From the start of the series, many felt Portland would hand it to Victoria, sweep the series and move onto Kelowna and go to the WHL Finals. It took a loss in game three to make fans realize that Victoria was going to be a tough one. When the Hawks won game four to split the series in Victoria, fans hoped that the team that had decimated the Royals in the first two games would be the one to come out in game 5.
In the early going, the Hawks played a more feeling out process than an attack and goaltender Brendan Burke had to be sharp. About the five minute mark of the first period, Adam DeChamplain was viciously crosschecked into the Victoria bench and eventually helped from the ice. With no resulting call from the officials, the team had to be more intense and in doing so, took the first penalty of the game which was met by a chorus of boos from the eight thousand at the game.
The Hawks killed off that penalty and finally got a man up when Brandon Magee delivered another crosscheck. The Hawks capitalized on the ensuing power play with a goal by Taylor Leier. Toward the end of the period, Adam DeChamplain returned to the ice and roofed a shot past Patrik Polivka for a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
Oliver Bjorkstrand picked up a goal midway through the period to make it a 3-0 score. Things really heated up as the now desperate Royals started pushing the limits of the rulebook with questionable hits and a great deal of rough stuff following each whistle. This resulted in a near line brawl midway through the period that resulted in only two minor penalties being called. While the teams battled four aside, Derrick Pouliot was assessed a slashing penalty which resulted in a Victoria power play. Steven Hodges, who had been a thorn in the Hawks side during the series scored just seconds after the call. It was the only goal that would get past Brendan Burke.
The game started getting even rougher with every passing shift. The four officials on the ice spent more time separating the players than there was action at times and the boil-over came with four seconds left in the period with yet another mini brawl. The melee which took place in front of the Victoria bench, saw Hodges use his stick like a spear from the bench which was replayed on the jumbotron to a chorus of boos. Hodges just waved at the camera. With Portland on the penalty kill due to a double minor assessed to Brendan Leipsic for roughing, the horn sounded to end the period. Then it got very ugly. As Pouliot rounded behind the Victoria goal, he was chopped in the head by a stick held by Steven Hodges. The players all congregated in the corner and partners paired off for a brawl. Pouliot found Victoria’s Joe Hicketts and the two went at it. Pouliot ended up knocking him out and down to the ice and then called for the officials to take charge. Hicketts left the game carried by his teammates. He, Pouliot and Hodges were all sent from the game. With three game misconducts handed out along with four fighting majors, the game was no longer about a Hawks win, but about survival for the next 20 minutes.
During the third period the Hawks controlled the puck with the Royals battling for nearly anything they could get their hands on. During one of the intense moments in the Victoria zone, the Hawks controlled the puck with a couple great shots on net. During one of the exchanges, as Oliver Bjorkstrand attempted a pass to Chase De Leo, the puck ended up at Victoria’s Keegan Kanzig’s feet who deflected the puck past his own netminder to make it 4-1 Portland. The straw the broke the camel’s back was this insurance goal as the Royals sensing they were about to be eliminated, took to a goon show mentality and crosschecked about anybody that they could find. One such victim was Nic Petan who after being crosschecked and smacked face first into the boards by Brandon Magee, came back to battle Magee and ended up being flattened to the ice. Later reports state that Petan was conscious and talking to staff in the dressing room. Magee was banished from the game with a Match penalty, a rarely called infraction in the WHL for attempt to willfully injure. This will result in a suspension should Magee return to the team next season. The Hawks ended up with a 5 on 3 power play and didn’t try to score while the first penalty was being served, using the controlled power play shootaround that they employed in the last game in Victoria. However, during the time of Magee’s penalty being served, Chase De Leo took a great feed from Oliver Bjorstrand and wired it past Polivka to end the scoring.
Portland outshot Victoria 40 – 32 and went 2 for 6 on the power play. Victoria went 1 for 4 on the power play as both teams combined for 151 minutes in penalties during the game.
The Hawks win 5-1 and move onto the next round for the Western Conference Championship where they will face the Kelowna Rockets. This is the Hawks fourth consecutive Western Conference Final and the third time in the past four years they will have faced Kelowna, but have never done so in the Western Conference Final. Kelowna announced the dates and start times for the first two games of the series which will be in Kelowna as the top seed. Game 1 will be a 7:30pm start on Friday April 18 and game 2 on Saturday April 19 will be a 7pm start. The rest of the schedule will be announced in the next couple of days as the teams figure out building availability. Most likely the Hawks will play Tuesday and Wednesday at home, but the full schedule should be available this weekend at www.winterhawks.com
Ice Chips: The Booster Club will present its check to the Winterhawks Amateur Hockey Association during the next round of the playoffs. The games will most likely not be televised due to Shaw Broadcasting in Canada committing to the Eastern series after covering this series. Viewing parties will once again take place at 8 locations. The Booster Club will be a part of the 82nd Avenue Parade of Roses on Saturday April 26 beginning at 9:30am.
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