WHL Championship delivered thrills and drama

Title series between Thunderbirds and Pats was a classic

Keegan Kolesar skates with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    REGINA – Wow!

    That is the only word that was needed to describe this year’s WHL Championship series. The Seattle Thunderbirds and the Regina Pats put on a show and both were worthy of battling for the Ed Chynoweth Cup in a best-of-seven set.

    In a conclusion that was a fitting end for an overall thrilling 2017 WHL playoffs, Alexander True followed the rebound of his own shot to pop home the winner at the 12:36 mark of overtime to deliver the Thunderbirds to a 4-3 series winning Game 6 on Sunday at the Brandt Centre in Regina. Seattle claimed its first league title in franchise history with the 4-2 series win. The Thunderbirds date back to 1977, when the club was formed as the Seattle Breakers.

    At the start, the series had to be considered a tossup. The Pats finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-12-7-1 mark and were rated first in final Canadian Hockey League top 10 rankings, which were released on March 22. They were making their first appearance in the league final since 1984.

    The Thunderbirds finished fourth overall in the WHL with a 46-20-4-2 mark despite getting out to a slow start due to players getting back late from professional camps. They lost the best-of-seven league title series last year 4-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings and returned 14 skaters who were looking to take care of unfinished business.

Alexander True scored the Thunderbirds biggest goal.

    Over the course of six games, the Thunderbirds and Pats showed their resilience. The teams were separated by the slimmest of margins, but in the end, the experience the Thunderbirds had likely helped push them to the title.

    Sunday’s Game 6, which was played before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators, captured the whole series perfectly. It seemed momentum wouldn’t stay with one side.

    After two straight losses, the Pats were looking to get the series back on even terms. Things started well for the hosts as star centre Sam Steel converted a nice feed from defenceman Josh Mahura at the top of the left faceoff circle on the power play to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

    Seattle came with a huge push back and outshot Regina 10-3 in the opening frame. During that stretch of Thunderbirds pressure, it appeared Pats standout netminder Tyler Brown was going to steal the game as he made stop after stop.

    Thunderbirds winger Sami Moilanen found the equalizer on the 20^th shot fired on goal from his side forcing a 1-1 tie at the 8:55 mark of the second.

    The contest proceeded to turn 16 seconds later when Thunderbirds defenceman Turner Ottenbreit received a major penalty for charging on a high hit he threw on Pats speedy winger Austin Wagner. Wagner left for the remainder of the second period and returned for the start of the third.

Austin Wagner led the Pats with 16 goals in the post-season.

    At that point, the Pats showed their “never say die” attitude. They pushed back and built momentum heading into the third period.

    In the third, the Pats hit a point where it appeared Game 7 was going to be a reality. With 8:10 to play in the frame, Mahura fired home a rebound from a shot by winger Jeff de Wit to give the Pats a 2-1 edge.

    From there, Wagner stepped into the forefront. He stole the puck from Thunderbirds defenceman Austin Strand, zipped into the Seattle zone on a breakaway and fired home his 16^th goal of the playoffs to the top left corner of the Thunderbirds net with 6:48 to play. The Brandt Centre was rocking with the Pats now holding a 3-1 lead.

    This became the point the Thunderbirds experience showed through. When everything was rolling for the Pats, they found a moment to gain traction to turn the game around again and provide the final turning point for the series.

Tyler Brown’s rebound on this blocker stop turned out to be costly.

    Just 86 seconds after Wagner’s goal, the Thunderbirds caught a break, when a pass from Seattle defenceman Ethan Bear deflected off Mahura right to Thunderbirds overage winger Ryan Gropp, who was open in the right slot. Gropp cut to the middle and fired home a shot that cut the Pats lead to 3-2 causing a short hush to fall over the Brandt Centre crowd outside of the healthy contingent that was cheering for the Thunderbirds.

    The Thunderbirds proceeded to get on the power play, and winger Keegan Kolesar fired home a beauty feed from Bear in the right slot to force a 3-3 tie with 2:54 to play in the third.

    In overtime, the Pats had a great chance to get the winner, when a shot from standout rookie winger Nick Henry squirted out from the pads of Thunderbirds goaltender Carl Stankowski. Steel tried to tap home the loose puck, but he didn’t get enough force behind the jab allowing Stankowski to make the stop.

Thunderbirds D Ethan Bear (#25) wires a shot on goal from centre ice.

    That set the stage for True to play the role of Seattle hero netting the series winner. When Brown made a blocker stop on True’s first shot, the import from Copenhagen, Denmark, was smart to go hard after his rebound, because he had a lot of empty net to shooting the winning goal into.

    Brown was heroic in the setback making 39 stops. Stankowski turned away 28 shots to become the first goalie in his 16-year-old season to win the WHL title as a starter since Dan Blackburn in 2000 with the Kootenay Ice.

    Three games in the series were decided in overtime, and all three were played in Regina. The Thunderbirds claimed two of those games in extra time to erase the memories of dropping three straight overtimes to open last year’s WHL Championship series with the Wheat Kings.

Thunderbirds C Mathew Barzal cuts to the front of the Pats net.

    The Pats were also without captain Adam Brooks for Games 2 to 5 of the series. Brooks was lost after being on the receiving end of an open ice hit by Ottenbreit in the second period of Game 1.
    Without their captain, the Pats showed their grit winning two out of the four games Brooks missed.

    While Regina fans weren’t happy with Ottenbreit, the Yorkton, Sask., product, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, showed he was a sound and rugged defensive defenceman.
    He recorded seven goals, 25 assists, 92 penalty minutes and a plus-45 rating in the plus-minus department in 71 regular season games.

Sam Steel netted key goals for the Pats.

    If Ottenbreit played for the Pats, he would likely have been a fan favourite in Regina.
    Thunderbirds star centre Mathew Barzal was held pointless in Game 6, but he had his chances. The first round NHL Entry Draft selection of the New York Islanders was named the MVP of the WHL playoffs.

    Barzal missed Seattle’s first round series sweep of the Tri-City Americans due to illness, but he returned at the start of the second round and recorded seven goals, 18 assists and a plus-eight rating in 16 post-season games.

    With the WHL championship win, the Thunderbirds head to the four team Memorial Cup tournament, which begins Friday in Windsor, Ont., with the host Spitfires hosting the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Saint John Sea Dogs.

    The Thunderbirds open their schedule taking on the Ontario Hockey League champion Erie Otters on Saturday. The Memorial Cup runs through to Sunday, May 28 in Windsor.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their WHL title OT winning goal.

    Seattle will be in tough as a WHL team has only won one of the last eight Memorial Cup tournaments. The Edmonton Oil Kings are the only Memorial Cup winner coming from the WHL during that time span capturing major junior hockey’s biggest prize in 2014.

    No matter what happens in the Memorial Cup, the Thunderbirds and Pats showed in their league title series how impressive a product the WHL can be.

    They gave the circuit another classic championship series.

Ridley nears 3,800 games called

Bob Ridley calls a Medicine Hat Tigers road game in Saskatoon.

    When the next WHL season starts, iconic Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play voice Bob Ridley will be closing in on calling his 3,800^th game.

    This season, the Tigers advanced to the second round of the WHL playoffs, where they lost a heartbreaking seven game series to their Highway 3 rivals the Lethbridge Hurricanes. That contest was marked the 3,783^rd game Ridley called as the voice of the Tigers including games in the regular season, standings tiebreakers, WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Since the Tigers began play in 1970, Ridley has called 3,363 of the 3,364 team’s regular season games, one standings tiebreaking game, all 399 contests the club has played in the WHL playoffs and all 20 contests the team has played in the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Ridley has called Tigers hockey games for 47 seasons, and for the majority of that time, he drove the team’s bus as well. If someone started next season calling an average of 80 games a season for 47 seasons, that person would still come up short of the total games Ridley has called.

    It is safe to say no one ever in the history of the WHL will ever pass Ridley’s total of game called as the play-by-play voice of one team.

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

Thunderbirds WHL title dream comes True

Seattle wins first league crown in team history with OT thriller

Mathew Barzal, centre, gives a cheer after the Thunderbirds OT win.

    REGINA – Alexander True came up true in the biggest moment in the history of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    On Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at the Brandt Centre in Regina, True’s Thunderbirds were locked in a 3-3 tie in overtime with the host Pats and were looking to close out the WHL Championship series with a Game 6 victory.
    At the 12:36 mark of the extra session, the 19-year-old import centre from Copenhagen, Denmark, broke down the right wing, fired a shot on Pats netminder Tyler Brown, followed the rebound and popped home the WHL championship winning goal.

    True’s marker gave the Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory in game, a 4-2 win in the best-of-seven series and the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The win marks the first time the Thunderbirds have claimed the WHL title in team history. The Thunderbirds date back to 1977, when the club was formed as the Seattle Breakers.

Alexander True (#16) fires home the WHL championship winning goal.

   “Unbelievable feeling. It is just really special,” said True, who said the OT winner was the biggest goal in his hockey career. “I don’t really know what to say.

    “I didn’t think much. I just wanted get the puck on net. Luckily, I got the rebound and saw the net was pretty open.”

    The Pats held a 1-0 lead after the first period, but the Thunderbirds pulled even at 1-1 scoring the lone tally in the second. Regina shot out to a 3-1 lead in the third period, but Seattle replied with two markers late in the frame to force overtime.

    Feisty Thunderbirds right-winger Keegan Kolesar wired home a one-time feed from star defenceman Ethan Bear on the power play for the equalizer with 2:54 remaining in the third.

Alexander True celebrates his OT winner.

    “We’re a team that doesn’t give up,” said Bear, who had a pair of assists and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department in Sunday’s win. “We’re going to have to keep doing that moving forward.

    “Through all the adversities and injuries, a lot of guys stepped up. We really, really earned this, and it feels amazing.”

    Bear, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers, had over 100 family and friends in attendance from his home stomping grounds in Saskatchewan’s Ochapowace First Nation. The 19-year-old big time appreciated his backers.

    “It is amazing to look at all my family and all my friends,” said Bear. “I am not the only guy from (Saskatchewan), so I bet they (his Saskatchewan teammates on the Thunderbirds) feel the same.

    “It couldn’t be any better.”

    Bear, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 205 pounds, said he draws motivation from his friends and family in Ochapowace.

    “They supported me a lot,” said Bear. “Everywhere I went, they all supported me no matter what I did.

    “That really helps me push myself to get a little bit further. Hearing and seeing all the crowd we had, you know it felt like home ice. Without them, I don’t think we could have done it.”

Seattle RW Keegan Kolesar (#28) tries to slip past Regina D Connor Hobbs.

    Sami Moilanen and Ryan Gropp both netted singles for the Thunderbirds. Sam Steel, Josh Mahura and Austin Wagner all netted singles for the Pats.

    For a moment, it looked Wagner was going to have a storybook type game. With the contest locked in a 1-1 draw, Wagner was nailed with a high hit in the open ice by Thunderbirds 19-year-old defenceman Turner Ottenbreit.

    Wagner, who had been battling bum shoulder in the playoffs, laid on the ice for a few moments before being helped to the dressing room. Ottenbreit was given a major penalty for charging, and that infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    After missing the rest of the second period, Wagner returned for the third. The speedy winger got in alone on Thunderbirds netminder Carl Stankowski and netted his 16^th goal of the post-season to give the Pats a 3-1 edge with 6:48 to play in the frame.

Thunderbirds defenceman Ethan Bear holds up the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Bear said his Thunderbirds expected the Pats to be resilient. The Pats topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 52-12-7-1 record and were rated first in the final Canadian Hockey League rankings released on March 22.

    In the second round of the playoffs, the Pats trailed the Swift Current Broncos 3-1 in a best-of-seven series and rallied for a 4-3 series win. In the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, the Pats trailed that best-of-seven set 2-1 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes and rallied for a 4-2 victory.

    “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Bear. “Right from the get go, they were a team that every time they were down in a series they came back and won.

    “We knew that. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so we just stuck to it. It feels amazing.”

    Stankowski made 28 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Brown was sensational turning away 39 shots to take the loss in goal for the Pats.

Austin Wagner (#27) celebrates his goal that gave the Pats a 3-1 lead.

    Thunderbirds star centre Mathew Barzal was named the MVP of the WHL playoffs.
    The Coquitlam, B.C., product missed the first round of the post-season due to illness, but he returned to piled up seven goals, 18 assists and a plus-eight rating in 16 playoff contests.

    The Thunderbirds will make their first appearance at the four-team Memorial Cup tournament for the first time since they hosted the event in 1992, when they lost out in a semifinal contest. The other three teams at this year’s Memorial Cup are the Ontario Hockey League champion Erie Otters, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Saint John Sea Dogs and the host Windsor Spitfires.

    The Memorial Cup begins Friday and runs through to Sunday, May 28 in Windsor, Ont.

    The Pats were making their first appearance in the WHL Championship series since 1984 and will host the Memorial Cup next year.

    After losing last year’s WHL Championship series in five games to the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Thunderbirds returned 14 skaters this season and had to survive missing key players to injuries and illness over extended stretches. Stankowski, who is in his 16-year-old season, played every minute in the post-season in goal for Seattle after star overage netminder Rylan Toth sat out with a lower body injury.

Seattle C Matthew Wedman (#21) is stopped by Regina G Tyler Brown.

    During the regular season, the Thunderbirds posted the WHL’s fourth best overall record at 46-20-4-2. In the WHL playoffs, Seattle rolled off a 16-4 mark.

    Thunderbirds long time veteran general manager, part owner and WHL legend Russ Farwell stood off to the side watching his players, coaches and staff enjoy the moment. Before he ever joined the Thunderbirds, Farwell was the general manager and architect of the Medicine Hat Tigers league and Memorial Cup championship teams in 1987 and 1988.

    After the 1988 Memorial Cup title win, he joined the Thunderbirds for his first stint as general manager, which ended with a departure to the NHL ranks in 1990. Farwell has continuously been with the Thunderbirds since getting back involved with the team in 1995.

    He wanted to savour this first personal league title win in 29 years.

The Thunderbirds get set for the team picture with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    “You appreciate it a little more I think the longer you have been doing it,” said Farwell. “This is a special group of guys.

    “It is a bigger challenge in the U.S. to build that kind of team. This year this group has really, really battled through a lot of things. It is the funniest year I have ever had right down to Carl (Stankowski) having to step in for us in goal.

    “They’ve just overcome so many things.”

    Farwell said he would always remember this league title win.

    “They are all big, but this is special certainly for our group, our scouts and everyone there in Seattle,” said Farwell. “It has been a long, long time coming.

    “We worked at it. We had a run last year. It is really special to get there and see these guys get there.”

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

Bear’s backers are the best

Thunderbirds defenceman has great support from home

Ethan Bear’s family and friends tailgate at the Brandt Centre parking lot.

    Ethan Bear’s supporters have delivered one of the best stories and sights in the WHL over the past four seasons.

    Way back in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, Bear was selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round and 25^th overall. That meant the rearguard from Saskatchewan’s Ochapowace First Nation would only get to make one road trip a season to play five games in home rinks of foes from the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Since making the Thunderbirds as a 16-year-old rookie back in the 2013-14 season, Bear’s supporters from Ochapowace have relished the time he spends playing in driving distance to home. Anytime the Thunderbirds make a road trip to play teams in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, you often saw somewhere between 30 to 40 supporters from Ochapowace wearing Thunderbirds jerseys with Bear’s name and number on them.

    The first time I saw that sight was way back on Oct. 4. 2013, when the Medicine Hat Tigers hosted the Thunderbirds at the Tigers storied former home rink, The Arena. 

Ethan Bear breaks up ice for the Thunderbirds.

    Including one appearance as a 15-year-old call up, Bear was playing his just his fifth WHL regular season at the time, and he hitting the ice for his first contest in a WHL Eastern Conference rink.

    Among the sellout crowd of 4,006 were at least 30 family members and friends wearing Bear’s #25 Thunderbirds jersey. It was pretty neat looking and seeing three rows of people all wearing the same visiting jersey in one section right by the glass near the blue-line. I could see the gathering clearly from my press box, when I covered the Tigers for the Medicine Hat News.

    Bear finished with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department that night, and a young Thunderbirds squad erased a 4-3 Tigers lead with just under 30 seconds to play in the third period and claimed a 5-4 victory in overtime.

    Since that time, Bear grew into one of the league’s star defencemen. In June of 2015, Bear was selected in the fifth round and 124^th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL Entry Draft. 

A couple of supporters cheer Ethan Bear on at the Brandt Centre.

    In early of June 2016, the Oilers signed Bear to a three-year NHL Entry-Level contract after he helped the Thunderbirds earn a berth in the WHL Championship series in May of that year.

    This season, Bear, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 205 pounds, appeared in 67 games for the Thunderbirds recording 28 goals, 42 assists and a plus-34 rating in the plus-minus department. He won the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s defenceman of the year and was also named to the WHL’s Western Conference first all-star team.

    In the post-season, Bear was instrumental in helping the Thunderbirds reach the WHL Championship series for a second straight year.
    All through the journey over the years, his friends and family members kept showing up in large numbers, when the Thunderbirds visited rinks in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    When the Thunderbirds traveled to Regina for Games 1 and 2 of this year’s WHL title series with the Pats, Bears supporters were there. They tailgated in the Brandt Centre parking lot with other family members of Thunderbirds players and were as friendly as can be. Actually, Bear’s supporters are one of the most sociable groups you will find around anywhere.

Ethan Bears looks to start a rush up ice for the Thunderbirds.

    With the series tied 2-2 following the Thunderbirds 6-1 win in Game 4 at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash., on Wednesday, there will be a Game 6 in Regina on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at the Brandt Center. You can already envision Bear’s family and friends arriving to support Ochapowace’s favourite son.
    Bear has recorded six goals, 16 assists and a plus-seven rating in 15 post-season games during the current run with the Thunderbirds.

    The Game 6 gathering and a possible Game 7 gathering on Monday night also see the conclusion of this tradition. Bear will be an overager next season, and with having an NHL deal signed with the Oilers, he will most likely be in the professional ranks in the Oilers system.

    There will definitely be mixed emotions to see the gatherings for Bear at WHL rinks come to an end. They have been one of the WHL’s great feel good stories. The family and friends got to see Bear grow and excel to the point that he will have an NHL career, so that was pretty special.

    The family and friends have been to Edmonton to see Bear play in the WHL. It would be cool to see those gathering continue one day in Edmonton in the NHL.

WHL title series a toss up despite lopsided Game 4

Seattle’s Mathew Barzal, left, slips past Regina’s Sam Steel.

    Whatever happened in Game 4 in the WHL Championship series will be contained in Game 4.

    While Game 1 to 3 between the Regina Pats and Seattle Thunderbirds were decided each by one goal, the Thunderbirds put on a show and took the Pats out to the woodshed posting a 6-1 romp in Game 4 of the series before 4,652 spectators at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.
    Seattle held a 36-19 edge in shots on goal to add further insult to injury in a one-sided romp on Wednesday.

    With how good coaching is these days in the WHL, the likelihood of the Thunderbirds carrying any momentum from Game 4 into Game 5, which is set for 7:30 p.m. local time on Friday at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., is slim.

Netminder Tyler Brown turns away a shot in goal for the Pats.

    You can expect Regina’s veteran head coach and general manager John Paddock will ensure the Pats players quickly move past the disappointing outing in the best-of-seven series. The Thunderbirds can’t transfer any goals from Game 4 into Game 5.

    In Game 4, it seemed like way too many Pats players had an off night, where they were just not focused or seemed to think the Thunderbirds would go away after Pats star centre Sam Steel gave the visitors a 1-0 first period lead. To the Thunderbirds credit, they pounded on the Pats after Steel scored replying with six unanswered markers.

    Some of the Seattle goals were a result of the Thunderbirds being aggressive on the forecheck, and the Pats played a little too comfortable thinking a lot of situations were going to be routine.

    Even Pats star goaltender Tyler Brown had the puck stolen off his stick by Thunderbirds winger Sami Moilanen, who wrapped in what turned out to be the game-winning tally with 3:35 remaining in the first period putting the hosts up 2-1.

Thunderbirds D Turner Ottenbreit, left, wires a shot at the Pats goal.

    A Game 5 bounce back is expected from the Regina side even if star overage captain Adam Brooks isn’t able to return from injury. Brooks was injured after being leveled with an open ice hit by Thunderbirds defender Turner Ottenbreit in Game 1 of the WHL title series. The blowout loss will likely work as a wakeup call to get the Pats playing with more focus and energy.

    The Pats have progressed through the playoffs without standout centre Jake Leschyshyn, who has a knee injury, and defenceman Dawson Davidson hasn’t played since Regina’s Game 7 victory over the Swift Current Broncos in the second round due to injury.

    The Thunderbirds have been without star overage netminder Dylan Toth for the entire post-season due to a lower body injury. 

Carl Stankowski controls a loose puck in goal for the Thunderbirds.

    Carl Stankowski, who is in his 16-year-old rookie season, has filled in as the starter in spectacular fashion posting a 14-4 record, a 2.42 goals against average and a .913 save percentage playing every minute in the playoffs for the Thunderbirds.

    The rest of the contests of the WHL Championship series should resemble the outstanding action from Games 1 to 3.

    As the Pats and Thunderbirds continue to battle, the field for the Memorial Cup tournament, which is slated for May 19-28 in Windsor, Ont., is starting to take shape. The Spitfires are in as the host team, and Saint John Sea Dogs will be there as the champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.     

    The Erie Otters led the best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League title series 3-1 over the Mississauga Steelheads and will try to close out that set in Game 5 on Friday in Erie.

Officials have been way better than the fans think

Linesman Chad Huseby, left, drops the puck for a faceoff.

    Between the playoffs in the NHL and the WHL, it seems the fans are really upset with the men who wear the stripped uniforms, especially if you check out the chatter on social media.

    On the NHL front, I haven’t seen enough games in person or on television to make any judgments there. I have probably seen three complete NHL playoff games in total.

    I have seen a whole pile of WHL post-season games. I know this might freak some fans out, but on an overall level, I have been satisfied with the officiating in the WHL playoffs.

    I think the games have had great flow to them. For the most part, I believe the officials are nailing the black and white and the over the line calls –especially those that require a lot of judgment. 

    I believe the officials have let the soft calls go, which is a good thing. 

The officials move in to control a scrum in Game 1 of the WHL Finals.

    The officials have done great in basically distinguishing the difference between what is a trip and what is someone just accidentally slipping over an opponent’s stick.

    I also believe the officials have done a great job at being consistent and usually that is the big thing competing teams look for.

    In past post-seasons, I have seen games were officials started calling all the tick-tack soft calls and stick with that the entire game. You ended up with a contest where each side has 10 power plays, and those games are usually way more frustrating to players, coaches, team management and fans compared to what has been taken place so far in the 2017 post-season.

    I think most people in the public believe officials take a class on the rules of the game and are just sent on the ice to make the calls. There is way more to officiating than that.

    There is a whole other side to the craft that includes positioning, communicating with coaches, players and sometimes management, and reading players and coaches to determine how they feel emotionally. All these factors go into helping an official read the game.

    Over the years, I have had a lot of great talks with numerous officials including former referees Chris Savage, Nathan Wieler and Devin Klein, current NHL referee Chris Schlenker and young WHL linesman Marcus Gerow. When you talk with these individuals, you realize how enormous the craft of become a good official is, how many variables you track and how you have to have skills outside of knowing how to call penalties.

Linesmen break up a scrum in Game 2 of the WHL Finals.

    You also realize these individuals have a great passion for the game that is equal to any player, coach or manager. Officials don’t want to make a mistake that will affect the outcome of a contest.

    In modern officiating, the officials on the ice at the WHL level are overseen by officiating supervisors and WHL director of officiating Kevin Muench. They work with the officials like good coaches work with the players. They are constantly teaching various tips to officials on how to do things better and also give encouragement when something is done well.

    From talking to veteran officials, they have often said Muench is really good at pointing out different ways unexpected situations on the ice can be handled, and you don’t realize it until the situation comes up and he points it out. The lower levels of hockey officials are guided by supervisors these days, and those efforts have enhanced the quality of games overall in the sport.

    The officials always consider themselves the third team on the ice, and like the participating clubs, they are constantly making adjustments.

    There will always be situations that arise where fans will freak out like the tussle between Lethbridge Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong and Regina Pats winger Dawson Leedahl, where Wong said he was bit on the finger by Leedahl in Game 4 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series between the two clubs.

Officials ensure potential hot spot stays cool in Game 2 of the WHL Finals.

    There will always be times not all will be pleased with a call like late in Game 3 of the WHL Championship series where Pats centre Wyatt Sloboshan was tangled up with Seattle Thunderbirds star centre Mathew Barzal. Sloboshan was given a minor for hooking and Barzal went off with a minor for embellishment in that encounter. Thunderbirds head coach Steve Konowalchuk voiced his displeasure over the call on Barzal in a media conference after the game.

    Those situations always involve tight judgments, where fans on one side or the other will agree to disagree.

    After those two respective series resumed, the teams didn’t engage in any outright brawls or look for ways to make any payback. The steady flow in the games continued, which meant the officials were able to get communication and understanding across to the clubs.

    Officiating in the WHL is light years ahead of where it was 20 years ago and that is due to the fact the approach to the craft has evolved just as players and coaches have evolved.

    The art of officiating will always be a work in progress, and in the WHL, I believe the guys in the stripped uniforms are coming out on the correct side of things when it comes to doing their jobs well.

Leedahl earned NHL deal with Rangers

Winger Dawson Leedahl, left, drives a shot on goal for the Pats.

    Whispers that the NHL might come calling became a reality for Saskatoon product Dawson Leedahl on Monday, and he deserved that reality.

    On Monday, Leedahl, who has had a breakout season playing left wing for the WHL’s Regina Pats, signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. When a blockbuster off-season trade brought Leedahl to the Pats in the off-season from the Everett Silvertips, he was just looking to have one last memorable year in major junior hockey.

    In four complete seasons with the Silvertips, Leedahl, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 193 pounds, appeared in 226 regular season games, recorded 37 goals, 64 assists and a minus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

    During his overage season with the Pats, Leedahl nearly matched all his career point totals in Everett piling up 35 goals, 54 assists and a plus-45 rating in 71 games in Regina playing on a line with star centre Sam Steel and extremely talented rookie right-winger Nick Henry.

    In the playoffs, Leedahl has had a huge impact for the Pats netting 11 goals, 12 assists and a plus-10 rating. He has picked up points at key times, but he positively impacted final outcomes in other ways.

Pats winger Dawson Leedahl (#71) has earned an NHL entry-level contract.

    In Regina’s 3-2 Game 3 win in the WHL Championship series over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday in Kent, Wash., Leedahl didn’t put up any points, but he might have had one of his best performances of the post-season. He was blocking shots, getting in the right positions to break up passing or transition plays by the Thunderbirds and made smart decisions when he had the puck.

    All of those gritty plays by the graduate of the Saskatoon Contacts midget AAA program allowed the Pats to preserve victory on that night.

    Leedahl, who turned 21 in March, gets involved in the feisty and dirty areas of the game, but when the game ends, he is pretty likable off the ice.

    His play in the WHL post-season was definitely the tipping point that made NHL teams come calling. He also showed the door doesn’t necessarily close on the NHL dream if you go unselected in the NHL Entry Draft.

Clark makes Canada’s centralized roster

    Saskatoon product Emily Clark is a step closer to playing in her first Winter Olympics.

    On Thursday, she was named to Hockey Canada’s centralized roster for the 2017-18 season in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    Clark, who is a star forward with the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team and a graduate of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA program, has been part of Canada’s women’s  national team program since 2012. That year, she helped the under-18 squad win gold at the under-18 worlds in the Czech Republic in January.
    The 21-year-old has been part of Canada’s senior national team for the past three campaigns.

    In 2016-17, Clark finished playing her third season with the Badgers posting career highs in assists (26) and points (46) in 37 games. Playing a power-forward role, Clark, who stands 5-foot-7, has piled up 56 goals and 62 assists in 111 career games with the Badgers. She still has one season of National Collegiate Athletic Association eligibility remaining.

    The centralize women’s team will be based out of Calgary and starts preparations for the Winter Olympics later this month with fitness testing. The current roster of 28 players will be cut to a final roster of 23 players in late December. The Winter Olympics run from Feb. 9 to 25 in the new year.

    Clark suited up for the Stars for three seasons from 2009 to 2012 collecting 45 goals and 46 assists in 82 regular season games.

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

Mahura pulls out huge comeback win for Pats

Regina ties WHL title series with Thunderbirds 1-1

The Regina Pats pile on top of Josh Mahura after he scores his OT winner.

    REGINA – Josh Mahura’s playoff savvy showed through for the Regina Pats.

    The third-year rearguard showed why the Pats decide to acquire him in a WHL trade deadline deal with the Red Deer Rebels back on Jan. 10. The 18-year-old St. Albert product missed all but two games of last year’s regular season with the Rebels due to a serious knee injury.

    He returned to be a key contributor to the Rebels run to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series and a semifinal appearance as the host squad in the Memorial Cup tournament.

    On Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at the Brandt Centre, Mahura was the key figure in powering the Regina Pats to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the WHL Championship series. With the win, the Pats tie the best-of-seven set 1-1.

Josh Mahura scored twice for the Pats on Saturday night.

    The Thunderbirds built a 3-1 lead early in the second period scoring three times in a span of 56 seconds.
    To make matters worse for the host side, the Pats were without captain Adam Brooks with an undisclosed injury after he received a crunching open ice hit from Thunderbirds defenceman Turner Ottenbreit in Seattle’s 2-1 overtime victory in Game 1 on Friday.

    After going ahead 3-1 on Saturday, the visitors were controlling the game at that point, but they gave the Pats a chance to get back into the contest taking three successive penalties in the second half of the second frame.

    Working on the power play with 1:25 to play in the second, Mahura tapped home a loose puck at the right side of the Seattle goal during a net scramble to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-2. That effort turned out to the cue the comeback.

Pats D Josh Mahura (#5) defends against Thunderbirds C Mathew Barzal.

    At the 5:20 mark of the third, Pats import left-winger Filip Ahl stole the puck from a Thunderbirds defenceman and scored on a turnaround shot to tie things up a 3-3.

    When the contest proceeded to go to overtime, the Pats caught another break, when Thunderbirds right-winger Keegan Kolesar took a minor kneeing penalty behind the play on Pats defenceman Connor Hobbs.

    On the ensuing power play, Mahura blasted home the winner at the 5:22 mark of the extra session to deliver the Pats to victory.

    “We knew we needed to win tonight, and that was the bottom line,” said Mahara. “When it went in, it was like a sigh of relief for not just me but the whole team.

    “We needed to tie the series up here at home.”

Keegan Kolesar took a costly penalty in overtime.

    Last year, Mahura, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 185 pounds, ate up huge minutes playing the back end for the Rebels in the post-season. When he arrived in Regina via trade, he instantly gave the Pats more depth on their backend with his ability to play both ends of the ice.

    In 73 games this past regular season with both the Rebels and Pats, the third round 2016 NHL Entry Draft selection of the Anaheim Ducks piled up 17 goals, 36 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.

    “We made a big trade for a reason,” said Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock. “He is one of the top defencemen in the league.

    “He is part of our first four defenceman which I think is big for our team. We got him for this year, and we got him for next year.”

    The Pats gained a rearguard who has loads of playoff experience, which is key to helping counter the experience contained in the Thunderbirds, who returned 14 skaters from last year’s squad that appeared in the WHL championship series loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

    Coming from the Rebels, the Pats also gained a player in Mahura who has a team-first mentality. That showed when he was asked how good it was to come through in big moments for the Pats in the post-game media conference.

Alexander True (#16) was pumped after putting Seattle up 3-1.

    “You are not thinking about yourself or getting goal for yourself,” said Mahara. “You are thinking about getting that win for the guys that have been battling all year for you.”

    The Pats got out to a quick jump in Saturday’s game, when WHL MVP Sam Steel scored 50 seconds into the contest after being on the receiving end of a turnover by a Thunderbirds defenceman. Steel later drew an assist on Mahura’s first goal.

    While the Pats took a 1-0 lead on Steel’s tally, the Thunderbirds experience showed through as they started to carry play in the contest. Early in the second, the Thunderbirds broke through on the scoreboard as Austin Strand, Turner Ottenbreit and Alexander True all netted singles to go ahead 3-1.

    From that point, Pats netminder Tyler Brown slammed the door making 27 saves to pick up the win in goal as Regina battled back. Thunderbirds netminder Carl Stankowski, who is in his 16-year-old rookie season, turned away 22 shots to take the loss in goal for Seattle.

WHL MVP Sam Steel had a goal and an assist in the Pats win.

    With the comeback win, the Pats head into Tuesday’s Game 3 at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., with momentum. The Thunderbirds, who host Games 3 to 5 of the WHL title series, are already beginning to reset.

    Part of the reset comes from Thunderbirds head coach Steve Konowalchuk having faith in Kolesar, who took the overtime penalty that ultimately cost his side the game. Kolesar missed his team’s series opening win over the Pats on Friday serving a one-game suspension.
    Kolesar was suspended for taking a checking from behind major in Seattle’s Western Conference championship series clinching 3-1 Game 6 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna on April 30.

    As for Kolesar’s penalty in Saturday’s loss, Konowalchuk spoke about the importance of going forward.

The Regiment at the Brandt Centre celebrate the Pats OT victory.

    “You don’t want your player or any player to be in that situation and get a penalty,” said Konowalchuk. “Mistakes happen. We’ll go to battle with Keegan at any time.

    “He’s disappointed for our team. He is an emotional kid. They are kids and that’s part of it.

    “That is part of the process the highs and lows of playoffs. He has to move on, and we have to move on.”

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Thunderbirds gut out series opening 2-1 overtime win

Pats face an uphill battle losing third straight Game 1

Thunderbirds winger Donovan Neuls celebrates his OT winner.

    REGINA – The Regina Pats seem to like doing things the hard way in the post-season.

    For the third straight series, the Pats, who topped the WHL standings with a 52-12-7-1 mark, dropped an opening Game 1, and this time they face a different obstacle.
    On Friday night in the opening contest in the best-of-seven WHL Championship series, the Pats fell 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds.

    Just 14 seconds into the extra session, Thunderbirds winger Donovan Neuls knocked home a loose puck in front of the Regina net to send most of a sellout crowd of 6,484 home disappointed.

    Thanks the setback, the Pats will have to fight another uphill battle to pull out a series victory, but this time the challenge is different for the club the was rated first in the final CHL top 10 rankings released on March 22.

Donovan Neuls breaks up ice for the Thunderbirds.

    In the second round of the playoffs, the Pats dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the Swift Current Broncos at home. The Broncos eventually took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven set before the Regina battled back with three straight wins to take the series 4-3 to advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series.

    In the opener of the Eastern Conference title series, the Pats again fell on home ice this time by a 3-1 decision to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Lethbridge took a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven set before the Pats rallied back with three straight wins to claim the series 4-2.

    The Broncos, who posted a 39-23-4-6 mark in the regular season, and the Hurricanes, who had a 44-21-4-3 record in the regular season, were both strong clubs, but both also hadn’t made far ventures in the post-season for some time.
    The Broncos were looking to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2001 when they fell to the Pats. The Hurricanes were making their first conference final appearance since 2008 when they fell to the Pats.

    Regina is also making its first long run in the playoffs in some time. When the Pats won the conference final, it marked the first time they appeared in the league championship series since 1984.

Ethan Bear had a goal in his return from injury.

    Between 1984 and the current campaign, they only had one other conference final appearance coming back in 1993, when they were swept by the Broncos.

    In the Thunderbirds, the Pats are facing an experienced opponent when it comes to the post-season.

    Seattle made it to last year’s league title series dropping the best-of-seven set 4-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Thunderbirds dropped three straight overtime games to make things really hard to try and win that set.

    This season, the Thunderbirds returned 14 skaters and posted the league’s fourth best record at 46-20-4-2. You have to think they were heading into the playoffs looking to take care of unfinished business.

    Still, Seattle entered the playoffs with some adversity. They haven’t had the services of star overage goaltender Rylan Toth, who missed the entire post-season with a lower body injury. Carl Stankowski, who in his 16-year-old rookie season, has been spectacular in Toth’s place posting impressive stats in the post-season with a 13-2 record, a 2.39 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.

    He was solid on Friday making 31 stops, which included turning away Pats captain Adam Brooks on a first-period wraparound and stopping speedy Pats winger Austin Wagner on a short-handed breakaway in the third period.

Thunderbirds goalie Carl Stankowski stones Pats centre Braydon Buziak.

    The Pats finally beat Stankowski on a spectacular power-play goal from star offensive-defenceman Connor Hobbs with 7:49 to play. Hobbs snuck in the point and potted a backdoor feed from winger Dawson Leedahl which tied the contest up at 1-1 and eventually forced overtime.

    The Thunderbirds also started the playoffs without spectacular star captain Mathew Barzal with what the team said was an illness. The Thunderbirds said Barzal was being tested for mumps in early March. Barzal missed the Thunderbirds first round series swept of the Tri-City Americans and returned for the start of the Thunderbirds second round series with the Everett Silvertips.

    In 11 post-season games, Barzal has been on fire piling up five goals and 14 assists. He had helpers on both his team’s goals in Game 1 against the Pats.

Connor Hobbs, left, celebrates his game-tying goal for the Pats.

    The Thunderbirds also had questions going into the series opener with Regina as right-winger Keegan Kolesar was sitting out a one-game suspension for receiving a major for checking from behind in Seattle’s Western Conference series clinching 3-1 Game 6 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna on Sunday.

    Ethan Bear, who was named the WHL’s top defenceman, was returning to action after missing three games with a hand injury. The Ochapowace product blew home a power play goal from the top of the faceoff circle at the 4:55 mark of the second period to give Seattle a 1-0 edge and answer questions about his effectiveness.

    On top of all of those obstacles, the Thunderbirds got rid of some demons with regards to losing overtime games in the league title series from a year ago.

    To make matters worse for the Pats, they lost Brooks who was nailed in the open ice after cross the Seattle blue-line by Thunderbirds rugged defenceman Turner Ottenbreit early in the second period when the game was still scoreless. Brooks was held off the ice, had a cut on his head, looked groggy and didn’t return.

Pats captain Adam Brooks is tended to by trainer Greg Mayer.

    In a post-game press conference, Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock compared Ottenbreit’s hit to one thrown by former NHL Hall of Fame defenceman Scott Stevens. Paddock also didn’t give an update on Brooks’s future status.

    On replays, Ottenbreit’s hit appeared clean, and Brooks was at a size disadvantage in the collision, which helped cause the injury. Ottenbreit stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, while Brooks stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 177 pounds.

    The Pats won their second round series against the Broncos with Brooks missing the last five games of that set with a knee injury. He dressed for the last three outings of the series but stayed on the bench.

    Regina netminder Tyler Brown did his best to give the Pats a chance to win on Friday making 24 saves to take the loss in goal.

The Thunderbirds celebrate their overtime victory.

    The Pats now have their backs to the wall against an experienced opponent. They claimed Game 2 at home in both of their series wins against the Broncos and Hurricanes to put themselves in the fight in those sets.

    The pressure is on Regina to repeat recent history in Game 2 against the Thunderbirds on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Brandt Centre before going back for three straight games at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.

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