[{"id":267333,"date":"2026-04-10T15:56:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=267333"},"modified":"2026-04-10T15:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:56:47","slug":"series-preview-saskatoon-blades-vs-prince-albert-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/series-preview-saskatoon-blades-vs-prince-albert-raiders","title":{"rendered":"SERIES PREVIEW: Saskatoon Blades vs. Prince Albert Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Saskatchewan hockey fans, the only three words sweeter than ‘Game 7, overtime’ might be ‘Raiders versus Blades’.<\/p>\n

Of course, Game 7 overtime is how the underdogs from Saskatoon have set the stage for a second-round tilt against their bitter foes from Hockeytown North.<\/p>\n

Saskatoon, which entered the postseason as the sixth seed in the East, took out Edmonton on the road thanks to a timely snipe from veteran Rowan Calvert, while the Eastern Conference-leading Raiders only needed five games to dispatch the Red Deer Rebels- albeit also in overtime, thanks to Dallas Stars prospect Brandon Gorzynski.<\/p>\n

Prince Albert cruised to a 6-1-1-0 record against the Blades in the regular season, including back-to-back 4-0 shutout wins to close out the campaign.<\/p>\n

But the playoffs are a whole new game, and the Blades have already shown they’re capable of late comebacks and pulling off an upset.<\/p>\n

The Raiders and Blades both scored 21 goals in Round One.<\/p>\n

Projected 2026 NHL first-round draft pick Daxon Dudolph and rookie blueliner Brock Cripps paced PA with eight points each- including one game-winner each.<\/p>\n

Hulking Calgary Flames pick Hunter Laing and 2025 Edmonton Oilers selection David Lewandowski have also netted eight points, with both skaters burying three goals and five assists.<\/p>\n

The series also boasts a top goaltending matchup, with Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Evan Gardner taking on Michal Orsulak, who is ranked second among all North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting ahead of this year’s NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Gardner is battle-tested with three overtime games under his belt, plenty of playoff experience, and the most saves of any goaltender in the 2026 WHL Playoffs (217).<\/p>\n

Orsulak has only lost one match in regulation time dating back to January 10, 2026, and ranks third among all WHL goaltenders in playoff goals-against average with 1.99. He even got the primary assist on Cripps’ game-winner in Game 2.<\/p>\n

On the awards front, Prince Albert has finalists in nearly every category, highlighted by top NHL Draft prospects Rudolph and Orsulak, who are up for Defenceman and Goaltender of the Year, respectively, while making the WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team.<\/p>\n

Cootes is in the running for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy for Most Sportsmanlike Player, Cripps is in the mix for Rookie of the Year, and on the staff front, General Manager Curtis Hunt and Ryan McDonald are finalists for Executive and Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

Saskatoon’s Gardner has been named a finalist for the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as WHL Humanitarian of the year for a third-straight campaign.<\/p>\n

The last time these teams tangled in the postseason, Saskatoon was fresh off a 50-win campaign and the 2024 Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular-season champs.<\/p>\n

While the Raiders proved to be a handful, the Blades moved on in five and eventually reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Championship.<\/p>\n

The next chapter in this historic rivalry begins on Friday, April 10, at 7:00 p.m. ST at the Art Hauser Centre, before shifting over to the SaskTel Centre for Game 3 on Tuesday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. ST.<\/p>\n

STAT PACK<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSaskatoon Blades<\/strong><\/td>\nPrince Albert Raiders<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Record<\/strong><\/td>\n34-27-5-2 (3rd East)<\/td>\n52-10-5-1 (First East)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Playoff Leaders<\/strong><\/td>\nHunter Laing (3G-5A, 8 pts)<\/p>\n

David Lewandowski (3G-5A, 8 pts)<\/p>\n

Rowan Calvert (3G-5A, 8 pts)<\/td>\n

Brock Cripps (3G-5A, 8 pts)<\/p>\n

Daxon Rudolph (3G-4A, 7 pts)<\/p>\n

Brayden Dube (2G-5A, 7 pts)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Season Leaders<\/b><\/td>\nDavid Lewandowski (17G-48A, 65 pts)<\/p>\n

Cooper Williams (23G-34A, 57 pts)<\/p>\n

Hunter Laing (24G-31A, 55 pts)<\/td>\n

Daxon Rudolph (28G-50A, 78 pts)<\/p>\n

Aiden Oiring (28G-41A, 69 pts)<\/p>\n

Brandon Gorzynski (27G-42A, 69 pts)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Leading Goaltender (Playoffs)<\/strong><\/td>\nEvan Gardner (4-1-2, 2.53 GAA, .916 save percentage)<\/td>\nMichal Orsulak (4-1-0, 1.99 GAA, .891 save percentage)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Power<\/strong>\u00a0Play (Playoffs)<\/strong><\/td>\n18.5% (11th)<\/td>\n25% (8th)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Penalty Kill (Playoffs)<\/strong><\/td>\n66.7% (15th)<\/td>\n69.2% (14th)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Round<\/strong><\/td>\nDef. Edmonton (4-3)<\/td>\nDef. Red Deer (4-1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Last WHL Championship<\/strong><\/td>\n–<\/td>\n2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2025-26 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
\n<\/strong>Prince Albert leads 6-1-1-0<\/p>\n

September 19, 2025- Saskatoon 2, Prince Albert 4<\/strong>
\nSeptember 20, 2025- Prince Albert 2, Saskatoon 3<\/strong> (OT)
\nDecember 14, 2025- Prince Albert 5<\/strong>, Saskatoon 4
\nJanuary 31, 2026- Saskatoon 4<\/strong>, Prince Albert 0
\nFebruary 1, 2026- Prince Albert 3<\/strong>, Saskatoon 1
\nFebruary 14, 2026- Saskatoon 4, Prince Albert 5<\/strong> (SO)
\nMarch 20, 2026- Saskatoon 0, Prince Albert 4<\/strong>
\nMarch 21, 2026- Prince Albert 4<\/strong>, Saskatoon 0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

GAME BREAKERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saskatoon:\u00a0<\/strong>Six-foot-6 Hunter Laing and stalwart veteran Brayden Dube both enter Game 1 on five-game point streaks. Laing is coming off a second-straight 20-plus goal season and looks to find his scoring touch against the rough-and-tumble Raiders. The Calgary, Alta. product kicked off a second-period outburst against Prince Albert on February 14 to salvage a point in a 5-4 shootout loss.<\/p>\n

Prince Albert: <\/strong>Twenty-year-old Brayden Dube is in his final run with the team he’s played more than 230 regular-season games for. He’s netted seven points (2G-5A) in the postseason, including primary assists on two game-winners. The 5-foot-10, 184-pound winger was the top scorer on both teams in the regular season series with five goals in five games- including a two-goal outing in the season finale on March 21.<\/p>\n

GOALTENDING<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Saskatoon:\u00a0<\/strong>The ‘Gard’ of the goal brings plenty of spice to go along with his stellar goaltending. The 6-foot-1, 181-pound Gardner knocked out Prince Albert in Round 1 of the 2024 WHL Playoffs as a rookie, and while the wins haven’t been there in 2025-26, his numbers have still been solid. The 20-year-old is 1-3-0-0 against the Raiders with a 3.14 GAA and a 9.22 save percentage. However, he’s also iced a 36-save shutout against the rival team and had four games in which he surpassed 30 stops, including a 47-save effort in a 3-1 loss.<\/p>\n

Prince Albert:\u00a0<\/strong>He may be a WHL rookie, but Michal Orsulak has seen his fair share of high-stakes games. The 19-year-old backstopped Czechia to a silver medal at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship (yep, he’s the goalie who eliminated Canada in the semifinals). Orsulak hasn’t seen much of Saskatoon, appearing in just three games against the Blades, but he’s done well when called upon. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound netminder is 3-0-0-0 against the Blades with a 1.95 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and a 16-save shutout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

X-FACTOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Saskatoon:\u00a0<\/strong>Captain Tyler Pass and ‘A’ Rowan Calvert are two of the longest-serving Blades in modern franchise history. Both were a part of the powerhouse 2024 team that knocked out the Raiders and came just shy of the Championship Series. Can they climb the mountain in their final playoff run? Calvert came in clutch with the Game 7 overtime winner to eliminate Edmonton, while Parr registered the game-tying goal in Game 5- and dropped the mitts in a heavyweight bout the same night. Calvert led the Blades with seven points (2G-5A) against Prince Albert in the regular season, and Parr added another lamp-lighter.<\/p>\n

Prince Albert:\u00a0<\/strong>Rookie Brock Cripps has been playing with the poise of someone much older than his 16 years. Since the end of the regular season, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound defenceman has gotten a nod as a Rookie of the Year finalist and erupted to tie for the team lead in playoff points. Cripps has logged a goal and an assist in eight games against the Blades, but will try to build on his burgeoning game to send Prince Albert to the Eastern Conference Championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

SERIES SCHEDULE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\nGame<\/strong><\/td>\n		Visitor<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nHome<\/strong><\/td>\nDay<\/strong><\/td>\nDate<\/strong><\/td>\nTime<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\nFriday<\/td>\nApril 10<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\nSaturday<\/td>\nApril 11<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\nTuesday<\/td>\nApril 14<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\nWednesday<\/td>\nApril 15<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5*<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\nFriday<\/td>\nApril 17<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6*<\/td>\nPrince Albert<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\nSunday<\/td>\nApril 19<\/td>\n4pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7*<\/td>\nSaskatoon<\/td>\n@<\/td>\nPrince\u00a0Albert<\/td>\nTuesday<\/td>\nApril 21<\/td>\n7pm ST<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

* = if necessary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Saskatchewan hockey fans, the only three words sweeter than ‘Game 7, overtime’ might be ‘Raiders versus Blades’. Of course, Game 7 overtime is how the underdogs from Saskatoon have set the stage for a second-round tilt against their bitter foes from Hockeytown North. Saskatoon, which entered the postseason as the sixth seed in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":267351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2300,"name":"2026 WHL Playoffs","slug":"2026-whl-playoffs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2300,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":144,"filter":"raw","term_order":"29"},{"term_id":39,"name":"prince albert raiders","slug":"prince-albert-raiders","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":206,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1122,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1815"},{"term_id":38,"name":"saskatoon blades","slug":"saskatoon-blades","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":300,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1121,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1903"}],"class_list":["post-267333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-2026-whl-playoffs","tag-prince-albert-raiders","tag-saskatoon-blades","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/10155637\/PAvsSAS_Series-Matchup-1920_DRAFT-SHOW-2.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":267347,"date":"2026-04-10T13:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=267347"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:23:07","slug":"four-whl-coaches-named-to-canadas-staff-for-2026-iihf-u18-mens-world-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/four-whl-coaches-named-to-canadas-staff-for-2026-iihf-u18-mens-world-championship","title":{"rendered":"Four WHL coaches named to Canada’s staff for 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta. \u2013 Four members of Western Hockey League coaching staffs have been named to Canada\u2019s staff for the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship.<\/p>\n

Friday morning, Hockey Canada announced its staff for the U18 championship, including Lethbridge Hurricanes Head Coach Matt Anholt (Prince Albert, Sask.), Moose Jaw Warriors Head Coach Mark O\u2019Leary (Owen Sound, Ont.) Kamloops Blazers Goaltending Coach Dan De Palma (Kamloops, B.C.) and Lethbridge Hurricanes Assistant Coach Ryan Aasman (Medicine Hat, Alta.).<\/p>\n

Anholt and O\u2019Leary will serve as assistant coaches alongside Head Coach Drew Bannister (Belleville, Ont.), while De Palma will assume the role of Goaltending Coach and Aasman serves as Video Coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to announce the coaching staff that is tasked with leading Team Canada at the IIHF U18 Men\u2019s World Championship with the goal of winning a third-straight gold medal,\u201d Millar said. \u201cWith Drew\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 as a head coach in the National Hockey League, he is poised to be a great leader for our team, and Matt and Mark bring many years of experience in the Canadian Hockey League, as well as in international competition. We are confident in this group\u2019s ability to proudly represent Canada in Slovakia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anholt\u00a0recently completed his first season as Head Coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes after being named Associate Coach in 2025. He has also served as an assistant coach with Canada Red at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary\u00a0is entering his sixth season as Head Coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors after serving as an assistant coach since the 2012-13 season, winning the WHL Championship for the first time in franchise history in 2024. Internationally, he was Head Coach of Canada Black at the 2022 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and was an assistant coach for Canada Red at the 2018 edition of the tournament.<\/p>\n

The support staff that will work with Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Under-18 Team at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men\u2019s World Championship includes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Athletic therapists\u00a0Colton Reiley (Sydney, NS\/Cape Breton, LHJMQ)\u00a0and\u00a0Terence Robertson (Red Deer, AB\/Red Deer, WHL)<\/li>\n
  • Team physician\u00a0Dr. RJ MacKenzie (Albert Bridge, NS\/Cape Breton, LHJMQ)<\/li>\n
  • Equipment manager\u00a0A.J. Murley (St. John\u2019s, NL)<\/li>\n
  • Academic advisor\u00a0Stacey Meyer (Calgary, AB)<\/li>\n
  • Coordinator of hockey operations\u00a0Jared Power (Calgary, AB)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Under-18 Team will take on Sweden at Ondrej Nepala Arena in Bratislava on April 17 and Czechia at the Pavol Demitra Ice Hockey Arena in Trencin on April 19 in pre-tournament action.<\/p>\n

    The 2026 IIHF U18 Men\u2019s World Championship kicks off on April 22, with Canada taking on Slovakia, Latvia, Norway and Finland in the preliminary round before the tournament concludes with the medal games on May 2. TSN\u00a0and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast 16 and 10 tournament games, respectively. TSN will broadcast all Team Canada preliminary-round games, as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games, while RDS will broadcast all Team Canada preliminary-round games, two quarterfinals, the semifinals and medal games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Matt Anholt, Mark O’Leary, Dan De Palma, and Ryan Aasman will represent Canada at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship in Slovakia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":267349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":125,"name":"hockey canada","slug":"hockey-canada","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":129,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":156,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1489"}],"class_list":["post-267347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-hockey-canada","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/10131448\/U18s-Generic_1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":267342,"date":"2026-04-10T10:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=267342"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:22:29","slug":"four-whl-alumni-among-those-ranked-no-50-through-no-41-on-chl-top-50-players-of-the-last-50-years-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/four-whl-alumni-among-those-ranked-no-50-through-no-41-on-chl-top-50-players-of-the-last-50-years-list","title":{"rendered":"Four WHL alumni among those ranked No. 50 through No. 41 on CHL Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list"},"content":{"rendered":"

    \n

    The Top 50 players were identified through a media vote, with the final rankings determined by a weighted combination of media and fan voting. Full player bios are available at <\/i>chl.ca\/chl50<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) is proud to reveal the players ranked No. 50 through No. 41 on its Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list (<\/span>see below<\/i><\/b>), a signature initiative launched as part of the CHL\u2019s 50th anniversary season. The countdown celebrates the greatest players from the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) since 1975-76, honouring the stars who have shaped major junior hockey over the past five decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Four WHL alumni find themselves ranked from 50 to 41 on the CHL’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years, including Brian Propp (47), Mark Recchi (45), Cam Neely (43), and Leon Draisaitl (42).<\/strong><\/p>\n

    As part of the initiative, a panel of media members first identified the Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years (since 1975-76)<\/span><\/a>. From there, the final ranking order was determined using a weighted formula that combined media and fan voting to rank the players from No. 1 through No. 50.<\/span><\/p>\n

    KEY FACTS & MEDIA NOTES: CHL TOP 50 PLAYERS<\/b>
    \n<\/b><\/a>    MEDIA RESOURCES (PHOTOS, LOGOS, VIDEOS & MORE)<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

    50. Larry Murphy, Defenceman | OHL | Peterborough Petes (1978-80) | Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs & Detroit Red Wings (1980-2001)<\/b>: Murphy helped Peterborough win the 1979 Memorial Cup before breaking out for 89 points in 1979-80, earning OHL Defenceman of the Year and OHL First All-Star Team honours. He added 17 points in 14 playoff games as the Petes repeated as OHL champions in 1980. Murphy went on to a Hall of Fame NHL career, winning four Stanley Cups and recording 1,216 points in 1,615 games.<\/p>\n

    49. Scott Stevens, Defenceman | OHL | Kitchener Rangers (1980-82) | Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues & New Jersey Devils (1982-2004)<\/b>: Stevens starred on Kitchener\u2019s 1982 championship team, collecting 42 points in 68 games and 11 more in 15 playoff contests while helping the Rangers win both the OHL title and the franchise\u2019s first Memorial Cup. He later became a Hall of Fame NHL defenceman, captaining the New Jersey Devils to three Stanley Cups and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

    48. Taylor Hall, Forward | OHL | Windsor Spitfires (2007-10) | Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks & Carolina Hurricanes (2010-Present)<\/b>: Hall led Windsor through one of the most dominant runs in CHL history, winning OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year in 2007-08 before helping the Spitfires capture back-to-back Memorial Cups. He won the Stafford Smythe Trophy (Memorial Cup MVP)\u00a0twice, the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award (OHL Playoffs MVP) in 2009, and later captured the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2017-18.<\/span><\/p>\n

    47. Brian Propp, Forward | WHL | Brandon Wheat Kings (1976-79) | Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Minnesota North Stars & Hartford Whalers (1979-94)<\/b>:One of the WHL\u2019s all-time great scorers, Propp recorded 511 points in 213 regular-season games, won back-to-back WHL scoring titles, and led Brandon to its first WHL championship in 1978-79. He went on to score 425 goals and 1,004 points in the NHL, appearing in five Stanley Cup Finals.<\/span><\/p>\n

    46. Steven Stamkos, Forward | OHL | Sarnia Sting (2006-08) | Tampa Bay Lightning & Nashville Predators (2008-Present)<\/b>: Stamkos scored 100 goals and 197 points in just two OHL seasons, winning the Bobby Smith Trophy in 2006-07 and CHL Top Prospect honours in 2007-08 after a 58-goal campaign. The first overall pick in 2008, he later became a two-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time NHL goal-scoring leader, and 600-goal scorer.<\/span><\/p>\n

    45. Mark Recchi, Forward | WHL | New Westminster Bruins & Kamloops Blazers (1984-88) | Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning & Boston Bruins (1988-2011): <\/b>Recchi\u2019s WHL career peaked with a 154-point season in 1987-88 with Kamloops, and he finished junior with 292 regular-season points and 50 playoff points. He later built a Hall of Fame career in the NHL, recording 1,533 points and winning three Stanley Cups with three different teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

    44. Guy Carbonneau, Forward | QMJHL | Chicoutimi Saguen\u00e9ens (1976-80) | Montr\u00e9al Canadiens, St. Louis Blues & Dallas Stars (1980-2000)<\/b>: Carbonneau was a cornerstone in Chicoutimi, recording 435 points in 274 games, posting back-to-back seasons with 140-plus points, and captaining the Saguen\u00e9ens. He later became one of the NHL\u2019s premier defensive forwards, winning three Selke Trophies, three Stanley Cups, and a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n

    43. Cam Neely, Forward | WHL | Portland Winterhawks (1982-84) | Vancouver Canucks & Boston Bruins (1983-96)<\/b>:<\/span> Neely burst onto the WHL scene with 56 goals and 120 points as a rookie in 1982-83, then helped Portland win the 1983 Memorial Cup with a hat trick in the final. He went on to a Hall of Fame NHL career, scoring 395 goals and becoming one of the era\u2019s most feared power forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

    42. Leon Draisaitl, Forward | WHL | Prince Albert Raiders & Kelowna Rockets (2012-15) | Edmonton Oilers (2015-Present)<\/b>: Draisaitl totaled 216 points in 160 WHL regular-season games, highlighted by a 105-point season in Prince Albert and a standout 2015 playoff run with Kelowna that ended with WHL Playoff MVP and Memorial Cup MVP honours. In the NHL, he became one of the league\u2019s top offensive stars, winning the Hart, Art Ross, Ted Lindsay, and Rocket Richard trophies.<\/span><\/p>\n

    41.<\/strong> Patrice Bergeron, Forward | QMJHL | Acadie-Bathurst Titan (2001-03) | Boston Bruins (2003-2023)<\/b>: Bergeron played just one full season in Acadie-Bathurst, but made it count, setting Titan rookie records with 73 points and 50 assists in 2002-03 and tying the QMJHL rookie record for points in a playoff game with six. He later spent 19 seasons with the Boston Bruins, winning a record six Selke Trophies, a Stanley Cup, and surpassing 1,000 points with the franchise.<\/p>\n

    Further rankings from the Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list will be revealed in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

    CHL Top 50 Evaluation Criteria and Eligibility<\/i><\/b>
    \nThe CHL\u2019s Top 50 Players were selected by a panel of more than 40 media members who submitted ranked 1\u201350 ballots guided by a weighted evaluation framework designed to ensure consistency across eras. Panelists considered a player\u2019s impact beyond the CHL \u2014 including NHL and international success, major awards and championships, and Hall of Fame recognition \u2014 alongside on-ice achievement in the Member Leagues, reflecting what players accomplished during their time in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL through production, individual honours, team success, and sustained dominance. Selections also accounted for historical significance, recognizing milestones, era-defining influence, generational impact, and lasting contributions to CHL history.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    To be eligible, players must have competed in at least one full season in the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL during the CHL\u2019s 50-year history beginning in 1975\u201376; for players who competed in 1975\u201376 and also played prior to that season, their entire CHL career was considered when evaluating on-ice accomplishments.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Four WHL alumni have been named to ranks No. 50 through No. 41 on the CHL Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":267345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2334,"name":"Cam Neely","slug":"cam-neely","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2334,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1"},{"term_id":1899,"name":"Brian Propp","slug":"brian-propp","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1899,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"395"},{"term_id":439,"name":"Leon Draisaitl","slug":"leon-draisaitl","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":464,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1655"},{"term_id":572,"name":"Mark Recchi","slug":"mark-recchi","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":598,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1692"},{"term_id":11,"name":"WHL ALUMNI","slug":"whl-alumni","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":105,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":573,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2046"}],"class_list":["post-267342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-cam-neely","tag-brian-propp","tag-leon-draisaitl","tag-mark-recchi","tag-whl-alumni","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/10102153\/50-41.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":267341,"date":"2026-04-10T10:03:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=267341"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:03:01","slug":"whl-stars-nhl-debuts-winterhawks-grad-alscher-logs-heavy-minutes-for-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/whl-stars-nhl-debuts-winterhawks-grad-alscher-logs-heavy-minutes-for-panthers","title":{"rendered":"WHL Stars & NHL Debuts: Winterhawks grad Alscher logs heavy minutes for Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

    Two seasons after reaching the WHL Championship Series in the Rose City, Florida Panthers defenceman Marek Alscher made his NHL debut in Canada’s capital with the reigning Stanley Cup Champions.<\/p>\n

    The 22-year-old took his first strides in the big show on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u270c\ufe0f debuting Cats! pic.twitter.com\/23RNdtgXbG<\/a><\/p>\n

    — Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n