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Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Final fours set across CHL

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The Saskatoon Blades completed a rare reverse sweep on Tuesday.

After defeating Connor Bedard's Regina Pats in seven games in the first round, the Blades lost the first three games of their second round series against the Red Deer Rebels. The Blades then rattled off four straight wins against the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed to advance to the Western Hockey League's final four for the first time since 1994.
Saskatoon becomes just the third team in WHL history to win a series after losing the first three games, joining the 1996 Spokane Chiefs and the 2013 Kelowna Rockets.

The Blades will face the loaded Winnipeg Ice in the WHL's Eastern Conference final.

The WHL's Western Conference final could be quite a show with the stacked Seattle Thunderbirds taking on the Memorial Cup host Kamloops Blazers. Logan Stankoven and Olen Zellweger of the Blazers sit in a tie for the WHL's playoff scoring lead with 21 points each.

Eastern Conference Final
Saskatoon (3) vs Winnipeg (1)

Western Conference Final
Kamloops (2) vs Seattle (1)

The big news out of the OHL is that the No. 1 seeds have fallen. The Windsor Spitfires were upset in the first round while the Ottawa 67's, who finished first in the overall league standings, lost in six games to the Peterborough Petes in the second round.

The Petes will now face the North Bay Battalion who are coming off a Game 7 win over the Barrie Colts on Tuesday.

In the Western Conference, London and Sarnia will meet with a trip to the OHL final on the line.

Eastern Conference Final
Peterborough (4) vs North Bay (2)

Western Conference Final
Sarnia (3) vs London (2)

In the QMJHL, it's felt like we've known which teams would make it to the semifinals since January. All four teams have had fairly easy rides up until this point. The real playoffs start now.

Gatineau (4) vs Quebec (1)
Sherbrooke (3) vs Halifax (2)

The three league champions will join the Blazers at this year's Memorial Cup in Kamloops, which begins May 26.

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