2024 Road to Memorial Cup: WHL Round 3 preview
The third round of the WHL Playoffs get underway tonight with a pair of scintillating Conference Finals on hand.
In the East, the no. 1 seeded Blades will faceoff against their Saskatchewan rivals Moose Jaw while in the West, the top two seeds meet as Prince George and Portland get set to clash.
Eastern Conference
(1) Saskatoon vs. (3) Moose Jaw
Saskatoon made quick work of Red Deer in Round 2 as they completed a four-game sweep.
After winning the first two games on home ice – the latter courtesy of a Ben Saunderson OT winner – the Blades took Game 3 8-5. They finished the series off with a 7-0 win in Game 4.
Brandon Lisowsky (TOR) had eight points in the series while Evan Gardner registered a 1.55 GAA in three starts that included a 26-save shutout in Game 4.
Egor Sidorov (ANA) leads the WHL in postseason goals with 10 while his 14 points are tied seventh in scoring. Moreso, the Blades’ 42 postseason goals – in just nine games – are tied second most in the league. Gardner’s 1.66 GAA is tops among all qualified WHL netminders.
Saskatoon eliminated Prince Albert in five games in the first round.
For their storied history, the Blades have yet to win a WHL championship but have finished as runners-up five times (1973, 1975, 1976, 1992, 1994). This season marks their second straight appearance in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series.
They will battle a Moose Jaw side that scored goals for fun in its five-game series with Swift Current.
The Warriors dropped Game 1 7-2 but then tallied 23 goals over the next four games to take the series. Denton Mateychuk (CBJ) had an incredible 12 points in the series while Jagger Firkus (SEA) scored seven times – that included a Game 5 hat-trick – and had 11 points. Brayden Yager (PIT) also recorded double-digit points in the series.
Moose Jaw’s 47 goals are the most among all CHL clubs this postseason while Mateychuk and Firkus sit one-two in CHL postseason scoring with 19 and 18 points respectively.
In the first round, Moose Jaw swept Brandon.
This year marks the Warriors’ first Eastern Conference Championship Series appearance since 2012. The club are still without a WHL title however; they lost in the finals in 2006 to Vancouver in their closest effort.
Series schedule:
Game 1 — April 25 — MJ @ SAS — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 2 — April 26 — MJ @ SAS — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 3 — April 29 — SAS @ MJ — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 4 — April 30 — SAS @ MJ — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 5* — May 2 — MJ @ SAS — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 6* — May 4 — SAS @ MJ — 4pm ET / 1pm PT
Game 7* — May 7 — MJ @ SAS — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
*if necessary
Western Conference
(1) Prince George vs. (2) Portland
The Cougars are into the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2007 after a five-game series win over Kelowna.
Joshua Ravensbergen recorded back-to-back shutouts to open the series before Matteo Danis had the overtime winner in Game 3. Despite a 2-1 loss in Game 4, the Cougars closed the series out with a 6-3 victory in Game 5.
Riley Heidt (MIN) had nine points (three goals) while Zac Funk had a Game 5 hat-trick as part of his seven-point series. Ravensbergen had a 1.49 GAA in the series alongside a .942 save percentage.
Heidt’s 16 points leads all Cougars skaters in the postseason while Funk sits a point behind. Ravensbergen’s 1.85 GAA is the second best among WHL goaltenders but he owns the best save percentage of goalies to play in at least three games at .931.
Prince George swept Spokane in the opening round.
The Cougars have yet to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup but with an appearance in the Western Conference Championship Series, they have matched their deepest postseason run.
Portland exploded past their U.S. Division rivals Portland with a four-game sweep.
The Winterhawks scored 23 goals in the series that included an 8-2 Game 1 win. In Game 3 they erased a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime thanks to Carter Sotheran (PHI) while in Game 4, Jan Spunar recorded a 27-save shutout.
Spunar registered a .954 save percentage in the series while Tyson Jugnauth (SEA) led the offence from the blue line with eight points (four goals).
James Stefan (EDM) leads the Hawks in postseason scoring with 13 points while Gabe Klassen, Luca Cagnoni (SJ) and Nate Danielson (DET) have all reached double digits themselves. Their 42 team goals are tied for the second most in the WHL throughout the playoffs thus far.
Alongside Ravensbergen, Spunar owns the best save percentage in the WHL at .931 this postseason while Portland’s 16 goals against are the fewest in the league.
Portland swept Victoria 4-0 in the first round.
A perennial contender, the Winterhawks haven’t lifted the Ed Chynoweth Cup since 2013 while they also hoisted the trophy in 1982 and 1998. On the other hand, no WHL club has suffered more heartbreak than the Winterhawks as their nine WHL Championship Series defeats are the most in league history.
Series schedule:
Game 1 — April 26 — POR @ PG — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Game 2 — April 27 — POR @ PG — 9pm ET / 6pm PT
Game 3 — April 29 — PG @ POR — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Game 4 — May 1 — PG @ POR — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Game 5* — May 2 — PG @ POR — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Game 6* — May 6 — POR @ PG — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
Game 7* — May 7 — POR @ PG — 10pm ET / 7pm PT
*if necessary
Watch live on CHL TV
Available to fans from coast to coast, CHL TV is accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca. Each year, CHL TV offers access to more than 2,000 regular-season games covering the CHL’s three Member Leagues and 60 markets across Canada and the United States. Fans can download the free CHL app via the App Store and Google Play.
