Moose Jaw voters have voted, by a 60% to 40% count in yesterday's referendum, to proceed with building a new arena for the Warriors. If I'm not mistaken, this is the 2nd time Moose Jaw voters have been asked if they want to build a new rink and the 2nd time they have said Yes. It's time for those who are opposed to sit down and be quiet now....this country is a democracy and the majority have spoken twice now.
Hopefully the other outstanding issues (minor hiccups like "where to build the damn thing in the first place") get sorted out ASAP so construction can begin. Having the rink ready for any part of 2009-10 is impossible of course, and I would think having it ready for the start of 2010-11 is probably not feasible either since it seems arenas usually take 18-24 months to build. Perhaps for midway through 2010-11, similar to Seattle moving buildings in midseason this year. Or for sure for the start of 2011-12.
To on-ice matters now.....
Kelowna clinched home ice in the first round of the playoffs last night, meaning all four home ice teams for the first round of the Western conference playoffs are set. Vancouver, Tri-City, Spokane, and Kelowna will all host a series. In the East, three of the home ice teams (Calgary, Saskatoon, and Brandon) are set as well.
After his two goals last night, the Hitmen's Joel Broda now stands at 49 goals on the season so he will most likely be the first player to 50 goals this season. When he hits the magic 50 mark, he'll be the first WHLer to score 50 in a season in three years, since Kelowna's Justin Keller did it in 2005-06.
Broda's teammate Brett Sonne is at 46 goals now so he could hit 50 as well with four more goals in Calgary's last six games. Should Broda and Sonne both hit the 50 mark, it would be the first time one WHL team had two 50 goal men since Brad Moran and Pavel Brendl both got 50 on the 1998-99 Hitmen. Although it has to be pointed out that Broda scored the first 36 of his goals this season for Moose Jaw....
Broda & Sonne might be the only 50 goal scorers in the league this year too. At midseason I think there were something like 6 or 7 players on pace to score 50, but as of today there are only those two still on the pace:
| Joel Broda | 53.8 |
| Brett Sonne | 50.9 |
| Evander Kane | 49.0 |
| Drayson Bowman | 46.5 |
| Jamie Benn | 46.3 |
| Andrew Clark | 42.3 |
| Matt Tassone | 41.5 |
| Brandon Kozun | 41.5 |
| Tyler Ennis | 40.3 |
Of course these are just projections based on the player's average goals-per-game to date plus the number of remaining games the player has. Kane could easily get 50 with a couple good games, as could Bowman or Benn.
Couple other notes gleaned from various sources; first, the Hitmen play their final regular season home game on Saturday against the Rockets. They will be on the road for the last two-plus weeks of the season due to the Tim Hortons Brier (Canadian mens curling championship) taking over the Saddledome. If the Hitmen win that game though, they will have 33 home ice wins this season which will tie them with three other teams (88-89 Broncos, 89-90 Blazers, 89-90 Thunderbirds) for most home wins in a season.
And, Calgary and Vancouver both have the ability to get 126 points if they win all their remaining games this season, which would best one of the WHL's longest-standing and most impressive records, which is Brandon's 125 points in the 1978-79 season. Only one of the Hitmen/Giants can get 126 points though since they have one head-to-head game remaining so they cannot both win all their remaining games.
In the same vein, should one of the Hitmen/Giants indeed win all their remaining games, they would also have 61 wins on the season which would top the 1980-81 Victoria Cougars' record of 60 wins.
The Giants have four road games remaining and if they won all four, they would set a new league record for most road wins in a season with 29. The current record of 28 belongs to the 1999-00 Hitmen.
Some playoff picture notes now....
- tough night for the Pats last night. Not only did they lose, but the two teams they are fighting with for the last Eastern playoff spot, Prince Albert and Edmonton, both won. The Pats are now five points out of the playoffs with eight games left. They probably need at least six wins in those last eight games in order to make the playoffs. In other words, the fat lady is warming up in Regina. How can a team with some high-end talent, like the Pats have, miss the playoffs?
- the race for the U.S. division crown and #2 seed in the West is not quite the race we'd hoped. Tri-City has an eight point lead on the Chiefs, with the Chiefs having only one game in hand. Making up at least six points with ten games to play is a tall order for the Chiefs.....they likely have to sweep all three of the remaining head to head games in order to do it.
- the Chiefs also have to keep an eye on the rear view mirror, where the Rockets are now riding their bumped, just one point back. The Rockets can't finish any higher than #3 seed in the conference for the first round, but catching the Chiefs for #3 means the Rockets would avoid the Giants in the 2nd round of the playoffs. So that #3 seed is pretty valuable to the Rockets.
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