[{"id":268376,"date":"2026-06-18T10:59:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268376"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:59:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:59:35","slug":"western-hockey-league-announces-home-opening-dates-for-2026-27-whl-regular-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/western-hockey-league-announces-home-opening-dates-for-2026-27-whl-regular-season","title":{"rendered":"Western Hockey League announces home opening dates for 2026-27 WHL Regular Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Calgary, Alta. \u2013<\/strong> The Western Hockey League announced today home opening dates for all 23 Clubs for the 2026-27 WHL Regular Season.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The 2026-27 WHL Regular Season officially begins Friday, September 18, with five games on the calendar, while Saturday, September 19, features 10 games on the slate, including the defending WHL champion Everett Silvertips hosting the Portland Winterhawks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The defending East Division champion Prince Albert Raiders open the 2026-27 campaign by hosting the Regina Pats at the Art Hauser Centre in Hockey Town North on Friday, September 18.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The defending Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers begin their home schedule by hosting the rival Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday, September 19.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The defending B.C. Division champion Penticton Vees make their home debut Friday, September 25, when the Kelowna Rockets visit the South Okanagan Events Centre.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong><u>2026-27 WHL Regular Season Home Opening Dates<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Friday, September 18<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Saskatoon Blades at <em>Brandon Wheat Kings<\/em><br \/>\nRed Deer Rebels at <em>Calgary Hitmen<\/em><br \/>\nMedicine Hat Tigers at <em>Lethbridge Hurricanes<\/em><br \/>\nRegina Pats at <em>Prince Albert Raiders<\/em><br \/>\nPenticton Vees at <em>Prince George Cougars<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Saturday, September 19<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Portland Winterhawks at <em>Everett Silvertips<\/em><br \/>\nVictoria Royals at <em>Kamloops Blazers<\/em><br \/>\nLethbridge Hurricanes at <em>Medicine Hat Tigers<\/em><br \/>\nSaskatoon Blades at <em>Moose Jaw Warriors<\/em><br \/>\nPenticton Vees at <em>Prince George Cougars<\/em><br \/>\nEdmonton Oil Kings at <em>Red Deer Rebels<\/em><br \/>\nPrince Albert Raiders at <em>Swift Current Broncos<\/em><br \/>\nSpokane Chiefs at <em>Tri-City Americans<\/em><br \/>\nKelowna Rockets at <em>Vancouver Giants<\/em><br \/>\nSeattle Thunderbirds at <em>Wenatchee Wild<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Sunday, September 20<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Calgary Hitmen at <em>Edmonton Oil Kings<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Friday, September 25<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Kelowna Rockets at <em>Penticton Vees<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Saturday, September 26<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Penticton Vees at <em>Kelowna Rockets<\/em><br \/>\nKamloops Blazers at <em>Portland Winterhawks<\/em><br \/>\nPrince Albert Raiders at <em>Saskatoon Blades<\/em><br \/>\nPrince George Cougars at <em>Seattle Thunderbirds<\/em><br \/>\nTri-City Americans at <em>Spokane Chiefs<\/em><br \/>\nVancouver Giants at <em>Victoria Royals<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Sunday, September 27<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Swift Current Broncos at <em>Regina Pats<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The 2026 WHL Preseason schedule will be announced Monday, June 22.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>About the Western Hockey League<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Regarded as the world\u2019s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 50 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada\u2019s National Junior Hockey Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026-27 WHL Regular Season officially begins Friday, September 18, with five games on the calendar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1986,"name":"WHL 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NHL Draft Highlight Reels \u2013 Jakub Vanecek"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1113],"tags":[{"term_id":2084,"name":"Jakub Vanecek","slug":"jakub-vanecek","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2084,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw","term_order":"280"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":84,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1021"},{"term_id":27,"name":"tri-city 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NHL Draft Profile | Mathis Preston, Vancouver Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/29463\/\">Mathis Preston<\/a> has been known to dazzle (or irritate) his opponents with his flash and speed.<\/p>\n<p>Not just on the ice, but also on the track.<\/p>\n<p>The Vancouver Giants forward was also a talented BMX racer as a kid, where he got to unleash his daredevil nature on dirt tracks dotted with jumps, rollers and steep turns.<\/p>\n<p>Racing is actually where he picked\u00a0up his signature number, 96.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I started BMX when I was really young, just racing against my brother for fun,&#8221; Preston recalled. &#8220;Then we started to get into competitions as we got a little bit older.<\/p>\n<p>I kind of wasn&#8217;t scared of getting hurt or getting injured or anything. Kind of like a good and bad thing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While Preston eventually shifted most of his energy towards hockey, you can still see the elements of the player and person that would allow him to succeed at almost any sport.<\/p>\n<p>Despite an injury-shortened campaign and midseason trade, Preston logged 18 goals (including four game-winners) and 26 assists for 44 points in 46 games with the Giants and Spokane Chiefs in 2025-26.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mathis Preston scores the OT winner in his first game as a Giant!<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WHLGiants?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WHLGiants<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/NHLDraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NHLDraft<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uOu43MYGIl\">pic.twitter.com\/uOu43MYGIl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheWHL\/status\/2009867520908636483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After being dealt to Vancouver at the 2026 WHL Trade Deadline, the 5-foot-10.75, 172-pound winger looked primed to explode with 12 points (4G-8A) in 10 games with the G-Men before being sidelined with a lower-body injury from January 10 to March 6.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When he has the puck, his head is always up, he&#8217;s always one or two plays ahead of everybody,&#8221; Giants assistant coach Wacey Rabbit said. &#8220;His shot is underrated. I remember we hadn&#8217;t scored a while on the power play, and we&#8217;re in Kamloops, it&#8217;s one of our last games, and he just grabbed the puck and in a flash it&#8217;s in the back of the net. As he grows as a player, he&#8217;ll have more confidence in that shot because it&#8217;s really underrated. It&#8217;s quick, it&#8217;s fast, and, you know, his tenacity to get the puck back is elite. Once the puck&#8217;s on his stick, you&#8217;re not taking it off of him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the Giants missing the postseason, Preston got an extra shot to prove himself at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship, where he finished second in scoring among Canadians with six points (2G-4A) in five games.<\/p>\n<p>He also added a goal and two assists in two games at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I&#8217;m at my best, I&#8217;m pushing the pace of the game,&#8221; Preston said ahead of the Prospects Challenge.\u00a0 &#8220;I think I like to speed up the game more than I slow it down. (I) can push defenders back and get them on their heels, as well as make plays in the O-zone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Penticton, B.C. product has flexed that ability from the jump.<\/p>\n<p>Preston was selected by Spokane with the third overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft and potted 45 points (23G-22A) in 54 games in his first full WHL season.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2025 WHL Playoffs, when most rookies would start to see their ice time trimmed, Preston iced 16 points (9G-7A) in 20 games to help the Chiefs reach the Championship Series, highlighted by a one-goal, one-assist effort in Game 2 of the Final.<\/p>\n<p>While the Chiefs would fall to fellow top 2026 draft-eligibles Gavin McKenna, Markus and Liam Ruck, and the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 5, it showed Preston wouldn&#8217;t shy away in big-time moments.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the 18-year-old put forward a strong showing at the NHL Combine, where he finished in the top 10 in seven events- including a second-place finish in isokinetic squat and anaerobic fitness \u2013 peak power output (T-2nd), plus a tie for third in the 10-metre spring.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a gym rat,&#8221; Preston&#8217;s former coach, Spokane Chiefs bench boss Brad Lauer, added. &#8220;One thing with Mathis is he puts in the time, and he works. He wants to be a player, he wants to be a pro. He&#8217;s got a great skill. He&#8217;s going to get drafted, he&#8217;s going to have an opportunity, which is great to see.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Preston enters the 2026 NHL Draft ranked 32nd among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.<\/p>\n<p>He has high hopes for the future, and looks forward to returning to the Dub to chase a championship in 2026-27.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It just kind of flashes before your eyes,&#8221; Preston explained. &#8220;You grow up, want to get drafted, watching the draft and, you know, seeing all that stuff, and now it&#8217;s you, and you&#8217;re up next.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft begins on Friday, June 26, at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Rounds 2-7 to follow on Saturday, June 27, at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mathis Preston has been known to dazzle (or irritate) his opponents with his flash and speed. Not just on the ice, but also on the track. The Vancouver Giants forward was also a talented BMX racer as a kid, where he got to unleash his daredevil nature on dirt tracks dotted with jumps, rollers and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1522,"name":"Mathis Preston","slug":"mathis-preston","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1522,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":43,"filter":"raw","term_order":"830"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":84,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1021"},{"term_id":29,"name":"vancouver 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Blades captain Wouters inks first NHL contract with Vancouver Canucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is 2026-27 the year we finally &#8216;C&#8217; Chase Wouters in the NHL?<\/p>\n<p>If his latest pro contract is any indication, the odds are looking good for the longtime AHL captain and former Saskatoon Blades star.<\/p>\n<p>The Vancouver Canucks have signed the 26-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Chase has worked extremely hard to earn this contract,&#8221; Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson said.\u00a0 &#8220;He is a heart and soul type player, someone who doesn\u2019t cheat the game and always goes the extra mile to work on his craft. Detail-oriented and coachable, Chase is a very good hockey player who leads by example. I am impressed with his development and proud of the progress he has made since turning pro. Besides all his work on the ice, he is the first to raise his hand to help others and go above and beyond in the community. His leadership qualities, skill set, and hockey IQ have helped him take another step forward in his hockey journey.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The North Battleford, Sask. product was originally drafted by the Blades with the 18th overall pick in the 2015 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Wouters went on to register 181 points (75G-106A) in 280 regular-season games over parts of six seasons in the Bridge City.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the stats, he proudly served as captain for three seasons and remains the longest-serving &#8216;C&#8217; in the Blades&#8217; long history.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot, 182-pound centreman signed with the AHL&#8217;s Abbotsford Canucks as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and has spent his entire professional career with the club.<\/p>\n<p>Wouters has racked up 120 points (43G-77A) in 338 games in five seasons with Abbotsford and has served as team captain since 2022.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s won the team&#8217;s Man of the Year award four times and ranks as the franchise leader in regular-season games played (338) as well as playoff matches (38).<\/p>\n<p>Wouters posted five points (2G-3A) in 24 outings to help the Canucks hoist the Calder Cup as AHL Champions in 2024-25 and brought the cup to Saskatoon to celebrate shortly afterward.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday&#8217;s signing marks Wouters&#8217; first NHL contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is 2026-27 the year we finally &#8216;C&#8217; Chase Wouters in the NHL? If his latest pro contract is any indication, the odds are looking good for the longtime AHL captain and former Saskatoon Blades star. The Vancouver Canucks have signed the 26-year-old to a one-year, two-way contract. &#8220;Chase has worked extremely hard to earn this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1528,"name":"WHL to NHL","slug":"whl-to-nhl","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1528,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":124,"filter":"raw","term_order":"824"},{"term_id":396,"name":"Chase Wouters","slug":"chase-wouters","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":421,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1348"},{"term_id":38,"name":"saskatoon 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NHL Draft Highlight Reels \u2013 Alisher Sarkenov"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1113],"tags":[{"term_id":2401,"name":"Alisher Sarkenov","slug":"alisher-sarkenov","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2401,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":84,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1021"},{"term_id":39,"name":"prince albert 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Wheat Kings captain Craig named Head Coach of NHL&#8217;s Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Las Vegas, Nevada \u2013 Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Ryan Craig has been named the fifth Head Coach in the franchise history of the Vegas Golden Knights.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The Golden Knights announced the promotion of Craig on Wednesday. The 44-year-old native of Abbotsford, B.C., has spent the past three seasons as Head Coach of the AHL\u2019s Henderson Silver Knights.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Selected by the Wheat Kings in the second round (34th overall) of the 1997 WHL Draft, Craig played five seasons in the Wheat City, culminating with two campaigns as captain \u2013 2001-02 and 2002-03.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">During his NHL Draft season, the 6-foot-2, 212-pound forward tallied 64 points (29G-35A) in 52 games. He did enough to capture the attention of NHL scouts and went on to be selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the eighth round (255th overall) of the 2002 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">After being drafted, Craig return to the WHL for his second season as captain of the Wheat Kings and he put up career numbers \u2013\u00a074 points (42G-32A) in 60 games. The performance earned Craig a place on the WHL\u2019s Eastern Conference First All-Star Team. He was also awarded the Doug Wickenheiser Trophy, presented annually to the WHL\u2019s Humanitarian of the Year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Upon graduation from the WHL, Craig went on to enjoy a 12-season professional career, including playing 198 NHL regular season contests with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Columbus Blue Jackets. Over his pro career, Craig also served as captain for four AHL teams \u2013 the Norfolk Admirals (2009-10), Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins (2010-11 to 2011-12), Springfield Falcons (2012-13 to 2014-15), and Lake Erie \/ Cleveland Monsters (2015-16 to 2016-17).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">After retiring as a player, Craig immediately joined the Golden Knights as an assistant coach in 2017-18. He spent six seasons as an assistant coach in Vegas, helping guide the Club to a Stanley Cup championship in 2023. From there, he became Head Coach of the Silver Knights ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Craig reunites with Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon \u2013 the longtime Owner, President, General Manager, and Head Coach of the WHL\u2019s Brandon Wheat Kings. The two were together from 1998 to 2003 when Craig played for McCrimmon, who was GM at the time.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">COACH CRAIG \u2694\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Vegas Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon has announced Ryan Craig\u00a0will be the fifth Head Coach in franchise history.<\/p>\n<p>Press release \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VQ9qkUkKYC\">https:\/\/t.co\/VQ9qkUkKYC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sOa25R529Y\">pic.twitter.com\/sOa25R529Y<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GoldenKnights\/status\/2067292326935048383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Las Vegas, Nevada \u2013 Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Ryan Craig has been named the fifth Head Coach in the franchise history of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights announced the promotion of Craig on Wednesday. The 44-year-old native of Abbotsford, B.C., has spent the past three seasons as Head Coach of the AHL\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1528,"name":"WHL to NHL","slug":"whl-to-nhl","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1528,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":124,"filter":"raw","term_order":"824"},{"term_id":25,"name":"brandon wheat kings","slug":"brandon-wheat-kings","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":165,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1051,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1284"},{"term_id":922,"name":"ryan craig","slug":"ryan-craig","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":951,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1945"},{"term_id":11,"name":"WHL ALUMNI","slug":"whl-alumni","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":105,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":582,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2109"}],"class_list":["post-268365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-whl-to-nhl","tag-brandon-wheat-kings","tag-ryan-craig","tag-whl-alumni","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/17131400\/Craig_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\/268365","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=268365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268359,"date":"2026-06-17T11:36:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268359"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:55:21","slug":"former-whl-coach-of-the-year-hiller-named-head-coach-of-nhls-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/former-whl-coach-of-the-year-hiller-named-head-coach-of-nhls-maple-leafs","title":{"rendered":"Former WHL Coach of the Year Hiller named Head Coach of NHL&#8217;s Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Toronto, Ont. \u2013 Former WHL Coach of the Year Jim Hiller has been named the 41st coach in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Hiller was announced as the Leafs new coach Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">\u201cJim is an experienced coach with a strong understanding of what it takes to win in today\u2019s NHL,\u201d said John Chayka, General Manager of the Maple Leafs. \u201cHe has worked with successful teams throughout his career, connects well with players and brings a clear approach behind the bench. We believe he\u2019s the right person to lead our team and help us reach our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Hiller, 57, got his start behind the bench as an assistant coach with the Tri-City Americans during the 2002-03 season. In 2006-07, he took over as Head Coach of the WHL\u2019s Chilliwack Bruins, where he spent three seasons.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">In 2009-10, the product of Port Alberni, B.C., joined the Tri-City Americans as Head Coach. In his first season behind the bench, Hiller guided the Ams to a U.S. Division title and a record of 47-22-1-2. Led by the likes of Brendan Shinnimin and Kruise Reddick, Hiller and the Americans advanced to the WHL Championship where they fell to the Calgary Hitmen in five games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">In 2010-11, Hiller\u2019s Ams once again enjoyed a great regular season, going 44-24-2-2 to finish third in the U.S. Division.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The 2011-12 campaign represents Hiller\u2019s best season behind a WHL bench as he guided the Americans to a record of 50-18-2-2, which was good enough to finish first in the U.S. Division and second in the WHL regular season standings. That year, Shinnimin recorded 134 points (58G-76A) to lead the WHL in scoring, while Adam Hughesman and Patrick Holland both surpassed the 100-point plateau as well, collecting 116 points and 109 points respectively. The Ams advanced to the Western Conference Championship for the second time in three seasons, but ultimately fell to the Portland Winterhawks in four games. Despite the playoff setback, Hiller was recognized with the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year. He was also named the winner of the Brian Kilrea Award, presented annually to the Coach of the Year across the entire Canadian Hockey League.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Hiller wrapped up his WHL coaching career with one final season in Tri-City before joining the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">During his WHL tenure, Hiller oversaw the development of numerous players that advanced to the NHL, including but not limited to: Nick Holden, Chris Driedger, Eric Comrie, Parker Wotherspoon, and Brandon Carlo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">From 2015-16 to 2018-19, Hiller served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. After three seasons as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders (2019-20 to 2021-22) he joined the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach in 2022-23.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">During the 2023-24 season, Hiller was named Interim Head Coach of the Kings on February 2. The interim tag was removed prior to the 2024-25 season and Hiller remained as Head Coach of the Kings until March 1, 2026.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Over his tenure with the Kings, Hiller amassed a record of 93-58-24, good enough for a .600 win percentage over 175 regular season games.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jim Hiller has been named the 41st Head Coach in franchise history!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MapleLeafs\/status\/2067230869790539965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 17, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toronto, Ont. \u2013 Former WHL Coach of the Year Jim Hiller has been named the 41st coach in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history. Hiller was announced as the Leafs new coach Wednesday morning. \u201cJim is an experienced coach with a strong understanding of what it takes to win in today\u2019s NHL,\u201d said John Chayka, General&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2399,"name":"Jim Hiller","slug":"jim-hiller","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2399,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2"},{"term_id":2400,"name":"Chilliwack Bruins","slug":"chilliwack-bruins","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2400,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3"},{"term_id":1528,"name":"WHL to 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