Cochrane’s Ethan Neutens and Kaden McCann will be hitting the ice for the Medicine Hat Tigers in their first taste of a WHL Eastern Conference championship.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes completed a comeback to eliminate the Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday night, setting up a matchup between two long-time Central Division rivals.
The Tigers had been waiting patiently for their next opponent after completing a sweep of the Prince Albert Raiders on Thursday, April 17.
The best-of-seven series opens Friday night at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.
The Central Division champion Tigers (47-17-3-1, 98 points) went 5-3-0-0 against the Hurricanes (42-21-3-2, 89 points) in the regular season. Medicine Hat last reached the conference championship in 2014.
McCann is in his first full season with the Tabbies and remains on the radar for the 2025 NHL draft. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound centre made his WHL playoff debut last year in a first-round series against the Red Deer Rebels.
Neutens, a 6-foot-3.5, 205-pound winger, is making his third WHL post-season appearance after being acquired from the Kelowna Rockets earlier this season. He was selected by Kelowna in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft and played two full seasons with the Rockets, appearing in the playoffs both years.
Chiefs to face Winterhawks in Western showdown
The Spokane Chiefs open their Western Conference championship series Friday night at home against the Portland Winterhawks. Cochrane’s Rhett Sather has made one playoff appearance with the Chiefs.
The 5-foot-9 defenceman was selected 68th overall in the fourth round of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft and dressed for 47 games this season.
This year marks the first all-U.S. Division Western Conference final since 2018, when the Everett Silvertips beat the Tri-City Americans in six games.
The Chiefs are playing in their first conference championship since 2019. They finished second in the U.S. Division and third in the Western Conference with a 45-20-1-2 record.