2013-14 WHL Season

[Trojan97]

Looking forward to the Brandon/Regina series. Winning a round would be big for the Brandon kids as they look for big results next season.

[Red John]

Congrats to Kelowna who finished 57-11-4 with 118 points and the regular season championship. What's scary is they may be just as strong next year returning pretty much their entire blueline and most of their forwards. They will lose Tvrdon, Bell and likely Olsen and Goulbourne up front, Severson on defense and Cooke in goal. If they can pick up a quality forward or two (there's always a few overagers available) they won't miss much of a beat. Repeating 57 wins is unlikely but winning the Scotty Munro again is doable.

It seems like a real top heavy league this year in regards to playoffs, a handful of very strong teams each of whom could win it all, and a bunch of also-rans.

Would like to see a major upset in the early rounds but it may not be in the cards this year.

Kelowna matches up well against Tri-City
Portland should handle Vancouver
Victoria is very strong but could struggle a bit against Spokane
Seattle and Everett will probably be the toughest series and really is a coin flip

Dumpsville should beat PA but the Raiders were highly touted at start of year and could finally wake up...much stronger 8th seed than usual
Regina will lose to Brandon
Calgary should beat Cranbrook but may lose a couple games
Speedy Creek beats the Hat in a close one

[Matty81]

Ya for me PA is the most likely to pull off an upset of the big 4, they have a good d, a forward who can change the game (only one though), so that series will come down to their goalie, mcbride i think, he's huge and showed promise but was inconsistent this year as is only 17. Still a longshot though.

I also think that the Ice could give the Hitmen issues, I just think the loss of Bozon will be too big of a blow for a team that would have needed everything to go right to win.

Kelowna's real prize for winning the league is that they will only have to face one of vic or portland to get out of the west, while an upset is always possible their first two rounds will be good matchups.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Red John

Speedy Creek beats the Hat in a close one

It should be a good series, call me crazy, but I think the Hat matches up better with Speedy Creek than Kootenay, thus I'm pleased with how the series matchups came out.

[Matty81]

Calgary is losing the game 5-1 and now just embarassing themselves at the end of the game trying to goon it up. Bush league stuff.

On the positive side Reinhart looked real good, 2 goals and an assist.

[Flickered Flame]

The Ice were the worst possible matchup for the Hitmen, they always play the Hitmen well, regardless of the standings.

[Resolute 14]

Hard to blame the Hitmen for getting frustrated when the referees go out of their way to make themselves the stars of the show. I was going to go to Saturday's game, but if that is how the WHL is going to conduct these playoffs, I think I'll just save my money and time.

[Red John]

Just finished watching the game on PVR. Wow the Hitmen looked outclassed. Had no answer for the Ice skill game and looked like sore losers running around with cheap shots after the whistle. Brassart trying to goon it up after scoring was pathetic. Williamson had no control over his team.

And no just because the powerplays weren't even doesn't mean the officiating was bad. The Hitmen were running around all game trying to keep up with the Ice and had to take penalties.

Would be too funny to see the Hitmen lose in round 1 after all those deadline moves.

WHL champ is going to come out of the West anyway. All three of the top teams (Kelowna, Portland, Victoria) are stronger than any of the Eastern teams.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

It should be a good series, call me crazy, but I think the Hat matches up better with Speedy Creek than Kootenay, thus I'm pleased with how the series matchups came out.

Yeah going to have to re-think my earlier post that the league is top-heavy.

It is in the East with Kelowna, Portland and Victoria but there could be upsets in the West for sure, PA may not be an easy out for Edmonton, Brandon will likely beat Regina and Cranbrook just made it look easy in Calgary in game one.

Haven't seen much of the Hat or Speedy Creek this year but like how the Broncos are coached hence the prediction. That one could realistically go either way though. Not going to claim to be educated about it as none of the East teams come through BC often so it's hard to see them. Especially teams like Swift who never get televised games it seems.

[Resolute 14]

Aaaaand the WHL embarrassed itself today. It announced that game 1 of PA/Edmonton will go to a shootout because Rexall is double booked. Honestly, if the Oilers can't accommodate the WHL, the league should move the game to Prince Albert or Red Deer rather than compromise the integrity of the playoffs.

[Freeway]

Hitmen need a big game here tonight for Game 2.

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Aaaaand the WHL embarrassed itself today. It announced that game 1 of PA/Edmonton will go to a shootout because Rexall is double booked. Honestly, if the Oilers can't accommodate the WHL, the league should move the game to Prince Albert or Red Deer rather than compromise the integrity of the playoffs.

And there was no issue because the game didn't go to OT...
I do believe that the Flames/Hitmen have had at least one doubleheader where there could have been a similar issue.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Julio

And there was no issue because the game didn't go to OT...
I do believe that the Flames/Hitmen have had at least one doubleheader where there could have been a similar issue.

There was most certainly an issue. A shootout should NEVER be viewed as a valid option in the playoffs. (It shouldn't in the regular season either, as far as I am concerned). The very fact that the WHL was willing to allow this is cheapens the sport and compromises the integrity of the post-season both this year and into the future. And if the Flames/Hitmen were to find themselves in the same situation, my view is precisely the same: Move the game to the Corral, or even to Red Deer or Lethbridge if you must. A shootout shouldn't even be an option on the table.

[Resolute 14]

Also, I honestly can't remember a time the Flames and Hitmen have ever played a double header.

Anyway, on the game itself, the Hitmen definitely asserted themselves tonight. 4-0 Hitmen late in the third.

[dash_pinched]

Tigers take care of business at home over Speedy Creek winning the first two games. Series resumes Tuesday night in Swift Current.

[Red John]

No real surprises so far.

Calgary and Cranbrook are tied but most saw that series being close. Brandon won the first two in the Armpit against the Pats but again most saw them winning that series.

Rest of the series are all 2-0 for the home team. Uneventful so far, hopefully we get some drama this week.

[troutman]

Brutal attendance Cranbrook.

[troutman]

Jesus - Dan Russell was counting down the last 5 seconds like he bet his life savings on the Ice.

[Red John]

Huge win for the Ice! What a finish...wow. That's turning into quite the series.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Red John

Huge win for the Ice! What a finish...wow. That's turning into quite the series.

The Ice was one team the Hitmen did not want to face in the first round. I can see this going 7 games.