Lethbridge Hurricanes reflect on the season following playoff elimination
Jackson Unger (left) and Brayden Yager (right) were traded from the Moose Jaw Warriors to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Dec. 2, 2024. The Hurricanes open their Eastern Conference Final against Medicine Hat Friday night. (Source: WHL) (WHL)
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CTV News
6 days ago
- CTV News
Classic Sports Moments - Mike Vernon playing in Saskatchewan for the WHL
Watch Kevin Waugh interviewed Mike Vernon way back in 1982 when he was a goalie for the Calgary Wranglers of the WHL
Vancouver Sun
31-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Victoria Royals lose two top players to NCAA's North Dakota — what's next for WHL?
Jeff Marek's Thursday podcast that broached the idea of junior teams finding sponsors to pay star players sounded a little over the top. A day later, it became less far fetched. On Friday, the news broke that Victoria Royals centre Cole Reschny, 18, and defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, 16, were both giving up multiple years of junior eligibility to join the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the fall. Reschny could winding up going in the first round of this summer's NHL Draft, while Verhoeff might be a top-five selection in 2026. The Royals won the WHL's B.C. Division this past season and looked to be continuing in the right direction. How they regroup after Friday's news is anyone's guess. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The NCAA announced in November that it was opening up scholarship opportunities to players from Major Junior leagues like the WHL for the coming season and the buzz around 17-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna of the Medicine Hat Tigers making that move started up instantly. The Tigers play the London Knights for the Memorial Cup national title Sunday in Rimouski. McKenna could hoist the most prized trophy in junior hockey in this country, and moments later be asked in a media scrum about whether he's leaving for the American collegiate system. Various junior hockey people over the season have concurred that McKenna was in play to go to the NCAA, but they treated it as him being an outlier, the very tip of the top one per cent of players in the WHL. The thinking was that collegiate teams would want graduating 20-year-olds and the odd 19-year-old, in large part because they recruited players of that age when the Junior A ranks were their main feeder. Junior hockey's biggest selling point is the chance for fans to watch draft eligible players and world junior team candidates. Guess what? The NCAA isn't any different. There will be no better marketing for North Dakota than when Verhoeff is one of the first few names mentioned two drafts from now. And NCAA programs like North Dakota believe those high-end youngsters can compete against 22- and 23-year-olds. Reschny and Verhoeff would have been in the top-five per cent of WHL players this coming season. There have been other underage players declare for schools as well. How deep will the NCAA end up taking from when all is said and done? Ten per cent? Will it get to 20 per cent? I asked Cecchini how the CHL could keep players from going the college route and what I got from the QMJHL Commissioner was an answer I never considered. This new way of life for hockey development was a topic on Marek's The Sheet podcast earlier in the week, when QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini was a guest. Marek asked Cecchini point blank whether the teams in the QMJHL, WHL and OHL should consider paying players. 'Well, right now we have a student/athlete status, so we have to be very, very, very careful about that,' Cecchini said. 'But there are sponsoring possibilities. So the teams right now, as we speak, cannot pay them directly, but can a local automotive dealer sponsor a player directly? That's doable and that's possible. That's within the framework that we live in. That's where we may want to turn our hats. 'It's probably one player per team at most. Call them a franchise player, for example, for a term that we know well in sports.' The irony is that they'd have to get it approved by the NCAA so that players can keep their college eligibility. You would think the NCAA would oblige, considering that they're doing exactly that with their Name Image Likeness (NIL) program. For hockey, this a major rethink, and hockey rarely has been one for major rethinks, and that includes in junior. The WHL went from 72-game regular seasons for its teams to 68-game ones in 2018-19 and that proved a much debated endeavour. For decades, the pitch to players from teams in the WHL was that they had a schedule similar to an NHL one, and that got you ready for the next level. The thinking is different now. Fewer games means more time to work on your skills, more time to work on your body in the gym. The Boston University Terriers, with Vancouver Canucks defence prospect Tom Willander helping to lead the way, went to the NCAA championship game as part of their 40 total games this season. Medicine Hat's showdown with London Sunday will mark their 90th game of the campaign. There's also the matter of facilities. North Dakota's Ralph Engelstad Arena features a 1,400 square foot altitude chamber added to its weight room arena in 2021. That's an extreme, but it gives you an idea of what the WHL teams are now competing against. They'll need to find a way. Junior-aged CHLers who have committed to the NCAA for next season: • Malcolm Spence (2025) • Cole Reschny (2025) • Kristian Epperson (2025) • Lev Katzin (2025) • Luke Misa (CGY) • Henry Mews (CGY) • Clarke Caswell (SEA) And the flood gates haven't even opened yet. 'For me, North Dakota was top-of-the-line,' Verhoeff told the Grand Forks Gazette. 'It's professional in every aspect of the training, the day-to-day, and the opportunity I was given there was too good to pass up. 'I checked out a couple of other schools. After looking at all the other great programs and schools, North Dakota is the one that spoke to me and I felt at home there.' Verhoeff, who turns 17 in June, is a 6-foot-4, 212-pound right-handed shot and had 21 goals and 45 points in 63 regular season games with the Royals. He finished his high school commitments early. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler had him at No. 5 in a 2026 mock draft he did in April. The 5-foot-10, 187-pound, left-shot Reschny put up 26 goals and 92 points in 62 regular season games with Victoria. Elite Prospects has him at No 22 in its consolidated rankings for this year's draft, led by a No. 13 from TSN's Craig Button. Left-shot McKenna, who's 6-foot and 165 pounds, tallied 41 times and recorded 129 points in 56 regular season games with the Tigers. He then supplied nine goals and 38 points in 16 regular season games. He's, of course, the consensus projected No. 1 pick for 2026. One-time Canucks forward Byron Ritchie is McKenna's family adviser. He told Postmedia back in March that the NCAA was definitely an option, explaining how he worried about McKenna jumping from the WHL to the NHL after next season, which is what is expected. 'Going from playing 2009s, 2008s and 2007s (16- to 18-year-olds) if he stays, to playing the following year against men who are trying to feed their families and where every puck battle is life or death,' Ritchie said. 'It's a massive step from the Western League to the NHL. Can you ease that transition by having him playing next year against 22- and 23-year-olds?' @SteveEwen SEwen@
Toronto Sun
30-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Marchand says he's going to savor trip to Cup final, knowing nothing guaranteed
What was routine early in his career has not been lately. Published May 30, 2025 • 3 minute read Brad Marchand #63 of the Florida Panthers celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena on May 24, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida. Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images North America FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Brad Marchand won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins when he was 23. He and the Bruins played for it again when he was 25 and 31. He wondered if he would ever return to the title round. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account At 37 — and with the Florida Panthers — he's gotten there. And this time, Marchand is making sure he savors the chance. Over 1,274 games in his career, including playoffs, there are some memories that escape Marchand now. There are some moments that he acknowledges taking for granted, moments where he didn't use an extra second or two to appreciate being part of. That won't happen now, he insists, since Marchand knows he's much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. 'It's more like enjoying each day like, having fun when you come to the rink,' Marchand said. 'It can be stressful when you start overthinking things, start looking ahead or the pressure sometimes you put on yourself. This time around, I'm coming to the rink every day and just having fun and trying to live in the moment. You know, not taking anything too seriously.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Except the hockey, that is. Marchand is incredibly serious about the task at hand _ which resumes Wednesday night when Marchand and the Panthers open the Stanley Cup Final at Edmonton. It's a rematch of last season's Panthers-Oilers series, one that Florida won in seven games. It wasn't difficult to envision a rematch when that series ended. But there's probably nobody on the planet who would have thought the rematch would include the former Boston captain playing for Florida. 'This is special,' Marchand said. 'You don't get a lot of opportunities to be part of something like this.' The Panthers are 8-2 in the playoffs when Marchand gets a point, 4-3 when he doesn't. They're 9-1 when he logs at least 15 1/2 minutes of ice time in the playoffs, 3-4 when he doesn't. It's clear: At his age, he still impacts winning with his hands and his voice. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Guys that are vocal and intense sometimes will get up and down your bench screaming at your bench, right? They just get so wired in the game and he never does that. It's always positive,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. 'It's always, 'Stay in there, hang in there.' … It's bordering on legendary status at this point. He's pumping their tires and he's just, every day, excited. It's his personality.' There is a very clear silly side as well. Marchand made a trip to Dairy Queen on an off day with teammates essentially become a three-day story by saying he had one of their desserts between periods of a game against Carolina. (He didn't, the snack was honey, not a Blizzard.) He has been chirping teammates from the day he arrived in Florida. He embraces how teammates shoot the toy rats — a Panthers tradition that goes back to 1996 — at him after games, even calling it a family reunion once in a subtle nod to his 'rat' nickname. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He keeps it light, until it's time not to. If there's a scrum on the ice, he'll be involved. If a teammate needs backup, he'll be there. A chance at the Cup might not come again, and Marchand — who came to Florida at the trade deadline in a stunner of a move — is vowing that this opportunity won't be wasted. 'I may never get back this late in playoffs ever again in my career,' Marchand said. 'To be one of the last teams standing and being part of a great group of guys, these are memories that I want to remember and enjoy. I don't remember some of the series that I played and I know that there's moments that I missed out on or didn't really appreciate because I was worried about other things or stressing about other things. I'm not going to do that to myself this time around.' Toronto & GTA World Columnists World Crime
