Following a successful weekend of games, the Portland Winterhawks took to the road for the last time to British Columbia and a matchup in Kamloops and then a double date in Prince George. Mitchell Walter, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings at the trade deadline for a fourth round draft pick in 2016, flew from Regina, Saskatchewan and then arranged to meet his new team in Kamloops. Walter didn’t figure much in the scoring for the offense-loaded Oil Kings during their run at the WHL Championship and Memorial Cup win, but as a member of a strong team, he could add some experience to the younger talent.
Kamloops was not kind to Portland from the start. Adin Hill, who had won the CHL Goaltender of the Week honors for his stellar stops just last week, found himself getting the hook following the first period. Kamloops piled up four goals in the first and never looked back. Kamloops was firing on all cylinders and Portland looked to find a spark. During the first period, Mitchell Walter tried valiantly to add some punch to the team after they fell behind early by getting into a fight with Kamloops’ Nick Chyzowski, only to get caught with a right hook that dropped Walter to the ice.
Portland changed things in the second, by switching goaltenders, giving recently acquired Evan Johnson a chance in the Portland net. There seemed to be a spark as Dominic Turgeon on the power play and Alex Schoenborn put Portland within two. An early third period goal by Cole Ully of Kamloops snuffed out any chance of a Portland comeback. Kamloops would add a sixth goal on the power play with just two minutes left in the game to close the scoring.
With that game behind them, the Hawks head six hours further north to Prince George to play in a weekend series with the Cougars. The team won’t be alone there mind you as 38 people from Portland will head up on a bus to Prince George to support the team in both games. The arrival of the Booster Club in Prince George has become a bit of a media frenzy. Local newspapers and television stations have contacted the club about their arrival. This will mark the Cougars first group from outside Prince George this season and the first time Portland has had their Booster Club there in over 15 years. Part of the unique interest is that the Cougars are using similar business plan models that the Winterhawks have utilized to develop a very strong fan base. To date, Prince George has seen a marked increase in attendance and renewed interest in the team.
The same could not be said for the past several years where it wasn’t uncommon for the team to announce 1,200 people attending the game in the 5,700 seat venue, yet in reality, if there was half of that, it might be closer to the truth. Overall league attendance has gone down this season by seven percent, but the Cougars are bucking that trend with crowds at least double thus far. There are six games, of which Portland is involved in one, that are being promoted as special nights to focus on a sellout of the game. They have had very strong success on those nights and expect close to a sellout when Portland plays on Friday.
Portland’s games in Prince George, will be the last long trip of the season as they return to Portland with four of the next six games against US Division rivals. A much quieter schedule in February leads them into a major flurry in March as Portland will play 10 games in 22 days which brings an end to the regular season.
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