WHL First-Round Preview: Home-ice advantage takes on different meaning for Spokane Chiefs vs Vancouver

The Spokane Chiefs start a Western Hockey League Western Conference best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Vancouver Giants on Friday in Vancouver.

The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since 2019, coincidentally the last time they faced Vancouver in a playoff series. They hope things will go better this time around, since they fell to the Giants in five games in the Western Conference finals that season.

The organizations have faced each other four times in the postseason, splitting those matchups .

The first-round series pitting the Chiefs and Giants against each other provide a contrast in how the teams got there.

The Chiefs (45-20-1-2, 93 points) have been solidly sitting on the third seed for much of the second half of the season. Vancouver (34-26-8-0, 76 points) battled Portland and Tri-City for the fifth, sixth and seventh spots in the conference until the last game of the season.

The Chiefs received home-ice advantage by virtue of their third-place finish in the conference, but because the Arena is hosting the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament this weekend, they’ll play Games 1 and 2 Friday and Sunday in Vancouver.

The scheduling quirk could turn out to be an advantage, though – should they win one or both, the series shifts to the Arena for the next three games with a chance to close out the series. The last two games of the series, if necessary, will alternate between the cities.

Head-to-head

Spokane swept the season series with Vancouver 4-0 – a 4-3 overtime win at the Arena on Oct. 25, 5-1 and 5-2 decisions in Vancouver on Nov. 23 and Feb. 2, and a 4-3 nailbiter on Feb. 20 at home.

The Chiefs finished first in the WHL in power-play percentage at 28.9%, and the penalty kill was third at 80.8%.

Vancouver was sixth on the power play at 25.5% and 12th on the penalty kill at 76%. Spokane scored 292 goals (second in WHL) and allowed 202 (fifth fewest), while Vancouver scored 252 goals (eighth) and allowed 246 (10th fewest).

One thing to watch – the Chiefs were the third-most penalized team in the conference; the Giants were the fourth-least penalized.

Players to watch

The Chiefs had the league’s overall points leader, goal-scoring leader and three of the top-eight scoring leaders this season. Andrew Cristall (48 goals, 84 assists), Berkly Catton (39, 71) and Shea Van Olm (49, 43) power the Chiefs’ scoring machine.

They get good support from defenseman Brayden Crampton (10, 61) and center Rasmus Ekström (26, 29). Rookie Mathis Preston (23, 22) had a good debut season and is a fast riser on NHL draft boards.

Vancouver is led by wingers Cameron Schmidt (40, 38) and Ty Haliburda (29, 33), and defenseman Leslie Mazden (21, 51).

Goalies

Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan led the WHL in wins with 34, was third in games played, sixth in goals-against average (2.67) and 10th in save percentage (.905). At times this season he has been the best player on the ice for the Chiefs, and he has benefited by the team’s excellent shot suppression capabilities.

Rookie backup Carter Esler has been a capable replacement when needed for Cowan, working to a 3.23 GAA and .894 save percentage.

The Giants have split duties between two netminders this season.

Both Burke Hood (42 games) and Brady Smith (32 games) have played to a goals-against average higher than 3.13, but Hood owns a stellar save percentage of .910.