The WHL kicked off its 49th season this weekend with every team getting into the swing of things. Opening weekend is always an exciting time because everyone still has hope—even the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
And there it is! The first goal of the 2014-15 #WHL Season goes to Braden Christoffer of @WHLpats!
— The WHL (@TheWHL) September 20, 2014
We had a lot of rookies forced into action, a Hitman spotting and some great opening performances.
Here’s what you need to know from Week 1:
Missing in action
The NHL did not do WHL teams any favours this year by starting training camps later than usual. Because of that, every WHL team was missing key players—giving opening weekend a pre-season feel. It’s hard to judge what, if anything, the results mean when the league had 75 players still in NHL camps.
Most clubs expect high draft picks and top prospects to stay in NHL camps longer than others, but this year we have seen undrafted guys and lower-round picks end up in NHL main camps.
The hardest hit of all were the Portland Winterhawks and Calgary Hitmen.
Portland went 0-for-2 on the weekend, losing to Seattle and Prince George and being out-scored 10-4. While the temptation might be to pour dirt on the Winterhawks, you have to look at who was playing for them. With guys like Nic Petan, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Chase De Leo and others not in town, Portland was without 150 goals from last season. They had six players making their WHL debuts on Friday night and four others who had a combined 17-games of major-junior experience.
Calgary lost its season opener at home to Red Deer on Saturday night, 4-1. Five of the Hitmen’s key players were in NHL training camps, including Jake Virtanen (who’s still recovering from shoulder surgery), Greg Chase and Adam Tambellini. You can see why the Hitmen only managed one goal on Saturday night.
This has led many league observers to wonder if the WHL might want to think about shortening its season from 72 games to 68 to start later and allow players to get the benefit of NHL camps without hamstringing their junior teams.
New coaches struggle early
There were 10 new coaches behind the benches this weekend, some making their WHL debuts and some new faces in new places. Overall they went 4-6 on their opening nights, reminding us why many of them are in new jobs—their teams have struggled.
Kelowna’s Dan Lambert and Edmonton’s Steve Hamilton had the best weekends with both teams earning solid opening wins. Lambert’s Rockets blew out Kamloops 6-1 on Saturday night while earlier in the evening Hamilton and his Oil Kings saw their banners hung and then beat Kootenay 4-2.
The worst newbie experience came for Tim Hunter of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Moose Jaw got blasted 6-0 opening night by Swift Current and then dropped its home opener to the Broncos Saturday by a 5-2 score. Giving up 11 goals in two games is not the best way to start your coaching career.
Portland’s Jamie Kompon replaces the legendary Mike Johnston and has started 0-2, but, as mentioned, he had all of his star players out of the lineup. When they get back, Kompon will start to pile up the wins.
The Russian has come
Monday morning the speculation turned into reality, the Saskatoon Blades traded Nikita Scherbak to the Everett Silvertips. Scherbak – who is currently still in camp with the Montreal Canadiens – will give the offensively-challenged Silvertips a much needed punch.
In return for the Russian import the Blades will receive goalie Nik Amundrud, Everett’s 2015 first round Bantam Draft pick as well as their second round pick in the 2016 draft.
For Saskatoon, it solves their over-crowded import situation. WHL teams are only allowed to keep two imports on their roster and the Blades had three after drafting left winger Nikita Soshnin and defenseman Amil Kupric in last spring’s import draft. With the likelihood of Scherbak being returned to junior by Montreal, the Blades’ options were to move Scherbak or release either Soshnin or Kupric.
The Blades are now officially in a full rebuild mold as they will now have two more high draft picks to work with. They also get back a young netminder with a lot of potential. Amundrud was Everett’s 3rd round bantam pick in the 2012 draft and had a stellar preseason where he posted a minuscule goals-against of 0.51 with a save percentage of .981 in the four games he played in.
The Silvertips desperately needed this shot in the arm. They only managed 218 goals last year and lost 47 of those to the graduating Josh Winquist. Scherbak will pick up that slack for the Silvertips and the potential for chemistry with fellow Russian import – and play maker – Ivan Nikolishin has to have Silvertips fans excited.
Everett is looking at a potential import juggle of their own with this move. Defenseman Mirco Mueller is still in camp with the San Jose Sharks. Mueller has a good chance of making the Sharks roster, had not been in training camp with Everett and this move would seem to appear that the Silvertips believe he won’t be back. If San Jose does return him, Everett will have to either trade him or Nikolishin to get them back to the two-import limit.
Player of the week
Jay Merkley, C, Swift Current Broncos The Moose Jaw Warriors probably have seen enough of Merkley for the year. In two games against the Warriors this weekend, Merkley scored five times and added an assist. The Calgary native is coming off of a big 34-goal season for the Broncos and, if opening weekend is any indication, looks like he’s in for another stellar campaign in Swift Current.
Runners up Medicine Hat right-winger Cole Sanford had five assists in two games over the weekend. Everett rookie netminder Carter Hart picked up his first WHL shutout by making 26 saves to beat Seattle 1-0.
2015 NHL Draft tracker
Our weekly look at notable performances by the WHL’s top draft-eligible players.
Ryan Pilon, D, Brandon Wheat Kings A goal and two assists in two games. Pilon will play a big role for Brandon this season and helped them get off to a 2-0 start
Ryan Gropp, LW, Seattle Thunderbirds Mathew Barzal gets the headlines, but with two goals opening night in a 4-1 win over Portland, Gropp deserves the ink this week
Ivan Provorov, D, Brandon Wheat Kings Provorov may be the WHL’s top new import. He finished the weekend with a goal in his second game and a plus-1 rating
Mathew Barzal, C, Seattle Thunderbirds The highest-rated draft eligible in the league picked up two assists on opening night and looked dangerous each time he was on the ice
Paul Bittner, LW, Portland Winterhawks Led the short-handed Winterhawks with two goals Saturday night against the Prince George Cougars
Bits and bites
Hitman back in Calgary The Calgary Hitmen celebrated their 20th anniversary Saturday night at the Saddledome. They brought back several alumni along with original owner and the inspiration for the team name, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart.
WATCH: Sights & Sounds from the #WHLHitmen home opener Saturday! (VIDEO) ~ http://t.co/5ePd9HphsN #Hitmen20 pic.twitter.com/bcTy62xa4N
— Calgary Hitmen (@WHLHitmen) September 21, 2014
Frosh week Sam Steel and Tyler Benson are the two biggest rookie names in the WHL this year. Left-winger Benson was the 2013 Bantam Draft top pick, followed by centre Steel. Benson picked up an assist in Vancouver’s opener this weekend and Steel showed well with two assists for Regina in two games.