10 WHL Things, Volume XI

By Glen Erickson

1 – Finders Keepers – A tip of the hat to veteran goaltender Max Hildebrand of the Prince Albert Raiders, who played his 100^thregular season game this week, turning aside 32 shots in a 5-1 victory at the Brandt Centre against the Regina Pats. The Raiders found a good one in Hildebrand in the 13^th round, 286^th overall at the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Think about that for a minute! He was a virtual afterthought who has become one of the most reliable netminders in the league, so highly thought of he’s in the lineup as a 20-year-old. The Raiders recognized Hildebrand as their Most Valuable Player last season. He’s compiled a 4-5-2 record so far this season with a 3.49 goals against average and .899 save percentage. Notably, his father Steve, is the Saskatoon Blades assistant general manager. The Raiders are in tough this season in the eastern conference, but most pundits will acknowledge they’re pretty solid between the pipes.

2 – Busy Keepers – Hildebrand is one of seven active WHL goalies with over 100 games played. The others are Jari Kykkanen (KEL; 104), Ethan Buenaventura (CGY; 114), Jackson Unger (MJ; 117), Carson Bjarnason (BWK; 123), Dylan Ernst (KAM; 134) and Daniel Hauser (WEN/WPG; 135). Hauser has also played in 37 playoff games, while Unger has played in 25 post-season contests. After them, it’s not even close. Harrison Meneghin, who has played in 99 career regular season games – 91 of those with the Lethbridge Hurricanes – will likely join the club this week as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers. Dawson Cowan of the Spokane Chiefs might get there before the Christmas break in the schedule, too – he’s sitting at 87 games.

3 – Streakers – According to the WHL website, three players are on lengthy point-scoring streaks, so keep an eye on their production this weekend. Cameron Schmidt of the Vancouver Giants (12G, 9A) and Teydon Trembecky of the Victoria Royals (4G; 13A) have collected a point in 12 straight games. Jesse Heslop of the Everett Silvertips (G; 6A) is next at 11 games. None of the aforementioned are among the nine players tied with four-game goal scoring streaks. Ryan Lin of the Giants leads the way in assists, collecting at least one helper in seven consecutive games.

4 – Streak Busters – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended the Swift Current Broncos four-game wining streak Wednesday, 3-1 at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Wenatchee can put a stop its three-game losing streak in Everett Friday, and if they do so, they’ll also end the Silvertips six-game winning streak. Spokane rolls into Kennewick, Washington with a chance to end Tri City’s seven-game heater on Saturday. The Hurricanes, Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers are looking to extend their winning ways, carrying two-game winning streaks into the weekend. Seattle will look to end its three-game winless run when the Edmonton Oil Kings come calling Friday night. 

5 – Hockey Fights Cancer – If the details on the auction website are accurate, somebody plunked down $3,557.00 for Gavin McKenna’s jersey last week. It was Tigers Fight Cancer night October 26 and Medicine Hat wore a nifty set of jerseys when the Regina Pats visited Co-Op Place. I know a little bit about surviving cancer treatment and frankly, as it always has, the disease scares me. Alas, I’m still standin’ and able to complain about it! I like that the Tigers went with purple as the jersey trim cover. I’m not in the loop as to why they made this choice, but typically we look to the purple ribbon to recognize all cancers, but particularly the sacrifices and achievements of caregivers. Proceeds from the jersey auction have been earmarked to support the Medicine Hat Health Foundation for the Margery E. Yuill Cancer Centre.

6 – Did You Know – It’s well-known in hockey circles that Bill Yuill is the Chairman and CEO of The Monarch Corporation, whose sports property division, CSH International Inc., owns and operates a number of teams including the Everett Silvertips. Margery, his mother, was a nurse at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, she was very involved with the Red Cross, and helped establish the Medicine Hat YMCA. She suffered from pancreatic cancer and passed away in 1965. Bill and Elizabeth Yuill established the Yuill Family Foundation in 2007, and it has provided over $9M to support capital projects and programs at the Cancer Centre.

7 – Atta Boy, Stripes – I’ve long been a supporter of WHL officials, which makes for some entertaining and eye-rolling conversations with friends who, despite their obvious maturity, are bound and determined to blame the referees when their favourite teams can’t seem to muster up a victory. The WHL has posted a few video pieces – kind of like advertising vignettes – outlining the Western Canadian Officiating Partnership. I like the initiative because any effort focused on developing both quantity and quality has my full support. Mentorship and coaching support is also crucial. Make no mistake, the players are the show in the WHL, not the officials, but I’d hate to have sit through a game where the referees make as many mistakes as the players. The WHL has a solid history associated with developing referees and helping them move along to careers in professional hockey. Sadly, I don’t think the league talks enough about these success stories.

8 – Strange Stats – A look at special teams performance league-wide confirms the Wenatchee Wild are the top penalty killing team in the WHL. Through 14 games, the Wild has given up only seven goals while shorthanded, good for an 88.9% efficiency rating. That’s fully seven percentage points ahead of the next team, the Prince George Cougars. Curiously, the Wild have the worst power play in the league, clipping along at 14.7% with the man advantage. The upside might be that the Wild can sure draw penalties. They’ve played with a man advantage 68 times so far, the most in the WHL.

9 – Rocketing Prices – Three former Kelowna Rockets players have each recently played their 1,000^th National Hockey League regular season game. Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers and Mikael Backlund. Schenn has won two Stanley Cups, both with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Myers and Backlund were teammates in Kelowna on the 2010 edition of the Rockets that won the WHL championship, then dropped title game at the Memorial Cup tournament to the Windsor Spitfires. Backlund has played his entire career as a member of the Calgary Flames. There is some conflicting information out there, even on the NHL website. On October 17, the feature on Schenn’s accomplishment had him pegged as the 398^th player to achieve the milestone, which I believe would have made Myers #399 and Backlund #400. But NHL.com also reported that Backlund is #397. We’ll see what we can dig up! For the record, the three former WHLers have earned over $150M in the NHL, with Myers leading the way at a little north of $74M.

10 – RANDOMS – I saw a signed Connor Bedard jersey advertised for $1,200 on Facebook Marketplace. It was a Regina Pats “third jersey”, so to speak, emblazoned with the nifty PPCLI logo. That’s Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Google it…A busy week on the WHL trade wire. A total of seven deals involving nine players and four 8^th round picks, three 6^th round picks and two 4^th round picks…If you’re telling people you’re not paying attention to the federal election in the United States, I think you’re fibbing. Check your investment portfolio in the days following November 5 and don’t be surprised if calls to your stockbroker go straight to voice mail…I’ll be on hiatus for awhile from these pages, driving through a few “open carry” States after our American friends cast their votes. Should be interesting…Hey CFL fans! Could be a crummy weekend for the home teams. Ottawa over Toronto by 1 and B.C. by 8 over Saskatchewan…Don’t forget to switch your clocks back an hour this weekend, except in Saskatchewan!

(Glen Erickson is a Medicine Hat-based hockey writer)