One note from last night's games - with Edmonton losing, the Calgary Hitmen have become the 2nd team to clinch a playoff spot this season. Edmonton, Prince Albert, Red Deer, and Moose Jaw cannot catch the Hitmen in the standings anymore and so the Hitmen can finish no worse than 8th in the Eastern conference.
Vancouver was the first team to clinch a playoff spot....they did it last weekend.
The next will be Tri-City - their magic number to get it done is 3 wins or Portland losses. Saskatoon will be next in the East; their number is 5 wins or Edmonton losses.
For the Hitmen, this is 12 straight years in the playoffs now - the longest active playoff appearance streak in the WHL. Next-best is Kootenay at 10 straight years. The Ice can make it 11 when (if) they clinch a spot this year too.
One other thing that caught my eye was the note in Gregg Drinnan's blog today about the WHL having cut a deal with the AHL to stay out of Winnipeg. So, the WHL will not be putting a franchise in Winnipeg.....but the unanswered question is, what's in this deal for the WHL? What do they get from the AHL in return for agreeing not to put a team head-to-head against the Moose in Winnipeg?
Could it be the AHL agreeing to stay out of a market that is of interest to the WHL? Like, say, Victoria? After all, Robison DOES admit that the WHL is interested in returning to the Island but only if they can put teams in both Victoria and Nanaimo at the same time. Check out Gregg's blog for the full story, including some other interesting nuggets from Ron Robison about the former Portland ownership and the Moose Jaw arena situation.
2 comments:
Living is Saskatchewan i hear a yearly rumor that Saskatoon wants an AHL team (or vice versa).
Maybe rather than 'the AHL will stay out of Victoria', it's 'the AHL will stay out of Abbotsford'. Abbotsford would certainly be within Chilliwack's drawing area.
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