For the purposes of this, I have defined "success" by the number of playoff series won. I think most fans would agree that a 100 point regular season with a first round exit is not a successful season, so we're going to define success as playoff success here....
So, a chart with the number of playoff series wins in each of the last 5 seasons, plus total series wins, times the team missed the playoffs, times they made it to the finals, times they won the WHL title, and times they won the Memorial Cup:
(a "0" means the team made the playoffs but went out in the 1st round; a "--" means they missed the playoffs; an "n/a" means the team did not play that season)
(a "0" means the team made the playoffs but went out in the 1st round; a "--" means they missed the playoffs; an "n/a" means the team did not play that season)
| 08-09 | 07-08 | 06-07 | 05-06 | 04-05 | Total | Missed | Finals | WHL Champ | Mem Cup | ||
| Vancouver | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kelowna | 4 | 0 | -- | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Calgary | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Medicine Hat | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Brandon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Spokane | 1 | 4 | 0 | -- | -- | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Everett | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lethbridge | 1 | 3 | -- | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kootenay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Seattle | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Moose Jaw | -- | 0 | -- | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tri-City | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prince George | 0 | -- | 2 | 0 | -- | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prince Albert | -- | -- | 0 | -- | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Regina | -- | 0 | 1 | 0 | -- | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Swift Current | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -- | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Portland | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Saskatoon | 0 | -- | -- | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Edmonton | 0 | -- | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chilliwack | -- | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Red Deer | -- | -- | 0 | -- | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kamloops | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
One thing I notice right away is that there's only six teams that have averaged one playoff win per year over the last five years - and there's only one team in the entire WHL that has actually won at least one playoff round each of the last five years, and that is Calgary. Although, they are also one of only two teams in that top six who have not won a WHL title in that time, so that has to be a strike against them when compared to the other top teams.
Then there's Kelowna, who have two WHL titles to their credit in the last 5 years, but also missed the playoffs once and went out in the first round once. When they're good, they're good, and when they're bad....
Vancouver tops the list with 10 wins in 5 years, and they also have been fairly consistent in the last four years at least, with two trips to the WHL finals, one WHL title, and one Memorial Cup win so they probably belong on the top there.
Then there's the bottom of the list....we'll give Chilliwack and Edmonton a break since they are fairly new teams yet, but Red Deer and Kamloops - two franchises with a history of success in the past - have not won a single playoff round in those five years. Some other franchises who have had success in the past too - Portland & Swift Current - are also languishing near the bottom with only one playoff win in the last five years.
The same chart again now, with the next five years added and the totals expanded to total all ten years:
| 03-04 | 02-03 | 01-02 | 00-01 | 99-00 | Total | Missed | Finals | WHL Champ | Mem Cup | ||
| Kelowna | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| Kootenay | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Medicine Hat | 4 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 13 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Red Deer | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Spokane | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Calgary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vancouver | 1 | 0 | -- | n/a | n/a | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -- | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Seattle | -- | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Everett | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Moose Jaw | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Swift Current | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lethbridge | -- | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Portland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -- | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prince George | -- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tri-City | 1 | -- | 0 | -- | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Prince Albert | 0 | -- | -- | -- | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Saskatoon | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Regina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chilliwack | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Edmonton | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kamloops | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Certainly Kelowna is distancing themselves from the pack when you go back further and further. 17 playoff series wins in 10 years, a whole four more than the next-best teams. Add in three WHL championships and one Memorial Cup and I think we have a clear winner in the debate over the most successful WHL team of the last decade.
And I hate to jump on Kamloops, but we also have a clear loser with zero playoff wins in ten years - and the only team with zero wins to have played all ten seasons. Some other teams struggling there too for sure with only 1 or 2 playoff wins total in the last decade.
If nothing else, this should be good for some debate, either in the comments or anywhere else it ends up being reposted....
4 comments:
Good work on this Alan. Just one point on this, the current stats penalize teams in the east, as 4 teams don't make the playoffs vs 2 in the west.
Nothing against Kelowna or Van...but both their Mem Cups came as hosts...(Med Hat won the league each of those years)...Teams with the most success seemed to have great drafts or turned those draft picks into great trades...ex: Jerrid Sauer and Michael Sauer (no relation) to the Tigers...
It might be interesting if you averaged the number of series wins with the amount of years played. Everett, Vancouver, Chilliwack, and Edmonton are at a disadvantage with just a total win number. (Vancouver and Everett would both move up). Might be nice to see total game wins also.
Larry
I noticed that Spokane went 4 seasons without winning a playoff series before their run to the Memorial Cup. Do you happen to know if that's the longest stretch that any team has gone in the WHL without winning a playoff series before going on to win the Memorial Cup?
Post a Comment