2023/24 WHL Season Thread

[dash_pinched]

Moose Jaw wins 36 seconds into OT. What a series!!

[Roof-Daddy]

Really looking forward to see how Moose Jaw and Portland match up.

[speede5]

That was a unreal series, we took 5 fan buses up and the energy in that building was off the charts. I don't think I've ever been to a WHL game that epic. Just as we got back to town (1:00am) the police met the team on the outskirts and escorted them down to the rink followed by the fan buses and it was a raucous welcome. The team looked so pumped! Needless to say it was a rough morning......

Bring on Portland!

[Matty81]

Kind of too bad for PG they fell short, felt like a once in a decade occurrence them being that good and Portland always wins.

PG management sounding the right notes about how they are going to be so good next year but losing Funk, Thornton and Pauls definately - Heidt and Ziemmer already signing pro deals and heading into 2 year post draft and likely to be gone, and then Becher probably gone as well if a pro team wants him in the E, I think they could be completely devastated next year with just really Parascak and maybe Valis if they're lucky coming back from their core.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Kind of too bad for PG they fell short, felt like a once in a decade occurrence them being that good and Portland always wins.

PG management sounding the right notes about how they are going to be so good next year but losing Funk, Thornton and Pauls definately - Heidt and Ziemmer already signing pro deals and heading into 2 year post draft and likely to be gone, and then Becher probably gone as well if a pro team wants him in the E, I think they could be completely devastated next year with just really Parascak and maybe Valis if they're lucky coming back from their core.

Yeah I listened to an interview with their GM and he was talking like they had a boatload of players coming back, more than any of the other three conference finalists. Maybe he knows something, like Ziemmer missed a lot of time this year so maybe he's more likely to return for more junior seasoning. He was also talking about all the 17 year olds they have dressed.

Ravensbergen will be back in net too, which is a huge plus.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Yeah I listened to an interview with their GM and he was talking like they had a boatload of players coming back, more than any of the other three conference finalists. Maybe he knows something, like Ziemmer missed a lot of time this year so maybe he's more likely to return for more junior seasoning. He was also talking about all the 17 year olds they have dressed.

Ravensbergen will be back in net too, which is a huge plus.

Yeah you're right if Ziemmer and Heidt come back will be a different picture, pretty rare for 19/20 year old 2nd and 3rd rounders to be sent back to the dub though. Always kind of depends on what the NHL franchise needs for their AHL franchise depth wise too.

The players who carried them production wise were actually pretty old though, even if Ziemmer comes back as a 2004, Becher, Valis, Kmec, Dezainde, Dowhaniuk, Shrtom and Young, are all also potentially overagers so they are going to have to trade or cut a ton of guys and that will just mean losing another one. They will lose at least 5 of those players on top of the 2003s and have almost half their roster turn over. I think losing 7/20 skaters is a best case scenario for them.

Maybe Lamb just thinks his 17 year olds are really poised to step up. Ravensbergen played ok, a .907 save percentage is solid for his age, but he wasn't a superstar or anything, to me he's just as likely to be like Garin Bjorklund and get completely shelled/regress once the heart is torn out of their team next year. Lit it up in the playoffs though which is a good sign.

[Roof-Daddy]

WHL US draft was today, check out the handle on the Hurricanes 13th overall pick

Enzo DiDomenicantonio

That'll be something to see on the back of a jersey

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by speede5

That was a unreal series, we took 5 fan buses up and the energy in that building was off the charts. I don't think I've ever been to a WHL game that epic. Just as we got back to town (1:00am) the police met the team on the outskirts and escorted them down to the rink followed by the fan buses and it was a raucous welcome. The team looked so pumped! Needless to say it was a rough morning......

Bring on Portland!

That might be one of the best and most evenly matched 7 games series in history.

6 of the 7 games went to OT and the other game ended 3-1 with an empty netter and was tied going into the 3rd.

Absolutely unreal series.

[Roof-Daddy]

Sounds like trade winds may be blowing through the Hat. Hearing something with Wenatchee maybe.

[Roof-Daddy]

Tigers trade '05 born Dman Reid Andresen and a '25 3rd round pick to Wenatchee for '06 born Dman Jonas Woo.

A little surprised by this trade, the Tigers just three 20 year old Dmen this off season and now trade their next most experienced Dman behind those three, but I'm sure there is more to come. Although Woo has the same pedigree as Andresen and also has 146 WHL games under his belt, so not a ton of experience lost there.

[Roof-Daddy]

Tigers trade their Captain to Everett for a 3rd in todays draft. Frees up an overage slot for them to add a Dman which I'm sure they will at some point.

[Roof-Daddy]

Two more Tigers trades, they sent a bunch of picks to Seattle for 18 year old Dman Bryce Pickford, and a bunch more picks to Swift for OA forward Mathew Ward.

Not surprised they added the Dman but a little surprised they got Ward. They now have three OA forwards and a young D core, but could be more moves coming. The overage forwards are really damn good though.

Swift had 7 OA's on the books for next year, now they have 6 still to deal with. Need to move at least three more of them.

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

WHL US draft was today, check out the handle on the Hurricanes 13th overall pick

Enzo DiDomenicantonio

That'll be something to see on the back of a jersey

[Derek Sutton]

Cool that TSN carrying all the CHL finals games. Too bad the studio hosts are terrible and amateur. The totally called Dustin Neislon someone else and they are both stuttering and stammering away.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Cool that TSN carrying all the CHL finals games. Too bad the studio hosts are terrible and amateur. The totally called Dustin Neislon someone else and they are both stuttering and stammering away.

Ironic. Sorry, couldn’t resist.