Thunderbirds, Wheat Kings to battle for WHL Championship

In what didn’t come as much of a surprise for most, the Thunderbirds learned Friday night that they would be facing the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2016 WHL Championship.

The battle for the Ed Chynoweth Cup begins this Friday, May 6 at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. Because the Wheat Kings are part of the East Division, the WHL’s final round will be played with a 2-3-2 format rather than the usual 2-2-1-1-1 because of the lengthy travel requirements between the two cities. Seattle will play Games 3 through 5 at home starting on Tuesday, May 10.

Brandon finished atop the Eastern Conference with 102 points during the regular season after posting a 48-18-4-2 record. The Wheat Kings finished the regular season on an 11-0-2-0 streak, a run that helped propel them past Lethbridge for the best record in the conference. Their 319 regular-season goals were tops among all WHL teams and their 197 goals against were best in the East and fourth in the WHL.

Seattle finished first in the U.S. Division and third in the Western Conference with 94 regular-season points. Seattle’s 45 wins were third in the West and its 13-0-1-0 record to end the regular season was as good of a finish as any team in the WHL. Seattle tied for sixth in goals scored in the Western Conference with 228, and its 186 goals against ranked third.

The Wheat Kings have rolled during the postseason, posting a 12-4 record. They started by defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-2, winning four in a row after Edmonton took the first two games of the series. They followed that series up by handily defeating the Moose Jaw Warriors and Red Deer Rebels 4-1 in rounds 2 and 3, respectively. They’ve outscored their opponents 71-46.

The T-Birds are the only team in the WHL to have a better playoff record than Brandon, going 12-1 and sweeping their first- and third-round opponents, the Prince George Cougars and Kelowna Rockets. Currently on an eight-game winning streak, Seattle’s only loss came in Game 1 of its second-round series against the Everett Silvertips. The T-Birds have doubled the scoring of their opponents, notching 42 goals while allowing just 21.

In terms of postseason special teams, Seattle has converted 15.6 percent of its power-play opportunities while Brandon has scored on 20.3 percent of its chances. Seattle’s penalty kill has fared much better, killing 86.7 percent of opposing power plays. The Wheat Kings have killed 79.3 percent of of their shorthanded chances.

Individually, Brandon boasts a number of high-profile scorers. Forwards John Quenneville and Nolan Patrick are tied for the league lead in playoff scoring with 24 points apiece. Tim McGauley (21), Reid Duke (20) and Jayce Hawryluk (20) also fall within the top six in the league in playoff points.

In net, Jordan Papirny has a 2.89 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. He’s recorded one shutout during the postseason.

Seattle is led in scoring by Mathew Barzal, who has 19 points in Seattle’s 13 playoff games. The only other Seattle player to average a point per game this postseason is defenseman Ethan Bear (15 points in 13 games), a 2015 fifth-round NHL draft pick by the Edmonton Oilers.

Landon Bow has been dominant in goal for Seattle and his 1.54 goals-against average is second among all WHL netminders during the postseason. Bow also boasts a .936 save percentage and two shutouts.

WHL Championship Schedule:

• Game 1: Friday, May 6 @ Brandon, 6 p.m.
• Game 2: Saturday, May 7 @ Brandon, 5:30 p.m.
• Game 3: Tuesday, May 10 @ Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 4: Wednesday, May 11 @ Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 5: Friday, May 13 @ Seattle, 7:35 p.m.*
• Game 6: Sunday, May 15 @ Brandon, 5 p.m.*
• Game 7: Monday, May 16 @ Brandon, 5 p.m.*

*If necessary