Opinion: WHL’s Eastern Conference is wild

Calgary Hitmen forward Tanner Howe fights for the puck with Aiden Oiring of the Prince Albert Raiders during a game at the Art Hauser Centre. -- Photo by Darren Steinke.

Six points out of first place and one point out of the post-season picture.

That is how crazy the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings are at the WHL’s Christmas break. With a 15-11-3 mark, the Prince Albert Raiders are in that exact position. At the moment, they sit tied with the Red Deer Rebels (15-14-1-2) for the eighth and ninth positions in the conference with 33 standings points.

If the WHL was to go into playoff action following the Christmas break, the Raiders and Rebels would play in a tiebreaking game. As both teams have 15 wins, Red Deer would host that contest as they beat the Raiders 3-2 on December 3 in the only meeting between the two clubs so far this season.

If the Raiders would have had six more standings points, they would have been tied for first place in the conference with the Medicine Hat Tigers (19-14-1) at 39 points. If the Raiders had seven more standings points, they would be sitting alone for top spot in the conference.

As for the Tigers, they would be sitting out of a playoff position if they had seven fewer standings points. That line alone sounds strange when you are talking about a first place club in hockey.

First place and ninth place in the Eastern Conference are separated by just six standings points. For a league, that is almost a dream development. That creates a situation where seemingly every game played by an Eastern Conference team affects the scenarios of how the post-season picture can play out.

Currently, the Saskatoon Blades (17-10-2-2) and the Calgary Hitmen (17-9-3-1) sit tied for second and third in the conference with 38 standings points. Saskatoon holds the standings tiebreakers due to the fact they top the East Division and are winning the season series with Calgary with a win and an extra time setback in two head-to-head meetings.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes (17-11-1-1) are alone in fourth place in the conference with 36 standings points. Following the Hurricanes, the Swift Current Broncos (17-13-0-1) and Brandon Wheat Kings (15-9-3-2) are tied for fifth and sixth in the conference with 35 standings points. The Broncos hold fifth place due to having more wins.

Sitting in seventh place are the resurgent Edmonton Oil Kings (16-13-1-1). After going all in making a number of trades to win the WHL championship in the 2021-22 campaign, Edmonton is looking to return to the WHL Playoffs after missing post-season action in the two campaigns after that league title win.

The Regina Pats (8-17-4-2) and Moose Jaw Warriors (8-19-3-1) are on the outside looking in with 22 and 20 standings points respectively. While the Pats are 10th in the conference and the Warriors are last in 11th place, they both have enough firepower to be spoilers on any given night.

The two hottest teams heading into the Christmas break from the Eastern Conference are the Raiders and Hitmen. The Raiders started out 2-7-2 in their first 11 games and have gone 13-4-1 since. The Hitmen started out 6-6-2-1 in their first 15 contests and have gone 11-3-1 since.

A mention has to be given to the Oil Kings for getting hot as of late too. After starting out 8-10-1-1 in their first 20 games, the Oil Kings have gone 8-3 since that time. Star centre Gracyn Sawchyn has four game-winning goals over that hot stretch.

The most dangerous team in the conference might be the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were sitting with a 12-10-1-1 mark and were on a six game winless skid on December 2, when general manager Peter Anholt pulled off a blockbuster trade.

The Hurricanes acquired superstar 19-year-old centre Brayden Yager and 19-year-old star netminder Jackson Unger from the Warriors in exchange for 18-year-old left-winger Landen Ward, 19-year-old netminder Brady Smith, 15-year-old prospect defenceman Colt Carter, first and third round selections in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, fourth and fifth round picks in the 2026 Prospects Draft and first and second round selections in the 2028 Prospects Draft.

While Yager is the sexy pick up with him having a signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets, Unger might be the more key pickup. Last season, Unger morphed into a WHL championship winning goalie and played outstanding backstopping a veteran Warriors squad to a WHL title.

He has won all five of his starts with the Hurricanes posting a 1.80 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in those outings. Unger’s play has allowed the Hurricanes to go 5-1 in their last six contests to improve to 17-11-1-1. When Yager returns to Lethbridge after serving as the captain for Canada at world juniors, the Hurricanes might have the gritty makeup that has enough skill and strong goaltending to eventually be the squad that tops the Eastern Conference.

Overall, the Eastern Conference is wide open. The opportunity is there for any of the conference’s top nine teams to make noise.

Silvertips best in Western Conference, other notes

The Everett Silvertips have established themselves as the class of the WHL’s Western Conference and the entire WHL.

The Silvertips top the overall WHL standings with a 25-5-2-1 mark to sit nine standings points ahead of the second overall Spokane Chiefs (22-11). Everett has scored the most goals in the WHL at 151 and given up the fewest with 79.

Tyler MacKenzie, who is a 20-year-old centre, leads the Silvertips in scoring with 49 points coming off 24 goals and 25 assists to go with a plus-35 rating in the plus-minus department. Draft eligible 18-year-old left-winger Carter Bear has been one of the Silvertips most exciting players sitting second in team scoring with 46 points coming off 22 goals and 24 assists to go with a plus-25 rating. He tops the WHL with seven game-winning goals.

The Silvertips are deep on defence, and it is crazy to think their best known player on the back end is rookie Landon DuPont who was granted exceptional status to play the current campaign full time as a 15-year-old. DuPont leads the Silvertips in defencemen scoring with 32 points coming off six goals and 26 assists to go with a plus-20 rating in 29 appearances.

Tarin Smith, who is 18-year-olds, is the steady veteran on the Silvertips blue-line. He sits second in Silvertips defencemen scoring with 31 points coming off seven goals and 24 assists to go with a plus-28 rating in 30 appearances. One can almost forget 19-year-old veteran rearguards Eric Jamieson and Kaden Hammell are having strong campaigns for the Silvertips too.

In goal, Everett has relied on a trio of puck stoppers in 19-year-old Alex Garrett and 18-year-olds Jesse Sanche and Raiden LeGall. All three have been stellar when their number has been called to start.

Everett has a strong veteran head coach in Steve Hamilton. Hamilton has the distinction of being the last head coach to guide a WHL team to a Memorial Cup title win working behind the bench of the Oil Kings when they won WHL and CHL championships in the 2013-14 campaign. Mike Fraser is working his first campaign as the Silvertips general manager after serving the squad in a stellar capacity in various roles in six previous campaigns.

Right now, Everett might be the team to beat even if they don’t make any moves before the WHL’s trade deadline comes up on January 10, 2025.

  • On Friday, the Raiders home rink in the Art Hauser Centre came in as the second most difficult building for visiting teams to play in on a league survey of WHL players. The WHL surveyed 328 players from all 22 of the league’s clubs and 15.6 per cent of players said the Art Hauser Centre was the most difficult road rink to play in. The Silvertips home rink in the Angel of the Winds Arena topped the survey with 25.4 per cent of the votes.
  • Tyson Jugnauth, who is a 20-year-old veteran of the Portland Winterhawks, leads the WHL in defenceman scoring with 42 points coming off six goals and 36 assists. Raiders 19-year-old blue-liner Lukas Dragicevic is second in WHL defencemen scoring with 35 points coming off five goals and 30 assists.
  • Only 11 netminders in the WHL have a save percentage over .900. Carson Bjarnason of the Wheat Kings tops the WHL with a .913 save percentage. Max Hildebrand of the Raiders has a .908 save percentage to sit in the top five of the WHL.

Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 20 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.

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