WHL playoffs underway

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Just curious who everyone thinks will win the Memorial Cup?

 

[dash]

Just curious who everyone thinks will win the Memorial Cup?

Still pretty early to make that prediction, but I think julian's Sea Dogs have a good shot of repeating.

/I hope the Tigers can just make it to the next round (and hopefully Brandon can knock off Edmonton).

 

[juliansteed]

Just curious who everyone thinks will win the Memorial Cup?

Not sure who will win the Memorial Cup as it's hard to compare between leagues. I think the Sea Dogs are as strong as they were last year, and maybe even a bit stronger. But I think there could be more competition for them this year from the Q as well as other leagues. They only lost a few key players but managed to replace them and all the returnees are a year older and better. I think the Q will come down to the Sea Dogs vs the Memorial Cup host Shawinigan Cataractes. Of course if that happens then both teams will advance to the Memorial Cup by default. I give a slight edge to Saint John but I certainly wouldn't rule Shawinigan out. Shawinigan loaded up at the trade deadline with the biggest deal being the acquisition of Brandon Gormley. Gormley's had injury troubles lately though. I think they'll need him to be 100%. Of course they had already traded for your guy Kirill Kabanov early in the season.

The Sea Dogs surprisingly didn't do too much in the way of trades to go all in to try to repeat. The big blockbuster move during that time wasn't a trade but a free agent signing when they managed to lure Charlie Coyle away from Boston University to join the team after the World Juniors. He was 1 of the top players on the team down the stretch (on par with Huberdeau) and was easily the best player of the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

[Destroydacre]

Just curious if fans travel to the other team's barn for these games and how rowdy it might get in the stands. Go Chiefs Go!

Yeah there's generally several hundred road fans at every game in a Spokane/Tri-City series. I haven't been to a game in Kennewick for awhile, but things can definitely get pretty heated. Usually the fans behave themselves for the most part, with words being the only things tossed around, but on occasion fans from both sides will be ejected. With these teams being so good the last few years and meeting so often in the playoffs on top of the 12 regular season games per season, the rivalry is pretty intense and IMO is one of the best in the WHL.

 

[Destroydacre]

Just curious who everyone thinks will win the Memorial Cup?

I think at this point Saint John is the obvious choice being the defending champs and all. You can never count out the hosts either, so throw Shawinigan into the mix. I really have nothing to base this on, but I just get the feeling the OHL is a little down this year. I can't pick out any team that I can say yeah I think they're gonna be able to dominate. In the dub the obvious choices are Portland and Tri-City. I see them meeting in the western conference finals and I think the winner of that will win the league. Although Edmonton had the best overall record, I'm not sold on them. Maybe they'll surprise me, but I won't be shocked at all if they fall short of even just the WHL finals. Obviously there can always be surprises, look at last year in the WHL. I don't think anyone predicted that Kootenay would win the league. But Portland and Tri-City sure look damn good.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Not sure who will win the Memorial Cup as it's hard to compare between leagues. I think the Sea Dogs are as strong as they were last year, and maybe even a bit stronger. But I think there could be more competition for them this year from the Q as well as other leagues. They only lost a few key players but managed to replace them and all the returnees are a year older and better. I think the Q will come down to the Sea Dogs vs the Memorial Cup host Shawinigan Cataractes. Of course if that happens then both teams will advance to the Memorial Cup by default. I give a slight edge to Saint John but I certainly wouldn't rule Shawinigan out. Shawinigan loaded up at the trade deadline with the biggest deal being the acquisition of Brandon Gormley. Gormley's had injury troubles lately though. I think they'll need him to be 100%. Of course they had already traded for your guy Kirill Kabanov early in the season.

The Sea Dogs surprisingly didn't do too much in the way of trades to go all in to try to repeat. The big blockbuster move during that time wasn't a trade but a free agent signing when they managed to lure Charlie Coyle away from Boston University to join the team after the World Juniors. He was 1 of the top players on the team down the stretch (on par with Huberdeau) and was easily the best player of the 1st round of the playoffs.

The host team always tries to improve their team for the Memorial Cup. I see it as a good thing. They want to be as competitive as possible. Coyle was a big addition for the Sea Dogs. They're going to be even more dangerous offensively than they were last season.

I really don't know what to expect from the OHL this year. London had the best record in the regular season. Niagara didn't lose Hamilton or Strome to the NHL & had a great regular season considering all the time both players missed due to the World Jr's & Strome's facial fracture injury.

I need a rule clarified?? When the season is over are the Isles allowed to send Niederreiter to Bridgeport (AHL) if Portland is still in the playoffs? Could they send him to Portland for the remainder of the playoffs & when or if Portland is eliminated then send him to Bridgeport?

 

[Destroydacre]

Niederreiter is not eligible to be sent back to the WHL this season. WHL teams set their rosters for the playoffs near the end up the season, this year it was the same day as the NHL trade deadline. If a player is not back with their junior team by that date, they are not eligible to be returned, save an emergency call up like we saw earlier this year with Sven Bartschi playing a few games for Calgary after the trade deadline.

I'm not 100% sure if Nino could be sent to Bridgeport, I am under the impression that he could be if he spent the entire season with the NHL team first and they're eliminated before their AHL affiliate, but like I said I'm not sure of that. Information on these types of things are really hard to find. Cmon on the Sharks board will probably know, I'll try asking him a little later see if he can clear things up.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Niederreiter is not eligible to be sent back to the WHL this season. WHL teams set their rosters for the playoffs near the end up the season, this year it was the same day as the NHL trade deadline. If a player is not back with their junior team by that date, they are not eligible to be returned, save an emergency call up like we saw earlier this year with Sven Bartschi playing a few games for Calgary after the trade deadline.

I'm not 100% sure if Nino could be sent to Bridgeport, I am under the impression that he could be if he spent the entire season with the NHL team first and they're eliminated before their AHL affiliate, but like I said I'm not sure of that. Information on these types of things are really hard to find. Cmon on the Sharks board will probably know, I'll try asking him a little later see if he can clear things up.

Thanks. That's too bad Nino can't go to Portland. At this point he needs as much playing time as possible. Hopefully Bridgeport will have a long playoff run so he gets to play.

 

[Destroydacre]

Thanks. That's too bad Nino can't go to Portland. At this point he needs as much playing time as possible. Hopefully Bridgeport will have a long playoff run so he gets to play.

Yeah I hope so too. Kid's a great player but his confidence can't be too high right now. Also here's the link to Cmon's answer to the question I asked.

 

[puckhead]

Just curious who everyone thinks will win the Memorial Cup?

Sea Dogs or London Knights are both stacked.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Yeah I hope so too. Kid's a great player but his confidence can't be too high right now. Also here's the link to Cmon's answer to the question I asked.

Thanks for getting the answer. I appreciate it.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I think the Sea Dogs are the team to beat. They were already loaded & added Coyle to the lineup.

 

[juliansteed]

Round 2 gets underway tonight out east. Is it the same in the other leagues?

The Sea Dogs take on the Baie Comeau Drakkar (translation "Longship" :confused2. BC are a bit of a surprise team. The not only upset Victorialville but they swept them. They are the team that drafted McKinnon but after he refued to play there they traded him to Halifax for a nice return.

I think the most interesting match-up of the 2nd round will be Quebec vs Halifax. It features Mikhail Grigorenko vs Nathan McKinnon, projected top 2 picks in the '12 and '13 NHL drafts respectively. Scary to think that mock drafts currently have the Oilers getting Grigorenko. They may just score 410 goals in a season afterall, just a few years later than someone had predicted.

 

[Destroydacre]

Round 2 gets underway tonight out east. Is it the same in the other leagues?

The Sea Dogs take on the Baie Comeau Drakkar (translation "Longship" :confused2. BC are a bit of a surprise team. The not only upset Victorialville but they swept them. They are the team that drafted McKinnon but after he refued to play there they traded him to Halifax for a nice return.

I think the most interesting match-up of the 2nd round will be Quebec vs Halifax. It features Mikhail Grigorenko vs Nathan McKinnon, projected top 2 picks in the '12 and '13 NHL drafts respectively. Scary to think that mock drafts currently have the Oilers getting Grigorenko. They may just score 410 goals in a season afterall, just a few years later than someone had predicted.

Yup game ones all around in the OHL and WHL tonight too. Most intriguing series is the Dub this round is probably Moose Jaw/Medicine Hat. Looks like it should be a pretty even series. Good news for Dash is Shaw is picking up that series so he'll be able to watch it.

 

[dash]

Yup game ones all around in the OHL and WHL tonight too. Most intriguing series is the Dub this round is probably Moose Jaw/Medicine Hat. Looks like it should be a pretty even series. Good news for Dash is Shaw is picking up that series so he'll be able to watch it.

This is going to be a tough one for the Tigers. I think if Bunz can continue his strong play between the pipes, Medicine Hat has a good chance to advance. Etem has been unbelievable so far, I hope he keeps lighting it up.

 

[dash]

What a joke, an accidental knee-on-knee hit gets Etem tossed from the game not even five minutes into the first period.

No score after the 1st period (Tigers lucky to escape tied)

 

[dash]

Now Bredo gets tossed from the game on another terrible call - That's 2/3rds of the Tigers top line out of the game.

 

[dash]

This game is getting all kinds of nasty and it's all due to the zebras.

1-0 Moose Jaw by the way.

 

[dash]

Moose Jaw wins 2-1 to take a 1-0 lead. Biggest question is whether or not Etem and Bredo will be available for game 2 (they both better be).

Good heart shown by the Tigers tonight, Bunz played great.

 

[Destroydacre]

The Chiefs overcame some questionable officiating (7 penalties against vs. 3 power plays and 2 disallowed goals) and got a 3-2 OT win in Kennewick tonight in game 1. Interesting tidbit, 12 of the last 17 playoff games between Spokane and Tri-City have gone to overtime.