Courtesy Alan Caldwell:
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Just for fun, if the WHL season ended today, here's how the playoffs would look....I ranked the teams by winning percentage instead of points, to smooth out differences in games played:
Eastern Conference:
#8 Medicine Hat at #1 Calgary
#7 Moose Jaw at #2 Brandon
#6 Swift Current at #3 Lethbridge
#5 Kootenay at #4 Regina
Edmonton, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Red Deer would all miss the playoffs. In fact, there is quite a drop from Medicine Hat at #8 (.581) to Edmonton at #9 (.435) so barring a big surge from any of those four teams, it is quite likely that come March, they all WILL miss the playoffs. Some definite potential trade deadline sellers there.
Western Conference:
#8 Everett at #1 Spokane
#7 Kamloops at #2 Vancouver
#6 Seattle at #3 Tri-City
#5 Chilliwack at #4 Kelowna
Prince George and Portland miss the playoffs. As with the East, there is a huge gap already between Everett at #8 (.516) and Prince George at #9 (.344) so it is already fairly likely that the Cougars and Hawks will be out of the postseason dance.
And yes, I know that #3 Tri-City has a better winning percentage than #2 Vancouver. But, Vancouver would be the B.C. division champ and thus get the #2 seed ahead of the Americans.
Two rematches of last year's first round in the West - Everett/Spokane and Seattle/Tri-City.