WHL

[GordonH]

So the battle for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, is about to start:
The WHL is using the same format as the NHL

Eastern Conference
(WC2)Edmonton Oil Kings @ (E1)Brandon Wheat Kings
(WC1)Kootenay Ice @ either (C1)Calgary Hitmen
(C3)Red Deer Rebels @ either (C2)Medicine Hat Tigers
(E3)Swift Current Broncos @ (E2)Regina Pats

Western Conference
(WC2)Tri-City Americans @ (BC1)Kelowna Rockets
(WC1)Spokane Chiefs @ (US1)Everett Silvertips
(US3)Seattle Thunderbirds @ (US2)Portland Winterhawks
(BC3)Prince George Cougars @ (BC2)Victoria Royals

[GordonH]

WHL play-off's begin tonight as Oil Kings play the top team in WHL the Wheat Kings.

[GordonH]

Here is a link to Play-off brackets http://whl.ca/standings/playoffs/ls_sea ... view/brief

Play-off tracker http://whl.ca/standings/playoffs/ls_sea ... /view/text

[GordonH]

Brandon, Regina & Kelowna could move on to second round with a win tomorrow. Based on the current playoff standings:

Brandon would meet Regina
Kelowna would meet Victoria, unless PG comes back.

[GordonH]

Regina Pats move on to round 2 with a sweep of Swift Current

[GordonH]

Round 2 begins Friday with all 8 teams

[GordonH]

3 of the 4 series had 5 goal nights

Brandon over the Regina 5 to 1
Everett over Portland 5 to 1
Rockets over Victoria 5 to 0
Calgary over Medicine Hat 3 to 1

[bob vernon]

Good grammar has went.

First line of the story about Kelowna defeating Victoria in game one of their series:

"Leon Draisaitl started Friday's second round series opener with Victoria slow."

Well, of course, with Victoria playing slowly they'd be in trouble playing against Leon Draisaitl.

Slow is an adjective, not an adverb. Use slowly. It doesn't modify Victoria.
It should look like this:
"Leon Draisaitl started slowly in Friday's second round series opener with Victoria."

[GordonH]

Bump

So post season road to 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer Alberta is about to start:

Round 1 matchups

Eastern Conference of WHL

Medicine Hat Tigers(8) @ Brandon Wheat Kings(1)
Regina Pats(7) @ Lethbridge Hurricanes(2)
Calgary Hitmen(4) @ Red Deer Rebels(3)
Moose Jaw Warriors(6) @ Prince Albert Raiders(5)

Western Conference of WHL

Spokane Chiefs(8) @ Victoria Royals(1)
Prince George Cougars(6) @ Seattle Thunderbirds(3)
Kamloops Blazers(4) @ Kelowna Rockets(2)
Portland Winterhawks(7) @ Everett Silvertips(5)

Without Jackson Whistle in the lineup imo Kelowna maybe very lucky to get past Kamloops in first round.

My WHL Finals prediction has Brandon vs Victoria (would rather see Kelowna against Brandon)

[GordonH]

[GordonH]

Kelowna held on to take game 1, 3 to 2

[Urbane]

Sad to see the Rockets blow a one-goal lead with 31 seconds and go on to lose by one goal. I know they miss Merkley and Whistle but there's more to it than that. I'm not convinced they'll make it out of the first round but if they do and face Victoria I don't give them much of a chance.

[GordonH]

Sad to see the Rockets blow a one-goal lead with 31 seconds and go on to lose by one goal. I know they miss Merkley and Whistle but there's more to it than that. I'm not convinced they'll make it out of the first round but if they do and face Victoria I don't give them much of a chance.

The disadvantage of a young defense & goaltender with a lack of playoff experience.

[GordonH]

Due to the IIHF Women's Championship, playoff games in Kamloops are being played at old Kamloops Memorial Arena.

Later: overall ice size is small & blue lines are closer to each other.

[GordonH]

Games 5 goes tonight here in Kelowna & game 6 will be tomorrow night in Kamloops, if need be game 7 is back here on Monday night.

Meanwhile 2 team were swept Portland & Prince George


Added: with any luck Spokane can push it to a game 6 against Victoria