After an uninteresting first round and start to the second round (and lets face it, there wasn't much excitement in the two Eastern Conference 2nd round series), the Western Conference has revived fan interest in the WHL playoffs all by itself.
Last night's two games saw Kamloops and Spokane force game sevens, and they both did it in dramatic style. In Spokane, Liam Stewart scored in overtime to save the Chiefs' season and give them a chance to upset Tri-City - the conference regular season champion - in game seven. All three of Spokane's victories in the series have come in overtime.
And then in Kamloops, the Blazers overcame a 5-2 deficit with 6 minutes gone in the third period by rattling off five goals in the last 14 minutes, including the game-winner with 21 seconds on the clock, to beat Portland 7-6. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be at that game in the third period.
Kamloops has now successfully come back from being down 3-0 in the series to tie the series at 3-3. Of course, that will all mean little if they don't win game seven tomorrow night in Portland. But if they do pull off game seven, they will join a select group of hockey teams to have pulled off the feat at the highest levels of the sport. Can they finish the job? Kamloops has all the momentum in this series now, and the pressure on the Portland players not to be remembered forever as a team that blew a 3-0 series lead must be incredible. But game seven is in Portland, so the Hawks at least have home ice and the boost that could give them. The coaching staff just needs to get the players focused on one game. Forget the last six games, that's over....it's one game for a spot in the semifinals.
On that note, I believe the semifinals will start on Friday, which means the winners of the two game sevens in the West will have only one off-day before they get back to the grind. And we don't even know where game one of that series will be - if Tri-City beats Spokane, then it's in Tri-City. If Spokane wins, it will be in either Portland or Kamloops, whoever wins their game. So there's three options yet.
And one last, very cool, note about Kamloops coming back from down 3-0: the exact same thing is taking place in the QMJHL right now as well in one of their quarterfinal series. The Quebec Remparts (the team Patrick Roy owns and coaches) won the first three games of their series with the Halifax Mooseheads (2013 NHL draft uber-prospect Nathan MacKinnon's team), only to have the Mooseheads storm back and win the last three. Those two teams will play their game seven tonight in Quebec City. A successful 3-0 comeback has happened three previous times in the QMJHL so it hasn't been quite as rare as it has been in the WHL, but it's still always fun to watch.
And better yet, the Mooseheads are being lead by three 16 year olds - their top two playoff scorers are 1995-born MacKinnon and fellow forward Jonathan Drouin (the #1 and #2 overall picks in the 2011 QMJHL midget draft), and their starting goaltender is '95 Zach Fucale, the #11 overall pick in that draft. All three of those players are eligible for the 2013 NHL draft so the Mooseheads should be a team that the NHL scouts will be following closely next season if they aren't already. Seeing 16 year olds play such a huge role in a playoff run can only bode well for the team next year too.
And one last note today, not related to the playoffs though - USA Hockey
announced yesterday that they are putting together a Top Prospects kind of game for the top U.S.-born 2012 NHL draft prospects. The game will be played on September 29 in Buffalo and prospects from the three CHL leagues, the USHL, and the NCAA schools will be invited to play in it.
Very good idea, I say. I question whether many CHL teams want to lose their best 17 year olds for a game or two right after the season starts, but on the other hand, the CHL (or the WHL at least) has never seen fit to adjust their schedule around the CHL Top Prospects game, so they're already giving up their best 17 year old prospects for a game or so without complaining. Will they do the same for the USA Hockey game?
Oh, and one other question springs to mind: The NCAA considers CHLers to be professionals and NCAA players are not permitted to compete against professionals. How ever will the NCAA reconcile this conflict? Will they simply choose to pretend it's not a problem, like they do when NCAA players compete with and against CHLers in tournaments like the World Juniors or the World U-18s?
