The WHL ends its season after 24 games, of which Portland is the only US team to do so. In the East, all teams played the 24 games, and then it was bumpy for both the Central and BC Divisions.
The final scores are posted here.
Kamloops Blazers steamrolled Kelowna Rockets 10-2 with 2 goals in the first and 4 goals in the second and third periods with 2 goals for Kelowna in the third to complete the game. Kamloops blitzed Kelowna with a 33-26 shot advantage going 5-7 on the powerplay, blanking Kelowna on their 2 tries. Connor Lewis was the only Blazer to snag a hat trick Cole Schwebius gave up 6 goals on the first 27 shots, with Roman Basran giving up 4 goals on 17 shots.
The following night saw two games, with the Portland Winterhawks getting the win over the Tri-City Americans 5-3. Nick Cicek ends the season as captain with the game’s first goal as the Hawks scored three in the third to finish their season on a high note. In playing all 24 games, the Hawks were the only US Division team. The Hawks outshot Tri-City 43-20 and were a perfect 2/2 on the powerplay. Tri-City went 1/3 on theirs.
The BC Division matchup saw Vancouver Giants blast the Victoria Royals 6-1. Kamloops shut down Victoria on the shot clock 37-13 and went 2-6 on the powerplay, with Victoria 1-4.
The final two games saw:
Prince George Cougars get shut out by the Kamloops Blazers 4-0. Kamloops also held the shot clock at 38-28. Powerplays on both sides were blanked at 0-1 Kamloops, 0-2 for Prince George
The Kelowna Rockets edged the Victoria Royals 3-2 in the season’s final game. Both teams were unsuccessful on the powerplay, with the Royals at 0-4 and Kelowna at 0-5. The Rockets outshot the Royals at 38-30.
The season now over, the teams will conduct exit interviews. There have been rumors that the following season will not see a swing with the season now over. The Conferences will be split with BC and US Divisions together as the Western Conference and the Central with the Eastern Division as the Eastern Conference. It appears that the swings will start the following season again as the pandemic appears to be at an end and the borders are reopening.
