Final Eight Become Frozen Four In The WHL Playoffs

This weekend ended the dreams for four teams vying to make it to the WHL final and an eventual spot in the Memorial Cup Tournament. In the end, the four teams comprising the Eastern and Western Conferences were the elite teams overall in the league.

The Eastern Division saw the Regina Pats sneak out one game, but two subsequent overtime wins gave the Brandon Wheat Kings the series in five games. Brandon took the first two games in Brandon rather easily, but it was close from there out as the scores of 3-2 repeated over the next three games. Regina struggled to put the Scotty Munro champions on their heels, but the Wheat Kings would not be denied. After being out in the first two rounds since 2010, the Wheat Kings are making their toughest stance for a berth in the WHL Final.

In the Central Division, another tough battle ensued as the Calgary Hitmen took the Central Division title during the regular season and did the same against the Medicine Hat Tigers. It was another one of those close series as three of the five games went to overtime, the other two very close behind. Calgary was out in the first round last season, third round the season before and first round three seasons ago. With a new coach coming in this season, the Hitmen are poised to give it their best shot and will have to against a very tough Brandon Wheat Kings franchise.

With Calgary goaltender Brendan Burke sidelined since the seventh game of the Kootenay Ice series, the weight has fallen to Mack Shields. Jordan Papirny has been outstanding for the Wheat Kings as he has started every game. Scoring strengths fall to Adam Tambellini, Travis Sandheim, Connor Rankin and Jake Virtanen for Calgary while Brandon counters with Peter and John Quenneville, Jayce Hawryluk and Tim McGauley. Calgary competed in high scoring games, while Brandon balanced its low scoring and low goals against average to counter.

The BC Division was handily won by the Kelowna Rockets and they have proven their savvy in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Their match with Victoria Royals saw just one hiccup to a sweep as they lost in game four to the Royals in Victoria which forced a game five in Kelowna. In that game, Kelowna pounced early and often and handed the Royals a 7-3 loss as they captured their spot in the final four and will meet the winner of the US Division series which will be the meeting that has occurred three consecutive times.

The US Division saw the Everett Silvertips win the regular season US Division and walked through the Spokane Chiefs in the first round. The second round would prove to be much tougher. The Portland Winterhawks took six games to get past the Seattle Thunderbirds and settled in for a battle with Everett for round two. The first game was pretty much all Everett as the Hawks would lose 5-3, but would claim the next four games, including two overtime games. It was game five in Everett that sealed the deal for Portland as they took a one goal lead into the third period through the power of two goals by Oliver Bjorkstrand and with heroics by goaltender Adin Hill and players constantly blocking shots, the Winterhawks upset the US Division regular season champions in just five games.

The Winterhawks now move into the Western Conference Championship round for the fifth consecutive year. The Winterhawks are the only team from last year’s final four to repeat. In an ironic situation, it is the Kelowna Rockets who will oppose the Winterhawks for the third consecutive year and second in the final four. The Winterhawks have won all series against Kelowna in that time, but find themselves the underdog for the first time in the playoffs against the Rockets. The Rockets were second only to the Brandon Wheat Kings for the Scotty Munro championship and shut out the Hawks in their first meeting of the regular season, but Portland won the next three including two in Kelowna.

Since that time, Kelowna has added strength up front including Leon Draisaitl, whom they acquired from Prince Albert Raiders when he was being sent down from the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL. Draisaitl was an integral part of Kelowna’s rush to the top of the Conference along with stellar goaltending by Jackson Whistle. Others contributing to the Kelowna success story include Madison Bowey, Tyson Baillie and Nick Merkley who owned heroics in both the Kelowna series thus far. Portland counters with arguably the MVP of the WHL playoffs in Oliver Bjorkstand and his setup man Nic Petan. Chase De Leo and powerhouse defenseman Adam Henry round out the top playmakers.

The final four series will start this coming Friday with Calgary visiting Brandon and Portland heading to Kelowna. Brandon will be favored in this series, but the Hitmen show a lot of resilience. I’ll take Calgary in six games with their high potent offense which seems to counter sometimes weak defense.

Kelowna is just 3-12 when facing the Hawks in the last 15 playoff games dating back to 2011, but no mistake, they have a much more determined team. The Hawks are riding a high like no other in close, nail biter games and Adin Hill is on fire. Jackson Whistle is not easy to score on, but Oliver Bjorkstrand finds ways of making the impossible, possible. Is it being a homer to take Portland in six games? I think not, so perhaps a Calgary versus Portland final is one to talk of in the first part of May.

Ice Chips: Portland has the first two games in Kelowna on Friday and Saturday with Tuesday and Wednesday (April 28 & 29) set for the Moda Center. Future games if needed would be Friday, May 1st in Kelowna, Sunday, May 3 in Portland and Tuesday, May 5 in Kelowna.

The Portland Winterhawks Booster Club will be part of the 9th Annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade on Saturday starting from Eastport Plaza SE 82nd and Boise and ending at SE 80th Avenue and Yamhill. The parade starts at 9:30am and is free to attend. Nearly 10,000 people lined the streets to watch the parade.