10 WHL Things, Volume VIII

By Glen Erickson

1 – Gutsy Wins – A shout out to the Kamloops Blazers on its big win last week in Portland. After a busy three-in-three weekend without a victory in Washington State, Kamloops returned home and dropped its sixth consecutive decision, 5-2 to the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. But then, a full-day of travel landed Kamloops in Portland for a rare Thursday night contest, where the Blazers rode a steady goaltending performance from 20-year-old Dylan Ernst to a 3-2 overtime victory. The Winterhawks peppered Ernst with 46 shots, but the Weyburn, Saskatchewan native held the fort in his 130^thregular season appearance. Tommy Lafreniere tallied the winner in extra time, his fourth goal of the season. A character win indeed for the young Blazers, a group that could not be blamed for being a bit road weary! Kamloops carried the momentum back to the Okanagan Valley and defeated the Wenatchee Wild, 4-1 on the weekend at the Sandman Centre, with Lafreniere picking up two more goals in the win. The Blazers can make it three wins in a row when the Victoria Royals come calling on Tuesday.

2 – Ride the Wave – Something’s brewing on Vancouver Island where the Royals are off to a 6-1-1-1 start. Victoria trails the Prince George Cougars by one point for first place in the B.C. Division, but the Royals have four games in hand. The goaltending tandem of Jayden Kraus, 17, and Spencer Michnik, just 18, have been very good out of the gate, surrendering an average of three goals per game. All of this behind rather a young but sizeable blueline brigade, as the Royals have opted to carry three overage forwards. All told, the Royals roster includes nine rookies. Behind the bench, it would appear head coach James Patrick has been able to add some stability in Victoria since replacing Dan Price last November. Patrick, a defenceman during his NHL career where he played almost 1,400 regular season and playoff games, also has 11 years experience as an assistant coach in the NHL. He led the Winnipeg Ice to 53- and 57-win seasons before the franchise relocated to Wenatchee. Victoria has a busy week ahead with a couple of ferry rides and four games in five nights. They roll through the Okanagan Valley for a pair of games before a weekend doubleheader in Prince George.

3 – Veteran Leadership – A nice chat with Riley Heidt of the Cougars last week at Co-Op Place in Medicine Hat on gameday after the Cats morning skate. The 19-year-old from Saskatoon is in his fourth full season with the Cougars and it’s very likely that by the time his WHL career is over, he will have scored his way into the Cougars record book, with room to spare. Through October 20, he is already a veteran of 257 WHL games, including playoffs. Heidt’s amassed 96 goals, 227 assists and 323 points. The Minnesota Wild selected Heidt in the second round, 64^th overall at the 2023 NHL Draft. He has signed an entry level contract. Selected in the first round, second overall by the Cougars at the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft, he is clearly a skilled, poised and dynamic WHLer.

4 – Game Time – Later that night, Heidt and the Cougars drubbed the Tigers, 8-1, though Medicine Hat iced a lineup with seven 16-year-old skaters. The Tigers outshot the Cougars, 34-31 on the night, 19-15 in the first period and they dominated the first 10 minutes, outshooting Prince George 10-2, before the Cougars began to push back hard. I thought the turning point was an altercation between the team captains, Heidt and Oasiz Wiesblatt. Wiesblatt, a 20-year-old tough customer who was a point-per-game producer for the Tigers last season, commenced festivities with Heidt behind the Cougars net. Heidt, who is strong enough on his skates to not yield to Wiesblatt, was assessed a major for fighting. Wiesblatt was assessed a minor, major and misconduct for his role in the fracas. The Tigers, without a handful of key players due to suspension and injuries lost their captain and his veteran presence for 17 minutes. It was undisciplined and the Tigers never recovered. Heidt went on to pick up a Gordie Howe hat trick on the night when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway in the third period to complete a three-point performance and selection as the game’s first star.

5 – The Best Ability is Availability – The Tigers are a young, talented team facing some significant adversity right now. Bryce Pickford, a sturdy 18-year-old rearguard and veteran of more than 150 WHL games, returned to the lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a kneeing penalty against the Red Deer Rebels. Mathew Ward, a skilled 20-year-old forward acquired from Swift Current in the off-season, took a curious misconduct penalty late in the second stanza against Prince George. Now, I’ve never, ever gone too hard at the 16- and 17-year-old players in the WHL because they’re generally just trying to find their footing in major junior hockey. But by the time a player is in his third or fourth season, he should know the ropes and have a solid understanding of his role and the accountability that comes along with that role. Tougher questions and higher expectations would certainly seem fair. For the Tigers, this group needs its veteran players to be productive on the ice, not leading the league in penalty minutes or watching games from the press box.

6 – Bounce Back – Almost on queue, two nights after the debacle on home ice, the Tigers waltzed into the Moose Jaw Events Centre and dominated the Warriors, 6-3. It was Pickford’s first game back, with Wiesblatt and Ward playing leading roles in the onslaught. One wonders what message may have been delivered by the Tigers coaching staff? Regardless, Medicine Hat bombarded the Warriors on Military Appreciation Night, outshooting the hosts, 43-13. There is no question the Tigers roster is full of talented, capable players. It’s consistency that has been somewhat elusive so far this season. With 58 games left to play, there would appear to be plenty of time to tidy this all up.

7 – Top of the Heap – The Everett Silvertips have taken over top spot in the WHL standings, at least based on winning percentage. At 8-2 following a 3-0 shutout victory in Portland on the weekend, the Tips lead the U.S. Division and western conference with 16 points and an .800 winning percentage. Everett has won six of its last seven games, all of which have been played on the road. The Tips are currently the stingiest team in the WHL, surrendering a league-low 24 goals. Everett hosts Wenatchee Wednesday, its first game in the friendly confines of the Angels of the Wind Arena since September 29. Over in the eastern conference, the Saskatoon Blades lead the way at 8-2-1, good for 17 points.

8 – Road Woes – B.C Division teams pretty much had their way with the Prince Albert Raiders last week. Prince Albert dropped four of five on its road trip through British Columbia, including a 10-1 defeat at the hands of the Vancouver Giants in its final game of the road trip. Vancouver went four-for-four on the power play, helping the Raiders fall to the bottom of the league on the penalty kill at a rate of 68.1% through 11 games. The Raiders were outscored 30-19 by B.C. Division opponents, managing only a 5-2 win in Kamloops. Prince Albert has given up 51 goals so far, second only to the Seattle Thunderbirds with 52. Coincidentally, the 2-7-2 Raiders next contest is set for Friday at the Art Hauser Centre against the T-Birds, who are currently making their way through the east division. Seattle’s numbers are certain to change before the game in P.A. as they take on Moose Jaw and Saskatoon this week.

9 – Player to Watch – Seattle’s number one goaltender Scott Ratzlaff has signed an entry level contract with the Buffalo Sabres. From Irma, Alberta, Ratzlaff is now 19 years of age and has established himself as a premiere WHL netminder. He was a member of the Thunderbirds 2022-2023 WHL championship team – part of its tandem between the pipes along with Thomas Milic, who is playing in the Winnipeg Jets organization. Ratzlaff owns a pair of gold medals from international events with Hockey Canada and will get a long look for the 2025 WJC. I have wondered aloud if Ratzlaff might be on the move at some point this season, to bolster a contending team. Assuming the T-Birds would move him out of the western conference for the right price, Medicine Hat seemed like a potential fit early this season, given its 2026 Memorial Cup hosting aspirations. Ratzlaff would be eligible for the 2025-2026 season as an overager, though the Sabres would certainly have a say in things. Seattle and the Tigers did a significant piece of business during the off-season – the Bryce Pickford deal. Interestingly, Pickford is from Chauvin, Alberta, located about one hour east of Ratzlaff’s hometown. Of course, if Ratzlaff stays put and finishes his career in the Emerald City, he’ll provide valuable defence this season as the T-Birds continue to re-tool.

10 – Special Teams – The Giants (35.6%) and Regina Pats (32.1%) are the only WHL teams with power play proficiency over 30% so far. That’s a tough pace to maintain over 68 games, as only three teams have finished the regular season above 30% since the 2018-2019 campaign. (This doesn’t include numbers from the 2020-2021 season, that covid induced, 24-game aberration.) The standard on the penalty kill seems to be maintaining a rating above 80%. The 2019-20 Edmonton Oil Kings (87.5%) and the 2018-2019 Prince Albert Raiders (86.9%) are the top two regular season performances over the same time frame.

ONE-TIMERS: Austin Elliott, who went 3-0 this season with a 2.33 GAA for the Saskatoon Blades is now a member of the OHL’s London Knights. Elliott, now 20, was the goalie of record in both game 7’s during the 2023 WHL playoffs, when the Blades overcame consecutive 0-3 deficits to win best-of-seven series against Regina and Red Deer. It might have been neat if the Blades had been able to get Elliott at least one more start. The Strathmore, Alberta native played in a total of 99 WHL games…Since 1963, here’s the number of national men’s hockey championships won by Canada West schools: University of Lethbridge – 1; University of Manitoba – 1; University of Saskatchewan – 1; University of Alberta – 16. Nationwide, the University of Toronto and University of New Brunswick have won 10 each…Kind of a hockey’s “Who’s Who” in attendance at Co-Op Place for the Prince George Cougars / Medicine Hat Tigers game last week. Willie Desjardins, Mark Lamb and Jim Playfair were behind the benches working the game while Lethbridge Hurricanes brass Peter Anholt and Bill Peters looked on. TSN’s Craig Button, who worked in both Dallas and Calgary with Playfair during their NHL careers, was also in the building. One can surmise the attendance relates to advanced scouting for Hockey Canada programs and of course, Button’s prospect rankings…Anholt and Desjardins were team mates on that University of Saskatchewan championship team back in 1983…The current edition of the U of A Golden Bears, which features at least 22 former WHL players, is off to a fast start this season at 6-0 atop the Canada West standings, outscoring its opponents 33-13.

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