Darwin Knelsen

Stakes high as WHL elites meet in second round

By Traci Kay and Matthew Gourlie

The Western Hockey League’s two best teams looked like they were on a second round collision course all season.

Now — despite the best efforts of the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders — the Swift Current Broncos and Moose Jaw Warriors will meet in the Eastern Conference playoffs for the second straight season.

In their seven-game series win over the Pats, 16 players who were eliminated by Regina in the 2017 playoffs — while playing for Swift Current, Calgary and Lethbridge — got a measure of revenge by eliminating the Pats this year.

The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos are ready to renew their rivalry in the second round of the WHL playoffs. photo courtesy Lucas Punkari/Battlefords News-Optimist

Now, 13 Warriors who were eliminated by the Broncos in the opening round a year ago would like to experience that same feeling of satisfaction a year later.

Both teams have veteran-laden groups that were built to win this year and are eyeing a trip to the Memorial Cup in their backyard in Regina.

“We have an unreal group of guys and it’s a tight-knit group,” said Warriors veteran forward Brayden Burke. “Everybody trusts everybody and when you have that, it’s something special for a team. We want to keep pushing forward, but we know it’s going to be another tough series coming up.

“We played them tight all year. The record speaks for itself — we were 4-4 — so it’s going to be tough.”

When asked to break down the series, Shawn Mullin, the Broncos’ radio play-by-play man on Swift Current’s The Eagle 94.1 felt it was too close to call.

“Swift Current would maybe have an edge in physical play, on special teams and in goal with a lot more playoff experience and pedigree for that position,” Mullin said. “Moose Jaw would be a slightly better team five-on-five and probably has a bit more puck-moving ability on their blue line.

“I think it will be a series with some interesting momentum swings and two teams trying to impose their style of game on each other.”

Swift Current wants to make it past the second round for the first time since 2001 when they beat Brandon in the first round then Kootenay in the second round before losing to Red Deer in the Eastern Conference final.

While Swift Current general manager/head coach Emanuel Viveiros added key pieces throughout the season, the Broncos have been paced all year by their top line.

Tyler Steenbergen led the way in the first round of playoffs with an impressive 12 points. Alongside his six goals and six assists, he had 27 shots on goal and a point-per-game average of 1.71. Steenbergen requires close attention and had proven for two straight season that he will bury the puck if he can get his stick on it.

Glenn Gawdin was a close second with 11 points. He earned five goals and six assists among his 30 shots on net and an average point-per-game of 1.57. His leadership skills and aggressive offence are two of the most important assets on the Broncos. When he focuses his energy on getting the job done, more often than not, it gets done.

Aleksi Heponiemi closed in on third place with 10 points. He may not have scored any goals in spite of his 11 shots on net, but his assists were always important in each play he made. And he rounded out the series with a point-per-game average of 1.43. He makes hockey look easy. His tendency to protect the puck and skate the entire length of the ice looks effortless. He’s a playmaker and his skating ability is an asset during important plays.

Swift Current’s Matteo Gennaro, left, tries to race away from Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Kale Clague. photo courtesy Lucas Punkari/Battlefords News-Optimist

Warriors 70-goal man Jayden Halbgewachs found it tough sledding against the Raiders in the first round and only scored twice. Tanner Jeannot scored 40 goals in the regular season, but is still looking for his first post-season goal  to go along with three assists. Brett Howden tallied four goals and seven points in the seven game series.

Instead it was the Warriors other big line that got them going. Brayden Burke scored six goals and had 14 points in the opening round and Justin Almeida had five goals and 11 points.

With Tristin Langan out for the first six games and Ryan Peckford absent for a game-and-a-half, Almeida and Burke didn’t have a consistent winger, but it didn’t matter as they got stronger as the series progressed.

Almeida and Burke each had an overtime winner to their credit against P.A. and they each had two game-winning goals to their credit. In Game 7 Almeida scored consecutive goals to give the Warriors a 4-3 third period lead on feeds from Burke before Burke himself scored the series-winning goal.

The Warriors made a splash the trade deadline by adding Eastern Conference defencemen of the year Kale Clague. Just as significantly they also picked up Brandon Schuldhaus from Red Deer who has been superb in all facets of his game. Clague had seven points in the first round including a four-assist performance in Game 7.

They compliment of a core group of Josh Brook, Dmitri Zaitsev and Oleg Sosunov who are all NHL draft picks, plus Jett Woo, who is expected to be an NHL selection this summer.

Moose Jaw Warriors goalie Brody Willms gets his paddle down to stop Matteo Gennaro from the Swift Current Broncos from scoring. photo courtesy Lucas Punkari/Battlefords News-Optimist

In goal, Brody Willms recorded a shutout in Game 4, but also was pulled in two other games. His goals-against-average was 3.73, less than a goal off his regular season mark of 3.00; but his save percentage of .866 will need to improve as he continues in his first playoff run as the Warriors starter.

Like Willms, Broncos’ goalie Stuart Skinner was pulled in a pair of games in the first round, but his numbers have been amongst the WHL’s best in the playoffs. He is third in both goals-against-average (2.76) and save percentage (.926). Like Willms he was one of five goalies to earn a shutout in the opening round.

The Broncos blue line stymied the Warriors offence a year ago limiting them to 15 goals in the seven games. They return three of their top four and have added the physical presence of Josh Anderson from Prince George.

Colby Sissons has had a good first round, scoring one goal and four assists in the first seven games. As a defenceman, 21 shots on net is excessive and his points-per-game average is 0.71. He’s an impact player on offence and a solid player on defence. Sissons sacrifices himself in front of the net and he makes smart plays in the defensive zone to take away chances from his opponents.

Other significant players in the Broncos’ win over the Pats included Kaden Elder for his consistency and solid forechecking, Giorgio Estephan for his explosive offence, Sahvan Khaira for his patience in front of Stuart Skinner, Noah King for his progression on defence, and Matteo Gennaro for his dependability in the offensive zone.

During the regular season the teams boasted the two best power plays in the WHL. The Broncos led the way scoring on 29.4 per cent of their chances and the Warriors converting 26.3 per cent of the time.

In the playoffs, the Broncos scored 11 of their 21 goals in the series on the power play as converted 28.9 per cent of the time. The Warriors started slowly on the man-advantage against Prince Albert, but were a vital 3-for-5 in Game 7 and now have seven power play goals to their credit, good for 25.9 per cent this post-season.

The teams split their eight meetings this season, though the Warriors won four times in regulation and the Broncos won once in overtime and once in a shootout.

Among their eight match-ups during the regular season, two were home and home series, both of which were split, one win and one loss each. One of the games went into overtime, on December 1st, with the Broncos coming out victorious in a high-scoring 7-6 win. On December 27th, the game ended up in a shootout. Swift Current won that game also, 5-4. Swift Current has been full of powerful players throughout the regular season, which helped them to secure second place in the Eastern Division. Moose Jaw was the only team to beat them. With 109 points, the Moose Jaw Warriors slid into first place in the Eastern Division, beating the Swift Current Broncos by a mere six points. Working as a team has been the Broncos strength, creating chemistry that rivals any other opponent in the WHL. If Moose Jaw can handle the pressure that Swift Current will force on their blue line, and if the Warriors can play to their potential, this series could be as evenly split as the regular season.