WHL Championship: Game 2 Player to Watch – Connor McClennon
For the first time ever, the Winnipeg ICE and Seattle Thunderbirds meet in the WHL Championship Series. The ICE lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 following a 3-2 win in Game 1 Friday night. Game 2 is set for Saturday, May 13 (6 p.m. CT) at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. The best-of-seven series will follow a 2-3-2 format with the winner of the Ed Chynoweth Cup advancing to the 2023 Memorial Cup in Kamloops, B.C.
Visit Ticketmaster for tickets or catch the action from home exclusively on WHL Live.
Connor McClennon
Wainwright, Alta.
Right Wing
#94
5-foot-8, 164 pounds
2023 WHL Playoffs
15GP – 14G-8A–22 points
Over his entire WHL career, Connor McClennon has done nothing but score.
With back-to-back 40-goal campaigns, the spitfire winger maintained the hot hand in Game 1 of the 2023 WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien, getting the festivities started with the first goal of the series.
The strike marked McClennon’s 14th goal of the post-season as he kept a near goal-per-game rate through 15 games.
“It was super exciting to get to play in [Canada Life Centre],” McClennon said following Game 1. “We kind of fed off the crowd early. It was huge to get that first goal and get the 3-0 lead. [The crowd] helped us all night long.”
The move to the Canada Life Centre for the 2023 WHL Championship clearly proved a boost for the hometown ICE in Game 1, with over 5,500 fans in attendance to cheer on the likes of McClennon.
A veteran of five WHL seasons, including nearly 250 regular season games and another 30 WHL Playoff contests, McClennon has been electric since he first joined the ICE. Drafted second overall in the 2017 WHL Draft, the product of Wainwright, Alta., has a combined 160 WHL goals to his name and his career totals have surged beyond the 300-point plateau this spring (327 points in 273 career games – regular season and playoffs).
Drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, McClennon went unsigned and finds himself an NHL free agent. But on the heels of a 92-point regular season (46G-46A) and a post-season that has him tied for fourth in WHL scoring with 22 points (14G-8A), there is no doubt that pro scouts will give McClennon another long look.
With the 2023 WHL Championship Series following a 2-3-2 format, the ICE stare down an opportunity to stake out a commanding 2-0 series lead before the proceedings shift to Kent, Wash., for three straight games.
If Winnipeg hopes to take full advantage of home ice during the first leg of the series, you know McClennon will be right in the middle of it.
Game 2 of the 2023 WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien goes Saturday, May 13 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (6 p.m. CT, WHL Live).
The first goal of the 2023 #WHLChampionship Series goes to Connor McClennon and the @WHLWpgICE!
Now that’s an ICE breaker. #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/pkFJNd3Lws
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 13, 2023
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