Canada remains perfect at 2003 Winter Universiade
Calgary, AB — Ron Robison, Commissioner of the Western Hockey League, officially launched the 2009-10 WHL season at a media conference in Kelowna, British Columbia today. The WHL’s 44th Regular Season officially opens on Thursday, September 17th with a special season opening game featuring the defending WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets playing their divisional rivals the Vancouver Giants. The feature opening game will be televised LIVE on SHAW TV starting with a half hour preview show at 7:00pm PT. The 2009-10 Regular Season gets into full swing on Friday, September 18 with eight WHL contests.
The WHL Regular Season will again feature many of the most talented junior hockey players in the world as the 22 Member Clubs, located throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest, battle for a playoff berth and the goal of hoisting the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL Champions. After recent NHL Draft picks Evander Kane (Vancouver), Brayden Schenn (Brandon), Jared Cowen (Spokane) and Carter Ashton (Lethbridge) blazed the trail throughout last season, a new crop of young talented players look to put their names on the map. NHL Draft prospects Brett Connolly (Prince George), Calvin Pickard (Seattle), Mark Pysyk (Edmonton) and Jordan Weal (Regina) will be competing to prove themselves each game. The future of the WHL will also be on display as the Red Deer Rebels’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Portland Winterhawks’ Ty Rattie, the first and second overall selections in 2008 WHL Bantam Draft, hope to make an impact during their rookie campaigns.
“The WHL looks forward to once again showcasing the finest junior hockey talent in the world this season,” commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison, “all reports indicate this may be one of the most competitive seasons in recent years as our 22 Clubs battle for the right to join the host Wheat Kings in Brandon for the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup.”
With highly competitive playoff races anticipated in all four WHL Divisions, WHL fans can continue to follow their favourite teams through a variety of broadcast options throughout the WHL Regular Season and Playoffs. As in previous seasons, all 22 Clubs will provide radio broadcasts of their entire home and away schedule throughout the regular season and playoffs. All 792 WHL regular season games and the entire playoff schedule will also be available for viewing on WHL WEB TV with the WHL’s internet streaming partner INSINC, in cooperation with the WHL’s radio broadcast partners.
SHAW TV will continue to be the regional cable broadcast home of the WHL for the next five years, with SHAW Communications and the WHL extending their partnership through the 2013-14 season. WHL on SHAW will televise 30 regular season games as well as a full series in each of the four rounds of the 2010 WHL Playoffs. The broadcast schedule will continue to feature key rivals LIVE every Friday night on ‘The WHL on SHAW Friday Night Hockey’ across Western Canada on SHAW TV and Shaw Direct ‘Channel 299’.
Canadian Hockey League broadcast partner Rogers Sportsnet will also feature up to four nationally televised WHL games on ‘CHL Sunday Night Hockey’ as well as four regional broadcasts on Sportsnet West and Pacific. The WHL will also be expanding television coverage of its U.S. Division both locally and regionally. Further details will be announced in October.
The WHL is also pleased to highlight the 2009-10 season with the 2009 SUBWAY® Super Series, a CHL national showcase event. The SUBWAY® Super Series is an integral part of the identification process for Canada’s National Junior Team final selection camp as the top rated Canadian players in the WHL, OHL and QMJHL take on the Russian National Junior Team. Team WHL will meet the Russian National Junior Team in game five of the series on Wednesday, November 25 in Victoria, BC before wrapping up the six game series on Thursday, November 26 in Kelowna, BC.
The 2009-10 season will also feature three major hockey events in WHL markets beginning in December with the 2010 World Junior Championships in Saskatoon and Regina as they host the world’s top hockey nations. The 2010 Winter Olympics will follow as Vancouver, British Columbia plays host to the world in February. The 2009-10 season will culminate in Brandon, Manitoba as the WHL and Wheat Kings will serve as official hosts of the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The Brandon Wheat Kings will host the WHL Champions, Ontario Hockey League Champions and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Champions from May 14 – 23, 2009 at the Keystone Centre.
The Western Hockey League is also proud to introduce WHL Mobile – a new highly interactive mobile website that will provide more than just schedules and scores. WHL fans, media and parents can now view game summaries, full rosters, player profiles, news articles, stats leaders and much more through their handheld PDA. WHL Mobile has been developed and designed for compatibility with the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry® smartphones, HTC Touch™, and a wide range of web-enabled PDAs. WHL Mobile will launch on October 1.
The WHL is also pleased to announce that Husky Mohawk will join Kal Tire as a Western Hockey League Prestige Partner and thank both corporations for their extensive support of the WHL and its Western Canada based Clubs. The WHL would also like to recognize our official partners Waste Management, Sobeys, Boston Pizza, All-Weather Windows, Sandman Hotels, Old Dutch and Reebok/CCM together with our broadcast partners SHAW TV, Rogers Sportsnet and INSINC.
The WHL Board of Governors agreed at the Annual General Meeting in June to adopt video replay during the Regular Season and Playoffs commencing with the upcoming 2009-10 season. The WHL introduced video replay for the first time during the 2009 WHL Playoffs. The WHL also announced that it has adopted some playing rule changes for the 2009-10 Regular Season to help reduce unnecessary fighting. Included is if a player(s) removes his helmet prior to a fight, the linesmen shall move in immediately and attempt to separate the players before they engage in the fight. The player(s) who removed his helmet shall receive an unsportsmanlike conduct (USC) penalty if the fight is prevented. If the linesmen are not able to move in before the players start to fight, the player(s) will receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for removing his helmet in addition to the fighting major.
