Winnipeg ICE advance to Eastern Conference Championship

For the second consecutive spring, the Winnipeg ICE have advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship.

Winnipeg booked its ticket to the 2023 WHL Eastern Conference Championship presented by Nutrien with a series-clinching, 8-2 victory at Moose Jaw Monday.

The ICE, Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy winners as Regular Season Champions for the second straight season, boast an 8-2 record in the 2023 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien. Winnipeg swept the Medicine Hat Tigers in the First Round before defeating the Moose Jaw Warriors in six games in the Second Round.

Buoyed by seven NHL Draft selections including first-round draftees Matthew Savoie (Buffalo Sabres), Conor Geekie (Arizona Coyotes) and captain Carson Lambos (Minnesota Wild), Winnipeg has exhibited the ability to score in bunches during the 2022-23 season. Geekie helped seal the series victory versus Moose Jaw with five goals in Games 5 and 6, finishing the Second Round series with a team-leading 10 points.

Goaltender Daniel Hauser set a franchise record with 37 wins during the regular season and has back-stopped the ICE in each of its eight playoff wins so far. The product of Chestermere, Alta. turned aside 25 shots in the series decider versus the Warriors Monday.

Winnipeg now awaits either the Saskatoon Blades or Red Deer Rebels in the 2023 WHL Eastern Conference Championship presented by Nutrien, with Game 7 of the Second Round affair between the Blades and Rebels set for Tuesday, April 25 in Saskatoon (7:00 p.m. MT, SaskTel Centre).