WHL Unfiltered

First, we'd like to thank everyone at DUBNetwork - past and present - for the opportunity to have these two podcasts on the network over the years.  WHL Unfiltered was actually Paul Figler's idea, recruiting Jeff Hollick & myself to host. Best of luck to Darren Dupont moving forward, as we see what's next for DUBNetwork. Attached is the 1st episode of the new version of the show, featuring Oil Kings GM Kirt Hill. It was time for WHL Unfiltered & Pucklandia to go independent.  We hope you'll join us. -Chad https://soundcloud.com/whlpodcast

Longtime PXP voice of the Thunderbirds, Thom Beuning, joined us looking at the upcoming Seattle vs Portland series, and how we got here.

Mike Sawatzky covers the ICE for the Winnipeg Free Press, and he gave us some of his time looking at the ICE and their 1st round triumph over PA, as well as looking forward to the Moose Jaw series.   We spoke about how a 16 is leading the ICE in playoff scoring, the impact of adding of Jack Finley, the coaching philosophy of James Patrick, the atmosphere in Wayne Flemming, 15 year old D-man Jonas Woo, and much more Subscribe to your local paper

As the voice of the Oil Kings, Andrew Peard has been around the top teams in the Eastern Conference all WHL season, & shared his perspective on all the 1st round matchups, the first of which starts in Edmonton.   We even talked about friends of the show like Perry Bergson and Guy Flaming

We were joined by Casey Bryant taking a look at the Western Conference Playoff picture, mostly team-by-team.  As the PXP voice of the Silvertips, he's witnessed the best of the group, as teams tried to knock off Everett all season.

Peter Loubardias covers more than just the Calgary Flames, and we had a wide ranging conversation from Don Hay, the changing demographics of players, Darryl Sutter, what its like calling PXP of games, WHL Playoffs, and beyond

One year ago, We spoke with Logan Boulet's father, Toby Boulet, about organ donation, Green Shirt Day, dealing with tragedy, what kind of hockey player Logan was, & beyond www.greenshirtday.ca

We caught up with Winterhawks PXP voice Nick Marek looking at the remarkable turnaround Portland has experienced since American Thanksgiving, the veteran presence behind the bench, having a World Junior goaltender, getting back to having real crowds, the US Division Pennant race, and beyond

The Red Deer Rebels are having a strong season, but still overshadowed by Edmonton and Winnipeg - we thought it would be fun to take a look at the best team that no one is talking about. Rebels PXP voice Troy Gillard shared with us stories about Chase Coward being close with guys like Stuart Skinner & Joel Hofer, what its like filling the shoes of Cam Moon, what its meant to have Steve Konowalchuk coaching the team, Arshdeep Bains signing with the Canucks, and much more

Kevin Dudley joined us looking at the Spokane Chiefs overall, the clash with Portland we just witnessed, what to expect in this stretch of 5 consecutive games between the two clubs, the changes in the Chiefs front office over the last few years, and much more Subscribe to your local paper

Brennan Sonne joined us looking at his first year guiding the Saskatoon Blades to a successful season to date.  We looked at his background as an Everett Silvertip, both as a player and assistant coach,  influences like Kevin Constantine, Mitch Love, Doug Soetaert, Dennis Williams, and more.  We also looked at this Blades team, and some of the reasons they've played well this season.

One of our favourite guests, Steve Ewen, dropped by to look at the state of the Vancouver Giants, the newspaper industry, the current covid crisis in The WHL, the upcoming trade deadline, and much more. Subscribe to your local paper

We spoke with Portland Winterhawks forward Kishaun Gervais (in July of 2020) about growing up on the reserve, playing in places as different as Yorkton and Portland, his clothing line (Teddywear) and its connection to mental health awareness, what Black Lives Matter means to him, and more https://www.instagram.com/teddywearclothing/

We spoke with 5 time Stanley Cup Champion & Hall Of Famer Grant Fuhr, about his WHL days in Victoria,  The Edmonton Oilers, & more Recorded in September of 2018

We were joined by Casey Bryant as we welcome him to the WHL, look at the Silvertips legacy, the culture that Dennis Williams has developed, Casey's NY roots, his work in Danbury (and the netflix documentary), the only loss for Everett this year, and more

Kirt Hill was kind enough to give us some of his time while he's working with Team Canada Black for the Capital City Challenge.   We spoke about the Oil Kings winning the division in the shortened season, bringing in Luke Prokop, Edmonton's run to the East Final against Prince Albert, getting Jake Neighbours back from the NHL, knocking off an undefeated Winnipeg team, & more

Kris Mallette joined us on a rough day in BC.  We spoke about the flooding, the Rockets success so far this season, Kris' pathway to the HC job in Kelowna, winning the 2015 WHL Championship, playing in the minors for 9 years, his time playing for the Rockets, learning from Peter Anholt, and much more

We take a trip to speak with two of our favourite newspaper scribes Lucas Punkari and Perry Bergson:  topics include the Wheat Kings being decimated by injuries, league attendance, the upgraded video feed, OHL trade insanity, the state of local news, and beyond (the audio gets better as the episode goes on)

Craig West has called games for the Tri-City Americans for 23 seasons, and he joined us in a wide ranging conversation about Stu Barnes, watching Bobby Orr in the Great Western Forum, missing one game in his TC career, the return of Sasha Mutala, calling minor league baseball, the potential of rookie Dwayne Jean Jr, the need for cancer screenings, the success of Bob Tory's long tenure in TC, and more

We look at the Winterhawks 9 games in with Joshua Critzer, as well as his journey establishing PNW Hockey Talk, Portland icing a shorthanded lineup all season, struggling vs Everett, and we finish with a look at Kyle Beach as a WHL'er and a man

The new PXP voice of the Winnipeg ICE, Brian Munz, joined us looking at the hot start the ICE have enjoyed, Savoie and Geekie on top of the draft rankings, Munz journey back to the WHL, and beyond

Recent WHL Unfiltered guest Dean Brockman unexpectedly resigned from the Swift Current Broncos.  We go sans guest for a discussion about Brockman's time in SC, Saskatoon, Humboldt, & more

Mike Benton's hockey journey has led from a successful 5 years with the Everett Silverips, to becoming the inaugural Seattle Kraken Studio Host.  We spent some time discussing what its like to join the NHL's 32nd team, expectations for this season,  calling the longest game in WHL history, working with Dennis Williams, and beyond

Swift Current Broncos Head Coach & Director of Hockey Operations, Dean Brockman, spoke with us about bringing normalcy back to the iPlex, coaching rebuilding teams, developing Matt Ward, bringing in new assistant coaches, evolving coaching strategy, and more

We spent some time prepping for the new season with longtime colour annalist Bill Wilms:  TV coverage pulling in casual fans, Jeff Odgers views on fighting, the new streaming package, NHL assistant coaches seeking WHL head coaching jobs, how the on-ice experience of the short season will benefit players this year, & much more

Regina Leader-Post Sports Editor Rob Vanstone joined us looking at the upcoming WHL season, Connor Bedard, the rest of the Pats, Coach Patty Ginnell, Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, Peter Loubardias, & much more

We checked in with Nick Marek to see how the Winterhawks have been handling the truncated season, how this years experience will benefit them in the future, riding the bus with hockey minds like Mike Johnston and Don Hay, dealing with the uncertainty Marek faced during the long offseason, and […]

We were joined by Les Lazaruk, longtime voice of the Saskatoon Blades.  Topics included the strong start the Blades have enjoyed,  early success for Connor Bedard, Head Coach Mitch Love’s rising stock, what life is like in the Regina Hub, and beyond

Its always an interesting conversation with Kamloops VP & General Manager Matt Bardsley.  We spoke about his journey to the Blazers, life in the BC hubs, his philosophy in building a hockey team, building on the rich history of the Blazers, and much more

We spoke with James Gallo, fresh off hitting a special milestone 1,000th game of Moose Jaw Warriors PXP duty.  We also touched on his 6 years of colour work for the Warriors, some of his favourite players with MJ, The Crushed Can, what its like in the Regina Hub, and […]

We spoke with Logan Boulet’s father, Toby Boulet, about organ donation, Green Shirt Day, dealing with tragedy, what kind of hockey player Logan was, & beyond www.greenshirtday.ca

We spoke with Darren Dupont about calling games in the Regina Hub, Connor Bedard, DUB Network, his work with The Rod Peterson Show, and beyond http://RodPedersen.com/ListenLive

We spoke with Kaleb Dahlgren, who’s much more than just a Humboldt survivor.  We talked about his Bronco days, his college career at York, his work with Dahlgren’s Diabeauties, playing for Darcy Haugan,  Logan Boluet & his legacy, chirping Johnny Gaudreau,  and more.  (originally recorded in May 2020)

Ryan McCracken covers the Tigers for the Medicine Hat News, and was in the building for Bob Ridley’s 4000th game.  We spoke about what “Rids” means to the city of Med Hat, as well as the successful weekend the Tigers had playing meaningful WHL games

Red Deer Advocate Sports Reporter Byron Hackett joined us looking at the Rebels living at the rink,  the new video streaming package,  trade deadline, & more hot topics as the WHL is about to drop the puck.  Subscribe to your local newspaper.

We spoke with the Sports Director of the Regina Leader Post – Rob Vanstone – about the recently announced return to play plan for a hub in Regina.  All 5 Saskatchewan teams as well as the two Manitoba teams will hunker down in the Queen City – we spent some […]

We spoke with Mitch Love, fresh off of medaling on Canada’s coaching staff, while he’s preparing for the upcoming WHL season.   Building culture in Saskatoon, bubble life, working with the best junior players in the world, and more.

Nathan Sager joined us looking at the 2021 WJC so far, as well as a broader conversation about what junior hockey might look like moving forward.  We also spoke about his podcast SportsLit https://sportslit.ca/

Its never too early to start talking about World Juniors, so we had Chris Peters on to do just that.  Currently with ESPN (pending free agency), Chris has been following this tournament for many years, although the upcoming WJC will be like no other.  Our wide ranging, free flowing, fun […]

We were joined by longtime listener of the show, and Wheat Kings beat writer for the Brandon Sun, Perry Bergson.  We spent some time talking about the plan for returning to play in January, then looked back on the 25+ years that Kelly McCrimmon dedicated to the Brandon Wheat Kings […]

Joel Henderson, of Dobber Prospects and FC Hockey, joins us looking back at the recent NHL Draft, and how the WHL players slotted in.  We also spent some time talking about scouting philosophy, the differences between the leagues,  and the advancements in video scouting.  Joel is also an accomplished musician  […]

We spoke with the Head of Western Canadian scouting for Future Considerations, Justin Froese, about some of the WHL talent getting picked this draft, as well as digging down into the scouting process, and how it’s changed over the years https://nhlentrydraft.com/

We caught up with longtime PXP voice of the Spokane Chiefs about the playoffs that never were, the use of Native imagery by both the Chiefs & Indians, what the landscape might look like in the US Division when we resume play, & what day to day life is like […]

We were fortunate enough to speak with former Prince Albert Raider Dave Manson about his time playing for PA, behind the Raiders bench, as well as his storied NHL career

Calgary HItmen alum Kyle Dumba has been active lately with the Hockey Diversity Alliance, The Lake Street Council (https://rebuildminnesota.com), taking classes at SAIT, and working some summer jobs.  He took time out of his busy schedule to speak with us about his brother Matt Dumba, and some of the projects […]

We spoke with Portland Winterhawks forward Kishaun Gervais about growing up on the reserve, playing in places as different as Yorkton and Portland, his clothing line (Teddywear) and its connection to mental health awarness, what Black Lives Matter means to him, and more   https://www.instagram.com/teddywearclothing/

We spoke with former Swift Current Bronco and Kelowna Rocket Brady Leavold about jail, violence, addiction, mental illness, homelessness, overdosing, and even a little WHL hockey.    “Leo” once had a promising hockey career path, to have it all come crashing down – to the point of being homeless on Hastings […]

We’re joined by Adam Scorgie: the producer of a new Biopic about the great Grant Fuhr entitled “Making Coco”  – spanning his young life through modern day, including his time with the Victoria Cougars of the WHL https://makingcoco.com/

We spoke with former Saskatoon Blade & Vancouver Giant Wacey Rabbit about his path as an Indigenous hockey player,  winning the Memorial Cup,  his pro career,  aspirations to remain in the game post-playing days, and more.  Was a topical conversation for the times we are experiencing at the moment, as […]

Dave Hunchak is a former WHL Head Coach, mental heath survivor, and hockey parent, and more.  He joined us looking at hockey in a post-COVID world and what that might look like.  NHL, WHL, baseball, etc – we tried to take a look at what we are up against to […]

Adam Purner wears many hats:  Events Manager in Portland’s business office, Video Coordinator working with the on-ice coaching staff, & Goaltender Development Coordinator for USA Hockey for the state of Oregon.  He joined Josh & Chad to break down some of his duties in each role