By Patrick King, Sportsnet.ca
If this year’s first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs is any indication, the league’s decision to change the playoff format was the right move.
The league re-adopted the conference-seeding playoff format where the top eight teams in each conference face-off in the first round. Some of this year’s non-divisional match-ups included the Lethbridge Hurricanes versus the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Seattle Thunderbirds against the Kelowna Rockets.
The Hurricanes are back in the playoffs after missing out the previous year due to the divisional format. The six previous years, the WHL’s first round featured the top four teams from each division, regardless of conference standings.
This meant teams like the Hurricanes missed the playoffs if they finished fifth in their division, despite having a better record than two teams from the East Division.
“It made us a better team playing in a tougher division but at the same time we were on the outside looking in,” Hurricanes head coach Michael Dyck said.
“Last year was disappointing,” Hurricanes forward Zach Boychuk added. “We knew we had a better team than some of the teams in the playoffs.”
WHL commissioner Ron Robison said the league’s focus when making the first round a divisional format was geared towards building divisional rivalries and reducing travel in the first round.
“It’s been the center of debate in our league for a number of years,” Robison said. “When you look at the history (of the divisional playoff format) during that six-year period, there were teams that missed the playoffs that had the number of points to qualify. We didn’t think it was fair at the end of the day.”
Since the league spans across four provinces and two states, reducing travel helped some teams financially. But where the Hurricanes are concerned, the 10-hour bus trip to Brandon, Man. is a small sacrifice if it means playing playoff hockey.
“We’ll take those longer road trips as opposed to sitting back and watching other teams play,” Dyck said.
The Central Division has been home to several high-caliber teams over the last few seasons such as last year’s league champion Medicine Hat Tigers and the powerhouse Calgary Hitmen.
However, with the divisional playoff format in place, teams like the Kootenay Ice and Calgary Hitmen would meet in the first round, despite arguably having stronger teams than some who moved on to the second round.
“(The Central Division) is such a good division every year and the last couple of years there’s only two teams that can move on (past the first round),” Boychuk said. “It’s nice to see the best teams are going to win in the playoffs.”
As is the case in the Eastern Conference, three of the four teams moving on to the second round are from the Central Division. Although the format might allow more teams from one division to advance, each team deserves to be in the playoffs given their regular season success.
“You’re getting the teams that deserve to be there,” Wheat Kings captain Daryl Boyle said. “Years past you had teams in divisions where their whole division was good but the bottom seed couldn’t get in. Now every team that makes it is a good team right from the first round to the last round.”
WHL fans were treated to some excellent hockey throughout the first round. Brandon took Lethbridge to six games while the league is still awaiting a winner from the Seattle-Kelowna series, which will play Game 7 in Seattle on Tuesday.
Their rivalry might not be as strong but the Thunderbirds-Rockets series might be one of the most memorable first round series’ in a long time.
“For the most part we’re happy with the standpoint that we have some excellent match-ups,” Robison said. “The bottom line is this was the best formula and the fairest solution from a hockey perspective.”
