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| Brayden Yager had three points for the Warriors on Saturday. |
The Moose Jaw Warriors top guns got their series with the
Winnipeg Ice all even at 1-1.
On Saturday playing before 1,872 spectators at the Wayne
Fleming Arena in Winnipeg, the Warriors stormed out to a 4-0 lead and downed
the host Ice 5-3 in Game 2 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference
semifinal series. With the win, the Warriors even the series at 1-1.
Games 3 and 4 go Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m.
both nights at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Saturday’s Game 2 battle was a wild one that had an edge to
it as well. By the 9:31 mark of the opening frame, the Warriors built a 4-0 off
a pair of goals from Brayden Yager and singles from Ryder Korczak and Martin
Rysavy.
The Ice pulled star starting goaltender Daniel Hauser after
the first period with him having stopped 7-of-11 shots fired his way taking the
setback in net for the host side. Mason Beaupit, who is a 19-year-old veteran
backup, played the rest of the way in relief turning away all eight shots he
faced.
The teams proceeded to play through a scoreless second. In
third, the Ice struck for three straight goals to cut the Warriors lead to 4-3.
Zack Ostapchuk netted a goal 67 seconds into the frame, Connor McClennon
tallied at the 13:09 mark and Carson Latimer scored at the 16:10 mark. Latimer
was playing in his first game since suffering an injury in the Ice’s 8-1
victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton on February 26, 2023.
The Ice weren’t able to complete the comeback. With 2.4
seconds remaining in the third, Josh Hoekstra scored into an empty net to
cement the 5-3 win for the Warriors.
 |
| Ryder Korczak had a goal and an assist for the Warriors. |
Connor Ungar, who is the Warriors star overage netminder,
stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in the Moose Jaw net.
Yager had an assist to go with his two goals. Korczak had an
assist to go with his marker. Atley Calvert had a pair of assists for the Moose
Jaw side.
Matthew Savoie had a pair of assists for the Ice.
Saturday’s contest had its share of rough stuff. Ice
18-year-old right-winger Evan Friesen was given a major penalty for checking to
the head and a game misconduct at the 7:45 mark of the opening frame. The
infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible
suspension.
The Warriors scored three goals on the power play resulting
from Friesen’s infraction accounting for the final three tallies of the
four-goal surge in the opening frame. The second power-play goal came on a five-on-three
advantage due to Ice star centre Zach Benson being given a high-sticking minor.
At the 14:01 mark of the first, McClennon engaged in a fight
with Warriors defenceman Marek Howell. The fight occurred after McClennon hit a
Warriors player from behind. McClennon was given a checking from behind minor
and a fighting major, while Howell received an unsportsmanlike conduct minor
and a fighting major.
Calvert proceeded be given a double minor for slew-footing
at the 15:07 mark of the first. That infraction will be automatically reviewed
by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
Warriors defenceman Matthew Gallant left Saturday’s game and
didn’t return after being on the receiving end of Friesen’s head shot. Moose
Jaw played the third period without defenceman Logan Dowhaniuk, who was hit
from behind by Ice overage left-winger Owen Pederson in the second period.
Pederson was given a minor for checking from behind on the play.
The two squads combined for 53 minutes in penalties on
Saturday.
 |
| Atley Calvert had two assists for the Warriors on Saturday. |
Last year, the Ice eliminated the Warriors in an Eastern
Conference semifinal with a 4-1 series victory. That series ultimately set up
the rivalry for this year’s series as both squads returned a large number of
players from a season ago.
In the 2022-23 regular season, the Ice finished first
overall with a 57-10-1 mark and were rated third in the final CHL Top 10
rankings. The Warriors finished seventh overall in the WHL with a 41-24-03
mark. The Ice and Warriors split their six regular season encounters with each
side claiming three wins with one Winnipeg victory coming in overtime.
The Ice took Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal
between the two sides 5-3 on Friday at the Wayne Fleming Arena.
Odds are high there will be more twists and turns in this
series as it goes along.
Adventures in officiating part one
 |
| A referee waves off a Regina goal in Game 3 of Blades versus Pats. |
It seems like the officials have been challenged in these
WHL Playoffs so far as much as the players and coaches of the teams have.
One of the first challenging situations that occurred in
this post-season that I saw came in Game 3 of the first round series between
the Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades playing at the Brandt Centre in Regina on
April 4.
With 3:55 remaining in the first period, Pats 17-year-old
phenom centre Connor Bedard drove home a midrange shot to give the Pats what
appeared to be a 3-1 lead. The goal went to a video review, and it was
disallowed due to the Saskatoon net being dislodged.
The Pats did go up on the Blade 3-1 in the third before the
visitors rallied back to take the contest 4-3 in overtime.
A lot of people thought Bedard’s disallowed goal should have
stood up, because officials should have had the discretion to estimate where
the net was, if it was slightly ajar.
The video review showed the net had been ajar for a lengthy
stretch before Bedard scored. Due to the net being off for an extended period,
the goal had to be disallowed.
By league rules, the officials got this call right after
video review. They did their job and showed what that situation can look like
when it plays out on the ice.
It can be argued that rule can be changed. If a team in the
offensive zone has puck advantage and the defending team’s goal is slightly
off, it can be argued officials should have discretion to allow play to
continue until the defending team touches the puck. That will allow the
offensive squad to have a scoring chance until losing possession of the puck.
With that noted, that is an item for discussion in league
meetings for off-season rule changes.
Adventures in officiating part two
 |
| Pats fans react to a goal review going in their team’s favour in Game 6. |
The second big challenging situation I’ve seen for the
officials in the current WHL Playoffs comes from the double review.
This one came in Game 6 of the first round series between
the Saskatoon Blades and host Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre on April 8.
With 8:36 remaining in the third period, Pats centre Zackary
Shantz scored to increase the host side’s lead to 5-3. The tally came when a
pass from Pats left-winger Riley Ginnell deflected off Shantz’s skate into the
Saskatoon net.
The officials went to a video review and waved off the goal saying
it was kicked in. Access Communications, which is based in Regina, was showing
the game to their provincial network on television on their own channel.
Tim Tisdale was the WHL supervisor for that contest, and he
asked Access Communications if they had more angles than the WHL video review
booth had of the play in question. After seeing the Access Communications
video, the officials changed their ruling to saying Shantz’s goal was good.
Access Communications put their video of that goal on
Twitter, and it was clear from the overhead shot Shantz didn’t kick the puck in
and the goal was good. The 5-3 score in favour of the Pats held up as the game’s
final outcome.
How the video review process went down here didn’t sit well
with some Blades fans.
In this situation, credit has to be given to Tisdale for
thinking outside the box to find a way to get that call right.
With that said, the WHL policy of using television network
feed for video review is something that should be revisited in league meetings
in the off-season. I myself have to admit I am not sure what the WHL’s exact
policy is regarding using television network video for video reviews.
For a lengthy stretch, WHL games in the regular season and
post-season were shown on Shaw on a regular basis. Shaw pulled out of its TV
contract with the WHL following the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Since it has
been so long since WHL games were shown on a regular basis on a television
network, I’m not even sure what the rules are and assume some policy has to be
in place from when WHL contests were shown on Shaw.
Thanks to Access Communications, the Pats are the only team
that gets regular television exposure even with it being limited to the geographic
region in Saskatchewan that Access Communications provides service for. Their
volunteer camera crew did well to get the footage that showed definitively that
Shantz’s goal was good.
With that noted, Pats have more of a replay advantage due to
the fact a number of their games are shown by Access Communications due to more
camera angles being available. The decision makers in the WHL will have to
decide if video reviews for all games are limited to the same camera angles
supplied by the league for video review or if television angles will be allowed
for the minority of contests shown on television networks.
Again, that is another thing that has to be discussed in
off-season league meetings. I should note this was the first time I saw a
double video review happen in a game for the same aspect on one play in the 24
seasons I’ve covered the league.
Adventures in officiating part three
The third biggest challenging situation in officiating I’ve
encounter in the WHL Playoffs is recent one.
This one came on Friday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal
series between the Red Deer Rebels and host Saskatoon Blades played at the
SaskTel Centre.
With 9:21 remaining in the first period, the officials were
trying to determine of the Rebels were guilty of a high-sticking infraction.
When play was stopped in the Red Deer end, the officials had a conference in
the corner with a lineman bringing up the observation of a high-sticking
infraction, when Blades utility player Spencer Shugrue went down.
After a few seconds, one of the referees made the
high-sticking penalty infraction call. The problem was they appeared to not
know what Rebels player to call the penalty on.
Since the high-sticking penalty was linesman call, officials
go to video review to determine if a high-sticking infraction did happen.
The stoppage to discuss the possible penalty lasted about 10
minutes and saw the officials place Rebels import right-winger Frantisek
Formanek into the penalty box and then let him out of the box a couple of
minutes later. Formanek looked visibly confused through the whole situation.
When play resumed with no penalty being called, an
announcement went up in the building that there was no penalty for high
sticking, because a Blades player high sticked himself. After the contest, the
coaching staffs of both teams said they were given the same explanation by the
officials.
On Saturday, a Blades fan Twitter account put up a still
photo from the WHL stream video broadcast of the game of the play in question.
It showed Rebels right-winger Jhett Larson had his stick high on Shugrue. It is
possible Larson’s stick misses Shugrue and goes over top his head from what was
shown on the still image.
When I was at this game, I missed part of the play and just
saw Shugrue go down. I’d have to see the full replay of the play to make any
determinations about it. The replay was shown quickly twice on the SaskTel
Centre scoreboard, and I missed those looks keeping my eyes on the officials
conference.
One issue on this play was that if a lineman saw a high
stick he didn’t get the number of the offending player. You can kind of deduct
that is what happened with the decision to put Formanek in the box and then let
him out of the box.
In this situation, I suspect an error was made, and that is
going to happen with officiating. This was the first time I’ve seen this sort
of situation occur in the 24 seasons I’ve covered the league.
Outside of that instance, I thought the officials’ crew did
a really good job in Game 1. I know there are ultra-passionate fans who will
disagree and that opinion is fine to have too.
From this situation, the officials’ crew just review that
play at game’s end to go over positioning to see what they can do better.
Officials’ crews always do that after WHL games.
Svozil’s Pats days could be done, other
notes
 |
| Stanislav Svozil’s time in the WHL appears to be done. |
It appears Stanislav Svozil’s days with the Regina Pats have
come to an end.
On Wednesday, it was announced Svozil would be joining the
NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets for their final two regular season games. The Blue
Jackets added offensive-defenceman from Czechia to their roster after the Pats
were eliminated from the WHL Playoffs with a 4-1 loss in Game 7 of their first
round series against the host Saskatoon Blades on Monday.
Svozil, who has a signed NHL entry-level contact, made his Blue
Jackets debut as they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at Nationwide
Arena. Svozil picked up an assist on the Blue Jackets goal that created a 2-2
tie with 3:25 remaining in the third period and ultimately forced overtime. The
Blue Jackets claimed a 3-2 victory in overtime on a goal by Johnny Gaudreau.
Svozil finished with that one helper and an even rating in
the plus-minus department skating for 19 minutes and 13 seconds of total ice
time.
On Friday, the Blue Jackets concluded their season dropping
a 5-2 decision to the visiting Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena. Svozil wasn’t
able to collect any points and posted a minus-three rating in 21 minutes and
one second of total ice time.
Following that contest, the Blue Jackets assigned Svozil to
their AHL affiliate in the Cleveland Monsters in time for their clash on
Saturday with the host Rochester Americans. He recorded two assists in the
Monsters 4-3 victory.
With the Pats in 2022-23, Svozil, who stands 6-foot-1 and
weighs 182 pounds, had an outstanding season collecting 11 goals and 67 assists
for 78 points to go with a plus-23 rating in 56 regular season games. In the
Pats seven post-season contests, Svozil recorded four goals and nine assists
for 13 points to go with a plus-seven rating.
Svozil, who turned 20-years-old on January 17, helped
Czechia win silver at this past world juniors held in Halifax, N.S., and
Moncton, N.B. He had one goal and seven assists in seven games at that event.
Since Svozil will be 20-years-old in the 2023-24 campaign,
the Blue Jackets can keep him on their roster or assign him to their minor
league affiliates.
- Is it me or are the
Saskatoon Blades attracting challenging officials’ calls in some weird and
spooky supernatural way in the WHL Playoffs?
- Over the past 13 year, the
mainstream media has all but eliminated full time WHL beat writing positions.
Sometimes, that will cause some confusion regarding the interpretation of WHL
rules. Back in the day, it was common for some of those writers to
interview WHL vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen about rule changes
that were being brought in for an upcoming campaign right before a season starts.
While pieces on rules are often dry and were housekeeping style pieces,
people did read them.
- On Wednesday, the WHL
fined both the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats $250 each for warmup
violations before Game 7 of their first round playoff series on Monday at
the SaskTel Centre. The Blades took that contest 4-1.
- On Saturday, Regina Pats
forward and Prince Albert product Tanner Howe, Spokane Chiefs centre and
Saskatoon product Berkly Catton and Kelowna Rockets defenceman and
Saskatoon product Caden Price were named to Canada’s roster for the
upcoming world under-18 men’s hockey championship. That event will be
played from April 20 to 30 in Basel and Porrentruy, Switzerland.
- On Saturday, the
Washington Capitals announced left-winger Alexander Suzdalev had been
assigned to their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears for the remainder of the
season. Suzdalev, who turned 19-years-old on March 5, had 38 goals and 48
assists for 86 points to go with a minus-four rating in 66 regular season
games with the Pats in 2022-23. He picked up three goals and seven assists
to go with a plus-two rating in their seven post-season contests. Suzdalev
has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Capitals.
- On Saturday, the Seattle
Thunderbirds and Kamloops Blazers took 2-0 leads in their respective
best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. The Thunderbirds
defeated the visiting Prince George Cougars 5-1 in Game 2 of their series
at the ShoWare Centre. The Blazers blanked the visiting Portland
Winterhawks 5-0 in Game 2 of their series at the Sandman Centre.
- On April 9, I had new
content appear on the Howe Happening blog that supports the Gordie Howe
Sports Complex. I put together a piece on Donovan Dale, who is a popular
Ignite Athletics coach and a former member of the CJFL’s Saskatoon
Hilltops and U Sports’ University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team,
taking up weightlifting to get back into competitive sports. That piece
can be found by clicking right here. I also created a piece on the Western
Canadian Baseball League returning to Saskatoon with a team to start
playing at Cairns Field on the Complex grounds in May 2024. That piece can
be found 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.
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