FIVE MINUTE MAJOR CHL Top Ten and more.

The playoffs are progressing for the major junior hockey leagues and with that come weekly awards and other news.

Seattle Kraken prospect Berkly Catton once again made headlines as he snagged WHL Player of the Week honors. It’s the third time this season he’s won the award in addition to a WHL Player of the Month honor in February. He led all WHL skaters with two goals and eight assists for 10 points in three games as the Spokane Chiefs eliminated the Vancouver Giants in the first round.

In the WHL’s Eastern Conference, Calgary Hitmen goalie Anders Miller received WHL Goaltender of the Week honors. He helped his team to a first round sweep of the Saskatoon Blades with a 2-0-0-0 record, a 1.50 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. That sweep was the only one in the WHL in the first round.

This week’s WHL Rookie of the Week honors went to the Everett Silvertips’ Shea Busch. He led all rookies with four goals and an assist for five points in three games as the regular season champion Silvertips battled back to take their first series lead against the eight seed Seattle Thunderbirds. Everett clinched its series Monday night in six games and will matchup with the Portland Winterhawks in the second round.

Portland took down the Prince George Cougars in game seven. The Victoria Royals took care of the Tri-City Americans in five games as did the Spokane Chiefs with the Vancouver Giants. The Lethbridge Hurricanes also took care of business in five against the Brandon Wheat Kings as did the Medicine Hat Tigers with the Swift Current Broncos.

Like Portland and Prince George, the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings also went to seven with the Raiders clinching game seven Tuesday night.

In addition to Portland and Everett, second round WHL action will see Victoria take on Spokane while Calgary will take on Lethbridge and Medicine Hat will face Prince Albert.

WHL Coach of the Year nominees were announced Tuesday afternoon and included three coaches each from both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference. The list of nominees includes Willie Desjardins from the Medicine Hat Tigers, Dan DaSilva from the Saskatoon Blades, Bill Peters from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, James Patrick from the Victoria Royals, Brad Lauer from the Spokane Chiefs and Matt O’Dette from the Seattle Thunderbirds.

With teams that didn’t make the playoffs and those who are getting eliminated, they are seeing NHL drafted players sign entry level contracts. Players have been assigned to the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of whatever team they signed with for the remainder of their season.

Some unfortunate news broke Tuesday afternoon that former Portland Winterhawk Chaz Lucius has retired from professional hockey. He was with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose this season. It was announced he was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition affecting the connective tissue that supports one's joint and organs. Because of this, he dealt with several joint injuries in recent seasons. Lucius was selected by the Winnipeg Jets 18th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. In addition to his time with Portland, he spent time with the U.S. National Team Development Program before playing two seasons at the University of Minnesota.