Five players from the Friendly City took the ice through the campaign, which kicked off on Friday, Feb. 26 after months of speculation and delays due to the ongoing pandemic and featured a plan to play 24 games.
COVID-19 would see to it that wouldn’t happen for every team. Only the East Division -- including the Moose Jaw Warriors -- were able to completely play through the full double dozen, largely due to seeing all games played in a hub format out the Brandt Centre in Regina.
The Portland Winterhawks were the only team in the U.S. Division to play a complete schedule, and that suited forward Reece Newkirk just fine.
Newkirk, who played out his 19-year-old season but turned 20 on February 20, had an impressive campaign for the Winterhawks, scoring nine goals and 27 points to finish fourth in team scoring and 31st overall in the WHL. The New York Islanders prospect also finished plus-six while recording only 10 penalty minutes.
It was an interesting campaign for Red Deer Rebels forward Jaxsen Wiebe, beginning with how the Rebels handled their end of the pandemic: the team moved into the Westerner Park Centrium and lived in the arena for the duration of the season.
Wiebe finished his 18-year-old campaign with a goal and two assists and turned 19 days after the season ended. He’d finish with a minus-three plus-minus and was second on the team with 26 penalty minutes.
The news wasn’t done there for Wiebe, who was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings on May 18. He’ll see a familiar face when he takes the ice at Rogers Place next season, joining defenceman Ethan Peters in the Edmonton line-up.
Peters, 18, just wrapped up his rookie season as a 17-year-old with Edmonton, scoring once and picking up five assists through 23 games. Interestingly enough, that goal was the first of his career and came against Wiebe and the Rebels on April 2.
Peters would finish the season plus-nine and eight penalty minutes for the Oil Kings, who would cap the season with the WHL’s best record at 20-2-0-1.
Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Bryan Thomson also finished off his 18-year-old campaign and turned 19 on April 9. He’d see action in eight games while splitting time with 19-year-old Carl Tetachuk and 17-year-old Jared Picklyk, recording a 4.75 goals against average and .867 save percentage to go along with a 4-3 record.
Moose Jaw Warriors fans who tuned into WHL on CHL TV broadcasts had plenty of chances to see Swift Current Broncos defenceman Chase Lacombe in action.
The 18-year-old defenceman turned 19 on Apr. 27 and parachuted into the Regina hub in late March after a spate of injuries left the Broncos shorthanded. He’d pick up a single assist through his 13 games and record eight penalty minutes, but the good news didn’t stop there -- Lacombe would pick up the Broncos’ Fans Most Popular award at the end of the campaign.
