CHL Playoff Primer
By Aaron Bell
When you see the tremendous success that Nathan MacKinnon is enjoying as a National Hockey League rookie with the Colorado Avalanche, you’d assume that the junior team that lost him a year early would be suffering.
You’d be assuming wrong.
The Halifax Mooseheads would love to have their star graduate in the lineup these days but heading into the Canadian Hockey League playoffs, the defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champions are doing just fine.
The Mooseheads wrapped up the regular season with 47 wins and 97 points to finish two points behind the Baie-Comeau Drakkar but they closed out the season with 13 straight wins and clearly come into the playoffs as the hottest team in the country.
They wrapped up the regular season with an 8-6 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday and believe that they closed out the season in a perfect way to get ready for the playoffs.
Jonathan Drouin picked up seven points in that game (including a team record six assists) and finished the season in third place in the QMJHL scoring race with 29 goals and 108 points despite playing just 46 games this season. He is one of three finalists for the QMJHL MVP award, which he won last season.
“It’s a good way to get ready for the playoffs,” Drouin told the Halifax Chronicle Herald after helping the Mooseheads score five times in the third period. “Cape Breton didn’t give up, obviously. They scored five in the second and (created) adversity on our part.”
QMJHL teams have won three straight MasterCard Memorial Cup titles and the Mooseheads are looking to keep that streak alive when the championship heads to London, Ontario in May.
They open their championship defence at home on Friday against the Charlottetown Islanders at 7:00 pm Eastern on Sportsnet.
In other first round QMJHL match-ups, the first place Drakkar also open up the post season on Friday against the Shawinigan Cataractes while the Val-d’Or Foreurs face the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, the Rimouski Oceanic meet the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada face the Moncton Wildcats, the Drummondville Voltigeurs face the Victoriaville Tigres, the Quebec Remparts play the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Gatineau Olympiques face the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
In the Western Hockey League, the Kelowna Rockets wrapped up the regular season title with 57 wins and 118 points to finish five points head of the Portland Winterhawks. The Rockets open the playoffs against the Tri City Americans while the Winterhawks drew the Vancouver Giants in the first round.
The Rockets received the Scotty Munro Trophy from WHL Commissioner Ron Robison on Saturday but are clearly more interested in playoff success.
“It’s obviously special to get that and we’re all honoured, but we all know what the real trophy is,” Rockets’ captain Madison Bowey told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “We’re just going to flip the page now and go for that. All these wins really mean nothing and we’re just ready to hopefully have a long (playoff) run now.”
The Victoria Royals meet the Spokane Chiefs and the Seattle Thunderbirds face the red hot Everett Silvertips, winners of 11 of their final 13 games, in the other Western Conference match-ups. In the Eastern Conference, the Edmonton Oil Kings face the Prince Albert Raiders who edged the Red Deer Rebels in a Tie-Breaker Game on Tuesday to claim the eighth and final spot ,the Regina Pats face the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Calgary Hitmen oppose the Kootenay Ice and the Medicine Hat Tigers meet up against the Swift Current Broncos.
In the Ontario Hockey League, the Guelph Storm finished first overall, two points ahead of the Erie Otters, but the Otters closed out the regular season with eight straight wins and are also gunning for the league championship. The Storm face the Plymouth Whalers in the first round of the playoffs while the Otters face the Saginaw Spirit.
Despite finishing 45 points and 24 wins ahead of the Whalers in the regular season, Storm coach Scott Walker isn’t taking anything for granted in their first round match-up that starts on Friday in Guelph.
“We’ve got to be ready and we’ve got to be playing our best,” Walker told the Guelph Mercury. “I hope the guys realize that. It’s definitely going to be a tough series.”
In the OHL’s other Western Conference match-ups, the Soo Greyhounds face the Owen Sound Attack and the MasterCard Memorial Cup host London Knights open their quest for three straight OHL championships against the Windsor Spitfires.
In the Eastern Conference, the Oshawa Generals finished first and meet the Mississauga Steelheads. The relocated North Bay Battalion meet up against the Niagara IceDogs while the Kingston Frontenacs play the Peterborough Petes and the Barrie Colts face the Sudbury Wolves.
You can follow all of the CHL playoffs online at www.chl.ca.