Western Hockey League Update

WHL Update
WESTERN LEAGUE SNIPER SHINES IN THE NHL
By Gerry Sheanh, WHL Correspondent

Apart from the high quality hockey played in the Western Hockey League, one of the most attractive features of the league is the possibility of watching future NHL stars well before they make the jump to the bigs. One of the WHL success stories this season has been the jump of Daymond Langkow directly from the Tri-City Americans to the Tampa Bay Lightning. A former league scoring champion, Langkow has made the transition to the NHL this year and looks poised to become a solid finesse forward.
Though not tall, Langkow's rock solid physique is a testament to hundreds of hours pumping iron. Such strength, added to a quick and shifty skating style and pure hockey sense, makes Langkow an offensive threat every shift. While he makes it look pretty easy, Langkow is aware that only a handful of WHL'ers have cracked NHL rosters in their first professional season. Following a recent loss to Vancouver at GM Place, Langkow talked about the qualities necessary in making the transition to the NHL.
"Confidence is important. Just getting some ice time and playing on a regular basis helps you learn how to handle yourself out there. It's just a learning process -- the more ice time you get the more you learn and the more confidence you get," Langkow explains. And he's careful to point out the value of playing on the first line with veterans Rob Zamuner and Chris Gratton.
"(Zamuner and Gratton) are two great players, both with a ton of skill. But when you're at this level it doesn't really matter who you're playing with -- everybody's got to be skilled to play in this league. But it's good for me to play alongside a couple of guys like that."
Tampa coach Terry Crisp is effusive in his praise of Langkow.
"He's fit in just great. He's brought a bunch of enthusiasm to us, a bunch of speed, and he's a nice youngster to have around. What he does is bode well for the future of this franchise. He's got speed, he can play both centre and right wing,. The nice part about Daymond is he's keen and listens and wants to learn.", Crisp claims.
Besides Langkow, the only 95/96 WHL grads to play regularly in the NHL this year are Ottawa's Wade Redden and Calgary's Jarome Iginla. Washington's Jaroslav Svejkovsky, Toronto's Jason Podollan and Calgary's Hnat Domenichelli have played sparingly, with the latter two already traded in their short NHL careers. Montreal's Terry Ryan missed most of the season before being returned to Red Deer Rebels. Langkow believes Ryan has more than enough skill to play in the NHL, but a series of concussions has put Ryan's career in jeopardy.
"That concussion stuff is pretty hard on anybody," says Langkow, clearly concerned for his close friend Ryan. "That's a pretty bad injury, but he's definitely got the talent to play in this league and I hope the best for him. I guess he hurt his head again (with Red Deer Rebels) so I don't know, but the summer (rest) should be good for him."
As far as advice for current WHL'ers contemplating making the jump to the NHL, Langkow talks about what it takes to play at the highest level.
"I think confidence is the biggest thing -- and getting a chance to play. Sometimes it depends on the player. Sometimes it takes a guy a year or two in the minors before he makes the NHL. Sometimes there's guys that make the jump directly from the juniors to the NHL. It's a lot of hard work and commitment, that's for sure," says Langkow.
Langkow currently has 14 goals and 27 points in 73 games and was a key member of Team Canada's gold medal team at the World Junior Tournament in Boston in January, 1996.

MARCH TO THE MEMORIAL CUP BEGINS

Though the final week of March is fairly hectic, the Canadian Hockey League's real madness begins in April, as playoff series move into the second round and the stakes get higher. This year's week-long tournament will take place in Hull, Quebec in mid-May. Contesting for the Cup will be champions from the Quebec, Ontario and Western Leagues, along with the host team Hull Olympiques.
Out in the Western League, the playoffs are divided into two divisional formats. Six of the West Division's seven teams make the playoffs, then play a 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, matchup in best-of-seven series. In the best-of-five second round, the surviving team with the highest regular season points total gets the bye and the remaining two teams play for the right to contest the West title. In the East Division, eight teams qualify for the postseason, with a 1st vs. 8th, 2nd-7th, 3rd-6th, 4th-5th configuration. All three rounds are best-of-seven affairs. The Western League Finals will pit the West Division champs against the East Division winners.

PLAYOFF NOTES...

East/Central Division
* Lethbridge Hurricanes (1st) swept the Prince Albert Raiders (8th) in four straight. The two teams made a huge trade back in January, with Raiders' stars Chris Phillips (1996 #1 NHL draft pick), Shane Willis and goalie Blaine Russell swapped for a handful of younger players. Along with smooth forward Byron Ritchie, Willis, Phillips and Russell all played key roles in advancing to a second-round matchup against the surprising Moose Jaw Warriors.
* In a major upset, the seventh-place Warriors excised the second-place Brandon Wheat Kings, taking the series 4-2. The Wheaties' top scorer and WHL MVP Peter Schaefer (115 points in 59 regular season games) was held to a single goal in the series to go with four assists. Moose Jaw held the Wheaties' superb power play in check and found the solution to veteran Brandon goalie Brian Elder, whose .884 save percentage was simply not good enough in the playoffs. The real star of the series, however, was Warriors goaltender Donovan Nunweiler who turned in a sparkling .914 save percentage against an explosive offensive powerhouse. Moose Jaw vets Kaleb Toth, Dustin Paul and Geoff Lynch provided offensive spark for the Warriors.
In their second-round matchup against Lethbridge, the series was knotted at two games apiece at the conclusion of play on Friday, April 4.
* Third-place Swift Current Broncos completely shut down sixth-place Medicine Hat, allowing the Tigers only five goals in the four-game sweep. This matchup again pitted the parties of another major January trade against each other. At the trade deadline, Medicine Hat traded scorer Josh Green and tough guy Rocky Thompson for youngsters Kevin Mackie, Tyler Perry and Andrew Milne. Green currently leads his club in playoff scoring.
In their second-round matchup against the Red Deer Rebels, the Broncos fell behind three games to none before winning the fourth contest of the best of seven final. Thompson netted the overtime winner in Game Four to keep the Swifties alive.
* Fourth-place Red Deer Rebels ousted the Regina Pats four games to one in a series widely expected to go the other way. The key for Red Deer was the trade deadline acquisitions of goalie Marc Magliarditi from Spokane and Terry Ryan from Tri-City. Regina's top snipers Josh Holden, Lars Pettersen and Dmitri Nabokov were held to five points apiece, while the Rebels were led by B.J. Young, Arron Asham, and Greg Schmidt. Ryan has managed a whopping 12 goals in both rounds so far.
In the second round, Red Deer jumped out to a 3-1 series lead before The Broncos roared back with two wins, the second an 11-2 trouncing in Swift Current. The game was scoreless until nearly the 16-minute mark of the first. Red Deer was outshot 47-27. Game Six is set for Red Deer Tuesday, April 8.
West Division
* By far the biggest upset in the league in these playoffs was the four-games-to-two victory of sixth-place Prince George Cougars over the Portland Winter Hawks, rated as the fourth-best team in the Canadian Hockey League. This series marked the first time in WHL history that a sixth-place team knocked the first=-place club out of the playoffs.
Playing a tight defensive style and getting goals from 11 different players, the Cougars stole Game Two in Portland, then won three of the next four at home. Goalie Chris Mason, WHL Goalie of the Month for March was outstanding, as was the checking line of Blair Betts, Quinn Hancock and Andrew Luciuk, which shut down league scoring leader Todd Robinson's line. The Betts line also contributed all four game-winning goals in the series. (Betts - 2, Luciuk - 2).
In the second-round matchup against third-place Spokane, the Cougars won Game one 5-4 in overtime, with Mason making 54 saves and Luciuk notching another winner 17 minutes into extra time. The Cougars then took Game Two by a score of 4-2, with Mason stopping 41 shots. The series now resumes in Prince George on Monday, April 7.
* Second-place Seattle Thunderbirds scored a historic 4-1 series win over the Kamloops Blazers, marking the first time in 13 seasons that the Blazers have been eliminated in the first round. Kamloops was greatly hampered by the loss to injury of former Memorial Cup winning goalie Randy Petruk, as well as by a very young and inexperienced club. Seattle centre Patrick Marleau, almost certainly a top three pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, counted five goals and 14 points against Kamloops. Smooth defenceman Randy Perry, Kris Cantu and Torrey DiRoberto also helped out on the scoresheet and goalie Jeff Blair was solid in the nets, posting a .909 save percentage. Seattle is now awaiting a final series against the winner of the Spokane-Prince George series.
* Third-place Spokane took a 4-2 series victory from the Kelowna Rockets in a high-scoring, physical series. Neither goalie played particularly well, with Kelowna's Aaron McDonald earning a 4.00 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage. The Chiefs' Aren Miller had a slightly better goals-against average at 3.17, but a worse save percentage at .882.
Offensive standouts for Spokane included slick center Trent Whitfield, a highly touted Boston Bruins prospect, John Cirjak, Joe Cardarelli and Marian Cisar. Kelowna's snipers failed to get the job done, with Vancouver prospect Tyler Prosofsky leading the Rockets with seven points. Highly touted rookie Scott King (son of former Team Canada Olympic coach Dave King) disappointed Rockets fans with only one goal. Spokane's depth and physical play proved too much for the bigger, tougher Rockets to handle.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

.....Brandon sniper Peter Schaefer, a Vancouver Canucks draft pick, was signed at the conclusion of Brandon's playoff exit and sent to Syracuse of the AHL. Joining him with the struggling Crunch are other WHL'ers Zenith Komarniski, a highly regarded defenceman from the Tri-City Americans, and Clint Cabana, a rough and ready blueliner from the Edmonton Ice.
.....OHL fans will recognize the name of Cougars coach Stan Butler. Prior to his first season in the WHL this year, Butler was head coach for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. Butler has done an exceptional job in taking a veteran club with only moderate talent and turning them into a defensive machine reminiscent of the New Jersey Devils in 1994-95 when the Devils frustrated the awesome Detroit Red Wings right out of the Stanley Cup finals.
.....Officials in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C., are no further ahead in building a six- or seven-thousand seat arena in hopes of attracting a WHL franchise. There is currently some uncertainty as to financial stability of the respective bidders. The West Division needs another British Columbia based team to smooth out travel considerations and to develop intraprovincial rivalries.
.....The WHL has always been notable for the incredible distances between league centres. Converted buses are the primary mode of travel and a trip from Spokane to Prince George is a 15-hour grind. It is not unusual for a team to play six or seven games in nine or 10 nights while on the road in the WHL.
.....Tri-City Americans, who finished the season mired in the West Division basement, have announced they have listed Tier Two Junior star Scott Gomez. the most coveted player west of the Rockies. Gomez chose to play Tier Two in hopes of landing a scholarship with an NCAA school, but academic problems have put that plan into jeopardy. Gomez recently led his club to the BCHL championship, leading all scorers. Consensus seems to be that if he signs with the Americans, Gomez will be a dominant player in the league next year.
.....Though Portland's Brad Isbister was largely ineffective in the Hawks' six games against Prince George, he'll be suiting up for the NHL Phoenix Coyotes very shortly. Isbister is a big, tough right winger who may possess the same kind of skills as Coyote ace Keith Tkachuk.
.....In the interests of team unity, focus, and good old-fashioned scouting, the entire Seattle Thunderbirds team travelled to Spokane for the Chiefs first two second-round losses against Prince George.
Next Week: A short conversation with former Kamloops Memorial Cup Goalie Corey Hirsch, now with the NHL Vancouver Canucks.