TigerTurf's HeroTeams of the Year
Prince Albert
Edmonton
HM: Calgary, Moose Jaw
Tiger Turf's Goats of the Year
Lethbridge
Kootenay
HM: Brandon
Heroes
1. Prince Albert
Last season Prince Albert had a lineup who's experience levels was slightly split between forwards and defenceman. They had a group of defenceman who would be maturing this season. They had a group of forwards who were a year away from peaking and had 3 Import forward OA's who wouldn't be available for this season.
In a nutshell, they built up a very strong defensive group and goaltending group and then supplemented their team with OA scorers. They've done this the last couple years. I'm curious to see if this trend starts becoming more dominant in the WHL as Edmonton did it this season as well and both the teams are in the Eastern Conference Final using that strategy.
Last season P.A made a trade deadline deal last year acquiring a 19yr old scorer Kody McDonald and people went huh? That deal was designed to make the playoffs last season as well as an important OA for this season. McDonald was a big presence for P.A last season. They ended up upgrading him after a slow start and trading away veteran role player Carson Miller for PPG forward Dante Hanoun.
In the off-season they also made a strong move acquiring potential OA Noah Gregor from Victoria. Gregor had a pro contract with San Jose. However, San Jose's system was absolutely packed. I feel that utilized some great vision and hockey knowledge to acquire a player most teams probably wouldn't have looked at. (I"m not sure what they spent on him as the returns were conditional)
They have a good mix of size in their lineup. Their only big weakness is that they rely heavily on Ian Scott as the starter, so hopefully, he can stay healthy through their playoff run. P.A is my Hero #1 Team because They built from the back end up and turned into a dominant team.
2. Edmonton
Honorable Mention
Calgary
Calgary - Again had a very disappointing start. They made a big deal that prompted a big push up the standings trading away Tristen Nielson for James Malm. They were a very tough team to play against and made it to round 2 in a packed central division.
Moose Jaw
They had a very successful year when many including me thought they would have a down season.
Goats
1. Kootenay Ice
They tossed the towel in early. Cut/traded all their elder players. The Ice made a big blockbuster with Kootenay trading away 2 of their top veteran players to Red Deer. The players coming back were "fillers"
Kootenay also didn't bother picking up the 3rd Overage after dealing away Dallas Hines. In January they announced they were moving to Winnipeg.
After reviewing all their moves I feel it was pretty clear they tanked on purpose. The interesting thing is that some of these moves were made before the official announcement of moving to Winnipeg. To me, that is a clear sign this season was a write-off from the get-go. They are my #1 Goat because I feel it isn't in good faith to field a lesser quality team to spur a move to a new city.
2. Lethbridge Hurricanes
Memorial Cup Woes
I feel sorry for them. I largely feel they are a Regina 2.0. A team with a lot of great assets and talent that was blinded by the Memorial Cup. They ended up splitting their assets between 2 seasons which diluted their overall power.
In my Pre-season predictions, I would have had them as 1st in the Central if they hadn't stated their intentions to bid on the memorial cup as well as some pre-emptive deals.
If they had drafted a couple older Imports, dropped Merehzko and added another 20, they would have just needed a goaltender and they would have had a very good team. They could have still bolstered if they wanted to.
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Off-Season & Memorial Cup Bid Failure
In the off-season, they tried to get a year younger trading away Zane Franklin who popped in a PPG pace for Kamloops this year.
When the Hurricanes lost the memorial cup bid they tried to change course. Add some salt to the wounds one of their Import picks was 18yr old Goaltender Akira Schmidt. The Hurricanes cut him after the Tigers lit him up in pre-season as well as his first game of the season.
Schmid finished the year as the Top Goalie in the USHL for the Omaha Lancers with a .926 save percentage. Omaha only had a .500 record this season. (The USHL is like the whl for the US.)
The Hurricanes already had a pretty good offense but made some moves to put themselves over the top. They traded away 2 1st round picks, 3 3rd round picks, 19yr old Jaden Joseph who put up a PPG pace in Vancouver, and Ty Kolle. They received Jake Leschyshyn and Nick Henry.
If you were to summaries those moves, it was very expensive in essence to only gain 1 PPG player, with a slight upgrade to another. I like the player they acquired, but the boost to performance vs the cost was very risky and I didn't like it.
They made a sub-optimal goaltending move trading away Reece Klassen for Liam Hughes. It was a minor upgrade at best because Hughes didn't have a lot of experience. His numbers were very similar to Klassen's. 6 Games later after a Mediocre start with the Canes Hughes left the whl, leaving the reigns to 17-year-old Carl Tetachuk.
I feel like this is the type of season which gets people fired. To Their GM's credit, he has overperformed the last 2 years on last-minute trade deadline deals that has saved his bacon, but a season like this makes me feel like they are just rolling the dice and hoping to get lucky.
Honorable Mention
Brandon Wheat Kings.
Brandon
Import drafted a goalie and traded away Miskiw for a 5th round pick. Hindsight is 20-20, Their other Import selection did not come over. Multiple players underperformed. Brandon performed very well at home but had a poor road record. Missing the playoffs when they had high expectations put them here
Neutral - Saskatoon
I wanted to mention them, but I don't categorize them as having a Hero team or Goat.
They definitely improved their team a ton through trades, but it was starting to get a bit expensive.
No 2nd round picks in the next 3 years. No first round pick in 2021.
Made a couple of great deals. Acquiring Brandon Schuldhaus, Gary Haden, Nolan Kneen. The one thing I don't like is that Saskatoon is mostly filled with acquisitions from other teams when they've been in the basement for a number of years. They also added lots in a year where there was a dominant powerhouse in P.A and their team was better suited for the following season
