History is made by the Lethbridge Cougars as the unthinkable became for real as they went perfect 50 wins, no losses, no ties, and 100 points; they became the first team in the CIHA era to pull it off, and the Cougars became the third team to do it. The first was the 1955-56 Lethbridge Cougars and the 1966-67 Saskatoon Cats that did it, but both those seasons were only 30 games at that time.
Tragedy stuck on January 16, 1983, at 3:40 left into the third between the Moose Jaw Wings and the Kenora Pioneers, where Wings forward Paul Phillips went too fast to get the puck only to fall onto the ice and crash to boards badly that left him on a stretcher ending the game. A week later, it was announced that Paul suffered an injury that put him in a wheelchair, ending his hockey-playing career. Since then, the NIHA, a pro hockey league that used the Lite-sonic pants, decided to ban them from their league; with that, the WCLH will follow along with it, and hopefully, the rest will, too.
The East division was a tight race in the first 25 games, but the last 25 it was far apart as the Swift Current Battalion took first place with 87 points, the team’s highest in history, a big thanks to their highest 18-game unbeaten streak (16-0-2) and for the first time since 1967-68 season (formerly North Battleford Crusaders) that a player is on the top ten goal scorer in the league and Eric Wilcox made that happen, with his 14 points (6G-8A) in the last ten games to be placed in 7th. Portage la Prairie Magic took second place by winning 18 of their first 25 games. They stayed as close they could behind the Battalion but lost the season series to Swift Current four in a row. However, the Magic would get some good numbers of critical wins to keep their momentum high come playoff time. Finishing third place was a surprise to many of the Fargo Owls after a challenging rebuild; the Owls had a rough start in the first half, but they turned it around and won 10 of the last 15 games to take the spot. After four years of finishing 4th in both the west and east divisions, the Wings had good momentum, thinking that they would finish third place for the first time since the 78-79 season, but losing 15 of the last 20 games to make things worse for them they finished forth just 8 points behind the Owls even thou the Wings swept Fargo in season series but lost too many critical games down the stretch. Rounding out the East division are the Kenora Pioneers, their first playoff miss in team history, the Brandon Buffalos, and the Saskatoon Cats.
The Lethbridge Cougars top both the West division and the league with a perfect 50 wins in 50 games a history in the making as they have the confidence to go all the way. The Billings Trains improved from third to second place in the West with the right players at the right time, hoping that it would lead to a deep playoff run. The host of the 1983 Valor Cup tournament, the Medicine Hat Hawks, takes third after finishing the last intense 15 games (10-3-2) to keep their momentum going into the playoffs; the fans hope that this team keeps their “A” game for the tournament if they get an exit out of this season playoffs. The Abbotsford Forest Kings may be short one win behind the Hawks, but finishing fourth is good enough for them. It is also lucky for them that they are in a playoff format and did not have to face the Cougars. The last 3 spots are Chilliwack, Surrey, and Nanaimo.
No comments:
Post a Comment