2 helpers.

In goal Daniel Wapple was 3-4-0-0 with a 4.12 GAA and an .877 save percentage.

Tim McGauley was the Wheat Kings leading scorer against the Pats with 3 goals and 8 assists. Peter Quenneville was next with 4 goals and 6 assists and Nolan Patrick scored 6 goals and 2 assists. Morgan Klimchuk had 6 points against his former team after the trade.

Jordan Papirny was 5-2-1-0 versus Regina with a 2.74 GAA and a .911 saver percentage.

PLAYOFF STATS – The Pats are four and oh so far in the post season. They have scored 16 goals and given up 8. Their penalty kill is 88.9 percent and the powerplay 11.1 percent. They have scored twice short handed, once on the powerplay once into an empty net and 12 times even strength.

The Wheat Kings are four in one in the playoffs so far. They have scored 18 goals and given up 11. Their penalty kill is 85.7 percent and the powerplay 35.3 percent. They have scored 6 times on the powerplay and 12 times even strength.

PLAYOFF PLAYER STATS – Adam Brooks leads the team in scoring with 6 points, 4 goals (2 shorthanded) and 2 assists. Braden Christoffer and Patrick D’Amico are next with 5 points a piece and Pavel Padakin and Colby Williams have 4 points each.

Daniel Wapple holds a 4-0 record with a 1.96 GAA and a .933 save percentage.

Tim McGauley leads the Wheat Kings in scoring with 3 goals and 7 points. Jayce Hawryluk and John Quenneville are next with 6 points a piece and Rihards Bukarts has 5.

Jordan Papirny holds a 4-1 record in goal with a 2.01 GAA and a .942 save percentage.

Now that you have read all that, you can throw it out the window, it’s a new season and doesn’t mean a thing.

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The other Eastern Conference Semi-Final will feature the Calgary Hitmen against the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Hitmen needed 7 games to get by Kootenay while the Tigers dispatched the Rebels in 5 games in round 1. Not an unexpected second round Central Division matchup. Adam Tambellini was fantastic in the first round for Calgary and leads the WHL playoffs in scoring with 15 points. He and Connor Rankin lead in goals with 7. Calgary however gave up 26 goals in round one to the Tigers 9. If Medicine Hat can shut down the scoring they will win the series. Should be a fun one, I’m taking the Tigers in 6.

Out West the Kelowna Rockets will take on the Victoria Royals, the series will be broadcast on Shaw. This is a great matchup in my opinion. The Rockets swept Tri-City in round 1 while the Royals beat Prince George in 5. The Royals penalty kill struggled against Prince George giving up 8 goals while the Rockets only gave up 7 goals overall in round 1. I think it will be a close one but I’ve got Kelowna in 6.

The other Western Conference Semi-Final has the Portland Winterhawks. The Hawks advanced with a 5-4 overtime win last night in Seattle in game 6. Portland is a great offensive team with so many options. They are looking to get to a fifth straight WHL Championship series. Their opponent is either Spokane or Everett, I made it through 5 periods of game 6 of that series last night but had to call it a night before the game was decided. As you are reading this it could be Portland against Everett or their is a game 7 tonight. Either way I’m taking Portland in the series.

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RANDOMS

– What a great NCAA Basketball championship game between Duke and Wisconsin. I was half pulling for the Badgers for some unknown reason but at the end of the day a thoroughly entertaining game that the Blue Devils won. Grayson Allan was unbelievable and was the biggest reason why Duke came away with the win. He got them back in it with both Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow on the bench in foul trouble. Wish the refs didn’t get so involved at the end of the game but overall a great one.

– The Toronto Blue Jays looked pretty darn good in their opening game at Yankee Stadium on Monday. So cool to see Devon Travis homer on his first hit in the MLB. Outfield defense looked really solid and Drew Hutchison pitched a good game. I was really impressed with Miguel Castro who pitched the 9th inning for the Jays. Throwing 95 plus with a ton of movement. Exciting young player.

– I am holding out for the Winnipeg Jets to make the playoffs. I want so badly to make the trip down and take in either game 3 or 4 of the first round should they make it. A big 1-0 win for them last night in St. Louis. Pavalec with a shutout for the second straight game and that combined with the Oilers win over Los Angeles the Jets are three points clear with 2 games left. Two seals a playoff spot.

– Could you imagine if the Pittsburgh Penguins miss the playoffs? They gave up a 3-0 lead after 1 period to Ottawa last night and lost 4-3 in overtime. The Senators and Bruins now both sit with 95 points and the Penguins have 96. Former Brandon Wheat King Mark Stone is having a great season in Ottawa, scored twice last night including the OT winner and is up to 24 on the year. He and Johnny Goudreau are my two favorites for rookie of the year in the NHL.

– Tiger Woods is playing in the Masters. I foresee two days of the cameras following Tiger around, showing every shot as he plays mediocre golf and misses the cut while us viewers miss all the golfers who deserve to be on TV. Don’t get me wrong, Tiger is my favorite golfer but I don’t think his usual magic at Augusta will come through. I hope I’m wrong.

Be sure to catch tonight’s episode of Pats TV on Access 7 starting at 6:30. My guests are defenceman Chase Harrison, forward Austin Wagner and Assistant Coach Darrin McKechnie.

That’s it from me today, talk to you from Brandon on Friday night.

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18