I guess it's not really surprising, given the level of mismatches in some of the Western conference first round series, but after three games played there are four of the WHL's eight first round series which currently stand at a 3-0 count in favor of somebody:
- Tri-City leads Everett 3-0
- Kamloops leads Victoria 3-0
- Portland leads Kelowna 3-0
- and the only one that is even a tiny bit surprising, Medicine Hat leads Saskatoon 3-0
In the entire history of the WHL, only once has a team ever come back from down 3-0 to win a series. That was 1996 when Spokane accomplished the near-impossible feat against Portland.
In other words, the overwhelming evidence of history suggests that Everett, Victoria, Kelowna, and Saskatoon are definitely going to lose those series.
The Edmonton/Kootenay series has only played two games, but Edmonton has won both so with a win in game three tonight in Cranbrook, the Oil Kings could make it five out of eight series which opened 3-0.
Brandon is also up 3-1 on the Hitmen after four games, so if the Hitmen can't rally with three straight wins, that series will also be over soon. (As an aside, does anyone else think the Hitmen might now be regretting their decision to use the 2-3-2 format in this series? I mean, after playing hard right to the end of the season to get 3rd place and home ice advantage, they promptly chose the series option which gave away home ice advantage to the #6 seed in the event of a five game series)
Only the Moose Jaw/Regina and Vancouver/Spokane series (both at 2-1) are still promising any kind of tight battle at this point - and that could change in a hurry for both if Moose Jaw and Vancouver were to win the game 4's and take 3-1 leads.
Most un-dramatic first round ever?
2 comments:
Validates to idea of less teams for the playoffs
That will never happen though. For some smaller market teams, even getting the two home dates that comes with being swept in the first round can make the difference between turning a profit and posting a loss.
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