For veteran WHL players like Spokane Chiefs forward Shea Van Olm, playoff experience he has already garnered needs to rub off on the teammates around him. Harnessing confidence could be the difference between winning and losing in an upcoming playoff series.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play in two Memorial Cups now,” Van Olm, who played in the previous two Memorial Cups with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Kamloops Blazers, said. “I’m trying to bring the experience I have and bring my advice and knowledge into our locker room now that shows what it takes to go on a deep playoff run.”
For Van Olm and other 20-year-old players set to graduate out of the WHL, the regular season has flown by too fast. He and others will look to extend their respective seasons for as long as possible.
Deep playoff runs are in the plans for every team qualified in the U.S. Division, especially the top two.
Portland Winterhawks: 46-15-3-1–96pts
Back on top of the standings are the Portland Winterhawks, winning their first U.S. Division championship since the canceled 2019-20 season. They will compete as the top U.S. seed in the playoffs for the first time since 2014-15, back when current Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand was on the team.
It’s been yet another week in the CHL Top 10 rankings for them too, checking in at No. 4, after statement victories against the Tri-City Americans and Wenatchee Wild. The Winterhawks pummeled the Americans on Friday night, 11-1. Forward Nate Danielson caught fire yet again, with two goals and two assists in that game, but so did the Winterhawks social media team with this laugh-out-loud tweet in response to the Kelowna Rockets.
At 7-0-1-0 in the month of March, they’ve outscored opponents 44 to 20. Their plus-123 goal differential for the season is still among the best across the entire CHL.
The Winterhawks are guaranteed to finish as either the first or second seed in the Western Conference and are sitting a point behind the Prince George Cougars for first place. They face three games in three days to round out the regular season this weekend, with a road trip to Tri-City on Thursday and then a home-and-home series with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday and Sunday.
With these upcoming games against eliminated opponents, as well as having an extra game in hand on Prince George, the weekend presents a good opportunity for the Winterhawks to catch and surpass the Cougars and snatch the top spot in the conference. Portland will face either Kelowna, Victoria, or Spokane in the first round.
Everett Silvertips: 43-18-2-3–91pts
The Silvertips are officially locked into the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs and are on a five-game winning streak. They will look to stretch the ice to continue to create offense in the playoffs.
“The biggest thing is staying strong and making sure we’re playing to our identity,” Silvertips defenseman Kaden Hammell said. “It’s been really good going into [this time of year] so far, and hopefully that means we can go into the playoffs feeling really good, too.”
Everett will stick to its foundations of rolling all four lines and finding the depth contributions from everyone on the ice.
The Silvertips will have home-ice advantage in Round 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena, with possible opponents being Wenatchee, Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, and Spokane.
Wenatchee Wild: 33-29-4-0–70pts
The final push for the Wild has felt like more of a nudge. There’s no real leadership presence on the forward side to drive the play themselves, and the defensive side looks bleaker by the game.
Outside of Graham Sward, their defensemen looked lethargic against the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, leading to a 6-1 defeat.
A lack of physicality and no answers for dynamic players are a few of the causes for concern, especially when the Wild go to the penalty kill. The Wild have killed just 74.1 percent of their penalties on the season, sixth worst in the league.
The Wild wrap up their inaugural WHL regular season with road games on Friday in Victoria and Saturday in Everett. They are currently occupying the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but only three points separate them from the current sixth-seeded Kelowna Rockets, making them eligible for seeds four through six. With their likely playoff opponent being either Vancouver or Kelowna, just one point on the weekend clinches them home-ice advantage in the first round.
Spokane Chiefs: 29-31-5-1–64pts
What an awesome way to clinch a playoff spot. With the game looking destined for overtime, thanks to a tying goal from Chiefs phenom Berkly Catton with 2:10 left, Will McIsaac finished off found a winner with 13.6 seconds remaining in regulation. McIsaac claimed to have “blacked out” after from the high emotions.
Spokane coach Ryan Smith wants the focus to remain one game at a time, not worrying about playoffs until the official end of the season.
“We’ve got to worry about next weekend first,” Smith said. “We don’t know who we’re going to play, but it’ll be a tough matchup whoever it is. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We’re focused on getting ourselves healthy and going the right way.”
The Chiefs finish up the year with road games in Seattle and Tri-City and have the possibility of finishing as high as the sixth seed. Spokane will likely face either Prince George or Portland in the first round, and due to strenuous travel to and from both cities, the series would be formatted in a two home, three road, two home format instead of a more traditional two-two-one-one-one.
The WHL playoffs are set to begin Friday, March 29. Series previews to come next week.
Header photo taken by Brian Liesse, courtesy Seattle Thunderbirds.