2012 bantam draft order

As I have done the last few years during the leadup to the WHL bantam draft (this year's version is 9 days away - next Thursday, May 3), I've once again tried to figure out which teams own which picks in the draft, and how they got those picks.

A friend has come through with some info which has helped me iron out the gaps in my data here and I believe this list is now as close to 100% accurate as I'm going to get it. So, here's the 2012 bantam draft order, with traded picks:

First Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 1 1 Seattle 1 2 Prince Albert 1 3 Prince George 1 4 Lethbridge 1 5 Swift Current 1 6 Red Deer 1 7 Everett 1 8 Victoria 1 9 Kelowna 1 10 Kootenay 1 11 Prince George Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10, 2012 1 12 Brandon 1 13 Victoria Saskatoon via Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan 9, 2012 (BRN had acquired from SAS in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan 10, 2011) 1 14 Spokane 1 15 Vancouver 1 16 Medicine Hat 1 17 Calgary 1 18 Lethbridge Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan 9, 2012 1 19 Kamloops 1 20 Seattle Portland for Marcel Noebels, Jan 10, 2012 1 21 Tri-City 1 22 Edmonton

I think this round is pretty straightforward. Not really any questions about these traded picks.

Second Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 2 23 Prince Albert 2 24 Prince George 2 25 Seattle 2 26 Portland Everett for signing of Everett G.M. Garry Davidson (rumored) 2 27 Victoria 2 28 Lethbridge 2 29 Swift Current 2 30 Red Deer 2 31 Regina Kelowna in Myles Bell deal, Sep 22, 2011 2 32 Kootenay 2 33 Moose Jaw Regina in Thomas Frazee deal, Sep 24, 2010 2 34 Saskatoon Brandon for Darian Dziurzynski, Oct 16, 2011 2 35 Saskatoon 2 36 Spokane 2 37 Vancouver 2 38 Medicine Hat 2 39 Calgary 2 40 Vancouver Moose Jaw in James Henry deal, Jan 10, 2012.  2 41 Prince Albert Kamloops Herrod/McVeigh deal, Dec 31, 2011 2 42 Vancouver Portland in CraIg Cunningham deal, Dec 28, 2010 2 43 Prince George Tri-City via Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10, 2012. (Pats had acquired in Carter Ashton deal, Dec 10, 2010) 2 44 Edmonton

Notes on this round's picks:

#26 - the WHL, Silvertips, and Winterhawks have never officially announced what Portland got from Everett for allowing the Silvertips to hire Davidson as their General Manager. Gregg Drinnan reported that a source told him it was two 2nd round picks, in 2012 and 2013, so I've gone with that here. But it's not official.

Third Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 3 45 Kelowna Prince Albert for Antoine Corbin, Nov 18, 2010 3 46 Tri-City Prince George in Owsley/Rimmer deal, Aug 4, 2011 3 47 Seattle 3 48 Red Deer Everett in the Ferraro/Froese deal, July 26, 2010 3 49 Victoria 3 50 Brandon Lethbridge in Anderson/Liston deal, Oct 16, 2011 3 51 Swift Current 3 52 Prince George Red Deer in Charles Inglis deal, Dec 29, 2011 3 53 Prince George Kelowna for Carter Rigby, Sep 3, 2011.  3 54 Swift Current Kootenay in Cody Eakin deal, Jan 9, 2011. 3 55 Tri-City Regina in Carter Ashton deal, Dec 10, 2010 3 56 Saskatoon Brandon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan 10, 2011 3 57 Prince George Saskatoon for 2011 Import Draft pick, June 29, 2011 3 58 Spokane 3 59 Everett Vancouver via Moose Jaw in Luke Siemens deal, Oct 3, 2011. (MJ had acquired from VAN in Rowinski deal, Nov 11, 2010) 3 60 Kootenay Medicine Hat for Brendan Hurley, Jan 10, 2012 3 61 Tri-City Calgary for Chris Driedger, Jul 20/2011 3 62 Moose Jaw 3 63 Regina Kamloops in Thomas Frazee deal, Dec 14, 2010 3 64 Portland 3 65 Tri-City 3 66 Everett Edmonton for Tyler Maxwell, Nov 24, 2011

Notes on this round's picks: none

Fourth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 4 67 Prince Albert 4 68 Regina Prince George in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10, 2012 4 69 Red Deer Seattle for 2010 first round import pick (Dave Sutter), June 29, 2010 4 70 Everett 4 71 Victoria 4 72 Spokane Lethbridge for Matt Marantz, Sep 29, 2011 4 73 Swift Current 4 74 Red Deer 4 75 Kelowna 4 76 Kootenay 4 77 Kamloops Regina for Brandon Underwood, Jul 28, 2011 4 78 Brandon 4 79 Saskatoon 4 80 Spokane 4 81 Brandon Vancouver in Mackay/Bestland deal, Jan 5, 2011 4 82 Prince Albert Medicine Hat in Harrison/Fiddler deal, July 27, 2010 4 83 Calgary 4 84 Calgary Moose Jaw in Bowman/Kirsch deal, Oct 26, 2011 4 85 Kamloops 4 86 Portland 4 87 Lethbridge Tri-City for Derek Ryckman, Oc 16, 2011 4 88 Edmonton

Notes on this round: none

Fifth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 5 89 Prince Albert 5 90 Moose Jaw Prince George via Vancouver for Tyler Vanscourt, Jan 9, 2012. (VAN had acquired from PG for Brandon Scholten, Sept 16, 2010.) 5 91 Seattle 5 92 Prince George Everett via Lethbridge in Jackson/Buonassisi deal, Oct 16, 2011. (LTH had acquired from EVT in Brennan Yadlowski deal, Oct 5, 2010.) 5 93 Victoria 5 94 Regina Lethbridge for Damien Ketlo, Sep 11, 2011 5 95 Swift Current 5 96 Red Deer 5 97 Saskatoon Kelowna in Gogol/Scissons deal, Jan 9, 2010 5 98 Kootenay 5 99 Prince Albert Regina for Colin Reddin, Sept 1/2010 5 100 Brandon 5 101 Saskatoon 5 102 Spokane 5 103 Lethbridge Vancouver for Mark Reners, Dec 9, 2010 5 104 Medicine Hat 5 105 Calgary 5 106 Moose Jaw 5 107 Edmonton Kamloops in Marek Hrbas deal, June 27, 2011 5 108 Portland 5 109 Regina Tri-City in Carter Ashton deal, Dec 10, 2010 5 110 Vancouver Edmonton for Mark Reners, Jan 8, 2011

Notes on this round: none

Sixth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 6 111 Prince Albert 6 112 Brandon Prince George for Ty Rimmer, Oct 18, 2010 6 113 Lethbridge Seattle for Cason Machacek, Jul 21, 2011 6 114 Regina Everett via Prince George for Campell Elynuik, October 17, 2011 (Prince George had acquired from Everett for Parker Stanfield, Oct 7, 2010) 6 115 Victoria 6 116 Brandon Lethbridge in Anderson/Liston deal, Oct 16, 2011 6 117 Vancouver Swift Current for Levi Bews, Jan 9, 2012 6 118 Red Deer 6 119 Kelowna 6 120 Kootenay 6 121 Lethbridge Regina for 2010 first round import pick (Ricard Blidstrand), June 29, 2010 6 122 Brandon 6 123 Kamloops Saskatoon for Jake Trask, Oct 18, 2010 6 124 Kootenay Spokane swap of picks at 2011 bantam draft 6 125 Medicine Hat Vancouver for Tanner Sohn, Sept 16, 2010 6 126 Medicine Hat 6 127 Calgary 6 128 Everett Moose Jaw via Regina for Campell Elynuik, August 27, 2011 (Regina had acquired from Moose Jaw in Thomas Frazee deal, Sep 24, 2010) 6 129 Kamloops 6 130 Portland 6 131 Tri-City 6 132 Edmonton

Notes on this round: none

Seventh Round:

Rd	Ovl	Team	From	Trade Details
7	133	Vancouver	Prince Albert	for RJ Reed, Oct 15, 2010
7	134	Regina	Prince George	in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10, 2012
7	135	Edmonton	Seattle	for Braden Larocque, Sep 29, 2011.
7	136	Everett
7	137	Victoria
7	138	Lethbridge
7	139	Swift Current
7	140	Red Deer
7	141	Kelowna
7	142	Kootenay
7	143	Medicine Hat	Regina	for Trent Ouellette, Sept 24, 2010
7	144	Brandon
7	145	Red Deer	Saskatoon	Muller/Pufahl/Fafard deal, Dec 29, 2011
7	146	Spokane
7	147	Vancouver
7	148	Medicine Hat
7	149	Calgary
7	150	Moose Jaw
7	151	Kamloops
7	152	Portland
7	153	Tri-City
7	154	Edmonton

Notes on this round: none

Eighth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 8 155 Prince Albert 8 156 Prince George 8 157 Seattle 8 158 Everett 8 159 Victoria 8 160 Spokane Lethbridge for a 2011 2nd round Import pick, June 29, 2011 8 161 Seattle Swift Current for Ryan Aasman, Oct 20, 2010 8 162 Red Deer 8 163 Tri-City Kelowna in Zak Stebner deal, Dec 8, 2010 8 164 Kootenay 8 165 Regina 8 166 Brandon 8 167 Prince George Saskatoon for a 2010 2nd round Import pick, June 29, 2010 8 168 Spokane 8 169 Vancouver 8 170 Medicine Hat 8 171 Calgary 8 172 Moose Jaw 8 173 Kamloops 8 174 Portland 8 175 Tri-City 8 176 Edmonton

Notes on this round: Swift Current owes Vancouver a 2012 8th round pick for Eric Walker. But, Seattle already has Swift's 8th round pick from the Ryan Aasman deal. So, I am not sure which pick Vancouver is getting for Walker or whether that pick will slide to 2013?

Ninth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 9 177 Prince Albert 9 178 Prince George 9 179 Seattle 9 180 Everett 9 181 Victoria 9 182 Lethbridge 9 183 Swift Current 9 184 Red Deer 9 185 Kelowna 9 186 Kootenay 9 187 Regina 9 188 Brandon 9 189 Saskatoon 9 190 Prince Albert Spokane swap of picks at 2011 bantam draft 9 191 Vancouver 9 192 Medicine Hat 9 193 Calgary 9 194 Moose Jaw 9 195 Kamloops 9 196 Portland 9 197 Tri-City 9 198 Edmonton

Notes on this round: none


Tenth Round:

Rd Ovl Team From Trade Details 10 199 Prince Albert 10 200 Prince George 10 201 Seattle 10 202 Everett 10 203 Victoria 10 204 Lethbridge 10 205 Seattle Swift Current for Erik Fleming, October 25, 2011 10 206 Red Deer 10 207 Kelowna 10 208 Kootenay 10 209 Kamloops Regina swap of picks at 2011 bantam draft 10 210 Brandon 10 211 Moose Jaw Saskatoon swap of picks at 2010 bantam draft, Apr 29, 2010 10 212 Prince Albert Spokane swap of picks at 2011 bantam draft 10 213 Vancouver 10 214 Medicine Hat 10 215 Calgary 10 216 Moose Jaw 10 217 Kamloops 10 218 Portland 10 219 Tri-City 10 220 Edmonton

Notes on this round: none

Anyone got these stats?

The bantam draft is now only five days away and for the last few weeks, I've been doing my usual gathering of bantam/midget stats so I can post them here on the blog on Thursday.

There are some stats that I have been unable to come up with though and I'm hoping some readers of the blog might be able to help out - this blog gets thousands of hits on bantam draft day from fans looking for info on their teams' newly-drafted players so if anyone is able to help out with providing anything, you know there will be many many WHL fans who will appreciate as much as I do.

So, in the interest of having as much info as possible to post on draft day, here's a request to any readers of this blog who may have some of this info and may be able to share.


What I'm mostly missing:
B.C. AAA (and AA) bantam team stats. Have rosters for most PCAHA and OMAHA teams but only stats for a couple.
Greater Saskatoon League.
Anything from U.S. teams - California, Texas, Arizona, etc. I have the Tier 1 Elite league and I have Minnesota high school but not much else
Stats from SaskFirst bantam. Have the rosters, but no stats.
Rural Manitoba team stats - have the Winnipeg league stats but not much for rural team except Pembina Valley.


What I do have and don't need:
B.C. major midget AAA league
Alberta AAA midget league
Alberta bantam AAA (AMBHL)
Alberta minor midget AAA (AMMHL)
Calgary & Edmonton bantam & midget AA
South Central Alberta bantam & midget (SCAHL)
Saskatchewan bantam AA league (SBAAHL)
Saskatchewan midget AAA (SMAAAHL)
Manitoba major midget AAA (MMHL)
Winnipeg AAA bantam & city midget
Zone4, Westman, and Winnipeg high school leagues

Anything is welcome....from rosters (names, maybe ht/wt) to complete stats for players or teams.

If anyone has any of this stuff and would like to help out, you can shoot me an email at the address on the side of the page there. Even if all you know is a link to where something can be found, that's great too - I don't mind doing the work to collect them.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Monday notes

Big news out of the U.S. division this morning where the Everett Silvertips announced they have traded the negotiating rights to '94 defenceman Seth Jones to the Portland Winterhawks for a conditional 2013 draft pick.

Jones was Everett's first round pick, 11th overall, in the 2009 WHL bantam draft. Since then he has established himself as one of the top prospects for the 2013 NHL draft (he is a late birthdate so he's not eligible for the 2012 draft like most 1994-borns are) while playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program and keeping his options open between the WHL and the NCAA.

Jones said a short while back that he would make his decision between junior and college after the just-concluded World U-18 Championships, so his decision should be forthcoming pretty soon. I'm guessing that the reason for Everett making this trade (the only reason they WOULD trade a prospect like this) is that they have come to realize, for whatever reasons, that Jones is not going to report to them. So the trade of his rights is an attempt to get some value for an asset which is going to go to zero if he picks the NCAA over Everett.

Since the trade announcement specifies that it is Jones' "negotiating rights" that were traded, I assume that means not the rights to the player himself. In other words, Portland just gave up a pick in return for the ability to talk to Jones, nothing more. I assume there is an unannounced additional portion of the deal which states that Everett gets something else (a BIG something else) if Portland actually signs Jones. What that something else could be, is interesting to speculate on. A player of Jones' calibre is surely worth at least a first round bantam pick and probably more than one. Except that Portland does not have 2012 or 2013 first round bantam picks, having traded those to Seattle for Marcel Noebels back in January. So unless Everett is prepared to take 2014 (or even later) first round picks for Jones, then the deal probably has to involve lots of lower picks (2nd/3rd round kind of thing) and/or prospects/players off Portland's protected list.

For Portland, this would be a huge coup if they were able to sign Jones. Portland has become something of an NHL prospect factory in the last few years and being able to boast of another (probable) top five NHL pick in 2013 would only enhance their reputation when it comes to attracting more players down the road. And of course I haven't even mentioned the obvious on-ice benefits to them of having a guy like that. The only risk to Portland is the chance that Jones plays just one year in the WHL and then jumps to the NHL at 19 after being a high NHL pick. But it's still a worthwhile risk.

All in all it's been a good last 4 days for Portland. The Winterhawks went into Tri-Cities and swept the first two games of the WHL Western Conference final on Friday/Saturday, so they have a 2-0 lead coming home for games 3 & 4. The games were close (both decided in OT) but its the wins that count in the end and Portland got them.

In the East, goaltending has been the chief difference as the Edmonton Oil Kings won both the first two games on home ice over the Moose Jaw Warriors, by identical 6-1 scores. Through the first two games Edmonton goaltender Laurent Brossoit has a 1.00 GAA and an insane .975 save percentage. At the other end of the ice, Warriors starter Luke Siemens has a 5.54 GAA and .863 save percentage in the series. Not to say that the series is all Brossoit vs Siemens but clearly the Warriors need to find a way to beat Brossoit, and soon, or their season won't last much longer.

And one last note today, the 2012 Telus Cup - the Canadian AAA midget national championship - gets underway today in Leduc, Alberta. As always the western Canadian teams have an excellent chance to win the title and the western Canadian teams that make it this far always have a solid number of WHL prospects, many of whom will play in the WHL the next year.

This year there are three western Canadian teams at the Telus Cup - the Red Deer Rebels, champions of the B.C. & Alberta midget leagues; the Saskatoon Contacts, champions of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba midget leagues; and the Leduc Oil Kings, the host team.

If you're interested, you can follow the Telus Cup (with stats and live scores) here.

Third round predictions

A little strapped for time this morning, but with the WHL semi-finals getting underway tonight in Edmonton and Tri-Cities, I guess I need to get my predictions down.

I was 3-for-4 in the second round, missing out on the Moose Jaw win over Medicine Hat. That brings me up to  10-for-12 overall in picking the series winners this year. Let's try to make it 12-for-14 here:

Eastern Conference:
#1 Edmonton vs #2 Moose Jaw:
My pick: Edmonton in seven. I really underestimated Moose Jaw in the second round by picking them to lose to Medicine Hat. I won't underestimate them again - especially since they will get star defenceman/top NHL draft prospect Morgan Rielly back for this series after he missed almost all season with a reconstructed knee. But even so, I think they will fall just short against a very deep and talented Edmonton team. I can see Moose Jaw winning this one so I'm going with a seven game pick, but I like Edmonton just a little better and I'm not sure we have even seen the best of Edmonton so far these playoffs.


Western Conference:
#1 Tri-City vs #2 Portland:
My pick: Portland in six. I like Tri-City a lot, but I think Portland has a lot more depth and that's going to make the difference for them. Portland has to get consistent goaltending from Mac Carruth, as that is the one area where I think the Americans have a clear advantage over the Winterhawks. As long as Carruth can hold up his end of the bargain though, I like Portland more than Tri-City at both forward and defence positions.

I think both of these series should be excellent hockey to watch - in these four teams we have four of the top five overall teams in the regular season. Only #4 overall Kamloops is missing from the top five - and even then, Moose Jaw was only 1 point back of Kamloops for #4. Isn't this what you want to see in the semifinals?

You want excitement, we've got excitement

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?

Crank up the interest

After my bellyaching earlier in the 2nd round about the complete lack of drama we had seen in the WHL playoffs so far with so many one-sided series that the playoffs should have been sponsored by Staples ("That was easy!"), it's only fair to point out that the two remaining series in the 2nd round have suddenly become very interesting.

After Portland took a 3-0 lead in their series with Kamloops, the Blazers have responded by winning the last two games to cut Portland's lead to 3-2. Kamloops is halfway to pulling off the "impossible" playoff comeback and they get game six in their building tomorrow.

Portland probably wasn't feeling much pressure in game four and not much more before game five, but all of a sudden the pressure they must be feeling heading into game six must be sky-high. After all, if they lose game six then we're headed to game seven territory and as they say, "anything can happen in a game seven". The pressure to not be remembered as a team who blew the 3-0 series lead will be incredible on them in that case. Way worse than any "ordinary" game seven.

Incidentally, the victimized team in the only successful 3-0 comeback in WHL history? Yes, that would be Portland that blew the series (to Spokane) back in 95-96. Just sayin'.....

And not to forget the other series - Spokane won game four of their series with Tri-City to tie things 2-2 there. Tri-City won game five to go up 3-2 but at least it hasn't been a 4 or 5 games series like so many others these players have been.

NHL coaching change with WHL implications?

Not much surprise today but the Calgary Flames elected not to bring head coach Brent Sutter back next year. Sutter's contract was up so he wasn't technically "fired" as much as the Flames are simply allowing him to become a coaching free agent, as it were.

The question now though is whether Sutter even has any interest in pursuing another NHL coaching job. Remember, three years ago he left New Jersey for the Flames because he was interested in being closer to his home in central Alberta. He isn't going to get another job any closer than this one was unless he could land in Edmonton.

So I think it's probably more likely that Sutter returns to what he did before the NHL came calling: running the Red Deer Rebels, which he owns. 

If so, what does this mean for current Rebels coach Jesse Wallin? Perhaps Wallin will remain coach while Sutter simply resumes the General Manager duties?

As a side note, former Calgary Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry was also let go by the Flames. In Lowry's only season as head coach of the Hitmen, he coached them to the WHL Final where they lost to Kelowna. Perhaps Lowry is interested in returning to the WHL as a head coach....we'll have to see.

Short second round

After a quick and fairly uninteresting first round, it appears we are headed for mostly much of the same in the second round. After last night's games we have three series that sit at 3-0, which means they are pretty much over and will all end in the next game or two in favor of the team currently leading.

So much for parity in the WHL this year, eh? The eight first round series included five sweeps and two 5-game wins. In total the first round required 36 games to complete - that's four more games than the absolute minimum of 32 games to play eight series. Now in the second round we have the possibility of three sweeps out of four series (not saying they'll all be sweeps, but at 3-0 you have to strongly consider the possibility that the next game will make it 4-0).

I guess it's not surprising to me - after all, I did predict three of the series would end in five games and that number is still in play for all three of those predictions. (As an aside, I'm clearly going to have to eat some crow on the Moose Jaw / Medicine Hat series, so it might as well be now: I totally underestimated the Warriors and overestimated the Tigers. Totally.)

But it is a little disappointing. You want the playoffs to have drama. Excitement. Seventh games, the edge-of-your-seat stuff. We haven't really seen any of that, unless you consider the raft of season-ending injuries and suspensions of high-profile players this year to be the stuff of drama. Right now it looks like we're going to get two rounds deep in this year's playoffs without a single series that really makes people sit up and take notice of the WHL. The only hope left in the second round is for Spokane to make a series of it with Tri-City. That one sits at 1-1 with game three tonight, so there is hope there yet.

The good news? The third round looks like it could be a doozy. If the 3-0 leaders all close out their series, and the Americans do beat the Chiefs, then the top two teams in both conferences will have made it to the semifinals.

Second round picks

After going 7-for-8 in the first round (admittedly there were a lot of no-brainers in the first round so I won't back-pat myself too hard for that success rate), time for some second round picks. These are a little harder, but still not too difficult IMO.

Eastern Conference:

#1 Edmonton vs #6 Brandon:
My pick: Edmonton in five. Yes, Brandon upset the #3 ranked Calgary Hitmen in the first round. But Edmonton is not the Hitmen - they are deeper up front and with more high-end talent, they have better goaltending, and most significantly they are a million times better on the blueline than Calgary was. Brandon is no slouches - they have a hot young goaltender, a couple young stud prospects on the blueline, and the offence of Stone and Ferland. I just have to tick the boxes beside Edmonton as you go through every category in this series and to me that doesn't promise a long series.

#2 Moose Jaw vs #4 Medicine Hat:
My pick: Medicine Hat in seven. Yes, I'm picking the upset. After underestimating the Tigers in the first round (they made short work of the Blades after I predicted a longer series), I won't do that again. Emerson Etem up front and Tyler Bunz in net will give the Warriors problems. The Warriors are a very good team as well - they have a lot of character veterans up front and on the blueline who are going to give Etem and Bunz problems of their own. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see Moose Jaw win in six or seven games either. I'm just playing a hunch here.

Western Conference:

#1 Tri-City vs #5 Spokane:
My pick: Tri-City in five. Yes, the Americans are banged up - they lost two veteran players with season-ending injuries in the first round and a third veteran is questionable right now. They're still a lot better than Spokane though. They still have their league-leading goaltender and they still have their three 100 point forwards. Spokane has lost Brendan Kichton for the season and weren't as good as Tri-City even before losing their own best player. This series might get a little nasty (as befits a good rivalry) but I don't see the Chiefs winning more than a game at the most. Could even be a sweep.


#2 Portland vs #3 Kamloops:
My pick: Portland in five. Yes, five. A quick series despite how close they were in the standings this year. Kamloops will be hurt by losing their captain Chase Schaber to a season-ending injury but I would have picked the Hawks in five anyway. Kamloops' only regulation win over the Hawks this year came with the Hawks missing Sven Bartschi in the NHL, and Portland has simply embarrassing depth at every position. Kamloops might (might!) have an edge in goaltending, but otherwise every offensive threat or blue-chip defenceman that Kamloops can toss out there, Portland has two they can counter with. That kind of depth kills other teams in the playoffs when benches can get a little short.

Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!

The first round of the WHL playoffs kind of resembled a curling rink, didn't they.....cries of "sweep! sweep! sweep!" everywhere.

This was surely one of the least-interesting first rounds in recent memory in the WHL, with five series ending in 4-0 sweeps and one other series ending in five games. That's 38% of the playoff teams who saw their playoffs last less than a week.

(This phenomenon wasn't limited to the WHL either - in the QMJHL, seven of eight first round series were sweeps!)

So only two series remain - Vancouver/Spokane, which is tied 2-2, and Moose Jaw/Regina, which sees the Warriors with a 3-1 lead, so that series could also end in five games if the Warriors win game five at home tonight.

The 2nd round of the playoffs is also becoming more clear in both the East and West. One matchup is already set, in the West where #2 seed Portland will host #3 seed Kamloops.

The other West matchup is also mostly determined; we know Tri-City will host the Vancouver/Spokane series winner.

Nothing is determined in the East yet. Edmonton will host the lowest-ranked team to survive the first round. That will be Regina if they come back to beat the Warriors, or it will be Brandon if the Warriors eliminate the Pats.

Medicine Hat will visit the Warriors if Moose Jaw wins, or they'll host the Wheat Kings if the Pats come back in that series.

3-0 everywhere

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?

Injuries and suspensions

The WHL head office handed out a whopping six suspensions yesterday for incidents that happened over the weekend's series-opening games. Combined with a couple of injuries to key players also incurred over the weekend, more than a few series have been impacted heading into games 3 & 4 over the next couple days.

First, the injuries. Spokane star defenceman Brendan Kichton suffered a broken jaw in the Chiefs' game 1 loss in Vancouver, and today the team confirmed the worst: Kichton is done for the season. As a 19 year old likely to turn pro next year, his WHL career is over. This is a significant blow to the Chiefs, seeing as how Kichton was only the West nominee for the WHL's Defenceman Of The Year award.

Can the Chiefs dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole without the services of perhaps their best player?

Second injury, the Tri-City Americans have lost 19 year old defenceman Drydn Dow for the rest of the season as well due to a hit from behind by Everett's Manraj Hayer. Dow suffered a broken arm on the play and will not play again this year. While not the same as Spokane losing Kichton, it's still a blow to the Americans to lose one of their top four defencemen, and so early in the playoffs too. The Americans should still make short work of the Silvertips even without Dow, but will his absence be felt later in the playoffs?

The injury bug has also hit the Calgary Hitmen hard, as they are missing their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers - forwards Victor Rask and Cody Sylvester. Both suffered undisclosed injuries in the regular season finale and have not played in any of the three games of the Calgary-Brandon series so far. Calgary trails the series 2-1 and have managed only 7 goals combined in the three games without the two stars. Both are listed as day-to-day; the Hitmen could use them back ASAP as they try to get back into this series.

To the suspensions now;

Everett had two players suspended yesterday - Manraj Hayer got an indeterminate suspension for the Dow cheap shot mentioned above. I suspect the league may have been waiting to see how badly Dow was hurt before finalizing the suspension, so we may get some clarification on Hayer soon. I'm thinking he will get 3-5 games, which should be enough to keep him out for the rest of this season and perhaps the first game or two of next year.

Everett's Ryan Harrison also received a one game suspension for an interference major on Tri-City forward Jesse Mychan in game two. Losing Harrison - who was Everett's 2nd leading scorer and one of only two plus players on the team - for the critical game three will hurt the Tips' chances of avoiding the 3-0 hole of death.

Kamloops has had Western Conference 2nd All Star team defenceman Austin Madaisky suspended for two games for a hit to the head of Victoria forward Zane Jones in game two of that series. Kamloops should still be able to win this series even without Madaisky for games 3 & 4 but it will be slightly more difficult now without their best defenceman.

Kelowna has lost leading goalscorer Brett Bulmer for an indeterminate amount of time as well after a kneeing major on Portland captain William Wrenn in game two on Saturday. It was the culmination of a rather reckless game for Bulmer, who racked up three kneeing penalties in all in just that game. As a result, Bulmer may now finish his WHL career on the suspended list - I'm thinking he gets at least two games, maybe more if (A) Kelowna actually wins any games in the series and (B) Wrenn is injured and unable to play in game 3 or longer. It seems likely that Bulmer has seen the last of the inside of a Rockets jersey though, and losing him will make the already difficult task the Rockets had of beating Portland even more impossible.

And lastly, Moose Jaw forward Cody Beach has been suspended for one game for an allegedly tasteless comment directed at the Regina Pats bench during game two of that series. Nobody is telling the public exactly what Beach said, but it must have been way across the line of what is acceptable (and must have been overheard by an official or two) if he's getting suspended for it.

There you have it....suspensions and injuries galore so far, many involving key players on their teams. It's been an unusual start to the playoffs for sure.

First round predictions

First round of the WHL playoffs kicks off tonight in Calgary. So, prediction time:


Eastern Conference: 

#1 Edmonton vs #8 Kootenay:
My pick: Edmonton in 5
Kootenay is the defending champs but really, there's not much reason to like their chances in this series. Edmonton was the highest-scoring team in the conference and also the best-defending team. Edmonton has won 11 straight heading into the playoffs while the Ice have been struggling for a while, slowing dropping down the standings into 8th. Edmonton swept the head-to-head meetings this year and only two teams in the entire league were more dominant at home than the Oil Kings' .833. All put together, the Ice have a tall, tall task if they're going to win this series. I think the Ice may have the best goaltender in the series so Lieuwen might steal a game, but he's not going to steal this series for them.


#2 Moose Jaw vs #7 Regina:
My pick: Moose Jaw in 6
One of the WHL's great rivalries in the first round, terrific to see this matchup. This should be a good, close series with lots of emotion, as befits a couple of rivals. The teams split the season series at 4-4, with each team winning two games in overtime; Regina won four of the last five meetings. The two teams are also fairly evenly matched in most statistical categories. All in all, this series has the potential of being one of the most interesting of the entire first round. Moose Jaw's ace in the hole though, at least IMO, is that they have home ice advantage and no other team in the entire league was as good at home this year as the Warriors were.


#3 Calgary vs #6 Brandon:
My pick: Calgary in 7
This is another series that promises some close, entertaining games. While not divisional rivals, the Hitmen and Wheat Kings have met in 5 of the last 8 playoffs now as well as at the 2010 Memorial Cup. They're as familiar with each other as you can get without being 45 minutes apart like Regina and Moose Jaw. The two teams also match up well statistically this year; they both scored the exact same number of goals, although the Hitmen allowed 0.5 goals per game fewer. Calgary won the season series 3-1. In the end I have to go with Calgary; they have home ice (while Brandon doesn't even have their home building) and the Hitmen have been one of the best teams in the entire league since the trade deadline. But it'll be close....so very close.


#4 Medicine Hat vs #5 Saskatoon:
My pick: Medicine Hat in 6
This is the third of the four Eastern series which promises to be close. For starters, both teams feature top-end goaltending - there may not be another series which has two better goaltenders going head to head. Both goalies have the ability to steal the series for their teams, even if the rest of the team gets outplayed. Saskatoon won the season series 3-1, although two of the wins were in extra time. Numbers-wise, Medicine Hat scored 13 less goals than the Blades, but also allowed 41 less. Medicine Hat is an older and more playoff-experienced team. I do worry a bit about Medicine Hat being a little bit of a two-trick pony offensively, they really have nobody who scores goals beyond Etem and Shinkaruk. But, overall I just like the Tigers in this one....could go seven and could go either way though, wouldn't surprise me at all.


Western Conference:

#1 Tri-City vs #8 Everett:
My pick: Tri-City in 4
Do we need to go into the reasons for this one? Oh, why not. Tri-City was #2 overall. Everett made the playoffs when another team lost on the last day of the season. Tri-City was the league's best defensive team. Everett was one of the league's worst offensive teams. Actually, let's just stop there. Everett might, MIGHT win a game, though I'm picking that they won't. If they actually won the series? It would probably be the biggest upset in WHL playoff history.


#2 Kamloops vs #7 Victoria:
My pick: Kamloops in 4
As with the Tri-City series, this is simply a mismatch. Victoria was far and away the worst defensive team in the WHL and that's not a good thing when you're facing one of the best offences. Kamloops won seven of their eight meetings this year (averaging 5 goals per game) and I don't expect much to change.


#3 Portland vs #6 Kelowna:
My pick: Portland in 5
This is a third mismatch, even though the underdog is leagues better than the first two underdogs. Kelowna isn't a bad club, Portland is just a deep, stacked team with offence from every line and one of the most playoff-experienced teams in the league as well after a run to the Final last year. Portland swept the season series 4-0. They're also nigh-unbeatable at home which is always bad news for an opponent who lacks home ice advantage. I'm going to give the Rockets a game at home, but overall a Rockets win in this series would almost be more shocking than a Silvertips win in the Tri-City series.

#4 Vancouver vs #5 Spokane:
My pick: Spokane in 6
I like Vancouver and I hate to ever bet against a Don Hay team but the Giants are a banged-up team right now, using affiliates and callups everywhere to replaced injured regulars. Statistically the two teams match up well, their GF & GA numbers are close enough (Spokane scored 2 more and allowed 9 less); Vancouver won both games of the season series, but both were by one goal and one was in a shootout. At least on paper there's not a lot to tell these teams apart. The injuries are just kind of the deciding factor here, I think.

Playoff experience

I was going to do a statistical breakdown of playoff experience by team this morning, but Kootenay Ice PBP guy Jeff Hollick already beat me to it on his blog. Check it out. Nice work, Jeff.

So instead, I'll focus on making my first-round picks, since the action starts tonight in the Calgary-Brandon series. That will be up before game time, hopefully a lot sooner.

Scoring depth 2011-12

Some more stat stuff as we head into the playoffs: which teams have the most scoring depth and which teams rely on just a few players?

I think most fans would agree that more depth is better, especially if you're going on a long playoff push. As injuries and fatigue can take their toll on players, it's nice to be able to have guys who can take over the scoring load if somebody else falters. Plus if you can roll out two or even three lines which are serious threats to score, you make it difficult for opponents to focus their best defensive players on shutting down just one or two guys.

On the other hand, the really high end guys, the really big scorers, can be a heck of a handful to stop even when you're focusing completely on doing that. Those guys may only need to get open a couple times a game or get a couple chances a game to really hurt you - and that's something that a plethora of 20 goal scorers can't always make up for.

So, here's a chart showing the 16 playoff teams and breaking down how many players on each team scored 50+, 40+, 30+, 20+, and 10+ goals.

	10+	20+	30+	40+	50+
Brandon	9	6	3	2	0
Calgary	11	6	2	0	0
Edmonton	11	7	3	1	0
Everett	7	2	0	0	0
Kamloops	11	6	3	1	0
Kelowna	9	3	1	0	0
Kootenay	10	4	0	0	0
Medicine Hat	8	4	2	2	1
Moose Jaw	11	5	3	1	0
Portland	14	6	3	2	1
Regina	11	3	1	1	0
Saskatoon	11	5	2	0	0
Spokane	13	4	1	0	0
Tri-City	9	4	3	2	2
Vancouver	7	4	3	2	0
Victoria	8	6	1	0	0

Looking at the numbers, one of the first teams I notice is Portland. The Winterhawks have something no other team has - lots of high scoring guys AND lots of depth. 14 players on that team scored at least 10 goals this year. Think about that - they dress 18 skaters and all but 4 of them are in double digits. Not only that, but three of them topped 40 goals and one of those was over 50.

A couple other U.S. division teams provide some contrast - Spokane had 13 guys into double digits in goals, but only one player broken the 30 goal mark. So they have lots of players who know their way around the net, but only one who can be counted on to score more than every three or four games.

Then there's Tri-City - they had two guys who scored 50 or more. They only have two other players who scored more than 20 though, so you could make a case that if an opponent could shut down Shinnimin and Hughesman, then the Americans are in some pretty big trouble. (Whereas if an opponent could shut down Rattie and Ross on the Winterhawks, the Hawks might still do OK). Something for Tri-City to worry about?

In the East, Medicine Hat is another obvious example of a team with a couple really big guys and then not much depth after that. After Etem's 61 and Shinkaruk's 49, only two other guys on the team broke the 20 goal barrier. Regina is another team with very thin depth - only one player exceeded 30 goals and only two others broke 20. If Moose Jaw puts the wraps on Jordan Weal, who's going to score for the Pats?

Edmonton (seven players with 20 goals or more) and Calgary (six with 20+ and 11 guys in double digits) are a couple examples of Eastern teams with some depth, even without many big gunners (although Edmonton did have one player over 40 goals).

Something to think about anywyay. But don't read too much into this - after all, Victoria had six players who scored 20 goals or more (only Edmonton had more) and still the Royals barely squeaked into the playoffs and won't be around long once the puck drops either.....

Seattle wins draft lottery

The Seattle Thunderbirds, who had a 19.1% chance of winning the draft lottery, pulled it off this morning. As a result, the Thunderbirds will have the #1 overall pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft.

Prince Albert will drop from #1 down to #2, while Prince George drops from #2 down to #3. All other picks remain unchanged.

So....Seattle gets the chance to pick Mathew Barzal. Will he play for them? If so, what a great opportunity for that franchise to turn itself around after some tough years lately.

The order of selection in the first round:


1. Seattle
2. Prince Albert
3. Prince George
4. Lethbridge
5. Swift Current
6. Red Deer
7. Everett
8. Victoria
9. Kelowna
10. Kootenay
11. Prince George (from Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10/12)
12. Brandon
13. Victoria (from Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan 9/12; Brandon had acquired from Saskatoon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan 10/11)
14. Spokane
15. Vancouver
16. Medicine Hat
17. Calgary
18. Lethbridge (from Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan 9/12)
19. Kamloops
20. Seattle (from Portland in Marcel Noebels deal, Jan 10/12)
21. Tri-City
22. Edmonton

Samuelsson suspended again

Edmonton will have to play the first two games of their series with the Kootenay Ice without the services of one of their better forwards. Henrik Samuelsson has been suspended for two games for a clipping major he incurred on Saturday night against Red Deer when he submarined Rebels captain Adam Kambeitz. You can see a video of the hit here.

Samuelsson being suspended for two playoff games probably means he might have gotten double or triple that if this were still the regular season. In just a half season in the WHL, this is Samuelsson's third suspension already. If he doesn't clean up his act, these suspensions are going to get worse and worse; he's 17 years old and already considered a "repeat offender" in the eyes of the league.

I really hate to make a comparison to his dad's reputation since everyone should be entitled to forge their own way without that kind of baggage. But Henrik is certainly showing signs of being a chip off the old blockhead in the cheap shot department. His three suspensions are for charging, kneeing, and now clipping - and those of us over 30 will certainly remember his dad had a thing for low hits and knee-on-knee hits too. Ask Cam Neely about that.

He's a good young player (23 points in 28 games attests to that) who is a power forward style player and needs to be using his body. He just needs to clean up the hits or he'll be dogged by ever-worsening suspension trouble.

First half vs second half

With the regular season over, it seems like a good time to update something I first looked at a few weeks after the trade deadline: which teams did better and which did worse after the deadline?

In a way, this is kind of a "tale of two halves" sort of thing - teams that started well (first half) and teams that finished well (second half). You could say that teams that showed improvement in the second half have recently been outperforming their current playoff seed, while teams that dropped in the second half may be underperforming their playoff seed.

Sorted by second half / post-deadline performance, here's the numbers:


Edmonton Oil Kings: 30gp-23-5-2-0 (0.800). Before deadline: 0.702
Portland Winterhawks: 31gp-23-7-1-0 (0.758). Before deadline: 0.671
Moose Jaw Warriors: 30gp-20-7-2-1 (0.717). Before deadline: 0.655
Calgary Hitmen: 31gp-22-9-0-0 (0.710). Before deadline: 0.573
Medicine Hat Tigers: 29gp-18-9-0-2 (0.655). Before deadline: 0.605
Kamloops Blazers: 31gp-19-10-1-1 (0.645). Before deadline: 0.720
Tri-City Americans: 33gp-18-11-2-2 (0.606). Before deadline: 0.821
Brandon Wheat Kings: 31gp-17-11-0-3 (0.597). Before deadline: 0.561
Spokane Chiefs: 34gp-18-12-3-1 (0.588). Before deadline: 0.592
Saskatoon Blades: 31gp-17-12-1-1 (0.581). Before deadline: 0.573
Regina Pats: 29gp-14-11-3-1 (0.552). Before deadline: 0.581
Vancouver Giants: 31gp-15-12-1-3 (0.548). Before deadline: 0.634
Kelowna Rockets: 31gp-14-12-2-3 (0.532). Before deadline: 0.476
Everett Silvertips: 32gp-15-15-1-1 (0.500). Before deadline: 0.275
Kootenay Ice: 31gp-12-13-5-1 (0.484). Before deadline: 0.634
Red Deer Rebels: 32gp-14-16-0-2 (0.469). Before deadline: 0.500
Lethbridge Hurricanes: 28gp-13-15-0-0 (0.464). Before deadline: 0.375
Swift Current Broncos: 30gp-11-16-0-3 (0.417). Before deadline: 0.440
Victoria Royals: 30gp-11-17-1-1 (0.400). Before deadline: 0.369
Prince George Cougars: 32gp-11-21-0-0 (0.344). Before deadline: 0.350
Seattle Thunderbirds: 34gp-9-24-1-0 (0.279). Before deadline: 0.434
Prince Albert Raiders: 29gp-6-20-2-1 (0.259). Before deadline: 0.384

A few things I noticed:

Look at Kootenay - of all the playoff teams, only Victoria had a worse 2nd half of the season than the Ice did. The Ice's first round opponent, Edmonton, was the best team in the league in the 2nd half. Does that change anyone's mind about the likelihood of Kootenay giving Edmonton any problems in the playoffs?

The team with the biggest improvement from first half to second? Everett, who went from .275 to .500 (an improvement of .225). The team with the biggest drop-off from first to second? Tri-City, who went from .821 to .606 (a drop of .215). Guess which two teams meet in the first round? Does that change anyone's mind about the possibility of an upset here?

(No, I didn't really think that one would.)

Calgary was the 2nd-biggest improver, at .573 up to .710. Portland, Moose Jaw, and Kelowna also showed good improvements from first half to second half. Meanwhile, other teams which were noticeably poorer in the second half of the season include Vancouver, Kamloops, and Regina. Cause for concern for those teams heading into the playoffs?

Shaw/lottery

Couple notes this morning....

The WHL will hold its' bantam draft lottery this week (I suspect Wednesday) to determine the order of the top six picks in the 2012 Bantam Draft which goes on May 3. The six non-playoff teams (in order: Prince Albert, Prince George, Seattle, Lethbridge, Swift Current, and Red Deer) will each get a number of bingo balls placed into a machine. Prince Albert gets 6 balls, Prince George gets 5, and so on down to Red Deer, who get 1. One ball will be drawn and that team gets to move up two spots in the draft order. So therefore, only the bottom three teams (Prince Albert, Prince George, and Seattle) have a chance at ending up with the #1 overall pick. The best that Lethbridge (at #4) could do would be to move up to #2. Etc, etc.

So the chance of winning the first overall pick, by team, are:

Prince Albert: 57.1%
Prince George: 23.8%
Seattle: 19.1%

The prize for winning the lottery? As mentioned the other day, Burnaby Winter Club forward Mathew Barzal. According to almost everyone you talk to, he is the best player in the draft.

Secondly - now that all the playoff matchups are set for the first round, it's time to engage in every WHL fan's (or the Canadian ones anyway) favorite playoff pastime: speculating on which series Shaw TV will carry!

The question that needs to be answered first, before we can take a stab at which series they might show, is what is most important to Shaw? Is it purely ratings, or do they genuinely care about giving every team a chance to be shown?

If ratings are #1, then in all likelihood the first round series will be either Edmonton vs Kootenay, or Calgary vs Brandon. Calgary and Edmonton are Shaw's second and third biggest markets in the league. Vancouver is the biggest, but Vancouver is playing a U.S. based team (Spokane) which would contribute very few viewers north of the border.

If they're interested in showing everyone and in giving both conferences fair treatment, then it's possible they will start with the Kamloops-Victoria series in the West. That's the only all-Canadian matchup in the West and it's quite likely that every West series in the 2nd and 3rd rounds will involve a U.S. team as well, which is probably somewhat less desirable to Shaw. So if they're going to show anything in the West, the Blazers and Royals in the first round might be their best bet.

The problem there is that it could be a short series. Most people will probably predict Kamloops to win that series in four or five games, meaning Shaw will miss out on the drama (and potentially higher ratings) of a game 6 or game 7 in some of the other series.

Or maybe Shaw just wants to pick the best, most entertaining series possible. In that case, you can probably exclude the Tri-City, Kamloops, and Portland series in the West (since Everett, Victoria, and Kelowna are probably going to get whacked in short order by those three powerhouse teams) but any of the other five series promises to be closer and more entertaining.

Vancouver and Spokane were separated by one point in the standings. Medicine Hat and Saskatoon offers a potential great goaltenders battle between Russian World Junior hero Andrey Makarov and the man many Canadians feel SHOULD have been the Canadian World Junior goalie, Tyler Bunz. Calgary and Brandon are meeting in the playoffs for the 5th time in the last 8 years and they've had some great series in that time (plus all games will be played in NHL arenas - from a technical production point of view, Shaw's crews might love that). Regina and Moose Jaw are hated rivals - if you want emotion and possible drama (and blood), this might be the series to watch. And while Edmonton appears to have a big edge on Kootenay, the Ice do boast a goaltender capable of stealing a series in Nathan Lieuwen. If he gives the Oil Kings fits, who'd want to miss that?

And just as a note to U.S. readers because I know my dismissal of their games as options is going to anger some: I personally have no issue with Shaw showing American based teams. I would watch. In fact, if it's Portland vs Tri-Cities in the West Final, that's the series I want to see in the third round. It's just the fact that Shaw has only Canadian subscribers and so they are going to have a big bias towards any series involving two Canadian teams.

All but one decided

Only one game left in the regular season and wouldn't you know it, a playoff spot hangs on the outcome of that game. Everything else is decided though:

 - Brandon whipped Regina, enabling the Wheat Kings to pass the Pats and claim 6th place in the East. Regina gets 7th.

 - Kootenay lost to Calgary for the 2nd straight night, which means the Ice finish 8th. For the Hitmen, the win cemented 3rd place and forced the Tigers to settle for 4th.

 - Saskatoon lost but it didn't matter as the Regina & Kootenay losses meant nobody caught them. The Blades stay in 5th place.

 - Edmonton's win over Red Deer locked up first overall, so the Oil Kings will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

 - in the West, the only game with implications on playoff spots was in Seattle, where the Silvertips scored two late third period goals to beat the Thunderbirds and stay alive. Everett is now holding down 8th place and Seattle must beat Portland tomorrow in the WHL's regular season finale in order to force a one-game playoff in Seattle. A loss for the Birds eliminates them and gives the 8th spot to Everett.

So with 20 of the 22 teams having completed their regular seasons, the eight playoff matchups are as follows:

Eastern Conference:
#8 Kootenay Ice at #1 Edmonton Oil Kings
#7 Regina Pats at #2 Moose Jaw Warriors
#6 Brandon Wheat Kings at #3 Calgary Hitmen
#5 Saskatoon Blades at #4 Medicine Hat Tigers

Western Conference:
#8 Everett Silvertips OR Seattle Thunderbirds at #1 Tri-City Americans
#7 Victoria Royals at #2 Kamloops Blazers
#6 Kelowna Rockets at #3 Portland Winterhawks
#5 Spokane Chiefs at #4 Vancouver Giants

One last note, Prince Albert's loss tonight means they finish last overall and thus will have the best (57%) chance of winning the #1 overall bantam draft pick when the league holds its' draft lottery this week. At stake is the right to pick forward Mathew Barzal, the heavy favourite to go #1 and a player who has drawn comparisons to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Wednesday's games

Six games on the schedule last night and they had some very big implications on the playoff races....

 - Moose Jaw beat Brandon in a shootout. The Warriors are going to finish as the #2 seed in the East no matter what so the game meant little to them, but the lost point could hurt the Wheat Kings' chances of moving out of their current 8th place position. Brandon finishes with two games against Regina and now they must win both of those games to have any chance of finishing above 7th place.

 - Lethbridge upset Calgary 5-2, which means the Hitmen squandered their game-in-hand on the Tigers. Calgary remains two points back of the Tigers in the race for 3rd place, with both teams having two games remaining. To get 3rd, Calgary now needs to win both their remaining games (both against the Ice) and have the Tigers lose at least one of their remaining two.

 - Regina beat Prince Albert, vaulting the Pats over the Blades and Ice and into 5th place in the East.

 - Edmonton beat Kootenay in overtime; the win means the Oil Kings are now first overall in the league by one point over Tri-City and three points over Portland, with all three teams having two games left. It definitely looks like Portland is dropping out of the race - if Edmonton wins even one of their remaining two games, Portland cannot catch the Oil Kings.

For Kootenay, the lost point (coupled with Regina's win) means the Ice drop to 7th place now in the big four-team race for 5th through 8th in the East.

 - Spokane beat Kamloops 6-4, and with the loss for the Blazers their hopes for #1 in the conference and #1 overall both died. They can no longer catch Tri-City and so the Blazers will be the #2 seed in the first round. Their challenge now is to find a way to finish ahead of Portland (who have a 3 point lead with both teams having 2 games remaining) so that they can retain that #2 seed in the second round.

For the Chiefs, the win moves them into a tie with the Giants for the #4 seed. Giants have more wins and so they retain the #4 spot though. Both teams have two games left.


 - Kelowna beat Everett, meaning the Silvertips squandered a chance to move further ahead of Seattle in the race for playoff spots in the West. For Kelowna, it was another meaningless game as they simply wait to play the #3 seed in the first round, whoever that may be.


 - Victoria shocked Portland 4-3; for the Winterhawks the loss comes pretty close to killing their chances at #1 overall (see above notes for Edmonton game) and just to get #1 in the West they're now probably going to have to win both their remaining games and hope Tri-City gets 1 point or less from their last two games. So it looks a lot grimmer for the Hawks today....they look like they're ticketed for the #3 spot right now which means they would draw Kamloops in the second round.

For Victoria, obviously the win is huge, huge, huge for their playoff hopes. They move ahead of Everett into the #7 spot with the win and now hold a 3 point lead over Seattle (Prince George can no longer catch the Royals) in the race for the playoff spot. Seattle does have two games in hand on the Royals but the 3 point lead means Seattle has to win both of those games in order to pass Victoria and knock the Royals out.

And even though they didn't play in the game, the Victoria win has some meaning for the Cougars: Prince George can now only tie Everett for the last playoff spot, not claim one outright. So the Cougars are now looking at playing a tiebreaker game as their best possible outcome. To make the playoffs, the Cougars now need to win both their last two games against Kamloops, have Everett lose both their last two games in regulation, and have Seattle beat Everett but lose their other two games in regulation. That would create a three way tie for the last playoff spot. As I understand the league's tiebreaker rules, Everett would be eliminated due to fewest wins, and Prince George and Seattle would play the tiebreaker.

Playoff races

Updated for the final week of the season....

Three more days of games remaining on the WHL regular season schedule this year. Looking at the standings, I see six distinct playoff "races" in progress. Here's a little look at all six:

(Last updated: after games of March 14)

1. Medicine Hat vs Calgary for #3/#4 in the Eastern Conference:

The Tigers and Hitmen are locked into the #3/#4 seeds in the East. They already know they will have home ice advantage in the first round, it's just a question of who will be #3 and who will be #4. If one is more desirable than the other, it's probably because #3 will definitely avoid conference leader Edmonton in the 2nd round. 

The Tigers have a two point lead on the Hitmen with both teams having two games left. Looking at the schedules, it seems doubtful that Calgary can make up two points on the Tigers.

Medicine Hat's remaining sched:  vs Edmonton, vs Lethbridge
Calgary's remaining sched: @Kootenay, vs Kootenay

2. Kootenay, Regina, Saskatoon, and Brandon for #5 - #8 in the Eastern Conference:

Heading into the final weekend, it is still all but impossible to figure out what could happen here. Any of these four teams could still mathematically finish in any of the bottom four playoff positions in the East and thus none of the first round matchups in the conference is even close to being settled.

Regina is in 5th with 82 points. Kootenay and Saskatoon are tied for 6th with 81 points and Brandon is in 8th with 79 points. So 3 points separate all four teams.

Saskatoon's remaining sched: @Swift Current, vs Swift Current
Kootenay's remaining sched: vs Calgary, @Calgary
Regina's remaining sched: vs Brandon, @Brandon
Brandon's remaining sched: @Regina, vs Regina

Kootenay has the toughest schedule, with both of their games being against a top four team - although, the Ice have had a lot of success against the Hitmen this year. Saskatoon has an easy sched, playing both games against a non-playoff opponent. Regina and Brandon have two games against each other, which is always great to have in these races.

3. Portland vs. Tri-City for the U.S. division title and #1/#3 seed in the conference:

These two are miles ahead of anyone else in the division and have been dueling at the top all season. Two points separate the two right now. At stake is home ice for any potential playoff meeting, and the chance to avoid Kamloops (who are locked into the #2 seed now) in the 2nd round.

Portland's remaining sched: @VIC, vs SEA
Tri-City's remaining sched: vs EVT, vs SPO

Portland has an easier schedule since they only play teams at the bottom of the conference while the Americans have a date with Spokane. But, the Americans have a two point lead in the standings and also have the edge right now in wins, which would be the first tiebreaker.The Hawks MUST sweep their remaining games and hope the Ams lose both games if they want any chance of getting that #1 seed.

4. Spokane and Vancouver for #4 / #5 seeds in the West:

These two teams know they're going to face each other in the first round. They can't move up and they can't move down. They'll be the #4 and #5 seeds in some order, so what's at stake here is who gets home ice advantage for that series. The teams are tied in points and both have two games remaining.

Spokane's remaining sched: vs SEA, @TRI
Vancouver's remaining sched: vs KEL, @KEL

The Giants have the edge in wins, so the Chiefs must get more points out of their last two games than the Giants do. The Chiefs have one top-ranked opponent left (Tri-City) while the Giants finish with a couple against a team with nothing to play for (Kelowna) so it's a tough one for the Chiefs the way it looks now.

5. Victoria, Everett, Seattle, and Prince George for the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference:


Victoria and Everett are currently holding down the two spots with 53 and 52 points each respectively, with Seattle two points back at 50 and Prince George two more back at 48.

With only two games remaining while four points out, Prince George's playoff chances pretty much amount to: "win our two games against Kamloops, while hoping Everett loses all their remaining games in regulation and Seattle does not get more than 2 points from their last three games". In other words, they're pretty much done like dinner and this is a three team race.

Seattle has some control over their fate in that they have (A) two games in hand on Victoria and (B) one game  against Everett plus another game in hand on Everett. Winning the games in hand as well as the game against the Tips would put Seattle into 7th. Of course, talk about what they COULD do is cheap....they have to DO these things for those advantages to count.

Victoria's remaining sched: vs POR, vs POR
Everett's remaining sched: @KEL, @TRI, @SEA
Seattle's remaining sched: @SPO, vs EVT, @POR
Prince George's remaining sched: @KAM, vs KAM

Looking at the schedules, I think it's a decent possibility that for the 2nd time in WHL history we could be looking at a one-game playoff for the final playoff spot.

6. Edmonton, Portland, and Tri-City for #1 overall in the league:

This is one which doesn't mean all that much in the playoffs until May, but could be very valuable then. The order of overall finish will determine who has home ice advantage in that final series, so it's a valuable chip to have in your pocket should you advance that far.

A three team race here, one of whom has 103 points, one of whom has 102 points and one who has 100 points. I think Portland (with 100 points) is probably close to out of the race; they'd need to win their last two and have Edmonton and Tri-City both not get more than 1 point from their last two.

Last night's games

Quick rundown of last night's games and their effects on the playoff races:

 - Red Deer upset Medicine Hat 4-2. The Rebels are already out of the playoffs, but the Tigers loss created a game in hand for the Hitmen which, if they won, would move Calgary ahead of the Tigers into 3rd in the Eastern Conference

 - Saskatoon beat Prince Albert; the Raiders are also out of the playoffs but the Blades win vaulted them from 7th place into 5th place in the tightly-packed Eastern standings. They jumped ahead of Kootenay and Regina, although both the Ice and Pats now have a game in hand on the Blades and could re-pass the Blades just by winning that game.

 - Seattle upset Spokane 3-1. This game was big for the T-Birds' playoff hopes. With the win they are now one point behind the Royals for 8th place and a playoff spot, and they still have a game in hand on the Royals. They're also 2 pts back of Everett for 7th place and have a meeting with Everett still to come on Saturday. For the Chiefs, the loss means they no longer control their own destiny in their race with the Giants for the #4/#5 spots. They now need to win their remaining game in hand on the Giants AND gain one other point on the Giants somehow if they want to host that first round series instead of beginning in Vancouver.

 - lastly but not leastly, Prince George stayed alive with a 5-4 OT win over the Americans. A loss would have eliminated the Cougars from the playoffs, but the win means they still have a chance. A slim, slim chance, but a chance. For the Americans, the loser point extends their lead over the Winterhawks atop the division and conference standings to two points, although Portland does have a game in hand which could erase that lead.

Friday games

The effects of tonight's games on the playoff races....

 - Regina's win over Moose Jaw clinches a playoff spot for the Pats

 - Saskatoon's win over Brandon clinches a playoff spot for the Blades

 - Edmonton's win over Red Deer, combined with that loss by the Warriors, means the Oil Kings have locked up first place overall in the Eastern Conference.

 - Red Deer's loss means the best they can do now is tie Brandon for the last playoff spot and thus play a one-game tiebreaker. I'm still pretty sure that tiebreaker won't be necessary and Red Deer will be mathematically eliminated by the end of the weekend.

 - Tri-City, Kamloops, and Portland all win, so nothing changes in the big race atop the Western standings except that everyone now has one fewer game to play.

 - Victoria won while Everett lost, so the Royals slip back ahead of the Silvertips for 7th in the West.

Wednesday games

Few notes on last night's games and what they meant to the playoff races...

 - pretty much a nightmare scenario for the Red Deer Rebels as three of the four teams they could still catch all won. Only Regina lost. Red Deer is now 10 points back of the last playoff spot and they only have six games to play. Red Deer's playoff chances now amount to having to run their table while hoping either Regina or Saskatoon get only 1 more point at most, or that Brandon gets only 2 pts at most. The fat lady is now waiting in the wings.

 - Kootenay's win over Medicine Hat clinched a postseason berth for the Ice. It also moved them to within three points of the idle Hitmen for 4th place and home ice advantage in the first round.

 - Edmonton's OT win over Moose Jaw extended the Oil Kings' lead over the Warriors to 7 points in the race for first place in the conference. This was kind of a must win for the Warriors so losing ground, even if it was only one point, is a tough one. They need to make up 8 points (since they trail the tiebreaker) with only 5 games remaining. After the fat lady sings for the Rebels' season tomorrow night, she can come serenade the Warriors into the #2 seed.

 - in a funny twist, that Edmonton/Moose Jaw game also resulted in both teams clinching their respective divisions. Edmonton's win, coupled with Medicine Hat's loss, gives the Oil Kings their first ever Central division title. Ditto for the Warriors' loser point coupled with Regina's loss giving the Warriors the Eastern division crown.

 - in the West, the Bartschi-less Winterhawks lost to the Blazers while the Americans beat the Giants in OT. These two results served to bunch up the three teams at the top of the standings even further (only 2 pts separating the three teams now), and also resulted in Portland dropping from the #1 seed down to #3, changing places with the Americans.

 - the bottom four teams (who are scrapping for two playoff spots) also all played each other, with Prince George beating Seattle and Everett beating Victoria. This also bunches these four teams closer together now, with only 5 pts separating the four teams.

Playoff picture

A look at the playoff picture for each team in the league as we enter the final 100 games of the regular season:

(Last updated: after games of Feb 29)

Eastern Conference:

Brandon:
Currently holding down 8th place, 8 points ahead of the 9th place Rebels. The #3 to #8 spots in the conference are so ridiculously tight-packed that the Wheat Kings really could finish anywhere in that range if they go on a little hot streak.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (5): Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina
Away (3): Regina, Regina, Regina

Calgary:
Currently in 4th spot, four points behind Medicine Hat and three points ahead of Kootenay. Have not clinched a playoff spot yet but should in the next few days. Could finish anywhere from 3rd to 8th depending on how they finish the season. 4 of last 8 games are against current non-playoff teams, which could help them. Also play Kootenay three times so there could be a battle for home ice in the playoffs brewing in those three games.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (4): Saskatoon, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Kootenay
Away (4): Kootenay, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Kootenay

Edmonton: 
The Oil Kings have an 8 point lead on Medicine Hat for first place in the Central division, so it seems fairly safe to say they will win the division and one of the top two conference seeds that comes with it. Their competition for #1 in the conference is Moose Jaw, who are 6 points back. That one could be a race to watch.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (4): Swift Current, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Red Deer
Away (4): Red Deer, Kootenay, Medicine Hat, Red Deer

Kootenay:
Currently in 5th place, three points behind Calgary and two points ahead of Saskatoon. As with many of the teams around them, could finish anywhere in the #3 to #8 range depending on how they finish the season. Have a tougher schedule than most of their opponents though, that could work against them.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (4): Calgary, Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Calgary
Away (4): Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Spokane, Calgary

Lethbridge:
The Hurricanes are already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for the third straight season.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (3): Moose Jaw, Calgary, Medicine Hat
Away (5): Brandon, Moose Jaw, Calgary, Red Deer, Medicine Hat

Medicine Hat:
Currently in third place, 8 points behind Edmonton for first (2nd place is reserved for Eastern division champ of course) and 4 points up on Calgary in 4th. Play three of remaining games against non-playoff competition, which could help them stay in a first round home ice situation.

Remaining schedule (7 games):
Home (4): Kootenay, Red Deer, Edmonton, Lethbridge
Away (3): Vancouver, Kootenay, Lethbridge

Moose Jaw:
Trail Edmonton by 6 points for the conference lead. Lead Saskatoon by 11 points in the race for first place in the Eastern division. Seems reasonably certain that they'll win the division. So the race is Edmonton vs Moose Jaw for 1st/2nd seed.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (3): Lethbridge, Regina, Prince Albert
Away (6): Prince Albert, Lethbridge, Edmonton, Regina, Brandon, Prince Albert

Prince Albert:
The Raiders have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years. With a few more losses down the stretch, they could take a run at last overall (currently held by Prince George, five points back of the Raiders) and the best possibility of winning the Mathew Barzal sweepstakes (aka the #1 overall bantam draft pick)

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (4): Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Moose Jaw
Away (5): Regina, Swift Current, Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw

Red Deer:
The 9th place Rebels are the only current non-playoff team in the Eastern Conference who still have a chance to play in the postseason. But it's only a slim chance - they trail 8th place Brandon by 8 points. They do have one game in hand on the Wheat Kings and they would do well to win it. If they can't do that - and even if they can - we're getting into longshot-to-make-the-playoffs territory.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (6): Swift Current, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Edmonton
Away (3): Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat

Regina:
Currently in 7th place, one point behind Saskatoon and one up on Brandon. As with almost everyone else in the playoff picture, anywhere from 3rd to 8th is still realistic for the Pats. A major factor in their favor is that they play 6 of their remaining 8 games at home. That could help them move up a spot or three or four.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (6): Brandon, Prince Albert, Brandon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Brandon
Away (2): Moose Jaw, Brandon

Saskatoon:
Currently in 6th place, two points back of Kootenay and one point ahead of Regina. Also 11 points back of Moose Jaw for the division title and #2 seed, so I don't see that one happening. Blades have a tough schedule remaining, being kicked out of their building for 10 days for the Brier means they play most of their remaining games on the road. They could move up but I think they would also do well just to hold onto the 6th place position they have.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (2): Prince Albert, Swift Current
Away (7): Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Brandon, Brandon, Swift Current

Swift Current:
The Broncos have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They will miss for the second year in a row.

Remaining schedule (7 games):
Home (3): Kootenay, Prince Albert, Saskatoon
Away (4): Red Deer, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Saskatoon


Current Eastern Conference playoff matchups if the season ended today:

#8 Brandon Wheat Kings at #1 Edmonton Oil Kings

#7 Regina Pats at #2 Moose Jaw Warriors

#6 Saskatoon Blades at #3 Medicine Hat Tigers

#5 Kootenay Ice at #4 Calgary Hitmen

Western Conference:

Everett:

Currently in 9th place, one point back of Seattle for the last playoff spot and 3 points back of Victoria for 7th place. Three points ahead of Prince George for last overall. Everett plays Seattle three times and Victoria twice yet, so you can definitely say they have a large portion of control over their fate. Win all those games and they probably make the playoff dance.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (5): Seattle, Tri-City, Victoria, Portland, Victoria
Away (4): Seattle, Kelowna, Tri-City, Seattle

Kamloops:

Currently 2nd in the conference and miles ahead of Vancouver for the B.C. division title, so at least the #2 seed is in the bag here (although not mathematically clinched.....yet). Locked in a battle with Tri-City and Portland for the #1 seed and perhaps #1 overall too, depending on what Edmonton does in the Eastern conference.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (4): Kelowna, Portland, Vancouver, Prince George
Away (4):  Kelowna, Vancouver, Spokane, Prince George

Kelowna:

Currently 6th in the conference and that's where they're going to stay. They are 14 points back of fifth place and 15 points ahead of 7th place, so it's unlikely they'll be moving anywhere in the standings. So they are probably just waiting to face whichever of Tri-City/Portland loses the battle for the U.S. division crown.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (5): Kamloops, Victoria, Prince George, Everett, Vancouver
Away (3): Kamloops, Spokane, Vancouver

Portland:

Currently in the #3 spot and 1 point back of Tri-City for the #1 seed. Have two games left against Tri-City which could go a long ways towards determining who wins that race. Loser will get the #3 seed, nobody is going to fall further than that. It's almost mathematical already.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (3): Seattle, Tri-City, Seattle
Away (6): Tri-City, Kamloops, Everett, Seattle, Victoria, Victoria

Prince George:

Currently dead last overall in the league and yet still only four points out of a playoff spot. How does that work anyway? Play a slightly home-tilted schedule down the stretch here so a nice little winning streak could get them into the postseason.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (5): Spokane, Spokane, Seattle, Seattle, Kamloops
Away (4): Kelowna, Tri-City, Tri-City, Kamloops

Seattle:

Currently 8th in the conference, holding the last playoff spot by one point over Everett and four points over Prince George. Have a somewhat unfavorable schedule the rest of the way compared to the teams chasing them, so they're going to need to take advantage of the chances they have - such as the three games against Everett and two against the Cougars. Win those and they could have some breathing room.

Remaining schedule (10 games):
Home (4): Portland, Everett, Spokane, Everett
Away (6): Everett, Portland, Prince George, Prince George, Spokane, Portland

Spokane:

Currently sit in 5th place and appear destined for a first round matchup with the Vancouver Giants. The Chiefs are 14 points clear of 6th place Kelowna so they're not going to be caught from behind, but only 1 point back of  the Giants so there is some potential to swap places with the Giants and take home ice advantage in the first round series.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (5): Kelowna, Tri-City, Kootenay, Kamloops, Seattle
Away (4): Prince George, Prince George, Seattle, Tri-City

Tri-City:

Currently first in the conference and first overall. Locked in a tight three-way battle with Kamloops and Portland for the top three seeds in the conference (of course Kamloops can not finish below 2nd).

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (5): Portland, Prince George, Prince George, Everett, Spokane
Away (4): Everett, Portland, Vancouver, Spokane

Vancouver:

Giants are in 4th place and, as mentioned under Spokane, appear destined for a first round dance with the Chiefs. The Giants are 15 points back of 3rd place so there isn't going to be anyone catching anyone there. They're also far enough ahead of 6th place that they won't be caught there either. So the only task the Giants have down the stretch is to stay ahead of Spokane and retain home ice advantage for their first round series.

Remaining schedule (9 games):
Home (5): Medicine Hat, Tri-City, Kamloops, Victoria, Kelowna
Away (4): Victoria, Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna

Victoria:

Currently in 7th place, 15 points back of 6th and 2 points up on 8th. The large spread to 6th place suggests they won't get any higher than they are. The challenge for the Royals is to hold onto that playoff spot, with themselves, Seattle, Everett, and Prince George all separated by just 6 points and only two will get into the postseason.

Remaining schedule (8 games):
Home (4): Vancouver, Vancouver, Portland, Portland
Away (4): Everett, Kelowna, Everett, Vancouver

Current Western Conference playoff matchups if the season ended today:

#8 Seattle Thunderbirds at #1 Tri-City Americans

#7 Victoria Royals at #2 Kamloops Blazers

#6 Kelowna Rockets at #3 Portland Winterhawks

#5 Spokane Chiefs at #4 Vancouver Giants

Another James victim comes forward

A surprising development today in a Winnipeg courtroom as another one of Graham James' victims lifted the publication ban on his name. The player is former Swift Current Broncos star Todd Holt, who played for James in the early 90's with the Broncos.

Holt joins Sheldon Kennedy, Theoren Fleury, and Greg Gilhooly as players victimized as teenagers by James, who have found the courage to give names and faces to the horrific crime that is sexual abuse.

Everett hires new G.M.

Funny, looks like I haven't posted since Everett fired Soetart two weeks ago....sorry, it's been busy on some personal fronts here.

Anyway, Everett has hired Soetart's replacement today and the man of the hour is Garry Davidson - formerly (until today) the director of player personnel for the Portland Winterhawks.

Davidson has been credited with a number of the Hawks' recruiting successes lately - their track record in convincing "on-the-fence" type players to choose the WHL over the NCAA has been one of the best in the WHL over the last few years. One wonders what negative effects (if any) his departure (to a division rival to boot) will have on the Winterhawks, as well as whether this means we can anticipate Everett landing some more of those higher-risk picks now too.

Soetart out in Everett

The Everett Silvertips pulled a bit of a surprising move yesterday by firing G.M. Doug Soetart. The dismissal of Soetart itself is not all that surprising to me, but the timing of the move is.

I don't think anyone who looks at the team's recent performance could be surprised that this was Soetart's final year in Everett. The team is currently dead last overall in the WHL and has won one playoff series in the last five years - and zero in the last four years. There's also some high-profile misfires on his record, like the use of a high 2009 first round bantam pick on Seth Jones, who appears not to be headed for the WHL. I mean, how good would Reid Gow or (especially) Eric Roy, the next two defencemen picked in that draft after Jones, look on Everett's roster right now?

Soetart was in the last year of his contract and that alone, in the absence of talks about an extension, usually gives an indication that somebody may be on thin ice. So this really can't be too much of a surprise.

The timing though: why now? The trade deadline having passed, there is very little that a new G.M. coming in right now can do for the remainder of the year. From here though the end of the season, the hockey-related duties of a G.M. probably amount to monitoring/recruiting prospects and preparing for the bantam draft. So why now? Has the working relationship between Soetart and his bosses become so uncomfortable that the best solution is for him to not be there any longer? Were his bosses that unhappy that 3 weeks ago he declined to trade stars like Ryan Murray and Kent Simpson and now risks losing them for nothing next year?

Questions, questions.

NCAA vs CHL, again

Read an interesting blog this morning from the Minneapolis StarTribune site - a tip of the hat to Gregg Drinnan's blog for pointing me to it. If you're interested in the CHL vs NCAA recruiting battle, I highly encourage you to read North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol's comments for yourself.

Basically Hakstol is unhappy about having lost two prized UND recruits to the CHL in the last six months - forward J.T. Miller to the OHL last summer and then Stefan Matteau to the QMJHL two weeks ago. So unhappy, that Hakstol actually suggested that the NCAA may need to change its rules to allow ex-CHL players to play NCAA hockey.

This position probably amounts to treason among the "CHL is pro hockey" faction of the NCAA fanbase, who like to cling to the cute notion that their exchanging tens of thousands of dollars in free education in exchange for a young hockey player's services is somehow morally superior and less "professional" than the CHL clubs who offer monthly stipends of a few hundred dollars (plus an equivalent, optional, scholarship package) for the same services.

But, it is refreshing to see at least one person in a prominent position inside NCAA hockey and its member clubs sees the possible bigger picture here which offers benefits to everyone - ESPECIALLY the players themselves, who are what everyone should be mainly concerned about.

I've been over this many times before, but if the NCAA could only see its way clear to dropping this ridiculous "professional" designation it attaches to players who play even one game in the CHL (or even those who just sign an education contract but never play in the league!), everyone would win.

The CHL leagues would win because ALL of the best players would then head to the CHL. Many of them would stay, strengthening the CHL's product.

The NCAA would win because there will be players who sample the CHL's offerings for a year or two or three and decide it's not for them. Or maybe they decide that the NHL dream isn't going to work out for them and a four year degree from an NCAA school sounds pretty good instead. (Of course, the CHL scholarship program offers them four or five years of paid schooling after their CHL days are over too, but maybe they don't want to wait 'til they're 20 or 21 to get started on that. Who knows?). So the NCAA would get these players - some/many of whom they would have gotten ANYWAY - only they will be better players for having spent a year or two playing at the higher level of the CHL instead of in Junior A.

Yes, the NCAA will almost certainly lose most of the biggest and brightest stars that it currently attracts. Those players will play in the CHL, become high NHL draft picks, sign NHL contracts and never play in the NCAA. So I can see why this path has some obvious unappealing features for NCAA schools and their fans. The tradeoff for landing few of those "five star" players though is access to a much larger group of four star and three star players that they currently do not have.

I firmly believe that if they would just permit kids to play major junior up to the point where they graduate from high school (since they're not even able to attend university until then anyway) and THEN have the player make his choice which way to go, that everyone benefits. No more pressuring from all sides of 15, 16 year old kids to make these life-altering decisions.