Thunderbirds repeat as Western Conference champs

WHL final to start at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg

Kyle Crnkovic had the winning goal for Seattle on Monday.

It feels like it has been WHL championship or bust for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Last year, the Thunderbirds posted a 44-18-4-2 record to sit fourth in the WHL’s Western Conference during the regular season. In playoffs, they advanced to the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series falling in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

When it came to making the WHL final, Seattle was expected to be in the mix but wasn’t a favourite to get that far. During that 2022 post-season run, the Thunderbirds won six straight contests where they faced elimination.

Seattle came into this season as one of the favourites to make and win the WHL final. That favourite status only increased as they made numerous trades to load up with older high end players until trading action was halted at the WHL trade deadline on January 10.

On Monday, the Thunderbirds took another step toward getting their hands on the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the first time since the days of Mathew Barzal, Ethan Bear, Keegan Kolesar, Alexander True and Scott Eansor in 2017.

Taking on the host Kamloops Blazers before 5,364 spectators at the Sandman Centre, the current Thunderbirds erased a 1-0 first period deficit to post a solid 4-2 victory in Game 6 of the WHL Western Conference Championship Series. With the win, the Thunderbirds win the best-of-seven set 4-2.

For the second straight year, they will play in the WHL final. This year’s WHL Championship Series will feature the two top teams in the 2022-23 regular season standings in the Thunderbirds and Winnipeg Ice.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

Jared Davidson scored his 10th goal of the current post-season.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

On Monday, the Ice in conjunction with the WHL and True North Sports and Entertainment announced the Ice’s home games for the WHL final will be played at the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg as opposed to the Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba campus. The Canada Life Centre is home to the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, and both those clubs have been eliminated from their respective league post-seasons.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Canada Life Centre and Game 2 will follow on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the same venue.

With the loss on Monday, the Blazers run through the WHL Playoffs comes to an end, but their season will go on as they host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup runs from May 26 to June 4 at the Sandman Centre, and the Blazers open the event hosting the QMJHL champion on May 26 at 6 p.m. local time.

The Blazers finished second overall in the WHL’s Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

The series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers was expected to be a heavyweight title, and it didn’t disappoint going to six games. Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams, while Kamloops has nine NHL drafted players on its roster. The Thunderbirds have seven players who participated in the last world juniors, and the Blazers have three players who took part in this past world juniors.

Sawyer Mynio scored a positive-bounce goal for Seattle.

As for Monday’s Game 6 clash, the Thunderbirds came out with all sorts of momentum outshooting the Blazers 13-5 in the first period. Blazers star goaltender Dylan Ernst made a number of stellar saves to keep the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard.

Despite play being in their own zone for most of the opening 20 minutes, the Blazers actually opened the game’s scoring. With 4:03 remaining in the first, Blazers right-winger Dylan Sydor wired home a midrange shot from the front of the Seattle net to the top right corner of the goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The final 40 minutes was much more evenly played, and it was over that stretch where the Thunderbirds offence broke through on the scoreboard. At the 4:46 mark of the second, Thunderbirds star 20-year-old star centre Jared Davidson blew home his 10^th goal of the post-season from the middle of the left faceoff circle to even the score at 1-1. From that point, Ernst and Thunderbirds star netminder Thomas Milic slammed the door for the rest of the second frame.

The contest remained tied 1-1 until the Thunderbirds got a positive bounce at the 5:33 mark of the third. Thunderbirds sophomore defenceman Sawyer Mynio, who is a Kamloops product, took a knuckleball shot from the right side boards just above the faceoff circle that deflected off the arm of Blazers import defenceman Aapo Sarell into the Kamloops goal to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Right at the 10-minute mark of the third, the Thunderbirds pushed their advantage out to 3-1 thanks to the work of a pair of Seattle stars. Davidson was cycling behind the Kamloops net with the puck, came out on the right side of the goal and passed the puck across the face of the net to left-winger Kyle Crnkovic at the left post.

Crnkovic, who turned 21-years-old in February, made a backdoor tap into an empty cage to give the Thunderbirds their two-goal edge. Right after Crnkovic’s goal, the Blazers called a timeout in order to regroup.

The Blazers came with a big push back after the timeout. The host side got a break when Thunderbirds star defenceman Nolan Allan was given a hooking penalty with 2:33 remaining in the third.

Jeremy Hanzel has been strong in the post-season for Seattle.

Kamloops pulled Ernst for an extra attacker for a six-versus-four skaters advantage on the power play. The Blazers scored a beauty tick-tack-toe goal off a rush on that power play to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-2 with 1:43 remaining in the third.

Star 20-year-old centre Ryan Hofer bought the puck up centre ice and passed it to the left wing to star left-winger Daylan Kuefler. Kuefler passed the puck across the face of the Seattle net to star right-winger Matthew Seminoff on the right wing, and Seminoff covered the backdoor feed to pull the Blazers to within one goal of drawing even on the scoreboard. The tally was Seminoff’s 10th goal of the post-season.

The Thunderbirds snuffed out the potential rally, when 19-year-old standout left-winger Reid Schaefer scored an empty net goal with a shot from deep in his own zone with 38.1 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 4-2 final score.

Milic made 28 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Ernst turned away 39-of-42 shots to take the setback in net for the Blazers.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson for a fourth straight game. It is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Jeremy Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of the series claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3. The Blazers were without defenceman Ryan Michael.

The Seattle side won’t get to enjoy the series win over the Blazers for long. The Thunderbirds have three off days before opening the WHL final against the Ice in Winnipeg on Friday.

In those three days off, the Thunderbirds will travel to the Manitoba capital. The Ice will have enjoyed eight off days since sweeping the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference Championship Series before hosting Game 1 of the WHL final.

Reid Schaefer had a long distance empty-net goal on Monday.

With that noted, winning the WHL title was a goal of both the Thunderbirds and the Ice at the start of the campaign. Now, they will play for a prize that only one can win.

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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Blazers force Game 6 with third period surge

Thunderbirds still lead Western Conference final 3-2

Will Blazers HC/GM Shaun Clouston guide a team to a 3-1 series rally?

The Kamloops Blazers pre-empted any celebration plans the Seattle Thunderbirds and their fans may have had.

On Saturday at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., the host Thunderbirds went into Game 5 of the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series looking to close out the best-of-seven set. The visitors played the role of spoiler.

The two sides were locked in a 1-1 draw after 40 minutes, and the Blazers opened the third scoring three times in the first 5:31 of the frame to jump ahead 4-1. The Thunderbirds answered back scoring once 18 seconds after that surge, but the hosts wouldn’t score any more to the disappointment to most of the 5,063 spectators in attendance.

The Blazers made the 4-2 score hold up as the final outcome of the contest to cut the Thunderbirds lead in the series to 3-2. With the win, the Blazers force the series to go to a Game 6 that will be held on Monday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops at 7 p.m. local time.

If the Blazer are able to win Game 6, that will force a series deciding Game 7 to be held on Tuesday back at the Accesso ShoWare Center at 7 p.m. local time. Last year, these two clubs went to a series deciding Game 7 in the Western Conference final that was won 3-2 by the Thunderbirds in Kamloops. The Thunderbirds trailed that series 3-2 before rallying to take the set in Game 7.

Of course, the Blazers are trying to rally back from a 3-1 series deficit to take the Western Conference final, and Shaun Clouston, who is the team’s head coach and general manager has experience with making a 3-1 series comeback.

Back in the 2014 WHL Playoffs, Clouston was the head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers when they fell behind the Cranbrook, B.C., based Kootenay Ice 3-1 in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Tigers roared back for three straight wins to take the set 4-3 for the only 3-1 series comeback to date in team history.

Medicine Hat would proceed to bow out in the Eastern Conference final in five games to the eventual WHL and Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings. Clouston joined the Blazers organization on June 17, 2019. The Ice moved from Cranbrook to Winnipeg, Man., before the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

Jared Davidson is Seattle’s career leader in post-season goals.

As for Saturday’s encounter between the Blazers and Thunderbirds, Blazers left-winger Matthew Seminoff scored his second of the contest 43 seconds into the third to give the visitors a 2-1 edge with a shot from the front of the net on a delayed penalty call. Seminoff converted a nice backhand pass that came from the left side of the Seattle goal from left-winger Caedan Bankier.

Just 23 seconds later, the Blazers pushed their lead out to 3-1 thanks in part to an error by Thunderbirds star goaltender Thomas Milic. Blazers import centre Jakub Demek was cruising around behind the Seattle net, and Milic was expecting a wraparound and shuffled from the left post to hug the right post of his goal.

Demek centred the puck just before passing the left post to Blazers star 20-year-old centre Ryan Hofer, who was about three feet out front of the left post. Hofer fired one shot off the post before putting his own rebound into an empty cage to give the visitors their two-goal advantage.

At the 5:31 mark of the third, the Thunderbirds were working on the power play, but the Blazers were able to break into the Seattle zone on a two-on-one break. Hofer jetted down the right wing, deked around Thunderbirds star defenceman Kevin Korchinski and snapped home a shot for his second tally of the contest that put the Blazers up 4-1.

Just 17 seconds later, Thunderbirds star left-winger Reid Schaefer scored on that same power play to cut the Blazers lead to 4-2. Seattle wasn’t able to get any closer even with having the benefit of being on the power play for the final 1:54 of the third including being down two men for a short span of 16 seconds.

The teams played through a scoreless opening frame with the Blazers holding a 12-7 edge in shots on goal.

At the 3:06 mark of the third, Thunderbirds star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who turned 21-years-old in January, appeared to have scored the first goal of the contest. The goal went to a video review, and it was disallowed after video determined there was a hand pass made by Thunderbirds captain Lucas Ciona in the puck possession sequence that led to Crnkovic’s tally.

Matthew Seminoff

The Thunderbirds did get the first goal of the contest as 20-year-old star centre Jared Davidson scored his ninth of the post-season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. The tally was Davidson’s 22^nd career post-season goal with the Thunderbirds, which set a new team record. The old mark of 21 goals was held by centre Scott Eansor, who played for the Thunderbirds from 2013 to 2017 helping them win a WHL title in 2017.

Davidson has 22 goals and 26 assists in 41 career post-season games with the Thunderbirds.

With four minutes remaining in the second, Seminoff sniped home his first goal of the contest from inside the right faceoff circle to even the score at 1-1. That set the stage for the dramatics in the third.

Dylan Ernst stopped 36 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blazers. Milic turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Thunderbirds.

Offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel had a pair of assists for the Thunderbirds.

The series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers was expected to be a heavyweight battle.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

The Blazers finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams, while Kamloops has nine NHL drafted players on its roster. The Thunderbirds have seven players who participated in the last world juniors, and the Blazers have three players who took part in this past world juniors.

Reid Schaefer scored for the Thunderbirds on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson for a third straight game. It is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of the series claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3. The Blazers were without defenceman Ryan Michael.

Kamloops rearguard Logan Bairos returned to action after missing three games due to injury, and blue-liner Ryan Nolan was healthy scratched to allow Bairos to return to the Blazers lineup.

The winner of the series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers advances to face the Winnipeg Ice in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Ice swept the Saskatoon Blades 4-0 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Ice are likely watching the Western Conference final intently and have to enjoy the fact the Blazers and Thunderbirds are going to a Game 6. The winner if the Western Conference title series will have reduced rest before playing the WHL final.

The Ice will host Game 1 of the WHL final on Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

Winnipeg would gain a further bonus of the Blazers do in fact rally to win the Western Conference final. The Blazers host the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion from May 26 to June 4 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, so the WHL’s Eastern Conference Champion would make that event, if Kamloops makes the WHL final. In that scenario, the Ice would earn a berth to the Memorial Cup.

Ryan Hofer

For now, the Blazers are hoping to play in the third series in these WHL Playoffs that goes to seven games, and the Thunderbirds will do what they can to avoid a winner takes all contest.

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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Finally - All WHL Divisions are back in business

Connor Zary in action for the Blazers on December of 2019.

The WHL was able to do the impossible.

When the circuit paused its 2019-20 season back on March 12, 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world, there was no certainty as to when the major junior league would hit the ice again.

That pause evolved into the cancelation of the rest of the 2019-20 campaign overseen under the CHL umbrella, which the WHL is a part of.

With the WHL’s 22 teams being spread across four Canadian provinces in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia along with the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States, the prospects of the WHL returning for any type of 2020-21 season seemed daunting.

The WHL had to work with the governments and health authorities in four Canadian provinces and two states in the United States in order to get the circuit going again on the ice. There were days it seemed the odds of winning the main prize of a Lotto Max jackpot were better than that of the WHL coming back for 2020-21.

Ultimately, the WHL came up with the idea of each member club playing a shortened 24-game regular season, which would be held for developmental purposes. All games are being played without fans in attendance and competition is restricted to in division play.

The Swift Current Broncos were moved from the Central Division to the East Division for the abbreviated season to the play the WHL’s four other Saskatchewan-based clubs and the circuit’s two Manitoba-based teams in a bubble format at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The Central Division hit the ice on February 26. The East Division followed on March 12 and the U.S. Division got in gear on March 18.

Friday marked the first contests played in the B.C. Division with games held in bubble environments at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops and Prospera Place in Kelowna. 

The Rockets were back in action on Friday.

The Kamloops Blazers downed the Vancouver Giants 7-3 in Kamloops, while the Kelowna Rockets blanked the Victoria Royals 5-0 in Kelowna.

Friday would be the first time all four division in the WHL were allowed to be active for regular season games since March 11, 2020.

On Saturday, the Prince George Cougars took on the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre. When the Cougars took the ice in their 5-4 setback, it meant every team in the WHL has played at least one game in the abbreviated 2020-21 regular season.

It has to be considered a miracle that all WHL teams were able to get back into action. Still, the return to play hasn’t been easy.

All players, coaches and trainers are taking part in weekly testing. On Friday, the WHL announced it had administered 4,094 COVID-19 tests from Feb. 12 to March 26 with only one positive result. From March 20 to this past Friday, the WHL administered 1,002 COVID-19 tests with all results coming back negative.

The 17 Canadian based teams are using private PRC testing provided by DynaLIFE. The five teams in the United States have taken part in private antigen testing.

The WHL is playing this developmental campaign at a sizable financial cost to its member teams. Back during their virtual annual general meeting on Jan. 18, the community owned Lethbridge Hurricanes estimated they expected to lose $1.3-million, if they hit the ice for an abbreviated 24-game regular season that was played without spectators.

With all that said, the WHL has created an opportunity for their players to get fresh game video footage that can be studied by scouts from the NHL, other professional leagues and the U Sports ranks.

Fans have been able follow games on radio broadcasts, check out livestreams or view highlights are various league and team social media platforms.

The Blazers are celebrating a lot of goals early this season.

On Friday, it had to feel good again for league followers that Kamloops star centre Connor Zary was again doing Connor Zary things posting three assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department in the Blazers win over the Giants.

Sophomore 17-year-old right-winger Matthew Seminoff had a big night too for the Kamloops side collecting two goals and one assist to go with a plus-three rating. Thanks to his late December birthday, Seminoff isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2022.

In Kelowna on Friday, the Rockets played a solid team game in their shutout of the Royals. Veteran centre Alex Swetlikoff paced the Rockets with a pair of goals, while veteran netminder Cole Schwebius made 19 saves to pick up the shutout win.

While WHL supporters are pumped they can follow game action in the league again, the realization shouldn’t be lost that it is amazing these contests are even happening at all.

WCBL still in COVID-19 shadow, other notes

If anyone thought the COVID-19 pandemic was over, developments from the Western Canadian Baseball League say otherwise this week.

As vaccines for COVID-19 continue to roll our across Canada, it seems like a sizable portion in society is treating the pandemic like it is over.

The WCBL continues to plot out a plan for a 2021 season, and it is trying to adjust for various restrictions that are expected to be in place well into summer.

The WCBL is wood bat summer league containing team stocked with college eligible players, and its season typically runs from the last week of May with playoffs ending about the second week of August. Regular season action usually wraps up at the end of July.

The circuit’s 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, the league announced it plans to go ahead with a 2021 campaign with teams fielding roster containing just players from Canada. Typically, the rosters of WCBL clubs are stocked with a sizable number of players born in the United States.

The Alberta based Okotoks Dawgs with two teams, the Lethbridge Bulls, Sylvan Lake Gulls and Edmonton Prospects have committed to play in 2021.

The Fort McMurray Giants and the Medicine Hat Mavericks are still discussing whether they will play or not. Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News reported on Friday that the Mavericks home stadium – Athletic Park – is slated to undergo renovations this summer.

As a result, the Mavericks are dealing with having to play a 2021 campaign in the smaller Jeffries Park, which is also located in Medicine Hat.

Also on Thursday, the WCBL announced that the circuit’s four remaining Saskatchewan-based teams in the Moose Jaw Miller Express, Regina Red Sox, Swift Current 57s and Weyburn Beavers along with the Brooks Bombers in Alberta have decided to opt out of a possible 2021 campaign and will look forward to returning in 2022.

During a Zoom press conference call, WCBL commissioner Kevin Kvame said the Saskatchewan based Yorkton Cardinals and Melville Millionaires ceased operation as of December.

On Thursday, the Red Sox issued a press release that expanded on why the Saskatchewan teams in the WCBL elected not to play. The circuit submitted a return to play plan to the Saskatchewan Health Authority that requested a gradual increase in attendance throughout the season going up to 100 per cent of capacity for July 1.

The Red Sox release said that the SHA is enforcing a maximum capacity of 25 per cent for the upcoming season at the moment.

The released added, “Player and staff testing protocols will need to be in place at an estimated cost of $40,000 per team, as well as quarantine costs amounting to $2,000 per player. Interprovincial travel continues to be restricted, and the US/Canada border remains closed at this time.”

The statement continued by saying the Alberta clubs that have decided to play with just Canadian players will still be subjected to quarantine, testing and border restrictions.

By the looks of what the WCBL is dealing with, it is realistic to expect minor sports competition this coming summer will likely lean more to being played with teams just traveling within provincial boundaries like they did last summer.

At the moment, interprovincial competition, which would obviously be needed for national championship competitions, still might not happen this coming summer.

• On Friday, the Prairie Junior Hockey League junior B circuit in Saskatchewan cancelled the reminder of its 2020-21 campaign due to provincial restrictions brought in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The PJHL’s last regular season game was held Nov. 26, 2020 when the Saskatoon Quakers beat the Saskatoon Westleys 8-4.
• On Friday, netminder Dustin Wolf broke the Everett Silvertips team record for longest shutout streak. In the Silvertips 4-0 start to their WHL regular season schedule, Wolf posted shutouts in his team’s first three wins. His shutout streak came to an end Friday, when he was beaten by Portland Winterhawks right-winger Simon Knak at the 13:16 mark of the second period of Everett’s 2-1 overtime victory at the Veteran Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Wolf set a Silvertips record for longest consecutive shutout streak lasting 216 minutes and 27 seconds. The previous record of 195 minutes and 12 seconds was held by Carter Hart, who now plays for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
• On Saturday, netminder Aerin Frankel of the Northeastern University Huskies women’s hockey team was named the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey. In 23 overall games with the Huskies, Frankel posted a 20-2-1 record, a 0.81 goals against average, a .965 save percentage and nine shutouts. She backstopped the Huskies to the NCAA championship game, where they fell 2-1 in overtime to the University of Wisconsin Badgers on March 20.
• The WHL regular season record for longest shutout streak belongs to Chris Worthy playing for the Flin Flon Bombers in 1967-68. Worthy set the mark for playing most consecutive games picking up a shutout at four, and in the process, he set the record for most consecutive minutes of playing shutout hockey at 265 minutes and 13 seconds. Worthy’s records still have a chance to stand for a lengthy amount of time.
• Speaking of long time records, Medicine Hat Tigers left-winger Boyd Anderson set the WHL regular season records for the fast four goals and fastest five goals on October 7, 1972 in a game against the Flin Flon Bombers at The Arena in Medicine Hat. In the third period of the Tigers 10-1 win, Anderson scored four goals in a span of two minutes and 35 seconds. A short time later, he added a fifth tally, and all five goals were scored in a record time of three minutes and seven seconds. In the current day of hockey, individual players top out getting eight or nine shots on goal for a game. Imagine scoring five times on five shots in a span of 3:07. Anderson’s records may never be broken.
• During the abbreviated 2020-21 WHL regular season, it has been great to hear familiar play-by-play voices over the radio again. Of course, it has been sweet to hear Bob Ridley call games again as the play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers. In order of seniority, it has also been great to once again here Les Lazaruk calling Saskatoon Blades games, Phil Andrews calling Regina Pats contests and Trevor Redden calling Prince Albert Raiders games. When you hear those play-by-play voices doing their thing, it feels that much more normal again.
• On Saturday the Edmonton Oil Kings ran their WHL regular season record to 9-0 downing the Calgary Hitmen 5-2 at the Seven Chiefs SportsPlex in Calgary. Star left-winger Jake Neighbours led the way for the Oil Kings with two goals and an assist.
• On Saturday, Paul Figler, who is the founder of the DUBNetwork that is dedicated to covering the WHL, wrote a column on the difficulties people were having with the WHL’s new streaming service to watch games online. Figler’s opinion piece was a good one, and it 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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.