Scout
03-19-2008, 07:01 PM
CHL This Week - Edition 23
Playoffs open with 48 teams left in chase for Memorial Cup
By Roger Lajoie
The long regular season in the Canadian Hockey League is over - and now the real fun begins.
In September 60 teams began play in the three CHL leagues - the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League - and the CHL playoffs begin this week with 48 teams left in the hunt for a spot in the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Each of the three CHL leagues have 16 teams starting playoff action later this week. All series are best-of-seven with the league champions needing to win four series to join the host Kitchener Rangers in the Cup tournament, May 16-25 in Kitchener.
Four teams miss the playoffs in the 20-team OHL, six teams have been eliminated after the regular season in the 22-team WHL, and two teams will watch the post-season in the QMJHL.
A wrap up of the regular season standings and point leaders, along with a look at the playoff match-ups, highlights Edition No. 23 of the CHL This Week, a weekly look at the top teams and players that make up the three league, 60-team Canadian Hockey League.
The champions from the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will join the host Rangers at the Memorial Cup tournament May 16-25. If Kitchener wins the Western Conference playoffs, then the other OHL finalists will also take part in the Cup.
You can follow all of the leagues at the three official websites of the leagues, www.ontariohockeyleague.com (OHL), www.lhjmq.qc.ca (QMJHL) and www.whl.ca (WHL), all season long.
Also be sure and check out www.chl.ca throughout the season for other information on all three leagues and other CHL news stories.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Kitchener Rangers will head into the OHL playoffs as the favourites after a dominating regular season, while the Sudbury Wolves, Kingston Frontenacs, Owen Sound Attack and Erie Otters won't take part in any playoff action.
Kitchener posted the best record in the CHL, going 53-11-1-3 for 110 points to claim The Hamilton Spectator Trophy for being the OHL's top team, even though they have known all season they have a spot in the Memorial Cup as hosts.
The Rangers will enjoy home ice advantage for the entire OHL playoffs, including in their first round series against the Plymouth Whalers. If Kitchener wins the Western Conference title, the Eastern champions will automatically advance to the Cup as well.
Other first round series in the West see the No. 2 seed Sault Ste. Marie take on Saginaw, while No. 3 seed Windsor plays Sarnia and No. 4 seed London take on Guelph.
The Belleville Bulls will hold the No. 1 seed and have home ice through the East playoffs, thanks to a tremendous second half that saw them finish with 102 points for the second spot in the overall standings as well.
The Bulls will face the Peterborough Petes in the first round of the playoffs, while No. 2 Brampton plays Barrie, No. 3 Oshawa faces Ottawa and No. 4 Niagara will meet Mississauga St. Michael's in the other East match-ups.
Justin Azevedo of the Kitchener Rangers claimed the OHL scoring title with 124 points, including 43 goals, to edge out the Oshawa duo of Brett MacLean (61-58-119) and John Tavares (40-78-118). MacLean's 61 goals topped the league, three ahead of Sarnia's Steven Stamkos.
Mike Murphy of Belleville had the best goals against average with his 2.24 mark, and also led in save percentage with .929. Kyle Gajewski finished second in GAA at 2.44, with Josh Unice of Kitchener third at 2.45. Thomas McCollum of the Guelph Storm, Unice, Chris Carozzi of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and Bryan Pitton of Brampton all had four shutouts to share the league lead.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
The epic battle for first place overall in the WHL came right down to the wire, with the Tri-City Americans finally claiming the top spot.
Tri-City (52-16-2-2) wound up with 108 points, the second highest total in the entire CHL, to edge out the defending Memorial Cup champion Vancouver Giants by two points and the Spokane Chiefs by a single point in the overall and Western Conference standings in the WHL.
Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Edmonton, Red Deer, Prince George and Portland all missed the WHL playoffs, with the Americans now set to face the No. 8 seed Kamloops Blazers in the opening round of the playoffs.
Other Western Conference first round match-ups feature No. 2 Vancouver against Chilliwack, No. 3 Spokane against Everett and No. 4 Seattle taking on Kelowna. Vancouver gets the higher seed by virtue of its division championship.
The Calgary Hitmen took top spot in the Eastern Conference, with the WHL playoff format done by Conference this season, meaning Calgary will have home ice advantage all the way to the WHL final. Calgary finished with 99 points, fourth overall in the W.
Calgary will meet No. 8 Moose Jaw in the opening round, with No. 2 seeded Regina playing Swift Current, No. 3 seed Lethbridge playing Brandon and fourth-seeded Medicine Hat facing off against Kootenay in the other first round East match-ups.
Mark Santorelli of the Chilliwack Bruins had seven points in the final week of the season to win the WHL scoring title with 101 points (27 goals) by one point Kelowna 's Colin Long (31-69-100). Colton Yellow Horn of Tri-City (48-49-97) was third, and led the league with his 48 goals.
Tyson Sexsmith of Vancouver had the best goals against average in the CHL with his outstanding 1.89 mark, and also leads the WHL and CHL with his nine shutouts. Lethbridge's Juha Metsola is second in GAA at 1.98, with Spokane's Dustin Tokarski (2.05) in third in GAA and tied for first in save percentage at .922 with Seattle's Jacob DeSerres.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
If the regular season was any indication, the playoffs in the QMJHL should be very competitive.
Rouyn-Noranda (47-20-1-2) finished the regular season with flourish, winning three straight games in the final week and eight of its last 10 to take first place overall and the Telus Division title in the Q, one point ahead of Baie-Comeau, to enter the post-season as the No. 1 seed.
Moncton and Drummondville are the only QMJHL teams to miss the playoffs, with the remaining 16 teams battling for the Q playoff title, with the playoffs in the Eastern Division and Telus Division starting this week.
No. 1 seed Rouyn-Nornada will face No. 8 seed Val-d'Or in the opening round, with the other Telus match-ups featuring No. 2 Baie-Comeau facing Rimouski, No. 3 Gatineau meeting Shawinigan and No. 4 Chicoutimi facing off against Quebec.
In the Eastern Division, made up of the league's non-Quebec based teams, the Halifax Mooseheads took the No. 1 seed and will meet No. 8 Victoriaville, who crosses over from the Telus Division for the playoffs by virtue of a better record than the Eastern Conference team.
Other East match-ups see No. 2 Saint John battling P.E.I., No. 3 Acadie-Bathurst facing St. John's and No. 4 Cape Breton tangling with defending league champion Lewiston.
Mathieu Perreault of Acadie-Bathurst (34-80-114) had seven points in the final week of the season and 13 points over the final two weeks to easily win the scoring title. Claude Giroux of Gatineau (38-68-106) was second, followed by Chicoutimi's Francis Pare (54-48-102) in third. Pare led the league in goals.
Bobby Nadeau posted the best goals against average in the league with a 2.63 mark, edging out Jonathan Bernier of Lewiston (2.73). Ryan Mior of Gatineau was third in goals against average with his 2.77 mark, and also led the league in shutouts with six. Timo Pielmeier of St. John's had the top save percentage at .911.
© Canadian Hockey League 2008
Playoffs open with 48 teams left in chase for Memorial Cup
By Roger Lajoie
The long regular season in the Canadian Hockey League is over - and now the real fun begins.
In September 60 teams began play in the three CHL leagues - the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League - and the CHL playoffs begin this week with 48 teams left in the hunt for a spot in the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Each of the three CHL leagues have 16 teams starting playoff action later this week. All series are best-of-seven with the league champions needing to win four series to join the host Kitchener Rangers in the Cup tournament, May 16-25 in Kitchener.
Four teams miss the playoffs in the 20-team OHL, six teams have been eliminated after the regular season in the 22-team WHL, and two teams will watch the post-season in the QMJHL.
A wrap up of the regular season standings and point leaders, along with a look at the playoff match-ups, highlights Edition No. 23 of the CHL This Week, a weekly look at the top teams and players that make up the three league, 60-team Canadian Hockey League.
The champions from the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will join the host Rangers at the Memorial Cup tournament May 16-25. If Kitchener wins the Western Conference playoffs, then the other OHL finalists will also take part in the Cup.
You can follow all of the leagues at the three official websites of the leagues, www.ontariohockeyleague.com (OHL), www.lhjmq.qc.ca (QMJHL) and www.whl.ca (WHL), all season long.
Also be sure and check out www.chl.ca throughout the season for other information on all three leagues and other CHL news stories.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Kitchener Rangers will head into the OHL playoffs as the favourites after a dominating regular season, while the Sudbury Wolves, Kingston Frontenacs, Owen Sound Attack and Erie Otters won't take part in any playoff action.
Kitchener posted the best record in the CHL, going 53-11-1-3 for 110 points to claim The Hamilton Spectator Trophy for being the OHL's top team, even though they have known all season they have a spot in the Memorial Cup as hosts.
The Rangers will enjoy home ice advantage for the entire OHL playoffs, including in their first round series against the Plymouth Whalers. If Kitchener wins the Western Conference title, the Eastern champions will automatically advance to the Cup as well.
Other first round series in the West see the No. 2 seed Sault Ste. Marie take on Saginaw, while No. 3 seed Windsor plays Sarnia and No. 4 seed London take on Guelph.
The Belleville Bulls will hold the No. 1 seed and have home ice through the East playoffs, thanks to a tremendous second half that saw them finish with 102 points for the second spot in the overall standings as well.
The Bulls will face the Peterborough Petes in the first round of the playoffs, while No. 2 Brampton plays Barrie, No. 3 Oshawa faces Ottawa and No. 4 Niagara will meet Mississauga St. Michael's in the other East match-ups.
Justin Azevedo of the Kitchener Rangers claimed the OHL scoring title with 124 points, including 43 goals, to edge out the Oshawa duo of Brett MacLean (61-58-119) and John Tavares (40-78-118). MacLean's 61 goals topped the league, three ahead of Sarnia's Steven Stamkos.
Mike Murphy of Belleville had the best goals against average with his 2.24 mark, and also led in save percentage with .929. Kyle Gajewski finished second in GAA at 2.44, with Josh Unice of Kitchener third at 2.45. Thomas McCollum of the Guelph Storm, Unice, Chris Carozzi of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and Bryan Pitton of Brampton all had four shutouts to share the league lead.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
The epic battle for first place overall in the WHL came right down to the wire, with the Tri-City Americans finally claiming the top spot.
Tri-City (52-16-2-2) wound up with 108 points, the second highest total in the entire CHL, to edge out the defending Memorial Cup champion Vancouver Giants by two points and the Spokane Chiefs by a single point in the overall and Western Conference standings in the WHL.
Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Edmonton, Red Deer, Prince George and Portland all missed the WHL playoffs, with the Americans now set to face the No. 8 seed Kamloops Blazers in the opening round of the playoffs.
Other Western Conference first round match-ups feature No. 2 Vancouver against Chilliwack, No. 3 Spokane against Everett and No. 4 Seattle taking on Kelowna. Vancouver gets the higher seed by virtue of its division championship.
The Calgary Hitmen took top spot in the Eastern Conference, with the WHL playoff format done by Conference this season, meaning Calgary will have home ice advantage all the way to the WHL final. Calgary finished with 99 points, fourth overall in the W.
Calgary will meet No. 8 Moose Jaw in the opening round, with No. 2 seeded Regina playing Swift Current, No. 3 seed Lethbridge playing Brandon and fourth-seeded Medicine Hat facing off against Kootenay in the other first round East match-ups.
Mark Santorelli of the Chilliwack Bruins had seven points in the final week of the season to win the WHL scoring title with 101 points (27 goals) by one point Kelowna 's Colin Long (31-69-100). Colton Yellow Horn of Tri-City (48-49-97) was third, and led the league with his 48 goals.
Tyson Sexsmith of Vancouver had the best goals against average in the CHL with his outstanding 1.89 mark, and also leads the WHL and CHL with his nine shutouts. Lethbridge's Juha Metsola is second in GAA at 1.98, with Spokane's Dustin Tokarski (2.05) in third in GAA and tied for first in save percentage at .922 with Seattle's Jacob DeSerres.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
If the regular season was any indication, the playoffs in the QMJHL should be very competitive.
Rouyn-Noranda (47-20-1-2) finished the regular season with flourish, winning three straight games in the final week and eight of its last 10 to take first place overall and the Telus Division title in the Q, one point ahead of Baie-Comeau, to enter the post-season as the No. 1 seed.
Moncton and Drummondville are the only QMJHL teams to miss the playoffs, with the remaining 16 teams battling for the Q playoff title, with the playoffs in the Eastern Division and Telus Division starting this week.
No. 1 seed Rouyn-Nornada will face No. 8 seed Val-d'Or in the opening round, with the other Telus match-ups featuring No. 2 Baie-Comeau facing Rimouski, No. 3 Gatineau meeting Shawinigan and No. 4 Chicoutimi facing off against Quebec.
In the Eastern Division, made up of the league's non-Quebec based teams, the Halifax Mooseheads took the No. 1 seed and will meet No. 8 Victoriaville, who crosses over from the Telus Division for the playoffs by virtue of a better record than the Eastern Conference team.
Other East match-ups see No. 2 Saint John battling P.E.I., No. 3 Acadie-Bathurst facing St. John's and No. 4 Cape Breton tangling with defending league champion Lewiston.
Mathieu Perreault of Acadie-Bathurst (34-80-114) had seven points in the final week of the season and 13 points over the final two weeks to easily win the scoring title. Claude Giroux of Gatineau (38-68-106) was second, followed by Chicoutimi's Francis Pare (54-48-102) in third. Pare led the league in goals.
Bobby Nadeau posted the best goals against average in the league with a 2.63 mark, edging out Jonathan Bernier of Lewiston (2.73). Ryan Mior of Gatineau was third in goals against average with his 2.77 mark, and also led the league in shutouts with six. Timo Pielmeier of St. John's had the top save percentage at .911.
© Canadian Hockey League 2008