Visions of the Western Hockey League playoffs may have left Prince George as the Cougars missed the post-season party but there are several players with Prince George connections still in the hunt for the Ed Chynoweth Cup when the best-of-seven first round of the playoffs begin tonight in the Eastern Conference as the third-seed Calgary Hitmen face the sixth-seed Brandon Wheat Kings.
Quesnel's Alex Roach, a former defenceman with the Cariboo Cougars, will be on the blueline for the Hitmen when the teams play in Calgary today and Friday before moving to Winnipeg for Games 3, 4 and 5 on Sunday, Tuesday and, if necessary, Thursday. Games 6 and 7 will be played in Calgary, if needed.
The seventh-seed Regina Pats have two players to keep an eye on as they try to take down the second-seed Moose Jaw Warriors in the west. Prince George native Lyndon Martell is coming off a season that saw him play 53 games at left wing, collecting six goals and 18 points, while defenceman Martin Marincin played in 28 games for the Pats since January and had seven goals and 23 points. The series begins Friday in Moose Jaw and, if it goes seven games, will wrap up April 2.
The other Western Conference series' begin Friday with the fifth-place Saskatoon Blades travelling to Medicine Hat to play the fourth-place Tigers, while the Edmonton Oil Kings, the top team in the WHL, host the eighth-place Kootenay Ice. Both series and the four in the west begin Friday.
In the west, the top-seed Tri City Americans will look to former Cougars' goaltender Ty Rimmer to hold his ground against Prince George native Jari Erricson and the eighth-place Everett Silvertips.
Dylan Willick and the second-seed Kamloops Blazers will face the seventh-seed Victoria Royals in a series Western Canadians will be able to follow on Shaw TV (Shaw Direct Channel 299). The Royals have Prince George product Jared Rathjen sharing goal-keeping duties with Keith Hamilton.
The sixth-seed Kelowna Rockets will look to team MVP Brett Bulmer to help them eliminate the 2010-2011 finalist, and third-seed, Portland Winterhawks, while McBride's Dylan Walchuk will try to help the fifth-seed Spokane Chiefs take out the fourth-seed Vancouver Giants.
