What We’re Watching – February 4, 2022
The push for the post-season is in full swing as we turn the calendar to February. There are plenty of talking points, too, as we look ahead to the 22 contests on tap this weekend. Here’s a look at What We’re Watching!
HEY JOHNNY!
He’s won Stanley Cups, a Calder Cup, a Memorial Cup and a WHL Championship, and this weekend Tyler Johnson will be honoured by his hometown Spokane Chiefs. Johnson’s number 9 will be raised to the rafters Friday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, as the Chiefs host the Kelowna Rockets (7:05 p.m. PT). Johnson, who spent four seasons with Spokane from 2007-2011, led the WHL in goals during the 2010-11 season with 53 and was named the League’s Most Sportsmanlike Player. He also was named the MVP of the 2008 WHL Playoffs, helping the Chiefs collect their second WHL Championship en route to a Memorial Cup victory in Kitchener, Ont. Since turning pro, the 34-year-old has appeared in 597 NHL regular season games with Tampa Bay and Chicago, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Johnson’s number 9 will be the second number retired by Spokane, joining the number 14 famously donned by Ray Whitney.
⬆️ To the rafters it goes! ⬆️
The number 9️⃣ will forever be @tjohnny09's after we retire his jersey on February 4.
DETAILS 🔗 | https://t.co/u2kCZCqvM4#GoChiefsGo #OnceAChief pic.twitter.com/a5qVRqlszx
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) September 14, 2021
SEE IT, LIVE IT
TSN’s live coverage of the WHL continues Friday as the Vancouver Giants play host to the Kamloops Blazers (7:30 p.m. PT, Langley Events Centre, TSN1) in what, if the Regular Season were to end today, would be a first-round playoff matchup. The Blazers, who feature the current McSweeney’s WHL Player of the Month Logan Stankoven, have won seven of the eight meetings between the two sides this season, and come into Friday’s game sitting seven points behind the Western Conference-leading Everett Silvertips. Stankoven, by the way, leads all scorers in the season series with 15 points. Vancouver meantime, boast a trio of NHL prospects including Boston Bruins first-rounder Fabian Lysell.
It's safe to say Logan Stankoven and the @blazerhockey are pumped to be on @TSN_Sports tomorrow night.
Kamloops visits the @WHLGiants in a B.C. Division showdown! pic.twitter.com/RFoefPSSdW
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 3, 2022
A SCOUT’S DREAM
The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos have long been fierce rivals, and their season series continues Friday in Swift Current (7:00 p.m. CT, Innovation Credit Union i-Plex). But for those in NHL Draft circles, the rivalry takes a different tone, with no fewer than eight players on the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Season Rankings featured on the Broncos and Warriors rosters. Headlining that list, Moose Jaw defenceman Denton Mateychuk. At number nine among North American skaters, the product of Dominion City, Man. is the top-ranked WHL blueliner ahead of the July NHL Draft. Both Clubs are led offensively by draft-eligible players too: Warriors forward Jagger Firkus (53 points) and Swift Current sniper Mathew Ward (40 points) both find their names on that CSS list. The home team has won each of the four meetings between the two sides this season, though it is Moose Jaw who hold the upper hand in the Eastern Conference standings, sitting in fourth spot as the weekend begins.
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