A Good Win…Bad Roads…

The Happy Scoreboard...

The road warrior Portland Winterhawks continued their strong play away from the Rose City last night in Kelowna with a 4-2 win over the Rockets at Prospera Place.

The win snapped a seven game losing streak in Kelowna, dating back to September 2005, and also extended their road winning streak to five, with the Hawks posting 10-4-0-0 away from home.

The five game road winning streak matches the longest Hawk streak in the past 12 seasons.   The Hawks have twice had five game streaks prior to this one (from 1/22/05 to 2/25/05 which was part of a 10 game road unbeaten streak and from 2/17/01 to 3/4/01 which was part of a seven game unbeaten streak).

The last time the Hawks won more than five straight on the road?   You have to go back to the Memorial Cup season of 1997-98 when the Hawks won eight straight from 1/9/98 through 2/10/98.

The Hawks took control of the game from the opening face-off and the first 20 minutes might have been the best 20 minutes the Hawks have had all season, taking everything away from Kelowna and neutralizing the chances against.   The goals by Nino Niederreiter and Jacob Berglund were both great individual efforts and the Hawks then took a 3-0 lead early in the third on tremendous up-ice rush with a three-way passing play with Brad Ross finishing on a top cheese wrister.

The mugging of Ian Curtis...

After that, the Hawks did give up two goals to the Rockets but Ian Curtis, making his first start since October 27, stood tall (literally and figuratively) to post the win, improving to 7-2-0-0 on the season.

This may have been the most complete 60 minute the Hawks have played since the Central Swing and it is interesting to read the comments from Kelowna that the Rockets didn’t show up to play or show much effort.

To me, the Hawks had more to do with shutting the Rockets down than it appeared that the Rockets didn’t bring their game.

But that’s just me…

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I have mentioned that Kelowna is probably my least favorite place to call a game because of the camera’s blocking my view of the one end of the ice…here is the video evidence…am I making too much of it?

The view to my left before the 3rd camera showed up...

The unobstructed view to my right...

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After the game, we rolled out of Kelowna with every intention of rolling into Chilliwack some 3 or 4 hours later.  Well, getting over the pass on the 97C Highway was hairy to say the least with tons of snow and high winds which blew the snow around mak

ing visibility very poor.

It was decided that instead of trying to cross over the Coquihalla Pass with similar conditions, the team found refuge at the Best Western in Merritt, BC, for the night and we made the crossing this morning when it was at least daylight and the winds weren’t so bad.  Still lots of snow, but we made the pass without incident.

Here are a few photos from this morning’s trip:

Approaching the Coquihalla Summit...

Driving in a winter wonderland...

All things considered, I am very glad that we play in the U.S. Division and that snowy trips like these are more often than not the exception rather than the norm and it is nice to be back in the relative warm Fraser Valley and steady rain.

More from Chilliwack tomorrow…

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Hawks Start BC Swing…

Lake Okanagan...No sign of Ogopogo...

The view is from my seventh floor balcony room along the shores of Lake Okanagan in Kelowna as it is a nice sunny day here as the Portland Winterhawks prepare to start a short swing through three British Columbia cities.

The team will take on the Rockets tonight here in Kelowna and then move to Chilliwack Friday before finishing out Saturday night in Vancouver.

The radio broadcast of the game on Saturday night will not be on AM 970 KCMD due to scheduling conflicts and to avoid tape delays, the game will be broadcast live on AM 1360 KUIK radio and streamed live at www.kuik.com.

The Hawks are looking to rebound off of the 5-4 loss to the Chilliwack Bruins on Sunday night at the Rose Garden.  A game that saw the Hawks jump to a quick 2-0 lead just 1:11 into the first period, but the Bruins took over after that, scoring the next four goals before the Hawks responded back with two of their own in the final period to tie it at 4-4 halfway through the third.

Ryan Howse’s game winning power play goal sealed the deal for the Bruins to send the Hawks to 2-3-0-0 on their five game home stand.

Tonight the Hawks will try to extend their road winning streak to five games and they will try to get their first win in Kelowna since September 24, 2005, a 6-3 win.  The Hawks are 0-6-0-1 in their last seven games at the Prospera Place.

I will also have an interview with the newest Hawk, Mac Carruth, during our first intermission tonight.

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Ty Rattie

 

Contgratulations to both Ty Rattie and Tyler Wotherspoon for being selected to

Tyler Wotherspoon

play for Team Pacific at the World U17 Championships to be held Ontario right after Christmas.

Team Pacific is made up of the top players from the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia and each province selects 11 players to be on the roster of Team Pacific.

Rattie, the Airdrie, AB, native, was the Hawks First Round Bantam Selection in 2008 while Wotherspoon, from Surrey, BC, was the Hawks Second Round Bantam selection in the same draft.

Both players will join Team Pacific in Calgary right after Christmas and they will travel to Ontario to take on the rest of the U17 teams.

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Lastly, the first NHL Central Scouting list is out for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and the Hawks had four players ranked in the top 13 of those players available from the Western Hockey League:

Ranked # 4 – Troy Rutkowski

Ranked #5 – Nino Niederreiter

Ranked #9 – Ryan Johansen

Ranked #13 – Brad Ross

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That’s it for now…

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Greasy Win…

One of the terms you hear a lot around hockey players is the term “greasy”…as in a greasy goal or a greasy win…it usually describes a hard-working, ugly type of play that ends in a good result.

I think last night, the term greasy applies to the Hawks come from behind 3-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets.

The Hawks welcomed Riley Boychuk (pictured left) back to the line-up after missing three games with an upper body injury and he potted the winner as he finished off a feed from Ty Rattie early in the third period.  Rattie made the play possible with a nice up ice rush and a deke through a Rockets d-man at the blue line to create the two-on-one that led to the goal.

It was definitely an ugly start as the Hawks looked rusty after not playing for the past week and the Rockets took it to them in the first five minutes, scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead.

After that, I thought goaltender Kurtis Mucha played well and the Hawks got a big power play goal from Ryan Johansen to cut the lead in half at the end of the first period.

Luke Walker’s goal, the 50th of his WHL career, was the definition of greasy as there was some confusion between Rockets goaltender Chad Ketting and d-man Antoine Corbin and the puck set loose in the crease long enough for Walker to hack it in to the tie the score late in the second.

Ketting, in just his second WHL start, played pretty well for the Rockets, but the Hawks didn’t test him as much as I’m sure Head Coach Mike Johnston would have liked.

For Mucha, in the third period he made the 6,000th save of his WHL career, and he continues to move up the all-time list for career appearances, minutes played and saves made in the WHL record book.

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Next up, the Chilliwack Bruins tonight…the Bruins come in having lost three straight games, including a 5-2 loss to the Red Deer Rebels last night.

Game time is 5:00 in the Rose Garden…

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Hawks Add Carruth…

The Portland Winterhawks have added 17 year old goaltender Mac Carruth to their roster.

Carruth, from Shorewood, MN, was playing for the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL.   In 16 games this season, Carruth posted a record of 11-4-0 with a 2.43 GAA and a save percentage of .911 with one shutout.

In 26 games as a 16 year old last season, Carruth went 18-7-1 with a 3.04 GAA and a .904 save percentage with one shutout for the Wild.

He measures in at 6′2″ and 172 and was listed as a “B” player to watch by the NHL’s Central Scouting (meaning most likely a 2-4th rounder) for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft to be held in Los Angeles in June.

Carruth had committed to the Universityof Minnesota-Duluth but has foregone that scholarship opportunity by agreeing to join the Winterhawks.  He was never drafted in the WHL Bantam Draft but had been listed by the Prince George Cougars at one point.  The Hawks added him to their protected list earlier in 2009.

Head Coach Mike Johnston caught a game in Wenatchee earlier this season to see Carruth play.

The Hawks now have three goaltenders on the active roster and we’ll have to wait to see what the Hawks brain trust will decide to do to get that down to the desired two goalie rotation once Ian Curtis is ready to go again, which could be very soon as he was practicing with the team this week.

The addition of Carruth adds to the Hawks 1992 class of players with Brad Ross, Joe Morrow, Daniel Johnton, Troy Rutkowski, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Johansen, Gasper Kopitar as well as Taylor Peters and Keith Hamilton.

 

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Emotion Detector…

One of the things that has come about in the aftermath of the Hawks come-from-behind 4-3 shootout win over the Seattle Thunderbirds is some fans reaction to Jacob Berglund’s emotional reaction to his goal to even the shootout at 1-1 in the second round (see the shootout video below).

Some fans thought it was over-the-top and disrespectful…others found it OK and just a raw show of emotions.

For me…well…it was great to see.

It’s not often I go on a rant or a soap-box disertation…but this is going to be one of those times…so, bear with me.

Hockey is an emotional sport…probably more emotional than any other sport due to the speed, intensity and sometimes violent nature of the game.   I remember watching the game growing up and getting caught up in the emotions, both good and bad, and have left the buildings feeling like I could conquer the world (after a huge win) or like the world had ended (after a devastating loss).

And I wasn’t even on the freakin’ ice!

In my opinion, the game needs more emotional displays like we saw from Berglund in the shootout.

This isn’t a tee-ball league where they don’t keep score and every kid gets a trophy just for showing up.   This is a league where the winner should celebrate and loser should feel like they need to extract revenge (by winning the next game, not necessarily with physical violence) the next time the two teams meet.

The political correctness of the world has made its way into sports and the feeling that we shouldn’t “show-up” the opponent has transpired into players not celebrating the way they once did when they scored a huge goal.   I showed a DVD of highlights from the late 80’s that had a lot of Troy Mick/Dennis Holland celebrations that included big pin-wheel arm spins with low fist pumps that ended in an elaborate low-five between the two players.

The response from most of the players is that “I wouldn’t do that now”…well, why not?

Who can forget Marian Hossa’s salute after scoring or Brandon Dubinsky’s plexiglass leaps?

Alexander Ovechkin is arguably the most exciting player to watch in the NHL (when healthy)…he throws big hits and scores goals in a variety of ways.   What adds to his excitement is the way he celebrates every goal…with reckless abandon that sometimes draws the ire of his opponents and critics.

I’d take any Ovechkin celebration over some cookie-cutter, vanilla celebration any day.

Now…to clarify…I don’t want the sport to become what the NFL has become with there being some form of dance or celebration on every play, routine or not.   Also, you don’t do an overly demonstrative celebration when you’ve scored to make the score 6-1 in either direction.

But, when it is a huge goal in a close game…let ‘er rip.

Was Berglund taunting the Thunderbirds bench?  Maybe…it looked like he was responding to something said to him after his shootout goal celebration…either way, if it adds to getting this once spirited rivalry back to where it was, so what?

At the other end…it was great to see the mob scene after Kurtis Mucha preserved the victory with the stop on Charles Wells.

I’ve seen too many emotionless games in the past few years…lets bring the emotion and swagger back to Portland Winterhawks hockey…it will make it that much more enjoyable.

End rant…

 

 

 

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Video Highlights…

The Francis tying goal:

done

The entire shootout:

done

A Little Bit of Everything…

Last night’s game at the Rose Garden was like a good movie…it had a little bit of everything…drama, intrigue, controversy, heroes, villians, and in the end, a happy ending for the home crowd.

Certainly, it was a good night for the guy pictured on the left (photo courtesy Bryan Heim) as Chris Francis scored three times and then potted the game winner in the shootout to propel the Hawks to an improbable 4-3 victory over Seattle.

Improbable because it isn’t often a team scores with less than a second left in regulation to force overtime, not necessarily because of the way the team played.

Give Seattle a ton of credit, they played a solid bend-don’t break road game that on most nights would have led to two points behind the solid goaltending of Calvin Pickard.

The game came down to a mere nine tenths of a second that was added to the gameclock after Pickard held a dump-in shot long enough to get a whistle from Derek Zalaski.  The clock showed 1.7 seconds and it appeared that it would stay that way.  But, the video review booth, as they are supposed to do, reviewed the footage and determined that there was 2.6 seconds left and the time was added.  This was just enough time for Francis to find a loose puck and wrist home a bouncing shot from the left face-off circle to tie the score and send the crowd into pandemonium.

The shootout had a couple dandy goals – by Jacob Berglund and Francis – and a tremendous poke check by Kurtis Mucha on Sena Acolatse to send the Hawks to their second shootout win of the season and fourth win in four games that have gone into extra time.

In the end, it was a tremendously entertaining hockey game that came at a perfect time for Portland with nearly 9,000 people in the Rose Garden and a game that could hopefully bring many of those fans back out to watch this team.

Also, the game was televised on Comcast Channel 15 last night and if you want to watch the game, if you are a Comcast Digital subscriber, the game is available On Demand right now (we got it on right now at home!).   Search the On Demand feature and you will find the broadcast.

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Lastly, a swim-a-thon update on my daughter Aiden…

They held the event yesterday morning at the outside pool at the Hillsboro Park and Rec Center and it was a fun event.

Aiden swam for two hours continuosly and she nearly made the target of 200 lengths, swimming 184 lengths in the two hours which measures out to 4,600 yards.   The last 20 minutes or so were swam in a pouring rain…a tremendous effort.

Trust me, she was tired when she was done…

Thanks to all that contributed to her fund-raiser and there is still time to donate if you want to do so…drop me an email at hawksblog@comcast.net if you’d like to help her in her fund-raising efforts.

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That’s it for now…

 

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Back-to-Back Frustrations…

I had some time to think last night as I had to drive to Seattle for work after the 4-0 loss to Vancouver at the Rose Garden. It didn’t help ease the frustration after the second of back-to-back shutout losses on home ice.

Spending the day slogging through rainy Seattle traffic didn’t help ease the frustration much either, but I digress…

In the past three years, the Hawks have been shutout a lot…more than I care to remember, but these past two games have been especially frustrating.  Maybe it is the fact that goals weren’t hard to come by in the first 18 games, where the Hawks averaged nearly 4.5 goals per game…or maybe it is the knowledge that the team can perform better.   Either way, it made a long drive longer…

I’m sure that there is some soul searching going on in the Hawks locker room and I’m sure that Mike Johnston and crew are going to work their hardest to turn it around, but in reality…it’s only two of 72 games and the Hawks could just as easily turn it back around on Saturday against Seattle.

At the end of the day, the Hawks are 13-7-0-0 after 20 games, in the upper half of the Western Conference and have played more road games than any team in conference.   Things are looking up and the frustration I know won’t last as long as it has in the past.

Confidence is fickle and it is easier to lose it than it is to find it…hopefully the Hawks search to regain it will be short lived…

Back to Portland tomorrow evening…

 

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Support Your Local Swim Team…

Ready to go in lane 5...

Forgive the diversion from hawkey talk…but…

My daughter Aiden’s swim team, the Hillsboro Heat, are having their annual swim-a-thon fund raiser this Saturday.  The funds raised help pay for operating the team and for equipment to help train the athletes to become their best as they strive toward becoming one of the top swim clubs in not only the Pacific Northwest, but in the United States.

On that note…if any of you generous hockey fans would like to sponsor Aiden in the swim-a-thon, please drop me an e-mail at hawksblog@comcast.net with your sponsor amount.  It is best to do a set dollar value as she is planning on doing a ton of laps in the two hour session (the team sets a goal of 200 25-yard lengths or 5,000 yards per swimmer in two hours…last year Aiden did over 3,000 yards as an 8 year old…we’ll see how she does being a year older).

Also, thanks to the Portland Winterhawks for donating four tickets to any game this season as one of the raffle prizes for the swim-a-thon.

Payment isn’t due by Saturday, so you won’t need to get me the sponsor money by then…we can work out the details of collecting next week for all of those inclined to sponsor…if not, thanks for being a loyal reader of the blog.

Thanks for all your support…

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Where Are They Now?

Here is a list of former Hawks and where they are playing in 2009-10:

NHL:

Braydon Coburn – Philadelphia Flyers

Brandon Dubinsky – New York Rangers

Andrew Ference – Boston Bruins

Paul Gaustad – Buffalo Sabres

Jannik Hansen – Vancouver Canucks

Marian Hossa – Chicago Blackhawks

Jason LaBarbera – Phoenix Coyotes

Cody McLeod – Colorado Avalanche

Brenden Mikkelson – Anaheim Ducks

Brenden Morrow – Dallas Stars

Scott Nichol – San Jose Sharks

Dave Scatchard – Nashville Predators

Matt Walker – Tampa Bay Lightning

AHL:

Dan DaSilva – Worcester Sharks

Travis Ehrhardt – Grand Rapids Griffins

Michael Funk – Manitoba Moose

Rob Klinkhammer – Rockford IceHogs

Frazer McLaren – Worcester Sharks

Michael Sauer – Hartford Wolf Pack

Colton Sceviour – Texas Stars

KHL:

Marcel Hossa – Riga Dynamo

Jakub Klepis – Omsk Avangard

Nolan Pratt – Khabarovsk Amur

Richard Zednik – Yaroslavl Lokomotiv

ECHL:

Curtis Darling – Ontario Reign

Craig Valette – Stockton Thunder

Patrick Wellar – South Carolina Stingrays

Europe:

Stanislav Balan – Zlin ZPS HC – Czech

Jozef Balej – Trinec Ocelari HC – Czech

Max Brandl – Hamburg Freezers – Germany

Garrett Festerling – Hannover Scorpions – Germany

Colin Forbes – Mannheim Eagles – Germany

Josh Green – MODO – Sweden

Stefan Langwieder – Iserlohn Roosters – Germany

Andrej Podkonicky – Liberec Bili Tygri HC – Czech

Harlan Pratt – Ljubljana Olimpija HK – Austria

Richie Regehr – Berlin Polar Bears – Germany

Viktor Sjodin – Bofors IK – Sweden

Brandon Smith – Straubing Tigers – Germany

IHL:

Robin Big Snake – Muskegon Lumberjacks

Danny Lapointe – Dayton Gems

Todd Robinson – Muskegon Lumberjacks

CHL:

Marty Standish – Tulsa Oilers

Canadian University:

Alex Aldred – University of New Brunswick

Kyle Bailey – University of New Brunswick

Dustin Butler – University of Calgary

Max Gordichuk – University of British Columbia

Teegan Moore – University of Calgary

Brayden Nargang – University of Lethbridge

Matt Schmermund – Ryerson

Tyler Swystun – University of Calgary

Kevin Undershute – St. Francis Xavier

Keith Voytechek – University of British Columbia

Jordan White – University of British Columbia

Brian Woolger – University of Alberta

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If you have others that I missed, let me know…

 

 

 

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