10 WHL Playoff Things From Glen Erickson
Playoffs? We’re talkin’ ‘bout playoffs? Proceed with caution!
1 – The Post-Season – The first-round match ups are set! In the Western Conference, it’s Everett/Portland, Penticton/Seattle, Prince George/Spokane and Kelowna/Kamloops. The Silvertips, Vees, Cougars and Rockets have home ice advantage. On the Prairies in the Eastern Conference, it’s Prince Albert/Red Deer, Medicine Hat/Regina, Edmonton/Saskatoon and Calgary/Brandon. The Raiders, Tigers, Oil Kings and Hitmen have home ice advantage. From my cheap seat, I just don’t see any round one upsets. But, the two teams I wouldn’t want to face are Seattle and Red Deer because I don’t think either team will hesitate to try and beat the crap out of its more skilled opponents. If there is a pick ‘em or two, think Kelowna/Kamloops out West and Calgary/Brandon in the East. Any other series not won by the higher seed would be a spectacular upset. That’s why they play the games!
2 – Drawing the Curtain – If there was one game in one building I would have wanted to experience this past weekend, it would’ve been Friday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. The Raiders hosted their division rival, the Saskatoon Blades, in what is a typical closing weekend match up. For Prince Albert, the contest had added meaning, as a victory would clinch the eastern conference title and home ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The Raiders dominated the affair, outshooting the Blades 35-16 and dispatching the visitors 4-0 in front of a potentially fire marshal visit-worthy crowd announced at 3,076. I have been in the Hauser many, many times over the years, even when it was known as the Communiplex, and it’s a venue that can just get bumpin’…hard! Indeed, it was a banner night. The last time the Raiders claimed the Eastern Conference title was back in 2018-2019 with a 54-10-2-2 record for 112 points. Prince Albert went on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
3 – Stanks Sermon – One media wag who was on hand for the Friday festivities in Hockeytown North was the workhorse out of Saskatoon, Darren Steinke. “Stanks” was kind enough to send along a note post-game Friday. “As I hit the highway for home tonight, was the party ever on in P.A. for the fans after the Raiders took top spot. The fans were geeked into that game! They were playing “Running Back to Saskatoon” after every stoppage inside the last two minutes of the third.” The Guess Who released the hit song back in 1972 and it’s become tradition in Prince Albert to pound it out over the public address system when the Blades visit. It might have been a late, fun-filled night in the Ches Leach Lounge for the locals? Like they say, you can’t spell PARTY with PA! Stanks was able to navigate the slippery highway and was back at it in SaskTel Centre for the Raiders/Blades return match Saturday to conclude the regular season. Prince Albert shutout the Blades again, 4-0, in front of 10,861 fans in Saskatoon. The Raiders won six of eight games against the Blades this season and finish the 2025-2026 regular season at 52-10-5-1 for 110 points.
4 – Jaw Dropping – What a let down Saturday night in Moose Jaw! The Warriors dropped a 4-1 decision to the lowly Swift Current Broncos. The loss instantly extinguished Moose Jaw’s playoff hopes. Had the Warriors won, it would have been Red Deer on the outside looking in, as the Rebels were drubbed twice on the weekend by the Medicine Hat Tigers, 9-3 and 8-3. Moose Jaw struggled during the second half of the season with a bunch of injuries to their blueline brigade. But during March, the defencemen gradually returned to the lineup and contributed to a late run where the Warriors earned a measure of control of their playoff fate. Moose Jaw waltzed into Swift Current Friday and handed the Broncos a 4-1 defeat, setting the stage for the “win or go home” tilt Saturday at Temple Gardens Centre. The victory in Moose Jaw was Swift Current’s 15th of the season, the lowest total in the WHL. The Warriors finish the campaign at 25-36-5-2, two points shy of a post-season berth.
5 – Seattle on the March – Love the call by Thom Beuning, the veteran voice of the Thunderbirds in overtime Friday. “Holy Schmidt”, he bellowed as league goal scoring leader Cameron Schmidt tallied his 46th of the campaign to give the T-Birds a 4-3 win over the Spokane Chiefs. Seattle has been in a battle for the final post-season berth in the western conference for the better part of the last month. Compared to the five teams below Seattle in the standings, the T-Birds have by far been the most productive team during the month of March. Schmidt, who came over from the Vancouver Giants at the trade deadline, had the hot hand all weekend long. He scored a hat trick Saturday in Seattle’s 5-4 overtime win at Portland, then added two more in the Thunderbirds 4-0 win Sunday at Spokane. So, that’s three wins in three nights for the T-Birds! The victory over Portland guaranteed the Thunderbirds seventh place and a first round match up with the Penticton Vees. Seattle, 7-1-1-1 in its last ten games, can play heavy, so it should be a series well worth watching. The Winterhawks, 30-30-7-1, were relegated to the eighth and final post-season berth in the western conference, two points ahead of the Victoria Royals.
6 – Overage Players – A host of WHL veterans saw their respective major junior careers come to and end on the weekend as members of the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs. In no particular order they are, Trae Johnson, Anthony Wilson, Marek Rocak (Swift Current). Andrew Petruk, Matteo Fabrizi (Lethbridge). Riley Bassen, Sam Elliott (Wenatchee). Aiden Ziprick, Ethan Semeniuk, Pavel McKenzie (Moose Jaw). Misha Volotovskii, Ethan Mittelstadt, Kelton Pyne (Vancouver). Jake Gudelj, Carter Savage (Tri City). Reggie Newman, Roan Woodward, Cosmo Wilson (Victoria). Of this group, Ziprick, Semeniuk and McKenzie (2024), and Volotovskii (2025), won league championships. Apologies if I missed anyone. I’m confident each of these players has a great story to tell about his WHL career and I’m always interested in tracking how hockey plays a role in their futures. One particularly telling story was penned by Perry Bergson for the Brandon Sun, a terrific read that chronicles the WHL career of Manitoba-born defenceman, Aiden Ziprick. You can dig it up online.
7 – Relatively Speaking – We touched last week on the success of Medicine Hat Tigers forwards Markus and Liam Ruck this season, the twins who finished atop the WHL scoring derby. Markus (21-87; 108 points) and Liam (45-59; 104) are also eligible for the NHL Draft in June. The build up to draft day in Buffalo will be compelling, but the question I want answered is where will the twins play next season? Will they be back in the WHL?…The most high-profile example of twins being selected occurred at the 1999 NHL Draft. Sweden’s Daniel and Henrik Sedin went second and third respectively and the build up is an absolutely fascinating story. If you give the book, “Burke’s Law” a read, Brian Burke provides a detailed and insightful review of how it all came together for the Vancouver Canucks on that historic draft day. Henrik played 1435 NHL games, regular season and playoffs combined, while Daniel played 1408 games. There is another lesser-known example, too. Back in 1992, Americans Chris and Peter Ferraro were chosen by the New York Rangers. The twins played together in the USHL and also for Team USA at the World Junior Championships. Peter, who would play 94 NHL Games, went in the first round, 24th overall and Chris, who played 74 NHL games, was selected in the fourth round, 85th overall. I don’t see the Rucks going anywhere near as high as the Sedins, nor do I see them, like the Ferraro’s, being selected 61 picks apart.
8 – WHL Draft Day – Sure, it’s a couple of months away and there will be plenty of hockey played between now and the 2026 WHL Draft. But with the regular season concluded, the draft order will almost be dialed in, save for the lottery picks. At this point, based on the consistently outstanding work produced by Alan Caldwell, it looks like five teams do not have a first-round pick. They are Calgary, Edmonton, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and Prince George. Coincidentally, five teams have two picks in the first round. They are Spokane, Swift Current, Tri City, Vancouver and Victoria. Lethbridge won the battle with Swift Current in the turtle race to have the most ping pong balls bouncing around during the draft lottery draw festivities. And if I have this right, it appears Kelowna owns the Hurricanes pick through the deal last season that saw Lethbridge acquire defenceman Caden Price. The Wenatchee Wild own the Broncos pick, from the deal that saw Swift Current acquire forward Connor Geekie a couple of seasons ago. I wonder how this all might change between now and draft day? Nobody in the WHL has to wheel and deal this spring as Memorial Cup hosts, but which team feels it has a legit shot to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup at the end of next season?
9 – Memorial Cup & The WHL – When the CHL convenes in Kelowna late in May, it will mark the 10th time since 2001 the Memorial Cup tournament has been scheduled for a WHL market. Given the 2026 edition is a couple months away and the 2020 tournament in Kelowna was cancelled due to the world going crazy, the national championship has been hosted and played in a WHL city eight times in the current millennium. Of those eight, Eastern Conference sites have played host on five occasions. Of the eight host teams, only the 2004 Kelowna Rockets finished first overall in the league standings that season. The lowest finish in the overall standings by a WHL host team was seventh, by both the 2013 Saskatoon Blades and 2018 Regina Pats. None of the eight host teams arrived at the Memorial Cup as WHL Champions, which means none of the WHL championship series losing teams qualified for the tournament. Four WHL host teams advanced to the Memorial Cup final game; Kelowna (2004), Vancouver (2007), Brandon (2010) and Regina (2018). Only Kelowna and Vancouver won the Memorial Cup as the host team. Of the eight tournaments since 2001, Red Deer (2001) is the only WHL league champion to win a Memorial Cup hosted in a DUB market. The only time two WHL teams played in the Memorial Cup final in a DUB market was in 2007, when Vancouver defeated Medicine Hat, 3-1 on May 27. The Tigers had beaten the Giants in game seven of the WHL championship series on May 14. Of the eight tournaments hosted in WHL cities, the QMJHL and WHL have won three times, while the OHL has won twice.
10 – Randoms – Based on the Weekly Report last week, the top four teams in the league – the division winners – seem pretty healthy heading into the post-season. The next Weekly Report will come out the day after this piece is published, but we are entering that time of year when injuries are often hidden with incredible efficiency…Three playoff-bound teams that had a pretty dismal final weekend? Kelowna, Red Deer and Saskatoon…The Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pat Canadians are set to meet in the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League final series. It’s a best-of-five and theoretically, it might be over before the weekend. If the Pat Canadians win and advance to regionals, how does impact the availability of Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue for the Regina Pats playoff run? The Pat Canadians are the defending Telus Cup champions…Gavin who? Last season, the Medicine Hat Tigers led the league in goals scored with a total of 300 in 68 games. Spokane was only eight behind with 292. A year later, the Tigers have obliterated its output from last season. In 68 games, Medicine Hat scored 348 goals to lead the DUB, 38 ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (310). Everett scored 304 times, the only other team above the 300-goal mark…And yes, as is usually the case, the Brandon Wheat Kings will play its first-round home games 45-minutes from The Wheat City in Virden while the Assiniboine Credit Union Place accommodates the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair…At least the WHL knows the facility will be available on February 27, 2027. That’s a Wednesday, the night the city of Brandon will host the second edition of the WHL Prospects game. The league made the official announcement this past weekend…Everett (57), Prince Albert (52) and Medicine Hat (50) got it done. For only the third time this century, three teams picked up 50 or more victories in the same regular season…Cameron Schmidt scored six goals on the weekend and finished as the league leader with 51 goals on the season…Markus Ruck led the league with 87 assists.
Randoms, Part Deux – More heartbreak and frustration delivered by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, as yet another edition associated with what is referred to by so many as a storied program, was unable to get it done at the national championship. With its 4-3 overtime loss to the host St. Mary’s Huskies, the prairie Dogs are once again on the outside looking in at the University Cup after its one-game road trip to Halifax. Hey, I’m a Saskatoon guy, but this is a hockey program that reminds me too much of Saskatchewan’s futility at The Brier. For the Huskies, its one and only national title came back in 1983. Saskatchewan’s last Brier championship? 1980. Even the curlers we’ve imported in recent years haven’t been able to get it done. Ugh!…The only WHL alumni in the University Cup championship game between St. Mary’s and UQTR was Huskies goaltender, Gage Alexander. He appeared in 50 games for the Winnipeg Ice and 15 more as a member of the Swift Current Broncos.
(Glen Erickson is a freelance hockey writer based in Medicine Hat, AB)
