Americans are headed to WHL playoffs after 7th place finish in Western Conference

The Tri-City Americans finished seventh in the Western Conference standings after losing their final game of the Western Hockey League regular season on Sunday, falling 3-2 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Stu Barnes’ team finished with a record of 32-29-6-1 for 71 standings points, and beginning Friday, March 28, they’ll take on the Victoria Royals in a best-of-7 first-round playoff series.

For the Royals, this is the best season for them in a decade, winning 40 games and taking the B.C. Division title.

Top players for Victoria including forward Cole Reschny, who scored 26 goals and 66 assists this season, ranking him 10th among all WHL players with 92 points.

Reschny’s teammate, forward Teydon Trembecky, was 14th in the league in scoring with 46 goals and 42 assists for 88 points.

Trembecky led the league with 10 first goals of the game. So the Ams must keep an eye on stopping him.

Victoria has two other players among the top 28 in WHL scoring: forward Kenta Isogai has 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points, for 24th; while forward Brandon Lisowsky is 28th with 40 goals and 34 assists for 74 points.

Tri-City is led by forward Max Curran, who ranks 30th, had 22 goals and 52 assists this season for 74 points; and teammate and captain Jake Sloan had 29 goals and 44 assists for 73 points.

Ams defenseman Jackson Smith, who is expected to be selected in the first round of this summer’s National Hockey League Draft, has 10 goals and 42 assists this season for 52 points. Most of Smith’s goals have come in the last month.

And Americans goalie Lukas Matecha — who was named the team’s Most Valuable Player on Saturday night — has been outstanding in net all season.

His 26 victories in net ranks fifth among all WHL goalies this season.

So while Victoria had 40 wins this season, and the Royals have some explosive scoring, the Americans have Matecha in goal, and the team has proven it can win in big stretches — as evidence of its 12-game winning streak that stretched from October into November.

Victoria-Tri-City series schedule

• Game 1, March 28, Tri-City at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 2, March 29, Tri-City at Victoria, 6:05 p.m.
• Game 3, April 1, Victoria at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 4, April 2, Victoria at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 5 (if necessary), April 4, Victoria at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
• Game 6 (if necessary), April 6, Tri-City at Victoria, 3:05 p.m.
• Game 7 (if necessary), April 7, Tri-City at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

Final Western Conference standings

1. Everett 48 wins-12 losses-4 OT losses-4 shootout losses, 104 points
2. Victoria 40-17-4-7, 91 points
3. Spokane 45-20-1-2, 93 points
4. Prince George 41-21-4-2, 88 points
5. Portland 36-28-3-1, 76 points
6. Vancouver 34-26-8-0, 76 points
7. Tri-City 32-29-6-1, 71 points
8. Seattle 30-33-4-1, 65 points
9. Wenatchee 23-36-8-1, 55 points
10. Kamloops 24-39-4-1, 53 points
11. Kelowna 18-44-4-2, 42 points

Playoff series: Everett vs. Seattle; Victoria vs. Tri-City; Spokane vs. Vancouver; Prince George vs. Portland.

Victoria versus Tri-City

Victoria vs. Tri-City in the regular season

Sept. 20, Victoria 5, Tri-City 4 (OT)

Sept. 21, Tri-City 5, Victoria 4 (OT)

Jan. 11, Victoria 6, Tri-City 2

Feb. 7, Victoria 9, Tri-City 1

WHL expansion

On Monday, the league welcomed the Penticton Vees as an expansion franchise, starting in the 2025-26 season. Penticton had been a member of the BCHL.

In addition, the league announced it was taking applications for ownership for an expansion team in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The team would begin play in the 2026-27 season.

American alumni

Former Tri-City Americans forward Parker Bell has played in 53 games for the Calgary Wranglers — the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

In those games, Bell scored his first AHL goal in late October. He currently (as of March 25) has 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 total points.

He has a minus-8 point total in the plus-minus category for the Wranglers.