WHL Western Hockey League

WHL Opens 49th Regular Season Today

Published on September 19, 2014 under Western Hockey League (WHL) Source: News Release


Edmonton, AB - WHL Commissioner Ron Robison officially opened the 2014-15 WHL Regular Season on Friday at a media conference in Edmonton.

The 2014-15 WHL Regular Season opens this evening across Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Edmonton Oil Kings will kick off their season Saturday night at Rexall Place with a banner raising ceremony to celebrate the Club's 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup Championship.

The WHL continues to be a leader in developing young hockey talent. At the 2014 NHL Draft this past June, 37 WHL players were selected including nine in the first round: #2 - Sam Reinhart (Kootenay, WHL/Buffalo, NHL), #3 - Leon Draisaitl (Prince Albert, WHL/Edmonton, NHL), #6 Jake Virtanen (Calgary, WHL/Vancouver, NHL), #7 - Haydn Fleury (Red Deer, WHL/Carolina, NHL), #14 - Julius Honka (Swift Current, WHL/Dallas, NHL), #17 - Travis Sanheim (Calgary, WHL/Philadelphia, NHL), #23 - Conner Bleackley (Red Deer, WHL/Colorado, NHL), #26 - Nikita Scherbak (Saskatoon, WHL/Montreal, NHL), #30 - John Quenneville (Brandon, WHL/New Jersey, NHL).

WHL Commissioner Ron Robison reiterated the continued focus of the WHL and its member Clubs on player safety initiatives contained in the WHL Seven Point Plan at the media conference. Introduced prior to the 2011-12 season, the WHL Seven Point Plan is a comprehensive player safety initiative designed to reduce injuries and improve quality of play. In the first three seasons since being implemented by the WHL, the Seven Point Plan has been effective in reducing concussions and other injuries.

The WHL also welcomed Head Coach Ian Herbers and members of the 2014 University Cup Champion University of Alberta Golden Bears at the media conference, a team which boasted 20 WHL graduates. The WHL Scholarship program continues to provide WHL players the most comprehensive scholarship package in North America. Last year, 328 WHL graduates attended 83 different post-secondary institutions across North America representing a $1.9 million investment by WHL Club ownership.

"The WHL is looking forward to another highly competitive and entertaining season," commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison. "As one of the world's premier development hockey leagues, we provide an ideal environment for the best players in our system to pursue their academic and hockey goals."

The WHL will also introduce a new format for the 2015 WHL Playoffs that mirrors that of the NHL and enhances Divisional rivalries in the First Round. The Eastern and Western Conferences will use a Divisional/Conference hybrid playoff format this year, with the inclusion of Wild Card qualifiers, for the 2015 WHL Playoffs. All playoff series are still best-of-seven affairs. The new format will see the top three Clubs in each Division make up the first six playoff qualifiers within each of the two WHL Conferences. The remaining two spots per Conference will be filled via Wild Cards, with the next two highest-placed Clubs in each Conference earning playoff berths based on their regular-season record, regardless of Division.

Rule changes for the 2014-15 WHL Season were also outlined on Friday, most of which have also been adopted by the NHL.

Fans will have even greater options to follow WHL action this season. In partnership with the WHL and the Canadian Hockey League, national broadcast partner Rogers Sportsnet will carry 10 games during the 2014-15 WHL Regular Season in addition to coverage on Friday Night Hockey and during the 2015 WHL Playoffs, SUBWAY® Super Series, BMO Top Prospects Game and 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Shaw TV continues to be the official regional cable broadcaster of the WHL, and will feature at least 30 regular season games on the WHL on Shaw as well as a full series in each round of the 2015 WHL Playoffs. The WHL and ROOT SPORTS will continue to provide fans in the U.S. Pacific Northwest with "Friday Night Ice" which features televised WHL action of up to eight regular season games delivered to over three million homes across five U.S. states.

This year, WHL LIVE will offer an all new platform and enhanced quality for all WHL webcasts. Once again, all 792 WHL regular season games, as well as the entire playoff schedule, will be available for viewing on WHL LIVE webcasts with the WHL's digital media partner NeuLion, in cooperation with the WHL's radio broadcast partners. This year, WHL LIVE boasts a new platform and enhanced features including home and away broadcast audio, picture-in-picture and quad-view options, enhanced high definition live and archived games as well as mobile capabilities for iPhone, iPad, Android Smartphone and Android Tablet. As always, WHL LIVE will feature live and archived video that seamlessly detects detect a viewer's bandwidth and adjusts the picture quality to eliminate buffering or intermittent viewing while fans will also still have the ability to pause and rewind live games.

The WHL, in partnership with its Member Clubs, is proud to again once again host the SUBWAY® Super Series this season. The SUBWAY® Super Series, which features the top players from the WHL facing off against the Russian National Junior Team, will make stops in Saskatoon, SK on November 10th and in Brandon, MB on November 11th. The SUBWAY® Super Series is a preview of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships.

The Western Hockey League is also pleased to acknowledge our Elite partner BMO and recognize our official partners Kal Tire, RE/MAX, General Paint, All Weather Windows, Sandman Hotels, Ryobi, Home Hardware, Subway, Post Cereals, Denny's, the Insurance Brokers Association of Western Canada, Stagg Chili, Travelodge, Arctic Spas, Jack Link's and Reebok, together with our broadcast partners Rogers Sportsnet, SHAW TV, ROOT SPORTS, and NeuLion.

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 19, 2014


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