On March 23, the Canadian Hockey League officially announced that playoffs and the Memorial Cup had been cancelled. It wasn’t a surprise, but it’s still devastating. The Kelowna Rockets will not get another shot at hosting the Memorial Cup anytime soon. The CHL’s announcement noted that the next Cup will take place in the OHL in 2021. For junior hockey fans across the league, it’s game over. Here in the void usually overflowing with hockey, I've gained a new perspective on what it truly means to be a hockey fan.  

Here in the Western Hockey League, the holiday season is synonymous with the World Junior Championship. It’s the Stanley Cup of junior and college hockey. Flash forward to January 6 and the hangover from non-stop tournament hockey hit like a ton of bricks.The cure? The NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings and the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Fifty-one WHL players are ranked and 14 of those will play in the game.

The Western Hockey League had a good year in 2019, with 28 players drafted in June and 105 dispatched to NHL training camps this month. Lesser known talent like John Ludvig, Reece Newkirk and Dustin Wolf made the second day of the draft worth watching. Seven players were taken in the first round, notably Bowen Byram and Dylan Cozens. The only damper was the Prince Albert Raiders' quick exit from the Memorial Cup after a perfect season. After two weekend road trips to preseason tournaments, I can safely predict that the WHL has produced another good vintage for the 2019-2020 season. The regular season opens Friday night with seven games and continues through Sunday. Here in the Dub, it's time to get things started. 

You know you've had a really bad year when someone asks midway through the Stanley Cup Final, "so who's winning?" and your answer is "uuuummmmm." Not that I would ever say such a thing, but if I did, I'm just sayin; it's a good thing I have a chance to reboot the system with the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The Western Hockey League did well this year, with seven players taken in the first round and 21 picked up in rounds two through seven. They're not Jack Hughes, but this year's WHL draft class has a lot to offer. Among the players I'll be watching more closely in the 2019- 2020 season are hidden gem Sasha Mutala, old-school hockey defenseman John Ludvig and goalie Dustin Wolf. 

One team has owned the Western Hockey League all season long, even before playoffs: the Prince Albert Raiders. En route to the WHL Championship, they earned the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for best league record, the East Division and Eastern Conference titles. The Raiders have played like an NHL team all season long. Very little has stopped or even slowed them down. The Raiders were leading the Vancouver Giants 3-1 going into Game 5. The easy prediction was to give Prince Albert the edge. If it were easy, it wouldn't be any fun. 

The conference finals are already well underway here in the WHL.The Edmonton Oil Kings are playing the virtually unstoppable Prince Albert Raiders for the Eastern Conference title. In the West, it's the Spokane Chiefs and the Vancouver Giants. The Chiefs eliminated my Portland Winterhawks and nearly swept the Everett Silvertips. It's hard to get excited about playoffs when your own team is done, which is why I'm shifting gears. The Winterhawks couldn't beat the Chiefs this year, so that leaves one option: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. 

As a hockey fan, I live by a different clock than the average person. It's comprised of the pre-season, the regular season, the post-season and the off-season. Using this logic, the year doesn't really start until August and it hits the halfway mark around January. The true holiday season is starts with  World Junior selection camps, runs through the tournament itself and ends after the WHL trade deadline. I might argue that January 11 is the real start of the WHL season. World Junior players have returned with world-class tournament experience under their belts, draft year players are turning up the heat and trades brought new talent to town. Indeed, here in the Dub it's starting to look like a whole new hockey season. 

Tomorrow is the start of autumn, which also means it's time to bid farewell to the off-season. Summer was a long, strange trip for me this year, but I'm back at full strength. So is the WHL and there's no shortage of news in the headlines. On the alumni front, Ty Rattie is finally getting the chance to show the NHL what local Portland fans already knew. This year, I'll be watching the lesser known names who are either new to the league or coming on strong in the latter half of their junior careers. That includes Everett Silvertips captain Connor Dewar and Seattle Thunderbirds captain Nolan Volcan. The WHL regular season opens tonight with eight games. At long last, we're officially off to the races. 

June provides a good preview of things to come this fall in the WHL. Coaching changes, the 2018 - 2019 preseason schedule, player signings and the NHL Entry Draft all make for a busy month. And let's not forget the nine league alumni who are celebrating their Stanley Cup win as members of the Washington Capitals. June marks the convergence of the past, present and future here in the Dub. The future is now and the future is bright. 

As the world counts down to the royal wedding, the Regina Pats are rolling out the red carpet for junior hockey's royalty. Memorial Cup games start tomorrow. It's a wide open field of contenders this year. The Pats are hosting the Swift Current Broncos, Hamilton Bulldogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan.Top NHL prospects will be on display, including goalie Stuart Skinner, World Junior hero Tyler Steenbergen and Regina Pats captain Sam Steel. One of the biggest weeks in the junior hockey season is about to begin. Who will come out on top? All the teams are too good to pick a sure thing, but I do know for sure that the WHL is going to be in the spotlight. 

I was all about the underdogs winning their respective WHL conference championships. The Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Tri-City Americans have come a long way in a short time, and they deserved to win. Alas, it was not to be. The Everett Silvertips eliminated the Americans 6-5 in OT and the Swift Current Broncos launched a 96-second, three-goal assault that led to their 5-1 elimination of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. My underdog favorites may be going home, but they have nothing to apologize for. The Americans and the Hurricanes fought hard and played well this year. It also means that two of the league’s top teams will vie for the WHL Championship.

It's been seven months since I had to face a weekend without Winterhawks hockey. The first weekend without local hockey is always weird, even when the Winterhawks make a deep playoff run. The Everett Silvertips eliminated the Winterhawks last Friday, which wasn't exactly a surprise. The real headline involves the Tri-City Americans, who went undefeated in the first two rounds of playoffs. The Western Conference final begins tonight in Everett. Meanwhile in the East, the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Swift Current Broncos will vie for the Eastern Conference title. The Silvertips and the Broncos have the edge on paper, but I like the underdogs. I'm all in for the Americans and the Hurricanes to take their respective titles. 

I would be totally screwed right now if I gambled on sports. Round one of the WHL playoffs is almost over. Safe bets and sure things are not so certain. The Tri-City Americans swept the Kelowna Rockets out of playoffs on Thursday. The Everett Silvertips eliminated the defending WHL Champions. The Lethbridge Hurricanes have eliminated the Red Deer Rebels. The Portland Winterhawks blew a 3-1 series lead with a Game 5 overtime loss to the Spokane Chiefs. I can only imagine what round two is going to be like. 

College basketball isn't the only sport where things get crazy in March. This month also marks the final push to the playoffs in the Western Hockey League, where the regular season ended with a bang last night. In a tight race with the Portland Winterhawks for the U.S. Division title, the Everett Silvertips emerged victorious. Perennial favorite the Kelowna Rockets are the B.C. Division Champions. The Moose Jaw Warrirors are the East Division Champions and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Medicine Hat Tigers are the Central Division Champions. It all sets the stage for an epic post-season, which begins March 22 with a Western Conference match-up between the Rockets and the Tri-City Americans. 

It seems like only yesterday that I traveled to Everett for the WHL Preseason Classic over Labor Day weekend, but here we are. It's March already and the WHL regular season ends in less than two weeks. The top ranked teams have already clinched a playoff spot, including the Portland Winterhawks, Everett Silvertips, Kelowna Rockets, Medicine Hat Tigers, Swift Current Broncos and the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Even more intriguing are the individual players who have come into their own this season. The starring players include Cody Glass, Henri Jokiharju, Kailer Yamamoto, Carter Hart, Tyler Steenbergen and yes Detroit, Dennis Cholowski. But if you ask me, it's the supporting players who are going to take center stage during playoffs. 

The Portland Winterhawks are currently on a seven day break, which is virtually unheard of except for the end-of-year holiday break. That meant no games this weekend. What's a local fan to do? It's an excellent time to catch up with the competition. And maybe brush up on WHL alumni making the headlines, including Mathew Barzal and Dominic Turgeon. There was plenty of action out there in the WHL this week. Now is the perfect time to keep the enemy closer. 

This weekend provided a good look at the WHL Trade Deadline in action. If the final scoresheets are any indication, most of the big blockbuster trades will pay dividends. That includes Portland, where Dennis Cholowski has already played in three games with four more on deck this week. It's early yet, but from what I can see here in Portland, the epic deal the team made to acquire Dennis will pay off. 

To say that teams in the WHL went all in at the January 10 trade deadline would be an understatement. I have never seen a shopping spree like the one that transpired this week. The trades changed the landscape of both the Western and Eastern Conferences and clearly signals that most teams are gearing up for a deep playoff run. Alas, only one will really get what they want: the Memorial Cup. But watching them try is going to be one heck of a ride. Here in Portland, the Winterhawks made headlines when they swung a nine-player deal with the Prince George Cougars, which wasn't announced until the final five minutes of the deadline. The jewel in the crown: Detroit Red Wings first round pick Dennis Cholowski. 

"Is he really that good?" I hear this all the time from casual fans who don't truly understand the talents of top junior players like Cody Glass, Henri Jokiharju and Kieffer Bellows. The answer is yes, they are and the World Junior Championship is a chance to see it for real. Cody was cut from Team Canada, but Henri, Kieffer and Joachim Blichfeld are on full display, along with other top WHL talent like Sam Steel, Tyler Steenbergen, Kailer Yamamoto and Carter Hart. With regard to the players from the Dub, it's all good. 

The WHL has dispatched some of its best talent to the World Junior selection camps, which are still underway now. Three Portland Winterhawks are still with their respective teams and all three are in good position to make the final rosters. I am excited for players like Henri Jokiharju and Kieffer Bellows, but it's tempered by a sudden downturn in the Winterhawks' performance following a nearly perfect November. Thankfully, the league is on a much-needed holiday break. It's given me time to pause and look at the bigger picture, starting with the World Junior Championship.