10 WHL Things From Glen Erickson – Volume XXII

1 – The Eastern Outpost – The standings in the WHL’s Eastern Conference confirm the top three teams have certainly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. When I review the evidence with the post-season a few weeks away, I am intrigued by the Brandon Wheat Kings. If there is one team in the East that might create some problems for the front runners, I think it could be the Wheat Kings. I enlisted the assistance of Wheaties play-by-play man, Rob Mahon. We spoke shortly before the team boarded its bus for Kennewick, Washington the morning after its big 6-3 win Wednesday night in Wenatchee. “Definitely less so than you would have been at the start of the year,” Mahon said, when I asked him if I was accurate assuming the Wheat Kings have had a tough time keeping the puck out of its own net. “They were struggling a little bit when the year began but getting a little better now at winning those 3-2 and 4-3 games. Every now and then, there’s a bit of a lapse, as will happen with a young team.” I wondered if import goalie Filip Ruzicka has perhaps taken over as the Wheaties number one keeper. “Well, for a while there it was looking like he’d taken over completely,” Mahon said. “There was a stretch where he was rattling off win after win after win. Now, I’d say it’s a little more even, because Jayden Kraus has been playing really well. He’s been consistently over a .900 save percentages his last few games. The team’s kind of said all along they don’t need their goaltenders to be Superman. They just need them to give the team a chance to win because they know they can score. Making 30 saves a game gives you a chance.”

2 – Scoring Prowess – Through 49 games, the Wheat Kings scored 197 goals, fifth highest in the WHL. Forward Joby Baumuller, 19, has emerged this season and leads the WHL with 36 goals. “If you watched his goals last year one by one, which I did when I was putting together kind of a draft highlight package, you could see that pretty much every one of his goals was him just overpowering a goaltender with a shot,” Mahon said. “So, we knew that he could beat goaltenders cleanly. It was just a matter of him doing it on a regular, consistent basis. Consistency has kind of been the word that we keep coming back to when I talk with (head coach) Marty Murray about this. It was last year Joby scored 18 goals, and pretty much all of them were goal scorer’s goals. This year he’s got the same goal scorer’s goals, but he’s also getting kind of the greasier ones and the grittier ones right around the front of the net. He’s just way more consistent. Generally, he’s been excellent this year, and even on the road, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down.”

3 – It Is Over – Kind of a tough weekend on home ice for a couple of teams riding lengthy winning streaks. The league’s second longest heater this season – 14 games – came to an end Friday in Penticton as the Vees dropped a 5-2 decision to the Kamloops Blazers at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It was the final regular season encounter between the division rivals. The season series ends with each team sporting a 3-2-1 record in the six contests. Penticton outscored Kamloops, 24-22. It was the first game in another 3-in-3 weekend for the Vees, the first two at home before a run down to Seattle on Sunday. The Vees played three games in three nights January 23, 24 and 25 as well. In fact, right after the Christmas break in the schedule, Penticton played December 30, 31 and January 1. The Vees had a 3-in-3 in mid-December and also in early October. I suspect they’re happy it won’t happen again this season. … Over in the Eastern Conference, the Prince Albert Raiders saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end when the Saskatoon Blades waltzed into the Art Hauser Centre Saturday and upset the home side, 4-0.

4 – Rivalries – I like what’s taking shape in the B.C. Division. In early December, it looked like a Del Shannon, a “runaway”, by the Prince George Cougars. Fast forward to the end of January and the tables have completely turned in a big way. Penticton leads with 69 points, ahead of the Cougars (60), Kamloops (56) and Kelowna (56). The Rockets have one game in hand on the others. I’ll wager all four of these teams will make the Western Conference playoffs and it’s conceivable a couple of these division rivals could meet in the first round. Victoria, with 48 points, holds down the eighth and final post-season spot for now, but that will be a battle down to the wire. If the playoffs started today, the Kamloops/Kelowna first round matchup would be a ring-a-ding-dong-dandy. It’s a great rivalry, a pair of supportive and somewhat fanatical fanbases, some nasty history on and off the ice, plenty of dislike to keep the pot stirring and the cities are close enough for fans to travel well. Indeed, my fingers and toes are crossed! This would be the kind of series I think would have had the powers-that-be at The WHL on Shaw TV absolutely salivating.

5 – Home & Away – The Everett Silvertips managed three wins in three nights this past weekend, running their record to 39-6-2-1, good for 81 points. The Silvertips have played 26 games at the Angel of the Winds Arena, compiling a record of 20-3-2-1. That’s an unhospitable winning percentage of 82.7 on home ice. But that’s not the best standard in the league at this point. That distinction goes to the defending league champion Medicine Hat Tigers. At Co-Op Place in the Gas City, the Tigers are 20-2-1-1, a winning percentage of 85.7.  … The only other team in the DUB residing in these lofty heights is the Prince Albert Raiders. While entertaining opponents at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders are 16-3-2, an 81% winning percentage. Predictably, at 19-3, Everett is the best road team in the league with winning percentage of 86.4. Prince Albert (21-4-2) has garnered the most points on the road with 44, along with a tidy 81.5% winning percentage. The Tigers drop off here a bit, at 14-6-2-2, good for a winning percentage of 66.7 on the road.  

6 – Speedy Creek – I have some history with the Swift Current Broncos organization, dating back to the late 1980’s. It’s certainly not as entertaining as Rod Pedersen’s famous police escort adventure. But it’s my own experience and I love telling the story. I was in my mid-20’s when I worked in a sales capacity for the company that owned and operated Imperial 400 Motels across Saskatchewan. The property in Swift Current had a good restaurant and popular waterslide area. It was a big operation, about 140 rooms. As the provincial sales manager, I traveled throughout Saskatchewan constantly for five or six years and worked to build contacts in each city where we had a property. It was a great job. There were a couple of cities I did not enjoy. Just too much of their local political BS for my liking. But Swift Current was not one of them. I’d roll in to Speedy Creek once every three months, park my ass in a chair at Herb Butz’s barber shop and see how much intel I could extract from a guy who was pretty dialed into the community and didn’t mind talking about it. Securing room business from WHL teams was a tough sled though. Joe Arling, a science teacher at Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon when I was in grade nine, had history and contacts in the league from his days working with the Billings Bighorns and Kelowna Wings. He had transitioned from the hockey biz to the hospitality industry. Arling owned and operated the Swift Motel, which had a stranglehold on accommodating the DUB.

7 – Bronco Bustin’ – My two main contacts over the years with the Broncos were Graham James and John Foster. James was always professional, returned my calls, honoured his promises and paid the bills on time. I had no idea he was a derelict, and I often wonder what I would’ve done had I known he was up to no good. To this day, it’s frustrating. I can’t recall for certain, but Foster may have been a school-teacher at the time as well. I was referred to him to review and assess sales and marketing opportunities through the Broncos office. Our conversations were always cordial. Remember, I was a 25-year-old young guy trying to find my way in life and business. Foster constantly asked for money from us, which was his job. But he was non-committal as to how the opportunity buys he presented would enable us to generate revenue by securing room business the Broncos had some control over. I had direction from my employer as to how our budget could be spent. We always had a minor hockey team in these communities sporting our colours, a group we sponsored. In fact, there’s a radio guy calling games these days for the Kelowna Rockets who played goal as a kid wearing an Imperial 400 jersey. Point is, we were not shy about community involvement. Foster always tried to convince me a program advertisement or rink board sign was what we needed to increase our room business in Swift Current. Even though there was potentially some legit marketing and awareness benefit, I remember feeling the buy-in was always over-priced. I never did recommend to the company that we pull the trigger.

8 – Joe Sakic – I still chuckle about the Broncos $100-A-Plate-Dinner in 1988 at the venerable “Horseshoe Lodge” in Swift Current! It was the same weekend as Telemiracle in Regina. I had the responsibility to run down to Regina, meet a colleague, and present a cheque on behalf of the company. It was scheduled at some ungawdly hour like 1:30am or 2:00am. In part to show some support for the Broncos and, to get Foster off my back for awhile, I coughed up the dough and headed to Swift Current for the shindig. I knew I would have time to drive back to Regina after the function. Everybody at the dinner was given a ticket for a cash draw, one of those elimination type deals where if your number was called, you were no longer eligible for the prizes. I had ticket #69. It was my hope I’d hear my number called early so I could just get outa dodge for the two-hour drive to Regina. The master of ceremonies was a comedian, might have been Nestor Pister? Remember “Winestoned Plowboy”? Regardless, as he droned on and on while the ticket numbers were being called, he finally announced the next ticket pulled would win $500. He called Sakic on to the stage to do the honours.

9 – Cheque Please – I was standing at the very back of the room, holding up the wall and looking at my watch. When Sakic gave the ticket to the MC, the guy started cracking some lewd, off-colour jokes about the number on the ticket. When I clued in, I just started walking slowly toward the stage. When you know, you know! Sure enough, Sakic pulled ticket #69, and I had a tidy $500 payday! I can still remember the look on Foster’s face as he started writing me a cheque. He appeared as cheesed off as I was elated. But I asked him to write two cheques; one for $400 that I would keep and another for $100, made out to Telemiracle on behalf of the Broncos. I left the $100 cheque behind, comfortable Foster and the Broncos would make good on the donation. Personally, I really needed all the money at the time, as my daughter was born about a month later. But the $100 was a gesture on my part to cover my ass with the Broncos a bit, and also with my employer as they absorbed the expenses and cost of my ticket to the function. Suffice to say, I’ve always been a big Joe Sakic fan! I’ve always really enjoyed the city of Swift Current, too, which I have visited many times over the years. I love the golf courses! And, if I haven’t completely lost my marbles, I think Foster received a commemorative Diamond Jubilee Medal a few years ago, for contributions to the community. What a tremendous honour.

10 – WHL RANDOMS – League scoring leader JP Hurlburt (32-44; 76 points) has been on a bit of a tear of late with 15 points in his last ten games. However, in four of those ten, he’s been held off the scoresheet. Seattle’s Cameron Schmidt trails by four points (34-39; 73). … The Ruck bothers are on a bit of a roll, too. Liam (29-40; 69) and Markus (12-56; 68), who are identical twins from Osoyoos, British Columbia, lead the Medicine Hat Tigers in scoring. The hunt for the highest scoring “brother act” in league history took me back almost to the Rotary Dial era. During the 1982-1983 season, Lane Lambert (59-60; 119) and Ross Lambert (28-78; 106) lit it up as teammates with the Saskatoon Blades. That same season, Rich and Ron Sutter combined for 150 points with the Lethbridge Broncos, the eventual WHL champions. … If you find a higher scoring brother duo, in the same season and on the same team, please chime in and let me know. … According to the WHL website and if my math is correct, the league office has collected $7250 in fines from teams so far this season. Through January 25, the fines have been levied for a number of infractions, including one-man fights, multiple fights and warmup violations. I’m not sure what’s done with the monies accumulated? Of note, an omission of sorts, is the $10,000 fine levied against the Lethbridge Hurricanes when then general manager was suspended for a dressing room “discussion” with the team after a loss on home ice. Make it a total of $17,250 so far. Ka-ching! … After the multiple fight donnybrook in Swift Current between the Broncos and Edmonton Oil Kings on the weekend, look for more fines! I wonder if the bouts had a negative impact on festivities at the InnovationPlex associated with the birthday celebration for Broncos’ mascot, “Charlie Horse”?

RANDOMS – Looking forward to the Super Bowl this year. The matchup is a repeat of the 2015 contest when the Patriots and Seahawks compiled identical 12-4 records during the regular season. In perhaps the most poorly planned vacation I am personally responsible for, our plane from Kelowna to Las Vegas that fateful day taxied to the runway at 3:00pm. By the time we landed in Vegas, the game was over. I watched the highlights later that night at the Tropicana and was stunned at how the outcome evolved. Heading into Super Bowl LX, note the Pats and ‘Hawks both finished the current regular season at 14-3. … Remember these names; A.J. Ewart and Sudarshan Yellamaraju. They’re a couple of Canadian kids, rookies venturing out on the PGA Tour this season and they’ve already cashed cheques. … I worked in a variety of roles for 32 years in the golf industry. I know, I know, you don’t really start learning until year 33! I haven’t seen a wholesale price list since 2017. But when I see a Ping G440 K driver retailing for $969.99 and a box of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls retailing for $78 per dozen, please don’t confuse my crying for tears of joy. And for those of you who like the finer things, you can buy a Honma IS-06 4S Wedge with a graphite shaft for only $999.87. That’s the sale price online at GolfTown, after a 77% discount is applied. If you happen to miss this fabulous sale price, you can always cough up full retail, a cool $4,300.00. The GST on this beauty will run you $215.00. For me, that’s probably a deal breaker!

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