All-star snipers in playoff shootout
Opening round matchup between Giants and Royals features two of the WHL’s top guns
VICTORIA — It’s the junior hockey equivalent of Wyatt Earp vs. Billy the Kid.
Snipers Matthew Phillips of the Victoria Royals and Ty Ronning of the Vancouver Giants were named Western Conference all-stars ahead of their much-anticipated showdown in the opening round of the WHL playoffs beginning Friday and Saturday at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
“It’s interesting because we play similar games, although (Ronning) is more of a pure shooter than I am,” said Phillips.
That was borne out through Ronning’s eye-popping 61 goals this season in leading the Giants back to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. Phillips, who has never missed the post-season in his three years with the Royals, finished with 48 goals, but his 112 points easily surpassed Ronning’s 84 points.
Phillips was named a Western Conference first-team all-star for the second-consecutive season, as voted on by the WHL general managers. Ronning was selected to the conference’s second team.
“It’s going to be fun to watch as both (Ronning and Phillips go up against each team’s shutdown guys),” said Phillips.
For the Giants, that’s tenacious former Royals forward Jared Dmytriw, someone who Phillips knows well on and off the ice during Dmytriw’s three and-a-half seasons in Victoria.
“It’s going to be weird, but we put that (friendship) aside for the duration of the series,” said Phillips, who is signed to an entry-level NHL contract with the Calgary Flames.
Joining Phillips on the Western Conference first team are forwards Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks and Jaret Anderson-Dolan of the Spokane Chiefs, defencemen Ty Smith of the Chiefs and Cal Foote of the Kelowna Rockets, with goaltender and conference MVP Carter Hart of the Everett Silvertips.
“There seems to be a lot more offensive emphasis among the selections this season,” said Phillips.
“It’s a huge honour to be named because there are a lot of good players on that list.”
Patrick Bajkov from Nanaimo, a Silvertips forward signed to an NHL entry-level contract by the Florida Panthers, joins Dillon Dube of the Rockets and Ronning as the forwards on the conference second team. The second-team defencemen are both Finnish imports in Henri Jokiharju of the Winterhawks and Juuso Valimaki of the Tri-City Americans. The goaltender — and the Royals will need to take heed of this — is David Tendeck of the Giants.
ICE CHIPS: The WHL bantam draft lottery was held Wednesday, among the six teams who missed the playoffs, and the Edmonton Oil Kings will select first in the draft to be held May 3 in Red Deer. The Kootenay Ice will pick second, the Prince Albert Raiders (in a trade from the Prince George Cougars) third, Calgary Hitmen fourth, Kamloops Blazers fifth and Saskatoon Blades sixth.