THE ROAD TO THE 2011 WHL PLAYOFFS

Calgary, AB – The 2010-11 Western Hockey League regular season is in its stretch run, with just a couple of weeks remaining in the 2010-11 regular season.  Plenty is left to be decided as to who will be playing post-season hockey this spring.

So far, nine teams have clinched playoff berths, with five Husky Eastern Conference clubs and four Kal Tire Western Conference outfits having guaranteed themselves post-season hockey.

This season, the WHL’s Eastern and Western Conferences will use a Conference playoff format.

The first place teams in the two Divisions in each Conference will receive the top two playoff seeds based on regular season points. The next six Clubs in each Conference, based on regular season points, will receive the 3rd – 8th playoff positions. The Clubs will be paired 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5 in a best-of-seven series.

The first place Clubs in each Division will be guaranteed the top two playoff seeds in the first round. As in previous seasons, the format for the remaining three rounds of the WHL Playoffs will remain the same. The four Clubs winning first round series in each Conference will advance to the second round, where they will be ranked in order of regular season points. The Clubs will be paired 1 vs. 4, and 2 vs. 3 in best of seven series.

The two Clubs winning the second round series in each Conference will advance to the third round (WHL Conference Championships), where they will be ranked in order of regular season points. The Clubs will be paired 1 vs. 2 in a best of seven series.

The Eastern and Western Conference Champions will advance to the best of seven WHL Championship Series, with the Club having the most regular season points receiving home ice advantage

 

HUSKY EASTERN CONFERENCE

X denotes clinched playoff spot, *denoted Division leader

1) Saskatoon Blades* X             51-13-0-2,    104pts,  6 games remaining

2) Red Deer Rebels* X               43-16-3-4,    93pts,  6 games remaining

3) Medicine Hat Tigers X            41-17-4-4,    90pts,  6 games remaining

4) Kootenay Ice X                      41-21-1-3,    86pts,  6 games remaining

5) Moose Jaw Warriors X           36-24-2-3,    77pts,  7 games remaining

6) Edmonton Oil Kings             30-30-2-5,    67pts,  5 games remaining

7) Brandon Wheat Kings            29-30-1-7,    66pts,  5 games remaining

8) Prince Albert Raiders             26-35-2-3,    57pts,  6 games remaining

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9) Lethbridge Hurricanes            22-31-5-8,    57pts,  6 games remaining

10) Regina Pats                         23-35-6-2,    54pts,  6 games remaining

11) Swift Current Broncos          25-40-0-1,    51pts,  6 games remaining

12) Calgary Hitmen                    19-41-3-2,    43pts,  7 games remaining

 

The Saskatoon Blades, Red Deer Rebels, Medicine Hat Tigers, Kootenay Ice and Moose Jaw Warriors have all locked up playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, meaning playoff hockey is a guarantee for those Clubs.

The Blades have already been crowned East Division champions, and hold a commanding 11-point lead over Red Deer and Portland for first place in the overall WHL standings.  The Blades can lock up first place overall and capture the Scotty Munro Memorial trophy with one more point gained or one dropped point by the Rebels and Winterhawks.

The Red Deer Rebels saw their Central Division lead cut to three points over the Medicine Hat Tigers.  Both teams still have six games remaining on their schedules with one head-to-head meeting remaining – Friday night in Medicine Hat.  The Tigers play four of their last six games at home, and play four games against teams among the bottom five in the Eastern Conference.  The Rebels play four of their final six games on the road.

The Kootenay Ice find themselves firmly in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but sit four points back of Medicine Hat and seven back of Red Deer in the race for first place in the Central Division.  Any combination of wins and Moose Jaw losses totaling 3 will guarantee Kootenay home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Warriors are entrenched in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and will likely remain there.  The Warriors travel to Cranbrook on Tuesday for a meeting with Kootenay in what could be a preview of a first-round playoff match-up.

The Edmonton Oil Kings hold a one-point lead over the Brandon Wheat Kings for sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, with both teams having five remaining games on their schedules.  The Oil Kings can clinch a playoff spot with any combination of points gained and points dropped by Prince Albert and Lethbridge totaling 3, while the Wheaties will ensure a playoff berth with a combination of wins and losses by the Raiders and ‘Canes totaling 2.

The Prince Albert Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes remain tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with both Clubs having six games yet to play.  Four of the Hurricanes’ last six games are versus teams in the top five in the Eastern Conference, while the Raiders play four of their final six games versus teams below them in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Regina Pats find themselves three points back of the Raiders and ‘Canes for a share of eighth place in the conference, and also have six remaining games.  The Pats play the Raiders once more this season, but also face Saskatoon and Moose Jaw twice more each, making for a difficult stretch run.

The Broncos find themselves six points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and have six more games to make up that ground.  The Broncos host 12^th-placed Calgary on Wednesday, but face a pair of difficult road games versus Kootenay and Red Deer on the weekend.

The Calgary Hitmen find themselves in 12^th place in the Eastern Conference after three straight years as the East’s top team, and currently sit 14 points back in the race for a playoff berth.  Calgary will be eliminated from playoff contention if they drop one more point or if Prince Albert or Lethbridge gain one more point.

 

KAL TIRE WESTERN CONFERENCE

1) Portland Winterhawks X         45-18-0-3,    93pts,  6 games remaining

2) Kelowna Rockets* X              38-26-0-1,    77pts,  7 games remaining

3) Spokane Chiefs* X                42-17-4-2,    90pts,  7 games remaining

4) Tri-City Americans X              39-21-2-2,    82pts,  8 games remaining

5) Vancouver Giants                  33-27-1-4,    71pts,  7 games remaining

6) Chilliwack Bruins                    30-30-2-3,    65pts,  7 games remaining

7) Everett Silvertips                   27-27-7-4,    65pts,  7 games remaining

8) Prince George Cougars          29-33-2-2,    62pts,  6 games remaining

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9) Kamloops Blazers                 29-34-3-1,    62pts,  5 games remaining

10) Seattle Thunderbirds            25-32-4-5,    59pts,  6 games remaining

 

The Portland Winterhawks, Spokane Chiefs, Kelowna Rockets and Tri-City Americans have all locked up playoff berths, meaning they are assured post-season hockey.

The Winterhawks currently sit three points ahead of Spokane for first place in the U.S. Division and Western Conference, but the Chiefs hold a game in hand on the Hawks.  The Winterhawks are in Everett next weekend for a pair of games versus the Silvertips.  The Chiefs kick off a five-game home stand versus Everett on Tuesday, but face tough tests on the weekend with visits from Tri-Cities and Kootenay.  The Chiefs and Hawks meet up on the final day of regular-season play.

The Kelowna Rockets find themselves six points clear of the Vancouver Giants for the B.C. Division lead, with both teams having seven games left to play.  The Rockets host the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday before a big home-and-home series versus Kamloops next weekend.

The Giants fell off the pace for first place in the B.C. Division after losing three straight games this past week.  The Giants can clinch a playoff spot with one more win or a loss by Kamloops.

The Chilliwack Bruins surged up the standings in the Western Conference on the back of their current five-game win streak, and now sit tied on points with Everett for sixth place in the Conference.  The Bruins are on the road for four of their final seven games.

The Silvertips suffered a pair of overtime losses this week, stretching their losing skid to four games.  However, they gained two points from the O/T setbacks to keep them in a playoff spot.  The Silvertips play five of their last seven games on the road, and also face the Western Conference-leading Portland Winterhawks three more times.

The Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers remain tied on points for the final playoff spot in the Conference after both teams failed to pick up wins on the weekend.  The Cougars hold a game in hand on the Blazers.  The teams meet up for a home-and-home series on the final weekend of the regular season.

The Seattle Thunderbirds won two of their three contests in the last week to close to within three points of the Cougars and Blazers for the final playoff spot in the Conference.  The T-Birds will host the Cougars next Saturday, but play their final four contests versus the top four teams in the Western Conference.

 

BOB CLARKE TROPHY RACE

1. Linden Vey, M.H.                   64gp-42g-68a-110pts

2. Tyler Johnson, SPO               64gp-48g-58a-106pts

3. Mark Stone, BRN                   66gp-35g-63a-98pts

4. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, R.D.    63gp-23g-67a-90pts

5. Brendan Gallagher, VAN        63gp-43g-45a-88pts

 

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