THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

It’s playoff time!

-The 72 game regular season is over and now the fun really starts on Friday when the 2nd place Regina Pats host the 3rd place Swift Current Broncos at the Brandt Centre in Game 1.  I think most would agree that this is going to be a tightly contested first round matchup.

-The Pats went 3-5-0-0 against the Broncos this season and won two of the final three matchups of the season. However the Blue and White finished 12 points up in the standings. The Pats were 2 and 2 at home to Swift and 1 and 3 on the road. Only one game went past regulation and was decided in a shootout.

-Adam Brooks picked up his 30th goal of the year on Saturday and finished the season leading the team in scoring with 62 points. The Pats finished the year with 6 players with 20 plus goals and 6 with 50 plus points.

-The Broncos are led by Jake DeBrusk who finished the year with 42 goals and 81 points. There are two other Broncos with 20 plus goals and 3 others with 50 plus points.

-Colby Williams is the Pats best defenceman having finished the year with 11 goals and 41 points and was a plus 45. That was good for 2nd in the league. He will be a huge part of any of the success Regina has in the post season.

-Dillon Heatherington, the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, is one of the best shut down d-men in the league. He won a gold medal at the World Juniors this year and leads a great d-core in Swift.  Brett Lernout, the Habs prospect had a great season with 42 points but was a minus 12.

-As for goaltending, Daniel Wapple finished the year with 29 wins, a 3.03 GAA and a .906 save percentage. He was 2-3-0-0 against the Broncos in the regular season with a 2.91 GAA and a .909 save percentage.

-Landon Bow played in 66 of the Broncos 72 games and won 31 of them. He finished with a 3.14 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Against the Pats Bow was 5-2-0-0 with a 2.37 GAA and a .937 save percentage. He has never played in a playoff game in his career so Friday will be his first ever start in the post season.

-Special teams is always huge in the post season, the Pats powerplay finished 21st in the WHL at 15.3 percent while the Broncos were 7th at 21.9 percent. The Regina penalty kill was 9th at 80.3 percent while Swift was 8th at 81.2 percent. The Pats PK gave up just 24 goals in 39 games since Christmas.

-The Broncos stumbled down the stretch but got things together winning 4 of 5 to end the season to secure a playoff spot.

-It’s truly a match-up of youth against experience between the two clubs 11 Regina players have a combined 62 games of playoff experience while the Broncos have 150 games played between 16 skaters. 14 players with the Pats have yet to taste the post season compared to 10 with Swift Current.

-Pats forward Colton Kroeker will play in his first playoff games this weekend and he says he feels ready. “I thought my last couple weeks have been a lot better than usual. Getting more ice time, getting the feel of the ice, the feel of the puck and getting more opportunities. It’s been a lot better for me.”

-The average age of the Pats roster as 17.5 years while the Broncos are almost a full year older on average at 18.2.

Can’t wait until Friday night!

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-Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference the Scotty Monroe Memorial Trophy winners the Brandon Wheat Kings will take on the defending champion Edmonton Oil Kings in round 1. It will be a 2-3-2 format because of the lengthy travel. The Wheat Kings won 53 games this year to Edmonton’s 34. The Wheat Kings scored an unbelievable 340 goals this year and were a plus 121 in goal differential. Pittsburgh Penguins prospect goaltender Tristan Jarry gives Edmonton a chance in every game and considering the travel and format of the series the Oil Kings have a chance. However I think Brandon prevails in 5.

-We have a re-match of Calgary and Kootenay from last year in round 1. The Ice won that crazy series against the heavily favored Hitmen. That will be a fun one to watch. The Hitmen once again are the favorites having won the Central Division for the 7th time in their history. The Ice took the first wild card spot this season and have the goaltender and the scoring to make a splash. The Hitmen finished 6 and 3 against Kootenay this season and I will take Calgary to win in 6 games.

-The Medicine Hat Tigers will play the Red Deer Rebels in the Central Division 2 vs 3 series. The Tigers ended the season with 94 points to the Rebels 87. Med Hat won the season series 4-2-0-0. These are two very different teams, the Tigers a smaller skilled team while the Rebels are bigger and tougher. Can Red Deer shut down the Tigers scoring? it’s certainly possible but I’m taking the Tigers in 6.

-Out West, 1st place Kelowna takes on Tri-City. The Rockets finished just 2 points back of Brandon for top in the league while the Americans finished 7 games under .500. The Americans have Eric Comrie in goal and Beau McCue and Richard Nejezchleb who can provide some offense but I don’t see the m putting up much of a fight. Rockets in 4.

-The Victoria Royals play the Prince George Cougars in the 2 vs 3 B.C. Division series. The Cougars went 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 to secure a spot in the post season while the Royals finished 15 points up in the standings. Jensen Harkins and Chase Witala provide the offense for P.G. and have had great seasons but the Royals are a skilled, physical and deep club. I’ll take Victoria in 6.

-The U.S. Division champion Everett Silvertips will play the Spokane Chiefs in round one. The Tips won 43 games during the regular season while the often injured Chiefs lost 5 in a row to close the year. Only Kelowna gave up less goals than Everett in the Western Conference this year and I think the Silvertips will move on to round two to take on the Rockets after 5 games.

-In the 2 vs 3 series in the U.S. Oliver Bjorkstrand and the Portland Winterhawks take on Shea Theodore and the Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle, was a great defensive team during the regular season giving up the third least goals in the conference but the Winterhawks boast the leagues leading scorer in Bjorkstrand plus Nic Petan, Chase De Leo and Paul Bitner who all had 70 plus point seasons. Adin Hill has been great in goal for Portland while Taran Kozun was among the best goalies in the league for Seattle. Should be a fun series and I’m taking the Hawks in 6.

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-Victoria Royals Head Coach Dave Lowry has been named the bench boss for Team Canada at the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championship. The Wheat Kings Kelly McCrimmon was named coach of the Canadian U18 squad as well. Pats Head Coach and Senior VP of Hockey Operations John Paddock was the third coach that interviewed for those positions.

– Tonight’s episode of Pats TV on Access 7 starts at 6:30 PM. My guests tonight are Assistant Coach Dave Struch and forwards Adam Brooks and Braden Christoffer.

That’s it for me today, have a great week and talk to you from the Brandt Centre on Friday!

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18