WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Portland Winterhawks vs. (8) Everett Silvertips
On their way to breaking nearly every record and having an offense and defense that are equally superior, the Winterhawks are out to prove that they deserve to be the WHL representative in the Memorial Cup. Having fallen short by one game the last two years will serve as motivation. Their top line of Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan, and Ty Rattie were the top three scorers in the WHL, Seth Jones and Troy Rutkowski are defensive stars, and the tandem of Mac Carruth and Brendan Burke are guys you want in net for the big games. Everett limped into the playoffs with a pop gun offense (dead last in the WHL) and are without Ryan Murray, who was lost in November to injury.
Prediction: Winterhawks in 4
(2) Kelowna Rockets vs. (7) Seattle Thunderbirds
Kelowna was a beast at home, as their 23-game winning streak will attest. They are a balanced squad, but they will also be without captain Colton Sissons, who will miss the playoffs to injury, and that will bear watching on how that impacts the Rockets going forward. Seattle is the anti-Silvertips, as in their defense is wretched. Only Vancouver gave up more goals, but the Thunderbirds at least put up respectable offensive numbers.
Prediction: Rockets in 5
(3) Kamloops Blazers vs. (6) Victoria Royals
The Blazers got off to a fast start, but cooled off in the middle of the season. They seemed to rediscover some of that glory late in the season, and certainly their offense is a major reason for success. Colin Smith, JC Lipon, and Tim Bozon lead the way. The Royals are a dark horse team, in that no one is really talking about them, yet they put up respectable numbers on both ends of the ice. This could be an upset alert in the making.
Prediction: Blazers in 7
(4) Spokane Chiefs vs. (5) Tri-City Americans
This is unquestionably the best matchup in the first round of the WHL playoffs. Both teams are evenly matched, and it could go either way. The Chiefs have a balanced scoring attack, but only average goaltending. The Americans don't nearly have the firepower they possessed last year, but they still produced pretty good numbers and have overcome the loss of goaltender Eric Comrie to injury. X-factors for both teams are Alessio Bertaggia of the Chiefs and Justin Feser of the Americans.
Prediction: Chiefs in 7
No comments:
Post a Comment