Saskatchewan clubs fall flat in the WHL’s Eastern Conference

The last time a Saskatchewan major junior hockey club won a championship, Justin Bieber wasn't born yet, Sidney Crosby was five-years-old, and Mario Lemieux was coming off a 160-point season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Since the Swift Current Broncos' 1993 championship, Western Hockey League fans in the Land of the Living Skies haven't had a lot to cheer about to say the least.

This year, three Sask. teams made the WHL playoffs: the Saskatoon Blades, Prince Albert Raiders, and Swift Current Broncos. None of them, however, made it past the first round.

But wait, it gets worse.

In the last 18 years, the Moose Jaw Warriors are the only Sask. team to make it to the WHL championship series. They made it to the finals in 2006, but fell to the Vancouver Giants in four straight games. To add insult to injury, Manitoba only has one WHL club - the Brandon Wheat Kings -but they made it to the Ed Chynoweth Cup finals four times in that span, winning a banner in 1996.

The Western Conference is a completely different story. The U.S. Division and B.C. Division is split right down the middle for championship series appearances in the past 18 years.

That begs the question: why aren’t Sask. WHL clubs putting together strong enough lineups to compete with the five Alberta-based teams, the Kootenay Ice and the Wheat Kings in the Eastern Conference?

It is easy to say Saskatchewan’s small-market teams such as the locally owned Swift Current Broncos, Prince Albert Raiders, and Warriors have trouble recruiting players. But is that really the case?

The stats suggest these three teams haven’t had a whole lot of trouble bringing in high-end draft picks to their cities.

The Broncos’ top three draft picks of the 2011 bantam draft – Brycen Martin, Zach Gonek, and Dakota Odgers – are all under contract with the team; however, only Martin stuck in Swift Current this year with Gonek not making the cut and Odgers choosing to play another year of midget AAA puck for long-term development reasons.

It is the same story in Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. The Raiders signed their top three picks: Reid Gardiner, Tim Vanstone, and Rylan Parenteau. And the Warriors inked Brayden Point, Miles Warkentine, and Josh Uhrich.

In the 2010 bantam draft, all three squads drafted out of Alberta in the first round and came to terms with their prospects on paper.

The Raiders and Warriors both signed their highest draft pick of the 2009 and 2008 bantam drafts. But the Broncos weren’t been able to ink their 2009 first-round bantam pick: Evan Richardson. The Nanaimo, B.C., native instead elected to play for the Powell River Kings in the BCHL and has committed to Boston College for next season.

The Brodsky family-owned Saskatoon Blades and Parker family-owned Regina Pats, meanwhile, have signed all of their first-round picks in the past five years. So recruitment doesn’t seem to be a problem in the Bridge City or Queen City.

But one has to keep in mind that some teams choose to draft players who they know will go to their city rather than the prospects with the most potential. Therefore, it’s not completely accurate to judge a team’s recruitment record on whether they can ink their bantam picks.

The CHL import draft is obviously a different story than the bantam draft.

None of the Saskatchewan teams has had an import player selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft in the last 12 years.

Meanwhile, the Portland Winterhawks, a wealthier organization owned by Bill Gallacher, have had four in that time span: Sven Baertschi, the Calgary Flames’ 13^th pick in 2011, Nino Niederreiter, the New York Islanders’ sixth pick in 2010, Jakub Klepis, the Ottawa Senators’ 16^th pick in 2002, and Marcel Hossa, the Montreal Canadiens’ 16^th pick in 2000.

That is not to say, however, that the Winterhawks’ deep pockets is why they have had better luck in the import draft. Travis Green’s connections in Switzerland played a major role in the Winterhawks landing Niederreiter and Baertschi in the draft.

Nevertheless, just because Sask. teams aren’t bringing in the “Nail Yakupovs of the world” doesn’t mean they aren’t recruiting impact players from overseas.

The Blades’ two imports – Matej Stransky and Andrey Makarov – were two of their better players this year. Stransky, who is a Dallas Stars prospect, tied Josh Nicholls for the team lead in points with 40 goals and 85 points in 72 games. And Makarov, who is a Buffalo Sabres prospect, was one of the top goalies in the league, posting a 2.62 average and a .919 save percentage in 61 games.

The Raiders’ Leon Draisaitl, who was the second overall pick in the 2012 import draft, blossomed into a star in his first year in the Dub, scoring 21 goals and 58 points in 64 games. Some believe the Germany native will be a first-round pick in the 2014 NHL draft.

All that being said, if recruiting players through the bantam draft isn’t much of an issue and teams are bringing in impact players through the import draft, why can’t a team in Sask. put together a winning squad? Is it poor coaching, talent analysis from general managers, or is management to blame for not bringing the right hockey people? Well, it would be unfair to bunch up the five teams together, so here is a look at each team separately.

Saskatoon Blades

Making the playoffs hasn’t been much of an issue for Lorne Molleken’s Blades since he

became the squad’s head coach and general manager in 2005-06. They have advanced to the second season six out of the eight years. But year after year, the Bridge City Boys have choked in the post-season, falling out in the first round three times and the second round the other three occasions.

The Blades were built to win a championship in 2010-11. They had a stacked squad consisting of Edmonton Oilers forward prospect Curtis Hamilton, Colorado Avalanche defensive prospect Stefan Elliott, San Jose Sharks forward prospect Marek Viedensky and went all in by trading the farm for Philadelphia Flyers winger Brayden Schenn at the trade deadline.

Nonetheless, the Blades who went 56-13-1-2 in the regular-season were a different team in the playoffs. They didn’t have spunk, determination, and seemed to lack heart. After sliding past the Raiders in six games in the first round, the Kootenay Ice walked all over them in a sweep in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The following year, it was the same old story with not as much star power. The fourth-place Medicine Hat Tigers knocked them out in the first round in a sweep.

Most coaches are shown the door after back-to-back face plants in the playoffs, but team owner Jack Brodsky stayed loyal to Molleken and kept him on as their head coach for their 2012-13 MasterCard Memorial Cup season.

Molleken brought in new faces and tried to change the culture of his squad at the bantam draft. Moreover, he improved the team, on paper at least, again at the trade deadline by bringing in most notably Calgary Flames prospect Michael Ferland.

Despite the different looking lineup, the second-place Blades dropped the ball yet again with Molleken behind the bench. The seventh-place Tigers swept them in the first round.

Saskatoon will still compete for the Memorial Cup in May. But even if they do win, it seems they will be known as the team who won a four-team tournament, but couldn’t capture a single playoff victory.

Regina Pats

In the 15-year Brent Parker era from 1995-96 to 2009-10, the Pats made it as far as the

second round with the owners’ son as their general manger. Not to mention, Regina missed the playoffs four times and bowed out in the first round eight times in that time span.

Parker undoubtedly gave his best effort and worked hard to learn the business, but 15 years of coming up short is just too long. He should have stepped down sooner.

When Chad Lang became the new architect in 2010 under a four-year contract, he had an opportunity to start a rebuild the right way. He, however, took a shortcut in 2012. With his club sitting inside the top eight of the Eastern Conference, but not appearing to be a real contender, he chose to hold on to star 19-year-old forward Jordan Weal at the trade deadline rather than dealing him for prospects and draft picks. In addition, he dealt his first-round pick to the Prince George Cougars for 19-year-old defenceman Martin Marincin. Regina went on to fall to the Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round of the playoffs in five games.

This past year, the Pats missed the playoffs. They did suffer injuries to key players such as Minnesota Wild defensive prospect Colton Jobke and Washington Capitals third-round pick Chandler Stephenson; nonetheless, the bottom line is they were in no position to make some noise in the playoffs in Lang’s third year as GM.

As for next year, it seems it will take a miracle for the Pats to take a serious post-season run with them losing star forward Lane Schiedl and puck-stopper Matt Hewitt in the offseason. Therefore, it’s quite possible Lang won’t have his contract renewed at the end of the year in Regina.

Moose Jaw Warriors

The Warriors are the bright spot of the five Sask. clubs. They made it to the championship series in 2006 and the Eastern Conference final in 2012. They don’t, however, have a banner despite heading into their 30^th season as a franchise.

Although Alan Millar did inherit valuable pieces from Chad Lang, who was let go in 2009, and Jeff Truitt, who quit as GM after one year, it just took him two years to bring Moose Jaw to the Eastern Conference final since taking over the job in the summer of 2010.

But following losing to the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Warriors had to go back into rebuild mode this past year after losing Florida Panthers rookie Quinton Howden, New York Rangers prospect Dylan Mcilrath, and overage forwards James Henry, Kenton Miller and Cam Braes in the offseason.

It seems Moose Jaw will take its next run at the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2014-15 or 2015-16. In the 2015 playoff, Brayden Point will be in his 18-year-old season, goaltender Jeff Paulic will be in his 19-year-old season, and other players such as 2012 first-round bantam pick Jayden Halbgewachs, 2011 first-round bantam pick Miles Warkentine and their fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft will be around. In 2016, the Warriors will likely be a more experienced team, but there is a chance Paulic won’t be in between the pipes that year as he would be in his overage season.

Prince Albert Raiders

In Bruno Campese’s first two full years as the Raiders’ general manager and head coach in 2008-09 and 2009-10, Prince Albert missed the playoffs. But one has to keep in mind that he didn’t inherit much of a roster from former GM Donn Clark, who was let go in 2008 after a five-year tenure.

The Raiders finally showed improvement in 2011 by making the playoffs. The following year they were expected to take another step in the right direction, but instead they took a couple steps back, finishing dead last in the East Division. Campese took the blame for the Raiders’ failure; the organization dismissed him of his head coaching duties, but he stayed on as the general manager.

Although the Raiders did sneak back into the playoffs this year with Steve Young as their head coach, the Red Deer Rebels quickly swept them in the first round.

As for next year, Prince Albert won’t have Chicago Blackhawks forward prospect Mark McNeill or Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Harrison Ruopp back; they will definitely feel a void in their roster with their former captain and shutdown defenceman gone. Nonetheless, they will have Draisaitl, 2013 draft prospect Josh Morrissey, Dallas Stars second-rounder Mike Winther, and 18-year-old centre Jayden Hart back. So they should be a playoff team, but that’s the problem, there is no indication of the Raiders having the pieces to take a serious run at a championship in Campese’s fifth year as their architect.

Swift Current Broncos

The older generation of Broncos fans have fond memories of winning championships in 1989 and 1993.

The younger generation, however, know the organization that has only made it past the first round once in the last 11 years.

Similar to Campese and Clark, GM-head coach Mark Lamb didn’t inherit the greatest roster from his predecessor, Dean Chynoweth. But the “he is still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Dean excuse” is starting to get old.

Lamb is headed into his fifth season as the Broncos’ GM- head coach with two playoff misses and two first-round exits under his belt. Next year should be the big year; the team is now practically completely his. But it seems the Broncos are somewhat in limbo. On one hand, New Jersey Devils defensive prospect Reece Scarlett, Detroit Redwings defensive prospect Richard Nedomlel and Winnipeg Jets forward prospect Adam Lowry shouldn’t be returning. On the other hand, players such as 16-year-old blueliner Brycen Martin, 2013 draft prospect Dillon Heatherington, and 18-year-old centre Colby Cave should take significant strides in their games. Therefore, the writing is on the wall for another playoff appearance, but an early exit.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen