 |
| Michael Dyck is back in the WHL final as the Giants head coach. |
Back in
2008, Dyck, who was 39-years-old at the time, was guiding his hometown
Lethbridge Hurricanes to a berth in the WHL final. The Hurricanes put up the
fifth best record in the WHL regular standings in 2007-08 with a 45-21-2-4
record.
The
Hurricanes advanced to the WHL Championship series and were swept away in the
best-of-seven set 4-0 by the Spokane Chiefs, who finished with the second best
record in the WHL regular season at 50-15-1-6. The Chiefs advanced on to win
the Memorial Cup.
Currently,
Dyck is guiding the Vancouver Giants as head coach in this year’s WHL final. He
is overseeing a team that boasts the likes of Bowen Byram, Davis Koch, Justin
Sourdif, Milos Roman and Dylan Plouffe.
This season
marks the first time Dyck has been back in the WHL Championship series since
guiding the Hurricanes there 11 years ago.
The Giants are tied 1-1 in this year’s best-of-seven WHL final with the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Giants are tied 1-1 in this year’s best-of-seven WHL final with the Prince Albert Raiders.
Game 3 is
slated for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Langley Events Centre in
Langley, B.C.
“After you get an opportunity like we had in Lethbridge, the
message is these don’t come around very often,” said Dyck, who is now 50 years
old. “You certainly have to take advantage of it, when it comes.”
 |
| Head coach Michael Dyck addresses his Giants during a media timeout. |
In most of the
years between WHL head coaching positions, Dyck could be found guiding the
minor hockey teams his son, Carson, played on in Lethbridge. When Carson joined
the Okotoks Oilers in the junior A ranks, Michael decided the time was right to
join the Giants as head coach.
He is
pleased he has been able to help the Giants make their first appearance in the
WHL final since 2007, but still cherishes the special time he had between WHL
head coach gigs.
“It was nice to get away,” said Dyck. “It was nice to spend
some time with my family.
“It was nice to work with my own son instead of everybody
else’s kids. It was time to come back.
“I wouldn’t have come back, if it wasn’t the right
opportunity. There were lots of opportunities to come back, but this was the
right one.”
With both the Hurricanes and the Giants, Dyck guided each team to a WHL final appearance in a short span of time. In Lethbridge, Dyck joined the Hurricanes in early November of 2005 and had them in the WHL Championship series in his third season with the club.
With both the Hurricanes and the Giants, Dyck guided each team to a WHL final appearance in a short span of time. In Lethbridge, Dyck joined the Hurricanes in early November of 2005 and had them in the WHL Championship series in his third season with the club.
In
Vancouver, Dyck has the Giants in the WHL final in his first campaign as the
team’s head coach.
In both
spots, Dyck said a culture chance was needed but remembers being in for a
bigger challenge on that front in Lethbridge.
“We had to change the culture here, but there was much more
a transformation there,” said Dyck. “The
building blocks were already in place when we got here.
 |
| Bowen Byram is one of the talented players Michael Dyck gets to coach. |
Looking back in 2008, Dyck thought rest would be the biggest advantage for his Hurricanes. The Hurricanes swept the Calgary Hitmen 4-0 in that year’s WHL Eastern Conference final.
The Chiefs
went through a seven-game war with the Tri-City Americans win witn the WHL’s
Western Conference title and five of those clashes went to overtime. Out of
those five overtime clashes, three went to double overtime.
Lethbridge
had eight days off between eliminating Calgary and hitting the ice to face
Spokane. Spokane had two days off between eliminating Tri-City and returning to
action against Lethbridge.
“We thought we would catch them (the Chiefs) tired,” said
Dyck. “I remember (Chiefs head coach) Billy Peters saying he was going to take
rhythm over rest, and it worked for him.”
Dyck said
that experience provided lessons he used to prepare the Giants for the WHL
final encounter they are currently engaged in with the Raiders.
The Raiders
finished first overall in the WHL regular season at 54-10-2-2, and the Giants
were second overall at 48-15-3-2.
“This series, I think both Prince Albert and ourselves have
had about the same amount of games,” said Dyck. “We maybe had a couple of more
days (of rest).
“In learning from that (the 2008 WHL final), we really
wanted to simulate as much as we could the intensity of playoff hockey in our practices,
so I thought we were well prepared coming in.”
 |
| Head coach Michael Dyck wants to guide the Giants to a WHL title win. |
The
Hurricanes had a respectable 35-32-3-2 record in 2008-09, eliminated the
Saskatoon Blades in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs and fell
in a four-game sweep to the Hitmen in the second round.
That
experience reinforced to Dyck how difficult it is to return to a league final.
“You learn very quickly that these opportunities don’t come
around very often,” said Dyck. “You see it in the National Hockey League level.
“There are a lot of good teams that have been bounced out of
the playoffs that everybody probably would think would be going to the third
and fourth round. When these opportunities come, you have to take advantage of
them.”
Nerves got better of Raiders in Game 1
 |
| Raiders C Spencer Moe (#11) is stopped by Giants G David Tendeck. |
That was likely a factor in why the Prince Albert Raiders
fell 5-4 to the Vancouver Giants in Game 1 of the WHL final played on Friday in
Prince Albert.
Both teams are evenly matched. The Raiders topped the WHL regular
season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL
Top 10 rankings.
The Giants placed second overall in the WHL regular season
standings with a 48-15-3-2 record and are rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10
rankings.
While the Raiders were backed by a sellout crowd of 3,289
fans at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the early excited feelings quickly faded
as the Giants jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 6:06 mark of the opening frame.
The Raiders were on their heels in the opening frame, but
they played strong second and third periods of that contest ultimately falling
5-4. Raiders star netminder Ian Scott let in a couple of goal on softer scoring
chances, and that could be chalked up to nerves too.
 |
| Captain Brayden Pachal (#8) and the Raiders posted a big Game 2 win. |
In Game 2 on Saturday played before another sellout crowd of
3,289 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders skated to a 4-0 victory
holding a 34-15 edge in shots on goal.
Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said his club was battled
the nerves in the first period of Game 1 in the post-game presser. After the
Raiders won Game 2, Habscheid felt his view of Game 1 was further confirmed.
“We were nervous (on Friday),” said Habscheid. “It is great
to have home ice advantage, but Game 1 sometimes it is almost easier to start
on the road, especially when you don’t play the other team a lot.
“It is the way it is. We have our game. Our game is good
right now.
“That is what is most important.”
In Game 1, it felt like the Giants played a lot more free
and easy than the Raiders did, which allowed the Vancouver side to come out on
top.
The Raiders rebounded with a solid all-out effort in winning
Game 2 in convincing fashion.
With the next three games of the WHL title series set for
Langley, B.C., it will be interesting to see where the momentum swings between
these two clubs goes from here.
Martin watch on for Raiders
 |
| Max Martin left Saturday’s game with an injury. |
The Raiders
19-year-old offensive defenceman left the second period of his team’s 4-0
victory over the Vancouver Giants in Game 2 of the WHL Championship series on
Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
Martin blew a tire and fell awkwardly on his own into the
boards. He left the game, and in the post-game presser, Raiders head coach Marc
Habscheid said Martin will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
The Winnipeg, Man., product left with the Raiders holding a
3-0 lead. Martin picked up an assist on the Raiders third goal of the contest
scored by star overage centre Noah Gregor on the power play.
The rearguard was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as
well.
Martin, who stands 6-feet and weighs 178 pounds, has
appeared in all of the Raiders 18 post-season games to date collecting seven
assists and a plus-14 rating. In 59 regular season games, he recorded six
goals, 35 assists and a plus-45 rating.
Besides his scoring prowess, Martin is known for his ability
to play through injury.
The only time he sits is if his injury really hampers
his ability to play on the ice that he become detrimental to the team.
When the Raiders and Giants go at it in Game 3 of the WHL final on Tuesday at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., all eyes will look at the beginning of the game to see if Martin plays.
 |
| Max Martin has put up a lot points on the back end for the Raiders. |
When the Raiders and Giants go at it in Game 3 of the WHL final on Tuesday at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., all eyes will look at the beginning of the game to see if Martin plays.
If he doesn’t play, that will likely shake up the Raiders
normally locked in defensive pairings of Martin with Sergei Sapego, captain
Brayden Pachal with Zack Hayes and Jeremy Masella with Kaiden Guhle.
If Martin can’t go, Loeden Schaufler will likely be placed
in the lineup to play defence for the Raiders. Schaufler has seen action in
four of the Raiders post-season games.
After Martin went down, the Raiders defensive unit continued
to play strong, so that will likely continue to add confidence to the Prince
Albert side.
Miracle at the i-Plex remembered
It is crazy
to think a year ago today one of the all-time classic games in the history of
the WHL playoffs went down in Swift Current.
Swift Current scored in the second period to cut the gap to
3-1, but Everett still seemed to be in total control. The Silvertips had numerous
opportunities to land the knockout blow with high quality scoring chances.
The Broncos came out for the third period before a warm standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators.
Miracle at the i-Plex remembered
 |
| Giorgio Estephan celebrates his OT winner last year in Swift Current. |
On May 5, 2018, the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex played
host to the “Miracle at the i-Plex.”
In this encounter, the host Swift Current Broncos were
taking on the visiting Everett Silvertips in Game 2 of the WHL Championship
series. Everett took Game 1 of the best-of-seven set one night earlier by a 2-1
final.
In the 2017-18 campaign, the Broncos finished second overall
in the WHL’s regular season standings at 48-17-5-2, and the Silvertips were
third overall at 47-20-2-3.
The Silvertips seemed poised to take control of the series.
They jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period in Game 2.
 |
| The fans in Swift Current cheer on the Broncos. |
The Broncos came out for the third period before a warm standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators.
Swift Current battle back scoring twice in the third to tie
the contest up at 3-3 and force overtime. Tyler Steenbergen scored the
equalizer with 1:37 to play in the third with netminder Stuart Skinner pulled
for an extra attacker.
Giorgio Estephan netted the winner at the 9:27 mark of
overtime to deliver the Broncos to a 4-3 victory.
The rally occurred against Silvertips star goaltender Carter
Hart, who had back stopped Canada to goal at that season’s world juniors.
The series switched to Everett for three straight games, and
Swift Current won Games 3 and 4. The Broncos captured the WHL title on home ice
with a 3-0 victory in Game 6.
After covering the Game 2 comeback, I realized more the next
day what I actually got to watch and cover.
I had seen one of the all-time
great games played in the history of the WHL final and as well as the WHL
playoffs.
 |
| Tyler Steenbergen, left, celebrates scoring the equalizer for the Broncos. |
It was one of those games where you asked yourself, “Did I
just see that?”
I still can’t believe that game happened a year ago.
The “Miracle at the i-Plex” will live forever in Broncos
lore.
You can read the game story about that contest from a year ago by clicking right here.
You can read the game story about that contest from a year ago by clicking right here.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
