WHL FINALS BEGIN IN OREGON & ROYALS DRAFT RECAP
If not for the 2013 Bantam Draft, it’s easy for me to forget that I started my day in Calgary Thursday! Such a long day by the time we got down to Portland, but we have arrived and Shaw TV is set to bring you games one and two of the WHL Final from the Rose Garden in Portland. This is a rematch of the tremendous seven game series the Winterhawks and Edmonton Oil Kings had last year and is the first back-to-back final in the WHL since the New Westminster Bruins defeated the Saskatoon Blades in 1975 and 1976.
Portland goes into the series as the favourite and a big reason is their defence. Edmonton’s is deep, but the Winterhawks have more world class players on the back-end in their top four. It’s led by WHL Rookie of the Year Seth Jones, who may very well be in a Colorado Avalanche jersey next season if the Avs decide to take Jones with the first overall pick in the NHL draft in June. My colleague Peter Loubardias said Thursday night around dinner that Jones had a presence about him when he arrived on the awards’ stage that he hasn’t seen from too many young men. Jones has five goals and 13 points in the playoffs, three fewer than teammate Derrick Pouliot, who leads all blue-liners with 16 points. Troy Rutkowski is fourth in D points with 11 and Tyler Wotherspoon, who played for Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Russia, is a tremendous defensive player.
The Winterhawks were the best defensive team in the Western Conference during the regular season, with 169 goals allowed. That was second fewest in the WHL, behind the team they are about to face. The previous two seasons they were fourth and fifth, respectively, in goals allowed in the conference and middle of the pack in the entire league. Out of the last three seasons, the Winterhawks had not only their best offensive output by a mile in 2012-13 with 334 goals, but it was easily their best defensive season, too.
Now having said that, the reigning champs have been pretty solid in their own zone, as well. In fact, Edmonton has played one more game but have allowed one less goal than the Winterhawks. Laurent Brossoit, last year’s playoff MVP, has been (red) lights out in net, with a playoff-best 1.58 goals against average and five shut-outs. He had two blank sheets in the 2012 playoffs. The Oil Kings got great mileage out of Ashton Sautner in round 3 against Calgary, who was a healthy scratch in game one, then went on to score three goals and four points and posted a +5 in six games. Martin Gernat was an offensive threat, especially on the power play, with seven points in the seven game series. But no Griffin Reinhart for Edmonton, who has a torn tendon his his foot, which was cut in game 3 against the Hitmen. That is such a big loss for the Oil Kings, who will likely see a different pace as they face Portland and their stars like Ty Rattie, Brendan Leipsic and Nic Petan. Rattie leads the playoffs with 31 points, with a WHL-high 15 goals.
I don’t believe a seven game series is going to be that much of a down side for the Oil Kings, since they played Tuesday and have been in Portland since Wednesday. The Winterhawks have been off for a full week after their five game win over Kamloops and it often seems teams don’t fare as well with the longer break these days than in the past. Although no Trevor Cheek for Edmonton could be a problem for them as well. He’s questionable after an injury he suffered in the fifth game against Calgary and is among the top point producers for the Oil Kings with 16 points in 15 games.
One thing you can take to the bank is the fact there will be no feeling out process like there was in game 1 last year in Edmonton. These teams met in a spirited affair February 27 in Portland, with the Oil Kings coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3. This has the potential for another fantastic series for the right to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup and a trip to Saskatoon for the MasterCard Memorial Cup.
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It’s fun to be a part of the WHL Bantam Draft, and many thanks to Tyler Boldt of the WHL, who is the Director of Recruitment, for his knowledge on the players selected in the first round. I got to say, it is uncomfortable talking at a normal broadcast level when the room is fairly quiet and surrounded by the teams and they really don’t want to hear what you’re talking about. Poor Peter Loubardias was stationed between two teams, literally an arms length away from them. But hey, the show goes on.
Not surprisingly, Tyler Benson of Edmonton, who broke Ty Rattie’s Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League record for points with 146, went first overall to the Vancouver Giants. Benson helped lead the South Side Athletic Club in Edmonton to a Western Canadian Bantam Championship title. Although Benson was thought to be the first pick for a long time prior to the draft, I heard quite a few people at the WHL events in Calgary say Sam Steel, a forward from Sherwood Park, AB, could challenge for that top pick. Steel went second to the Regina Pats. Shocking to find out that it had been 12 years since a player from Alberta had been taken first overall. Kyle Chipchura was the last by Prince Albert in 2001.
The Brandon Wheat Kings had the highlight of the first round. Not only did they get Winnipeg forward Nolan Patrick with the fourth pick, but they traded soon-to-be 20-year-old goaltender Corbin Boes and their first round pick to Lethbridge (17th) for the Hurricanes sixth overall selection, which they used on defenceman Kale Clague from Sherwood Park, who played in Lloydminster, AB. Patrick averaged over three points a game during the season for the Winnipeg Hawks and tied for the scoring lead of the Western Canadian Bantam Championship with 12 points in six games, while Clague broke Dion Phaneuf’s record for points by a defenceman in the AMBHL with 77. The Wheat may have got two franchise players for the price of an overage goaltender. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon did another terrific job.
Well the guy that tied Patrick in points at the WCBHC in Kindersley was Dante Hannoun, who ended up as the 11th overall pick by the Victoria Royals. The Royals got a player that lit up the Pacific Coast Bantam League, with 69 goals and 164 points in 68 games, and helped take the North Shore Winter Club to the final game of the WCBHC. Although not a big guy at 5’5″ and 140 pounds, Hannoun’s not afraid to get into a physical battle and Royals’ Director of Player Personnel Grant Armstrong told Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist that “Hannoun plays big because of his great ice vision.”
For more on what the Royals’ accomplished at the draft, that article is here.