EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips are playing in their first Western Hockey League championship series since the franchise’s inaugural 2003-04 season. The Tips (47-20-2-3, 99 points) are the league’s Western Conference champions. Their opponents are the WHL’s Eastern Conference champions — the Broncos (48-17-5-2, 103 points) of Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
The winner advances to the prestigious Memorial Cup tournament starting May 18 in Regina, Saskatchewan. That’s the pinnacle of North American youth hockey.
If you don’t have tickets and can’t drive some 900 miles to the Monroe-sized town in The Great White North, or you’re a newly rabid hockey fan, here’s a guide to the series and some, uh, tips for following the action.
Series schedule
Swift Current is in the Central time zone but does not observe daylight time, so it’s essentially on Mountain Daylight Time — an hour later there than Pacific Daylight Time. Times listed here are Pacific Daylight.
- Game 1: Friday, May 4, in Swift Current — Silvertips 2, Broncos 1 (Everett leads series 1-0)
- Game 2: Saturday, May 5, in Swift Current — Broncos 4, Silvertips 3 (series tied 1-1)
- Game 3: Tuesday, May 8, in Everett — Broncos 3, Silvertips 2 (Swift Current leads series 2-1)
- Game 4: Wednesday, May 9, in Everett — Broncos 1, Silvertips 0 (Swift Current leads series 3-1)
- Game 5: Friday, May 11 in Everett — Silvertips 6, Broncos 3 (Swift Current leads series 3-2)
- Game 6: Sunday, May 13, 6 p.m. PDT at Innovation Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current.
- Game 7*: Monday, May 14, 6 p.m. PDT in Swift Current.
* If necessary
Video
Games between the Silvertips and Broncos will be live-streamed on the WHL’s website. Viewers must sign up for an account. You can buy a “Team Pass” for $29.95, which allows access to all games of the championship series, or a single-game pass for $8.95.
Radio
As usual, the games will be broadcast in Everett and streamed on KRKO-AM-FM (1380, 95.3).
Social media
You can follow the action on Twitter by monitoring The Herald’s Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) and Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson).
Other social accounts of note:
- Twitter: @WHLSilvertips, @SCBroncos, @HeraldNetSports, @TheWHL
- Facebook: Silvertips, Broncos
Hockey basics
We won’t tell if you’re just now getting excited about hockey. Some primers:
- Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
- Wikipedia
- WHL Guide for 2017-18 (PDF download)
- WHL rulebook
- WHL history
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