Playoff Picture: Trio of clubs punch ticket to postseason

The playoff picture now counts 18 teams after another three clubs clinched on Friday.

Kitchener Rangers

The Kitchener Rangers will play into the spring after Friday’s 4-3 win over the Erie Otters clinched the team its sixth consecutive playoff berth.

Sitting second in the OHL’s Midwest Division with a 35-14-5-2 record and 77 points, the Rangers are headlined by co-captain and Dallas Stars prospect Riley Damiani, who leads the squad with 72 points counting 25 goals and 47 assists in 55 games. Damiani is one of six NHL drafted prospects on the Rangers, a list that also includes forwards Greg Meireles and Serron Noel, both draft choices of the Florida Panthers, plus defencemen Axel Bergkvist (Arizona Coyotes) and Michael Vukojevic (New Jersey Devils), as well as goaltender Jacob Ingham (Los Angeles Kings).

Four-time J. Ross Robertson Cup champions, the Rangers return to the postseason looking to build on last spring’s showing where the club fell in the opening round in a four-game set versus the rival Guelph Storm.

Medicine Hat Tigers

For the 17th time in the past 18 seasons, the Tigers have advanced to the postseason thanks to a 4-2 win over the Tri-City Americans on Friday that punched the club’s ticket to the dance.

With 235 goals on the season, the Tigers are the one of the WHL’s most offensively dangerous squads led by veteran centre James Hamblin who sits tied for second in league scoring with 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points through 56 appearances. Joining Hamblin up front are other key contributors like fourth-year forwards Brett Kemp and Ryan Chyzowski plus rookie centre Cole Sillinger whose 46 points rank third among all WHL freshmen. Between the pipes, Medicine Hat is backstopped by Ottawa Senators prospect Mads Sogaard, who has shined with a 17-12-1-1 showing on the season.

Sitting third in the WHL’s Central Division with a 35-18-2-1 record and 73 points, the Tigers will play into the spring looking to build on last year’s showing that saw the club fall in six games in the opening round to the rival Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Tigers are five-time Ed Chynoweth Cup champions, having last won it all in 2007.

Prince Albert Raiders

After coming just short of WHL supremacy last season, the Prince Albert Raiders will look to write a different ending in this year’s playoffs.

Returning to the postseason after the rival Regina Pats fell in defeat to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, the result clinched the Raiders their fourth playoff berth in the past five years. Led by key returnees like 70-point scorer Aliaksei Protas, the Washington Capitals prospect is joined by top-end draft eligibles like Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt, both of whom are slated for early selection in the coming NHL Draft, and are among the key contributors that have helped the Raiders rank first in the WHL’s East Division with a 31-16-5-4 showing and 71 points as the schedule approaches March.

Should the Raiders capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup this spring, it will mark the first time a WHL club has won back-to-back championships since the Kamloops Blazers in 1994 and 1995.

Playoff Picture Clinching Timeline
Feb. 2 – Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
Feb. 3 – Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Feb. 4 – Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Feb. 11 – Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Feb. 12 – Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
Feb. 13 – Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL), Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
Feb. 14 – Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Feb. 15 – Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL), Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Feb. 16 – Peterborough Petes (OHL)
Feb. 17 – Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Feb. 19 – Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Feb. 20 – London Knights (OHL), Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Feb. 21  – Kitchener Rangers (OHL), Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL), Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)