Western Hockey League teams have pretty much all arrived at the 18-game mark, the “Quarter Pole” if you will.
The current five-day break in the schedule for the annual CIBC Canada/Russia Super Series comes as a very welcome respite for all. Regular season play starts up again this weekend with 22 games.
In the U.S. Division, the Tri-City Americans have recovered from a tough start to the season to win eight of their last 10 and tie up the Portland Winterhawks for the current division lead. Remarkably the Americans have played in four straight games that have gone to extra time. Jordan Topping and Morgan Geekie have led the way up front so far, but you get the feeling that Michael Rasmussen and Kyle Olson are just getting warmed up.
Portland, meanwhile has rattled off win streaks on the either end of a three-game skid and has proven that they can beat you in a lot of different ways. They can lock down defensively when they are not piling up goals on you. The secondary scoring needs to step up a little bit, but when you have Cody Glass (26 points), Kieffer Bellows (25) and Skyler McKenzie (24) all in the top-16 in WHL scoring, you can still win some games even without it.
Seattle has ridden a great road trip to a 9-5-1-1 start. They received a total of 11 of a possible 14 points in their seven-game roadie. They need to continue that strong play within a very tough division, where they have won only two of five so far.
Spokane did not find the road as welcoming as Seattle did, but with the return of Kailer Yamamoto from the Edmonton Oilers, they now sport a forward group that has five out of their top-six drafted by NHL teams.
Everett brings up the rear but is still, as it stands now, in the playoffs. They have done this without a healthy Carter Hart for much of the season. They have a young group, but are led by one of the better overage groups in Kevin Davis, Matt Fonteyne and Patrick Bajkov.
Here’s a list of players we note here at DUBNetwork for their efforts leading up to the Quarter Pole:
Top Forward: Patrick Bajkov – Everett Silvertips
Draft history:
2012 WHL Bantam Draft – Everett Silvertips, Round 6 (#128)
2016 NHL Draft – Undrafted
-The overage right wing out of Nanaimo, B.C. has nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points through Everett’s first 18 games. Of those 18 games, he has notched at least one point in 15 of them. Bajkov’s best moment this year came in a game in Portland on Oct. 29 when he danced around several defenders and potted the game-winning-goal with 29 seconds left. With goalie Carter Hart missing so many games to start the season, due to an illness, Bajkov’s production has been pivotal. Along with fellow overage forward Matt Fonteyne, they have been the driving force for Everett’s more offensive driven system.
(Honorable mentions: Kieffer Bellows, Cody Glass, Skyler McKenzie-Portland, Hudson Elynuik-Spokane)
Top Defenseman: Austin Strand – Seattle Thunderbirds
Draft history:
2013 WHL Bantam Draft – Red Deer, Round 3 (#48)
NHL Draft – Undrafted
-Raise your hand if you have Austin Strand leading all Western Conference defensemen in points a the quarter pole. Yeah, that’s what we thought. The overage blue-liner has been a force on both ends of the ice for the defending champion T-birds. He’s got nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points through just 18 games, This after putting 32 points combined between his time in Red Deer and Seattle last year. A remarkable eight of his nine goals have come on the power play. He is second among all skaters in this category in the entire WHL-trailing just Brandon’s Stelio Mattheos. Losing Ethan Bear off that Seattle power play had many expecting the production to dip while Seattle had the extra man. Strand has stepped right in and more than filled that vacancy so far.
(Honorable mentions: Juuso Vålmiåki-Tri-City, Henri Jokiharju-Portland, Kevin Davis-Everett)
Top Goaltender: Cole Kehler – Portland Winterhawks
Draft history:
2012 WHL Bantam Draft– Kamloops, Round 6 (#123)
-The already two-time CHL Goalie of the Week leads a sweep of the first three categories by the 1997-born players in the division. Kehler is 10-2 with a 2.09 GAA and 0.935 save percentage. This is tops in the league among all goalies who have played in at least three games. He has been stellar for the Winterhawks and has allowed them to win games, even when their potent offense is not piling up goals. Kehler has swiftly gone from being a question mark for a strong Portland squad to an exclamation mark.
(Honorable mentions: Dawson Weatherill-Spokane, Matt Berlin-Seattle)
Top Rookie (16-year-old): Connor Bouchard – Tri-City Americans
Draft history:
2016 WHL Bantam Draft – Tri-City, Round 8 (#161)
-This has not been a strong group of 2001-born players yet in the U.S. Division, but that could just be because some of the young players are just finding their way in the WHL. The Cochrane, AB native has had some great moments already for the Americans. He has two goals and three assists for five points in 12 games. Not too shabby for an eighth round draft bantam pick. He is getting the puck on net as well, piling up 21 shots.
(Honorable mentions: Sasha Mutala-Tri-City, Clay Hanus-Portland, Jake Lee-Seattle, Dustin Wolf-Everett)
Top Import: Henri Jokiharju – Portland Winterhawks
Draft history:
2016 CHL Import Draft – Portland Winterhawks, Round 1 (#25)
-Jokiharju has recovered nicely from a knee injury he endured late in the summer. He has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in his first 16 games. He’s also among the league leaders in plus/minus at plus-20. He, along with his defensive partner Matt Quigley has done a great job at getting the puck out of his own end in a hurry and onto the talented sticks that belong to Glass, McKenzie and Bellows. Jokiharju has made some large strides defensively as well. He is getting all the tough match ups and is playing when his team is protecting slim leads late in the game. These are somewhat new roles for the Finnish d-man and he is excelling in them.
(Honorable mentions: Juuso Vålmiåki-Tri-City, Sami Moilanen-Seattle, Filip Kral-Spokane)
Top 20-Year-Old: Cole Kehler, Portland Winterhawks
(Honorable mentions: Patrick Bajkov-Everett, Austin Strand-Seattle, Hudson Elynuik-Spokane)
Draft Eligible players to watch:
Ty Smith (D), Spokane Chiefs
5’10″, 170 pounds
2 – 14; 16 points. Plus-5 in 18 games
Draft history: 2015 WHL Bantam Draft – Spokane Chiefs, Round 1 (#1)
NHL Central Scouting: “A” rated
Riley Sutter (C), Everett Silvertips
6’3″, 205 pounds
7 – 6; 13 points. Minus-5 in 18 games.
Draft history: 2014 WHL Bantam Draft – Everett Silvertips, Round 6 (#125)
NHL Central Scouting: “B” Rated
(Aaron Piper contributed to this article.)
