Spokane Chiefs punch ticket to 2025 WHL Playoffs

The Spokane Chiefs have become the second Western Conference team to clinch a berth in the 2025 WHL Playoffs.

Spokane solidified its spot with a 4-2 win over the persistent Kamloops Blazers on Monday, February 17.

Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall scored twice- including the game-winner- to punch Spokane’s ticket and maintain his lead in the WHL scoring race.

Cristall was the centrepiece of one of the biggest moves of the 2025 WHL Trade Deadline.

The 20-year-old is in the midst of his second 100-plus point WHL season with 39 goals and 64 assists on the season and has been named WHL Player of the Month for November in addition to three Tempo WHL Player of the Week wins.

He forms a third of one of the league’s most potent lines with Chiefs Captain and 2024 Seattle Kraken eighth-overall pick Berkly Catton and veteran Shea Van Olm

Catton is striving to hit a new level in the postseason after racking up 90 points (31G-59A) in the regular season and surpassing 100 career goals and 150 career points.

Spokane has also cemented itself among the stingiest teams in the league with only 162 goals against.

NHL prospects Saige Weinstein (Colorado Avalanche), Will McIsaac (St. Louis Blues) and Nathan Mayes (Toronto Maple Leafs) have locked down the blueline, while rearguard Brayden Crampton has popped off for a second-straight 50-point season.

Between the pipes, Dawson Cowan has been among the class of the league with a 28-12-0-1 record, a 2.66 goals-against average, and a .908 save percentage.

The 6-foot-2, 188-pound netminder leads all WHL goaltenders with 28 wins and four shutouts while sitting second among all starting goaltenders in goals against average and fourth in save percentage.

This marks the second consecutive season Spokane has qualified for the playoffs after coming in as the eighth seed in the Western Conference in 2024.

The Chiefs have previously captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 1991 and 2008 and won the Memorial Cup in both of its appearances at the prestigious tournament.

Both rosters featured future NHL stars like 1991 Player of the Year Ray Whitney, 1991 WHL Top Scorer and Memorial Cup MVP Pat Falloon and 2008 Memorial Cup MVP and Top Goaltender Dustin Tokarski and two-time Stanley Cup Champion Tyler Johnson.

Spokane’s hunt for a third Championship begins this spring.

The WHL’s regular season is set to conclude on March 23, 2025, with the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs scheduled to kick off on Friday, March 28.