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.