Western Conference Championship series preview: Spokane Chiefs vs. Portland Winterhawks

For the first time since 2018, the stage is set for an all-U.S. Division Western Conference Championship.

The powerhouse Spokane Chiefs rode key performances from the WHL’s most dangerous line to a six-game win against the Victoria Royals in Round Two, while the Portland Winterhawks pulled off a major upset by knocking off the regular-season champion Everett Silvertips in Game 7.

Spokane and Portland are tied all the highest-scoring teams in the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien with 55 goals each, though Spokane has played three fewer games.

Both squads have also shown they’re capable of battling into the wee hours, with Spokane playing 88:33 of overtime in Round Two, with the Chiefs emerging victorious in all three OT matches.

Portland is right behind with 67:46 of extra hockey played in the postseason and a 2-2 record in those games.

WHL Player of the Year nominees Andrew Cristall (Washington Capitals) and Berkly Catton (Seattle Kraken) are tied for the playoff points lead with 28 points each, with Cristall potting 13 goals and 15 assists and Catton dishing 21 helpers and lighting the lamp seven times. Cristall has yet to be held off the scoresheet in the postseason, while Catton has points in 10 of 12 matches. Along with alternate captain Shea Van Olm, who had five goals and five assists in Round Two alone, the trio form one of the most explosive lines in the league.

The regular season defensive scoring leader, Tyson Jugnauth, has continued his tear to help the Winterhawks reach the Western Conference Championship for a second-straight year.

Jugnauth, another Kraken prospect, is third in the playoff points race with 26 points (3G-23A), while Captain Kyle Chyzowski has carried the torch for his squad with a tremendous 11 goals and 14 helpers for 25 points, which is good for fourth.

Ondrej Stebetak has made a strong case as Portland’s postseason MVP with an astounding 467 saves in 14 games and a .948 save percentage across both Game 7 victories.

Spokane owned a 4-2-0-0 regular-season record against Portland, with the home team winning every game except for one.

Portland holds an all-time record of 8-3 against Spokane in the WHL Playoffs, though the Chiefs most recently prevailed with a five-game victory in the 2019 postseason.

They last met in the Conference Championship in 2011, when Portland won in 6 to reach the Championship round.

The series kicks off on Friday, April 25 at 7:05 p.m. MST at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, before heading west to the Glass Palace for Game 3 on Wednesday, April 30.

Fans can stream the Eastern Conference Championship for free on Victory+.

 

2024-25 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Regular Season Series: Spokane leads 4-2-0-0

November 1, 2024: Portland 2, Spokane 4
November 30, 2024: Portland 1, Spokane 5
December 1, 2024: Portland 3, Spokane 7
December 17, 2024: Spokane 4, Portland 6
January 2, 2025: Spokane 2, Portland 5
February 23, 2025: Spokane 7, Portland 3

GAME BREAKERS

Portland: Kyle Chyzowski doesn’t seem to care much for the underdog label. He’ll let his game do the talking. The 20-year-old is one of three WHL Player of the Year finalists ready to fight for a berth in the WHL Championship Series. Chyzowski is fourth in the playoff points race but is second in goals with 11, highlighted by a hat trick against Everett in Game 4 of their second-round series. He was also Portland’s top scorer against the Chiefs in the regular season with five goals and five assists for 10 points in six games.

Spokane: Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall leads the league in playoff points and goals- in fact, he’s just four points away from tying Jagger Firkus’s 32-point mark from the 2024 WHL Playoffs, which was one of the top WHL Playoffs performances in recent history. Cristall, 20, also leads all skaters with three game-winning goals after potting the overtime winner against Victoria in Game 5 and blowing the roof off the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena with the series-winning snipe in double overtime in Game 6. Cristall totalled five goals and five assists for 10 points in four games (three with Kelowna pre-trade deadline and one with Spokane) against Portland in 2024-25.

GOALTENDING

Portland: Ondrej Stebetak has found a new gear in the postseason. The 2025 NHL Draft-eligible netminder is 8-3-3-0 in the postseason with a 3.53 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage while stopping a whopping 467 shots. Stebetak has made 103 more saves than the second-busiest netminder in the playoffs. Will he be able to withstand Spokane’s top line? The 17-year-old went 2-2-0-0 against the Chiefs in the regular season with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

Spokane: Dawson Cowan found his second-round series temporarily shortened by injury, but bounced back admirably. The Toronto Maple Leafs camp attendee is 8-2-0-0 in the postseason with a 3.14 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage. He’s undefeated in overtime, making 25 saves across five extra frames of play in Round Two. Cowan was kept busy with a 3-2-0-0 record against the Winterhawks in 2024-25, posting a 3.40 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage.

X FACTOR

Portland: Tyson Jugnauth may lead all WHL defencemen in postseason scoring, but Philadelphia Flyers prospect Carter Sotheran is also tearing it up for a formidable one-two punch on the blueline. Sotheran has six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 14 games- that’s the second-most points off all defencemen still in the running for a WHL Championship. The 6-foot-4, 199-pound rearguard is currently on a three-game point streak, including an assist on the Game 7 game-tying and game-winning goals against Everett. He also had a pair of helpers in six meetings against Spokane in the regular season.

Spokane: Defenceman Brayden Crampton has been a generous guy in the postseason with 10 assists to sit fourth on the Chiefs in scoring. The veteran is on a four-game assist streak, including two multipoint performances, and sits fourth among all active defencemen in playoff points. The 6-foot, 173-pound blueliner also served up an impressive nine assists in six regular-season games against the Winterhawks.

2025 WHL PLAYOFFS SERIES SCHEDULE

Game	Visitor		Home	Day	Date	Time
1	Portland	@	Spokane	Friday	April 25	7:05 PT
2	Portland	@	Spokane	Sunday	April 27	5:05 PT
3	Spokane	@	Portland	Wednesday	April 30	7:00 PT
4	Spokane	@	Portland	Thursday	May 1	7:00 PT
5*	Spokane	@	Portland	Saturday	May 3	6:00 PT
6*	Portland	@	Spokane	Monday	May 5	7:05 PT
7*	Portland	@	Spokane	Tuesday	May 6	7:05 PT

*- If necessary