WHL East Division bubble a smashing success

Wheat Kings take top spot, Blades, Raiders win closers

Braden Schneider and the Wheat Kings topped the East Division.

It was a unique final night in the WHL East Division bubble.

The Brandon Wheat Kings saw their seven game winning streak come to an end after a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades. At the end of Wednesday’s first contest played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask., the Wheat Kings were presented the Subway Cup for finishing first in the East Division and were proclaimed champions of the WHL Subway Hub Centre.

The seven straight wins the Wheat Kings posted before falling to the Blades allowed the Brandon side to lock up first place with a game to go. Brandon finished the developmental campaign with an 18-4-2 record to sit one point up in the standings on the second place Winnipeg Ice (18-5-1).

With the win on Wednesday over Brandon, the Blades exited the Regina bubble having won two straight to finish third with a 16-5-2-1 record sitting three points back of Brandon and two points back of Winnipeg.

In Wednesday’s late contest that closed all action held in the Regina bubble, the Prince Albert Raiders slipped past the Swift Current Broncos 6-5 in overtime.

The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 9-11-3-1 and leap over the Regina Pats for fourth in the East Division. The Pats finish one point behind the Raiders with a 9-12-2-1 mark.

The Moose Jaw Warriors placed sixth in the division with an 8-13-3 mark. The Broncos finished last with a 6-16-2 record but played very inspired hockey in their third season of a major rebuild after having won the WHL title in 2018.

Sharing the Subway Cup with the best fans in the @TheWHL 🖤💛#BWK 🌾👑 pic.twitter.com/IFoyhyoL7W

— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) April 29, 2021

Of course, the seven-team WHL East Division played inside of a bubble format due to the fact the world is still firmly in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The two-month schedule of games in Regina were not disrupted due to any positive COVID-19 tests. The WHL reported on Wednesday a total of 1,930 tests for COVID-19 were conducted during the time the East Division bubble operated, and no one tested positive for the virus.

As a result, each of the seven clubs in the bubble were able to complete their respective 24-game regular season schedules.

Huge credit has to be given to all seven teams, the referees and linemen, the off-ice officials, the game day staff at the Brandt Centre, the scouts and media that worked the games in Regina. They all did their part to ensure the successful completion of all contests in the Brandt Centre with no schedule disruptions.

The schedules of the WHL’s three other divisions in the Central Division, B.C. Division and U.S. Division have all seen minor disruptions due to positive COVID-19 tests. The teams in the Central and U.S. Divisions are playing games in their regular home rinks, while the B.C. Division is playing contests in a modified bubble in Kamloops and Kelowna.

Chase Wouters scored the winner in his final WHL game.

Most of the teams in those three divisions will fall short of playing 24 regular season games each. At the moment, the final WHL regular season games are scheduled for May 12.

In a COVID-19 environment where variants are creating more havoc on the world scene, the pure bubble environment used in Regina successfully allowed the East Division to complete all 84 total games.

All involved with the East Division bubble should feel very proud of their accomplishment.

In the clash between the Wheat Kings and Blades, the Saskatoon’s three overagers had a memorable final bow.

With the teams locked in a 2-2 draw, Blades overage captain Chase Wouters tipped home a point shot from defenceman Rhett Rhinehart for the winning tally with 1:22 remaining in the second period. Wouters won the faceoff clean back to Rhinehart at the point on the play.

The Blades added two goals in the third to round out the 5-2 victory.

Wouters had an assist and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department to go along with his goal, which was his 10^th tally of the season. The career member of the Blades also won 19-of-32 draws in the faceoff circle.

During post-game media Zoom press-conference, Wouters was told his #44 was going to be retired by the team from Blades general manager Colin Priestner.

Also in the Saskatoon win, Blades overage centre Caiden Daley had an assist and a plus-two rating, while overage rearguard Wyatt McLeod had a goal and a plus-three rating.

Nolan Maier made 35 saves in goal for the Blades.

Brandon Lisowsky, Colton Dach and Kyle Crnkovic all netted singles for the Blades.

Overage right-winger Lynden McCallum scored both Brandon goals to finish with 21 tallies on the campaign. McCallum’s 21 goals were a career high.

Brandon’s two other overagers in forwards Marcus Sekundiak and Reid Perepeluk weren’t able to post any points in their final WHL game.

Nolan Maier made 35 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Connor Ungar turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings.

In the night’s second contest and final game in the East Division bubble, Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt lifted a backhand shot past Broncos netminder Reid Dyck just 54 seconds into overtime to give Prince Albert a 6-5 victory.

Wiesblatt had an assist and plus-three rating to go with his goal.

The contest did have some controversy. With the Raiders holding a 5-3 lead, Prince Albert overage star netminder Max Paddock hit one of the Broncos with his blocker during a scrum around the Raiders goal with 11:59 remaining in the third.

Paddock was given a match penalty for attempting to injure and a game misconduct. Broncos centre Josh Davies was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the scrum.

Paddock left the contest having stopped 21-of-24 shots fired his way.

The Broncos got a power-play goal from rookie right-winger Mathew Ward with 9:07 remaining in the third to cut the Raiders lead to 5-4 as a result of the penalties to Paddock.

Ozzy Wiesblatt had the OT winner for the Raiders.

Broncos centre Cole Nagy, who is a former member of the Raiders, evened the score up at 5-5 potting the equalizer with 63 seconds remaining in the third.

That set the stage for the dramatics on Wiesblatt’s winner.

Overage left-winger Justin Nachbaur had a goal and overage centre Spencer Moe had an assist in their final WHL career game with the Raiders. Both were members of the team’s WHL championship team in 2019.

Reece Vitelli scored twice for the Raiders, while Terrell Goldsmith and Tyson Laventure had singles.

Broncos overage right-winger Michael Farren, who started his WHL career with the Blades, had three assists in the OT setback. Broncos overage defencemen Kaleb Bulych and Owen Williams weren’t able to pick up any points in their final outing in the WHL.

Raphael Pelletier, Bode Hagan and Carter Stebbings all had singles for the Broncos.

Raiders backup netminder Carter Serhyenko picked up the win in his relief appearance turning away 6-of-8 shots sent his way. Dyck turned away 32 shots to take the overtime setback in goal for the Broncos.

Wednesday night was a night to be celebrated in Regina.

All seven teams in the East Division bubble played 24 games each in a 2020-21 campaign that appeared highly likely of not happening at all for an extended time period leading up to the season.

Justin Nachbaur scored in his final game with the Raiders.

The games that took place in the bubble were beneficial for all involved.

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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