WHL’s East Division is the “Group of Death” in 2017-18

Warriors C Justin Almeida (#8) rushes against Raiders D Zack Hayes.

    You might heap criticism on the WHL’s playoff format, but you can’t deny spectators have witnessed some outstanding hockey when the six members of the WHL’s East Division have gone head-to-head in 2017-18.

    In World Cup soccer terms, the East Division comprised of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos became the circuit’s “Group of Death.” When the regular season concluded, all six of these clubs finished in the top seven of the 12 team Eastern Conference based on standings points.

Kale Clague had four assists for the Warriors in their Game 7 win.

    If any of these clubs were in any of the circuit’s other three divisions, they would likely have an easier path when it came to advancing and attempting to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. Instead, these clubs have been forced to battle tooth and nail against each other to make the post-season and advance.

    While it is unfortunate, the WHL’s playoff structure isn’t set up in a way that allows the potential for more East Division teams to be alive in later rounds. As a result, the drama that has been created among their clashes has been intriguing.

    The first club to be unduly shoved to the off-season in the “Group of Death” was the Blades, who posted a 35-33-3-1 record to finish with the seventh most points in the 12-team Eastern Conference.

Curtis Miske had a big playoffs for the Raiders.

    Due to their sixth place finish in the East Division, the Blades weren’t able to earn one of the two wildcard berths in the conference.

    They watched two clubs that finished with fewer standings points from the Eastern Conference’s Central Division in the Red Deer Rebels (27-32-10-3) and Lethbridge Hurricanes (33-33-6) go head-to-head for a berth in the second round, which was claimed by the Hurricanes in five games.

    Under the league’s hybrid format where you basically play through your division in playoffs, four clubs from the East Division were forced to go head-to-head in best-of-seven first round series. The Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-15-2-3 record, took on the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4). The Swift Current Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2 mark, faced the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (40-25-6-1).

    Both of those series were ultimately decided in Game 7. The Warriors took out the Raiders 5-4 in a Game 7 on Tuesday in Moose Jaw. The Broncos downed the Pats 3-2 in a Game 7 on Monday in Swift Current.

    Those Game 7s will go down as all-time WHL playoff classics.

Brayden Burke netted the series winner for the Warriors.

    The series between the Warriors and Raiders was definitely the WHL at its best. Out of those seven games, four of them were decided by a single goal including two contests in overtime. The Raiders showed tremendous battle even when they fell behind in the series 3-1 before they managed to even the series up at 3-3.

    Overagers in captain Curtis Miske and Jordy Stallard had outstanding series. Miske topped the Raiders in playoff scoring with three goals and seven assists, while Stallard was second in team playoff scoring with three goals and five assists.

    Sophomore winger Cole Fonstad was the Raiders most noticeable forward collecting four goals, an assist and a plus-two rating in the set.

    The series had many turning points including a missed penalty shot by Miske in the third period of Game 7. With the teams tied 4-4 late in the third period of Game 7, a power-play snipe by winger Brayden Burke with 3:50 to play in the frame before 4,702 spectators at Mosaic Place delivered the Warriors to a 5-4 victory.

    Burke had a pair of assists to go with his goal in the deciding game and played arguably the best hockey of his WHL career in the series. The overager piled up six goals, eight assists and a plus-six rating over the seven games.

Glenn Gawdin scored the series winner for the Broncos.

    Star defenceman Kale Clague, who had been quiet on the offensive front, came through big for the Warriors in Games 7 with four assists to finish with a goal and six assists for the series.

    In Prince Albert, the Raiders battle helped renew enthusiasm for the team. With Curtis Hunt as general manager, Marc Habscheid as head coach, Dave Manson as associate coach and a good crop of potential returnees, the Raiders have a bright future.

    For the Warriors under head coach Tim Hunter, they became that much more battle tough as they move forward in the post-season. Throughout the campaign, the Moose Jaw side has shown a great maturity in staying even emotionally and professional. Those characteristics will aid the Warriors going forward.

Cameron Hebig had a strong series for the Pats against the Broncos.

    The Broncos and Pats also played through an intense series. The fans on both sides still had last year’s second round playoff encounter on their minds, where the Pats rallied from a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in team history to pull out a 4-3 series win.

    After Game 2, this year’s series between the two clubs provided some big swings as far as the scoreboard was concerned. The Broncos claimed Game 3 by a 4-1 margin, and the Pats rebounded with a 6-3 victory in Game 4.

    In Game 5, the Broncos bounced back with a 5-2 victory only to see the Pats claim Game 6 by a 7-2 score to force the series to a Game 7.

    Before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Credit Union i-Plex, the two sides played through an intense barnburner. Overage winger Cameron Hebig scored first for the Pats to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 6:07 mark of the first period.

Stuart Skinner made 36 saves in the Broncos win in Game 7.

    The Broncos responded with three straight goals to go up 3-1, and their big line of captain Glenn Gawdin, Tyler Steenbergen and Aleksi Heponiemi combined to net two of those tallies. Steenbergen tied the game at 1-1 at the 11:14 mark of the first, while Gawdin put the Broncos up 3-1 at the 13:37 mark of the second. Gawdin completed a beauty passing play for his tally.

    Max Patterson tallied at the 7:45 mark of the second to round out Swift Current’s surge.

    Just when the Pats seemed to be in trouble, energetic forward Robbie Holmes scored with 4:08 to play in the second period to cut the Broncos lead to 3-2. The Pats came hard trying to find the equalizer in the third outshooting the Broncos 14-4 in the frame.

    Netminder Stuart Skinner made 36 saves to allow the Broncos to hold off the Pats and preserve the win.

Ty Lewis and the Wheat Kings eliminated the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    Now, the Warriors and Broncos will go at it in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, which begins with Game 1 on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. While the playoffs should have been structured to have these clubs meet in a conference championship series, you can expect them to put on another must watch series that will be intriguing.

    The Wheat Kings did their part to hold up the East Division’s tough reputation taking out the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers, who were 36-28-8 in the regular season, in a best-of-seven first round series 4-2. Brandon travels to Lethbridge to begin the other best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at 7 p.m. local time at the Enmax Centre.

The Blades were the team out of the playoff picture in the “Group of Death.”

    While some observers will take shots at the Wheat Kings, who were 40-27-3-2 in the regular season, for settling into the Eastern Conference’s first wildcard spot to get an easier road to the conference championship series, they still had to win their series against the Tigers to add further proof of just how tough the East Division is this season.

    The “Group of Death” has delivered big value for the entertainment dollar in this WHL post-season and another interesting chapter is on tap when the Warriors and Broncos collide.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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