Prior to the Eastern Swing, fans of the Portland Winterhawks were in shock at a team sitting in last place in the league; they were 1-7 and looking to finish worse than the year prior to Mike Johnston’s arrival in Portland five years ago. But once the team arrived home, people started seeing a team that was starting to find itself. Those who have followed the Winterhawks over the past few seasons know that once the sleeping giant was awake, it could be off to the races. They now post a 14-12-0-3 record. With the wins this weekend, the Hawks have won five straight games and have won 7 of their last 10 and are closing in on US Division leader Everett Silvertips.
The Winterhawks picked up where they left off last week with a strong home game against Victoria Royals winning 4-2 on Tuesday. They moved to Friday for the annual Daylight Classic against Kootenay Ice, a team they see just once per year. The Hawks took a beating in shots on goal by a 20-5 margin during the first period, but scored the first goal of the game by Oliver Bjorkstrand with an assist to Chase De Leo. Tim Bozon, who was drafted by Montreal Canadiens last year, suffered from life threatening meningitis this past season while on the road with the Kootenay Ice. The Canadiens returned him to junior hockey this year after he was given a clean bill of health; he pocketed his seventh of the season to tie it midway through the first. Stellar goaltending from Adin Hill kept the Hawks tied through the period and then the Hawks took off.
Three straight goals by the Winterhawks’ Alex Schoeborn, Bjorkstrand (second of the game) and defenseman Blake Heinrich with 43 seconds in the period, put the team up by three and they never looked back. Kootenay’s Sam Reinhart, a 1st round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, was able to convert a power play midway through the third, but any comeback was thwarted by Paul Bittner, who made a great pass to Nic Petan for his fifth goal of the season to end the game 5-2. Portland went 0 for 4 on the power play, while Kootenay, who outshot Portland 45-26, went 2 for 6.
Any celebration was short-lived as the Hawks headed to the frozen tundra of Kennewick, Washington and the Tri City Americans, where support was high with 40 fans traveling from Portland on the Booster Club bus to take in the game. Things fell apart early for the Americans as right off the faceoff, the line of Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nic Petan and Paul Bittner combined for Bittner’s ninth goal of the season just nine seconds into the game. Less than four minutes later, it was Oliver Bjorkstrand with a highlight reel goal after Bittner and Petan had set him up to put the Hawks up by two. Towards the middle of the second period, it was Miles Koules who powered his way into the Americans zone with a little help from Chase DeLeo and Koules pushed it through the pads of American’s goaltender Eric Comrie for a 3-0 lead. Towards the end of the period, Ty Comrie, the brother of goaltender Eric Comrie, would find a way to get the puck past Brendan Burke to get the Ams on the board. The Americans had suddenly come to life, forcing considerable pressure on the Winterhawks, who refused to allow Tri City anything more in the second period.
The third period was another Tri City pressure cooker as the Americans’ Brian Williams scored just over a minute into the third period to put Tri City within one. The Ams kept increasing that pressure as they were awarded power play after power play, but could never convert the chances, despite having ample opportunity to do so.
The Americans had one final burst on the power play towards the end of the game and both teams used their timeouts to draw up various scenarios. Despite a couple of great chances by the Ams, the score remained a Winterhawks win with a final score of 3-2. During the game, the Americans received the only power play opportunities and failed to score on all four chances. The Winterhawks outshot Tri City 42-30.
The week ahead is a busy one as the Winterhawks travel to British Columbia and across to Vancouver Island on Tuesday to face Victoria Royals for the last time during the regular season and then back across the pond for a Friday night matchup with the Vancouver Giants. The Giants will debut their new coach who is former Winnipeg Jets bench boss Claude Noel. The Giants will also honor longtime player, coach and general manager around the NHL, Pat Quinn, who died November 23 after battling a long illness. Quinn was honored with an induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 17, but was unable to attend due to his illness. Quinn, dubbed “The Big Irishman,” played over 600 games in 20 years with another nearly 30 years as a coach and general manager in the NHL and World Junior teams for Canada.
The Winterhawks will then travel overnight to Portland and get ready for two games in two nights. They will face off against the Everett Silvertips on Saturday, December 6 in the annual Teddy Bear Toss, an event where the fans throw stuffed animals on the ice to be collected and donated to local charities. The next night is “Keeping Portland Warm,” an event for fans to donate new socks, gloves, and new and gently used blankets, sweaters and coats for the Sunshine Division programs when the Medicine Hat Tigers make their only appearance during the season.
Ice Chips:
The Portland Winterhawks Booster Club will be completing their player ornament auction at this weekend’s games. Fans can bid on the ornaments through the 10 minute mark of the first period intermission at Sunday’s game. The Booster Club bus to Prince George is almost sold out with the trip happening in the dead of winter. More details are available at home games and http://www.pwhbc.com/fantrips.html. The players will each receive a gift bag from the Booster Club members just before they go home for Christmas.
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