Just as we pass the NHL trade deadline, the CHL leagues are winding down their regular seasons and draw near to the playoffs.
This, of course, means lots of great and close races for post-season berths, year-end awards and scoring races are heating up. In this week’s CHL Power Rankings, we look at some of the best races to keep an eye on.
9. Fabulous Freshman
The rookie scoring race in the QMJHL is often reserved for a European player. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 2010-11 season to find the last time a Canadian-born player won the rookie scoring race in that league, when Acadie-Bathurst’s Zack O’Brien won the title with 65 points. This year’s race is likely to go down to the wire with hot shot rookie sensation Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic hanging on to a slim lead over Halifaix’s Filip Zadina. Zadina has four fewer games played thanks to a stint with his country at the world juniors, while Lafreniere won’t turn 17 until October, and has been compared as the next edition of Nathan MacKinnon. Zadina is expected to be a top-five pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, while Lafreniere won’t be eligible to be drafted until 2020.
8. Fourth-Best in the West
The OHL’s Western Conference has long been the dominant side in the league; since 2007, the Oshawa Generals are the only Eastern Conference team to have won the league title. This season has been no different, with the likes of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting battling for top spot in the conference. Add in Midwest Division leader Kitchener, and those three teams have separated themselves from the pack, leaving one home-ice position left for the playoffs.
It has become a two-team race, with Owen Sound currently holding the spot thanks to a recent 8-2 run. Despite being major sellers at the deadline, the London Knights are still hanging around and trail the Attack by just one point. The two teams will most likely meet in Round 1, but Owen Sound would much prefer a home series, having won just three times in 15 games over the past five seasons at London’s Budweiser Gardens.
7. Top 8 in the Q
The QMJHL has the best playoff format, with the top team earning the reward of playing against the 16 seed, 2 vs. 15, and so on. Where things get interesting is in the middle of the pack. As of writing, there are six teams placed sixth through 11th that are vying for home ice in Round 1. Nowhere is home ice more pronounced than in the ‘Q’, where several of the buildings are small, hockey is the only show in town and where the fans are right on top of the action. All six teams vying for the three remaining home ice spots are significantly better in friendly confines. Keep an eye on the movement of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Victoriaville, Charlottetown, Gatineau and Sherbrooke as the season moves to its final month.
[snippet id=3700369]
6. Donuts for One
Everett goalie Carter Hart already owns a share of the all-time CHL record with 27 career donuts, tying the record with 23 saves in a 5-0 win over the Vancouver Giants in his 178th career game. He now shares the record with former Giants netminder Tyson Sexmith, who finished his WHL career in 2009 with 27 shutouts. Hart, who won’t likely be back next year and won gold with Canada at the WJC, has eight games left on Everett’s schedule to take sole possession of the record. He should feel pretty confident considering the three teams he’s shutout the most in his career (Seattle 4, Tri-City 3 and Vancouver 1), account for half of his remaining schedule.
5. Wild(card) One
It’s an off-year in the WHL’s Central Division, with rebuilds in both of Alberta’s major markets in Calgary and Edmonton. Kootenay, another rebuilder under new ownership, has struggled in the second half and opened the door for five Eastern Division teams to earn playoff berths. In the East, Brandon was the CHL’s seventh-ranked team when, on trade deadline day, it looked up and saw Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Regina all make significant additions. The Wheat Kings painstakingly decided to move franchise mainstays Tanner Kaspick and Kale Clague.
Meanwhile, the Blades are riding 16-year old goalie Nolan Maier and a coach-of-the-year effort from Dean Brockman. The experienced hockey group of Curtis Hunt, Marc Habscheid and Dave Manson also have the Prince Albert Raiders in the mix. The first wildcard placeholder will get a just slightly easier first round opponent in either Medicine Hat or Lethbridge. The second wildcard holder will draw either Moose Jaw or Swift Current, both of whom expect to hit the 100-point plateau.
4. OHL Scoring Race
When Aaron Luchuk was dealt from Windsor to Barrie, it was thought he might be able to extend his lead in the OHL scoring race. But Morgan Frost of Sault Ste. Marie and Jordan Kyrou of Sarnia have different designs. All three players are on the cusp of hitting the 100-point plateau. Frost and Kyrou are on teams whose playoff positions won’t change, while Luchuk and the Colts are striving to get into a home ice playoff spot in Round 1. Luchuk having to play all-out, while the others may be a bit more rested down the stretch, could turn out to be the difference in who finishes atop the OHL’s scoring race.
3. D on O
With a paradigm shift in the NHL game towards offensive defencemen, it’s been fascinating to watch smaller, smooth-skating rearguards become the focal point of a team’s offence. This same trend is evident in the CHL, where several career seasons are being put together all over the map. In the OHL, London’s Evan Bouchard started the season with points in four of London’s first five games and hasn’t looked back, sitting at 76 points with nine games left to go. The QMJHL is lead by Acadie-Bathurst defenceman Olivier Galipeau whose 64 points have him six up on Thomas Gregoire of Sherbrooke. Islanders prospect David Quenneville of Medicine Hat has 70 points, including 12 power play goals and four game-winners. Spokane’s Ty Smith is in tow, trailing by just two points.
2. 50/60
It’s no surprise that over the past 10 seasons, the WHL has produced the most 50-goal scorers of any of the three CHL leagues. A part of that is the 72-game schedule, which is four more than either the QMJHL or the OHL. That will change next season as the WHL tries to enhance the player experience by dropping down to a 68-game schedule to match the other two leagues. In the meantime, the WHL leads the way with three 50-goal scorers, led by Moose Jaw’s Jayden Halbgewachs with 59. In the QMJHL, it’s likely Alex Barre-Boulet (just signed by Tampa Bay) of Blainville will be the only one to reach the mark, as no other player is within nine goals of him. In the OHL, leading scorer Luchuk will need a torrid finish just to get to 50. Halbgewachs has a chance to surpass Alex DeBrincat’s 65, the most in all the CHL in the past 10 seasons.
1. Eastern Division Supremacy
Moose Jaw and Swift Current have battled tooth and nail from the start of the season in the deadly WHL’s Eastern Division. With time winding down on the season, the race to first in the East is hugely important. Win the division and you get the second wildcard team in Round 1. Lose the division, fall into second place and draw either Brandon or Regina in Round 1, with the possibility of your season ending well before either team expects. Both the Warriors and Broncos went all-in with several key moves before the trade deadline. It would be sinful if either were to lose out in the opening round of the playoffs.
[relatedlinks]
