Jason La Rose
The Wenatchee Wild own the best playoff record among the five teams that remain in the hunt for the RBC Cup, dropping just five of 25 games en route to BCHL and Doyle Cup championships.
Outside of their win over Vernon in the quarter-finals, where they erased a two-game deficit, the Wild were a playoff juggernaut, taking 3-0 series leads against Merritt, Trail and Prince George to win the league title in just their third season of BCHL hockey.
The did the same against Spruce Grove to upend the AJHL champions and claim the Pacific Region crown, becoming just the second U.S.-based team to earn a spot at Canada’s National Junior A Championship.
HOW THEY GOT TO CHILLIWACK
British Columbia Hockey League Preliminary round: defeated Merritt 4-0 (4-0, 6-4, 5-4, 4-1) Quarter-final: defeated Vernon 4-2 (1-7, 1-3, 4-3, 7-1, 3-2 2OT, 4-3 OT) Semifinal: defeated Trail 4-1 (5-2, 4-2, 2-1, 2-5, 6-1) BCHL championship: defeated Prince George 4-1 (4-0, 4-2, 4-3 2OT, 2-4, 3-0)
Doyle Cup Pacific Regional: defeated Spruce Grove 4-1 (3-2 OT, 3-0, 4-3, 2-5, 7-2)
REGULAR SEASON
Record: 37-16-4-1 (3rd in BCHL) Goals for: 241 (1st in BCHL) Goals against: 158 (4th in BCHL) Power play: 70 for 310 (22.6% – 2nd in BCHL) Penalty killing: 189 of 221 (85.5% – 2nd in BCHL) Longest winning streak: 5 (Jan. 13-26) Top 3 scorers: Jasper Weatherby (37G 37A 74P – 1st in BCHL) Cooper Zech (11G 58A 69P – 4th in BCHL) A.J. Vanderbeck (37G 25A 62P – 10th in BCHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 20-5 Goals for: 94 Goals against: 60 Power play: 22 for 92 (23.9%) Penalty killing: 59 of 69 (85.5%) Top 3 scorers: Jasper Weatherby (18G 23A 41P) A.J. Vanderbeck (16G 15A 31P) Sam Morton (8G 21A 29P)
NATIONAL JUNIOR A CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
First appearance
CJHL NATIONAL RANKINGS – WEEK-BY-WEEK
Preseason – 15th Sept. 25 – NR Oct. 2 – NR Oct. 9 – NR Oct. 16 – NR Oct. 23 – NR Oct. 30 – NR Nov. 6 – NR Nov. 13 – NR Nov. 20 – NR Nov. 27 – NR Dec. 4 – NR Dec. 11 – NR Dec. 18 – Honourable Mention Jan. 8 – NR Jan. 15 – NR Jan. 22 – NR Jan. 29 – NR Feb. 5 – Honourable Mention Feb. 12 – NR Feb. 19 – Honourable Mention Feb. 26 – NR March 5 – NR
COMMITMENTS
Josh Arnold – Northern Michigan University (2019-20) Slava Demin – University of Denver (2018-19) Zak Galambos – Minnesota State University (2018-19) Sam Hesler – Dartmouth College (2018-19) Nicholas Kent – Quinnipiac University (2019-20) Jacob Modry – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2018-19) Sam Morton – Union College (2018-19) Chad Sasaki – Colorado College (2019-20) Lucas Sowder – Minnesota State University (2018-19) A.J. Vanderbeck – Ohio State University (2018-19) August Von Ungern – Merrimack College (2018-19) Jasper Weatherby – University of North Dakota (2018-19) Cooper Zech – Ferris State University (2018-19)