Portland @ Seattle…Game Notes…

Hawks Notes: Portland @ Seattle – March 13, 2009

Previous Game – Portland 2 @ Kelowna 6: The Kelowna Rockets got two goals from Mikael Backlund, and they knock off the Portland Winter Hawks by a score of 6-2 at the Prospera Place in Kelowna on Wednesday night. Tyson Barrie got the scoring going for Kelowna with a power play point shot through a screen six minutes into the contest. Portland tied it with a power play goal of their own, with Brad Ross filing home a centering pass from Killian Hutt seven minutes later. Colin Reddin also assisted on the goal for Portland. Backlund then scored back-to-back goals, the first late in the first period and the second halfway through the middle frame, both on odd-man rushes through center. Lucas Bloodoff scored in the final minute off a centering pass from Colin Long to make it a 4-1 lead after two periods for Kelowna. Portland got their second power play goal of the game five minutes into the third when Radim Valchar and Luke Walker set up Chris Francis for a tip-in for Francis’ 20^th goal of the season. Kelowna scored two late goals, one by Jamie Benn and the other by Cody Almond, to provide the final margin. Despite giving up six goals, Portland got a solid goaltending night from 16 year old rookie Keith Hamilton, who made 45 saves on 51 shots in his first start since November 22. Mark Guggenberger made 25 saves to get the victory for Kelowna. On special teams, Portland finished 2 for 7 on the power play while killing three of four chances against.

Team Notes: Portland is (18-47-2-2); (12-19-2-1) at home (2-4-0-0 in Rose Garden); (6-28-0-1) on the road. The Hawks last home win was on March 8, 2-0 over Everett. The last road win was on February 10, 5-1 over Prince George.

Portland vs. Seattle: This is the 11^th of 12 meetings between the two teams. Seattle leads the season series 8-2-0-0. Portland is 4 for 38 (10.5%) on the power play while Seattle is 10 for 41 (24.4%). Seattle has outshot Portland 342-285 in the series.

Game Schedule:

10/11/08 – Seattle 4 @ Portland 0 11/22/08 – Portland 2 @ Seattle 6

11/29/09 – Seattle 5 @ Portland 3 12/6/08 – Seattle 3 @ Portland 1

12/27/08 – Portland 5 @ Seattle 1 12/31/08 – Seattle 2 @ Portland 4

1/24/09 – Portland 1 @ Seattle 3 2/14/09 – Portland 1 @ Seattle 7

2/21/09 – Seattle 4 @ Portland 3 2/28/09 – Portland 3 @ Seattle 5

3/13/09 @ Seattle 3/14/09 @ Portland

All-Time vs. Seattle:

Total: 411 GP – 214 (W) – 167 (L) – 23 (T) – 6 (OTL) – 1 (SOL)

At Home: 205 GP – 127-67-8-3-0 – On Road: 206 GP – 87-100-15-3-1

Portland All-Time:

Total: 2373 GP – 1145 (W) – 1061 (L) – 127 (T) – 30 (OTL) – 10 (SOL)

At Home: 1186 GP – 722-390-61-9-4 – On Road: 1187 GP – 423-671-66-21-6

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Luke Walker (24)

Assists: Chris Francis (42)

Points: Chris Francis (62)

Penalty Minutes: Tayler Jordan (154)

Plus/Minus: Daniel Johnston (+1)

GAA: Kurtis Mucha (3.76)

Save Percentage: Ian Curtis (89.6%)

Power Play: 47 for 325 (14.5%) overall

Penalty Kill: 261 of 354 (73.7%) overall

Current Streaks: Chris Francis (4-3-7 in last 4); Luke Walker (1-5-6 in last 4); Colin Reddin (0-3-3 in last 3); Radim Valchar (1-1-2 in last 2).

Injuries & Roster Updates: Jason Grecica, F, Knee (Indefinite); Brock Cornish, D, Shoulder (Indefinite); Max Brandl, F, Ankle (Indefinite); Tayler Jordan, F, Hand (Indefinite). The Hawks have lost 188 man games to injury in 2008-09. Portland has added 1993 born Ty Rattie (1^st Round, #2 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster. Portland has also added 1993 born Tyler Wotherspoon (2^nd Round, #23 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster.

Milestones: Travis Ehrhardt needs 3 assists to reach 100 in his WHL career.

Winter Hawks Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 7 (11/9/08 vs. Kamloops, 7-5 win)

Fewest Goals Scored: 0 (Ten Times)
Most Goals Allowed: 8 (Twice)

Fewest Goals Allowed: 0 (Twice)
Most Power Play Chances: 10 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances Against: 11 (12/28/08 vs. Tri City, 4-3 loss)
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 3 (1/11/09 vs. Everett, 5-4 SO loss)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 (Twice)
Most Shots Taken: 40 (9/20/08 vs. Spokane, 3-0 loss)
Fewest Shots Taken: 17 (9/21/08 vs. Kelowna, 2-1 win)
Most Shots Allowed: 53 (Twice)
Fewest Shots Allowed: 19 (Three Times)
Last Shutout: 3/8/09 vs. Everett (Mucha, 19 Saves – 2-0 win)
Last Time Shutout: 2/27/09 @ Spokane (Tokarski, 32 Saves – 8-0 loss)

Overtime Game Winning Goals: Rutkowski 10/22 @ Saskatoon

Shootout Game Winning Goals: Reddin 2/24 vs. Chilliwack

Tape Delayed Tonight…

A reminder that the radio broadcast from the ShoWare Center in Kent tonight will be tape delayed, with the game starting on the radio at approximately 9:00 after the Oregon State Beavers baseball game.

It looks like the weather will be decent enough for baseball in Portland tonight, so there shouldn’t be any delays or rain-outs for the Beavs.

Portland @ Kelowna…Game Notes…

Hawks Notes: Portland @ Kelowna – March 11, 2009

Previous Game – Everett 0 @ Portland 2: The Portland Winter Hawks put on a gritty performance on Sunday night, receiving 19 saves from Kurtis Mucha to shutout the Everett Silvertips 2-0 in front of 5,089 at the Memorial Coliseum. The shutout was the seventh of the career of Mucha in the WHL, 2nd all-time for the Winter Hawks, and second of the season for Mucha against Everett. Mucha now has three career shutouts against the Silvertips. Chris Francis got the eventual game-winner for Portland halfway through the first period when he took a feed from Luke Walker and beat Everett goaltender Thomas Heemskerk over the blocker for his 19th goal of the season. Travis Bobbee also assisted on the play for Portland. Portland got the insurance marker early in the third period when Radim Valchar pressured Heemskerk into a turnover at the side of the Silvertips net and poking the puck just inside the post to give the Hawks a two-goal cushion. Heemskerk made 24 saves on 26 shots in the loss for Everett. On special teams, Portland went 0 for 4 on the power play while killing all four opportunities against for Everett.

Team Notes: Portland is (18-46-2-2); (12-19-2-1) at home (2-4-0-0 in Rose Garden); (6-27-0-1) on the road. The Hawks last home win was on March 8, 2-0 over Everett. The last road win was on February 10, 5-1 over Prince George.

Portland vs. Kelowna: This is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams with Portland leading the season series 2-0-0-1. Portland has outscored Kelowna 10-9 in the series. Kelowna has outshot Portland 113-67. On special teams, Portland is 3 for 22 (13.6%) while Kelowna is 5 for 24 (20.8%).

Game Schedule:

9/21/08 – Kelowna 1 @ Portland 2

1/9/09 – Portland 4 @ Kelowna 5 (SO)

2/16/09 – Kelowna 3 @ Portland 4

3/11/09 @ Kelowna

All-Time vs. Kelowna: Total: 75 GP – 27 (W) – 43 (L) – 3 (T) – 1 (OTL) – 1 (SOL)

At Home: 38 GP – 19-17-2-0-0 – On Road: 37 GP – 8-26-1-1-1

Portland All-Time: Total: 2372 GP – 1145 (W) – 1060 (L) – 127 (T) – 30 (OTL) – 10 (SOL)

At Home: 1186 GP – 722-390-61-9-4 – On Road: 1186 GP – 423-670-66-21-6

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Luke Walker (24)

Assists: Chris Francis (42)

Points: Chris Francis (61)

Penalty Minutes: Tayler Jordan (154)

Plus/Minus: Daniel Johnston (+2)

GAA: Kurtis Mucha (3.76)

Save Percentage: Ian Curtis (89.6%)

Power Play: 45 for 318 (14.2%) overall

Penalty Kill: 258 of 350 (73.7%) overall

Current Streaks: Chris Francis (3-3-6 in last 3); Luke Walker (1-4-5 in last 3); Colin Reddin (0-2-2 in last 2).

Injuries & Roster Updates: Jason Grecica, F, Knee (Indefinite); Brock Cornish, D, Shoulder (Indefinite); Max Brandl, F, Ankle (Indefinite); Tayler Jordan, F, Hand (Indefinite). The Hawks have lost 184 man games to injury in 2008-09. Portland has added 1993 born Ty Rattie (1st Round, #2 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster. Portland has also added 1993 born Tyler Wotherspoon (2nd Round, #23 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster.

Milestones: Travis Ehrhardt needs 3 assists to reach 100 in his WHL career. Stefan Schneider needs one game played to reach 100 games played in their WHL careers.

Winter Hawks Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 7 (11/9/08 vs. Kamloops, 7-5 win)

Fewest Goals Scored: 0 (Ten Times)

Most Goals Allowed: 8 (Twice)

Fewest Goals Allowed: 0 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances: 10 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances Against: 11 (12/28/08 vs. Tri City, 4-3 loss)

Most Power Play Goals Scored: 3 (1/11/09 vs. Everett, 5-4 SO loss)

Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 (Twice)

Most Shots Taken: 40 (9/20/08 vs. Spokane, 3-0 loss)

Fewest Shots Taken: 17 (9/21/08 vs. Kelowna, 2-1 win)

Most Shots Allowed: 53 (Twice)

Fewest Shots Allowed: 19 (Three Times)

Last Shutout: 3/8/09 vs. Everett (Mucha, 19 Saves – 2-0 win)

Last Time Shutout: 2/27/09 @ Spokane (Tokarski, 32 Saves – 8-0 loss)

Overtime Game Winning Goals: Rutkowski 10/22 @ Saskatoon

Shootout Game Winning Goals: Reddin 2/24 vs. Chilliwack

Tuesday Thoughts…

Greetings from the Okanagan…the cold, clear Okanagan where temperatures are supposed to be down in the -20 range tomorrow.  At least there is no snow and it was a relatively easy trip here today.  The most snow we saw falling was in the Chehalis area…

Lana asked in the comment section of my last post about my thoughts on the possible demolition of the Memorial Coliseum in favor of a minor league baseball stadium.

Well, I don’t have the answers to ease anyone’s anxiety about the plans, mainly because right now everything is just speculation.  Until a plan is approved and set in motion, it is all just talk.

I do know that the Winter Hawks are looking at playing more games in the Rose Garden next season…how many is to be determined prior to, and most likely during, the WHL scheduling meetings.

The MC for all of its history needs fairly major renovations – number one for hockey would be a new ice plant – and while it would be a shame to lose the building, we all know that progress has no patience and at some point a decision to remove it will most likely be made.  Do I think a baseball stadium is the best choice to go in its spot…not necessarily.  I would rather have a new major league ready park and a major league team.

All I can offer is…stay tuned

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If you didn’t hear it on our broadcast Sunday night, Friday nights game broadcast will be tape delayed on 1550 KKAD due to the Oregon State Beavers baseball game being broadcast on the same station.  The baseball game starts at 6:15, I believe, meaning our game won’t be on until around 9:00.

If the game is rained out, we will be on at the normal time.

I’ll provide any updates as we get closer to Friday.

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That’s it for now…

Monday Morning Catch-Up…

You never know how much you take the Internet for granted until you don’t have it…as that was my case for much of the weekend.  The hotel in Chilliwack’s service never did work when I was there and it was also down for the majority of the game on Friday night in Kamloops…

It was an interesting weekend…a weekend where the Hawks should have won all three games, instead of just one…lets take it one step at a time:

Friday vs. Kamloops — A 5-4 loss that could have been had by Portland with a little better goaltending from Kurtis Mucha and a little better luck on a few calls that waved off apparent Hawk goals.

It appeared (to me, at least) that Ty Rattie had scored on a partial breakaway in the second period when he got hauled down as he put a shot on Justin Leclerc.  Leclerc, the puck, and Rattie all went into the net but Sean Raphael immediately waved the goal off.  From his angle, I don’t know how he could have made such a definitive call.  If it isn’t a goal, it should have been at least a power play or penalty shot for Portland, but, in the end, it resulted in nothing more than a face-off.

The disallowed goal at the buzzer was a bang-bang play and could have gone either way.  I think the Hawks were more upset that on the previous play, when the Blazers iced the puck, that the game clock didn’t stop right on the whistle and about a second ran off that wasn’t added back on.  Add that second, and Radim Valchar’s goal would have counted for sure.

All that being said, it was a solid road effort by Portland and a disappointing start to the three-in-three.

Saturday vs. Chilliwack — a 5-3 loss…probably the most disappointing of the entire season.  The Hawks were in complete control, leading 3-0 late in the second period before penalty troubles and panic set in for the Hawks in third period that allowed the Bruins to rally for four third period goals and the win.

Eight consecutive power plays against, with probably four or five of those as no-brainer calls and three or four as questionable, was the main culprit for the rally by Chilliwack, but from the press box I could just feel a bit of panic set in with the Hawks.  I could just sense the current flowing for Chilliwack, and the circuits blowing for Portland.

I will say that the penalty shot awarded to Kevin Sundher by the officiating crew of Jon Stephenson and Brett Montsion just may have been the wierdest call I’ve ever seen.  The play had been blown dead for at least a second before Montsion signalled for the penalty shot.  What bothered me most is that Montsion would not go to the Hawks bench to explain his call to the Hawks coaching staff after it happened.  They did have a conversation at the bench after the game, but he should have come over to explain the call at the time instead of staying on the “happy side” of the ice.

Nice to see Stefan Schneider hit the 10 goal mark in the game.  As a converted defenseman, 10 goals is a decent number and he has shown his versatility all season long.

Tyler Wotherspoon looked steady in his limited minutes in the game and he just adds to the Hawks young d-corps that will be ready to roll next season for Portland.

The bad news from Saturday was the broken hand sustained by Tayler Jordan early in the first when he was checked by Bruins d-man Brett Ward.  Jordan will miss the remainder of the season.

Sunday vs. Everett — a 2-0 win…the game that I wasn’t looking forward to.  After a long drive home with Rob Gagne, the Hawks equipment manager, from Chilliwack, losing an hour to the time change, and the disappointing previous two losses, I didn’ t have a good feeling about Sunday.

Gags and I drove back to Portland and the team went as far as Everett on Saturday night and treated Sunday like a road game with the bus rolling into the MC a little after 2:00 PM.  It was an interesting drive for us, going from bare, dry pavement to driving snow showers at multiple times during the trip.   But, an iPod full of Rush kept us awake and alert and we rolled back into town at 3:45 AM (4:45 with the time change).

The start of the game last night wasn’t pretty with bouncing pucks all over the place and two teams that looked like they would rather be elsewhere.  Portland settled down after Chris Francis’ goal and played a solid road game (at home), limiting Everett’s chances by playing smart, safe, some would say boring, hockey.  Exactly what they needed in the final game of a three-in-three weekend and against a team that hadn’t played since last Tuesday.

A good recovery by Mucha after the game in Kamloops, making saves look simple and very much under control.  While his 19 save performance wasn’t spetacular, it was solid and just what the doctor ordered.

With the win, the Hawks finish above .500 at home against Everett (3-1-0-1) for the first time since Everett joined the league and it extends the Hawks winning streak at home to three games.

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That’s it for now…next update from Kelowna as the Hawks go on their last roadie of the year…

Everett @ Portland…Game Notes…

Hawks Notes: Everett @ Portland – March 8, 2009

Previous Game – Portland 3 @ Chilliwack 5: Ryan Howse scored twice to lead the Chilliwack Bruins to a 5-3 come from behind victory over the Portland Winter Hawks on Saturday night at the Prospera Centre. Portland led 3-0 halfway through the game, but Chilliwack was awarded eight consecutive power plays and a penalty shot in the final 30 minutes to aid their cause in the comeback. Portland took a 1-0 lead after one period when Troy Rutkowski scored his second goal in as many nights, set up by Killian Hutt and Colin Reddin, on a wrist shot from between the circles. The Hawks extended their lead on a slap shot by Chris Francis, for his 100^th career WHL point, and a wrap-around by Stefan Schneider halfway through the second period.

Brandon Manning scored on a slap shot later in the second to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead after two periods. Howse would score back-to-back power play goals for Chilliwack to tie the game halfway through the final period. Alexander Wiklund scored on a rebound with seven minutes remaining for the eventual game-winner. Kevin Sundher scored on a penalty shot to round out the scoring, after it was determined that a Hawk defenseman had covered the puck with his hand in the crease. Lucas Gore made 28 saves on 31 shots for Chilliwack while Ian Curtis stopped 38 of 43 for Portland. On special teams, Portland went 0 for 5 on the power play while Chilliwack finished 2 for 12.

Team Notes: Portland is (17-46-2-2); (11-19-2-1) at home (2-4-0-0 in Rose Garden); (6-27-0-1) on the road. The Hawks last home win was on March 3, 3-2 over Everett. The last road win was on February 10, 5-1 over Prince George.

Portland vs. Everett: This is the tenth and final meeting between the two teams. Portland is 2-6-0-1 in the series. Everett has outscored Portland 36-17 in the nine games. Everett is 13 for 49 (26.5%) on the power play while Portland is 7 for 41 (17.1%). Everett has outshot Portland 306-252 in the series.

Game Schedule:

9/26/08 – Portland 0 @ Everett 2 1/11/09 – Everett 5 @ Portland 4 (SO)

11/19/08 – Portland 1 @ Everett 7 1/31/09 – Everett 5 @ Portland 0

11/21/08 – Portland 2 @ Everett 5 2/18/09 – Portland 3 @ Everett 7

11/28/08 – Portland 0 @ Everett 3 3/3/09 – Everett 2 @ Portland 3

1/2/09 – Everett 0 @ Portland 4 3/8/09 in Portland

All-Time vs. Everett:

Total: 63 GP – 16 (W) – 39 (L) – 4 (T) – 2 (OTL) – 2 (SOL)

At Home: 31 GP – 7-20-3-0-1 – On Road: 32 GP – 9-19-1-2-1

Portland All-Time:

Total: 2371 GP – 1144 (W) – 1060 (L) – 127 (T) – 30 (OTL) – 10 (SOL)

At Home: 1185 GP – 721-390-61-9-4 – On Road: 1186 GP – 423-670-66-21-6

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Luke Walker (24)

Assists: Chris Francis (42)

Points: Chris Francis (60)

Penalty Minutes: Tayler Jordan (154)

Plus/Minus: Daniel Johnston (+2)

GAA: Kurtis Mucha (3.85)

Save Percentage: Ian Curtis (89.6%)

Power Play: 45 for 314 (14.3%) overall

Penalty Kill: 254 of 346 (73.4%) overall

Current Streaks: Chris Francis (2-3-5 in last 2); Luke Walker (1-3-4 in last 2); Troy Rutkowski (2-0-2 in last 2)

Injuries & Roster Updates: Jason Grecica, F, Knee (Indefinite); Brock Cornish, D, Shoulder (Indefinite); Max Brandl, F, Ankle (Day-to-Day). The Hawks have lost 180 man games to injury in 2008-09. Portland has added 1993 born Ty Rattie (1^st Round, #2 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster. Portland has also added 1993 born Tyler Wotherspoon (2^nd Round, #23 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster.

Milestones: Travis Ehrhardt needs 3 assists to reach 100 in his WHL career. Joel Ridgeway needs one game played and Stefan Schneider needs two games played to reach 100 games played in their WHL careers.

Winter Hawks Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 7 (11/9/08 vs. Kamloops, 7-5 win)

Fewest Goals Scored: 0 (Ten Times)
Most Goals Allowed: 8 (Twice)

Fewest Goals Allowed: 0 (1/2/09 vs. Everett, 4-0 win)
Most Power Play Chances: 10 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances Against: 11 (12/28/08 vs. Tri City, 4-3 loss)
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 3 (1/11/09 vs. Everett, 5-4 SO loss)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 (Twice)
Most Shots Taken: 40 (9/20/08 vs. Spokane, 3-0 loss)
Fewest Shots Taken: 17 (9/21/08 vs. Kelowna, 2-1 win)
Most Shots Allowed: 53 (Twice)
Fewest Shots Allowed: 19 (Twice)
Last Shutout: 1/2/09 vs. Everett (Mucha, 38 Saves – 4-0 win)
Last Time Shutout: 2/27/09 @ Spokane (Tokarski, 32 Saves – 8-0 loss)

Overtime Game Winning Goals: Rutkowski 10/22 @ Saskatoon

Shootout Game Winning Goals: Reddin 2/24 vs. Chilliwack

Portland @ Chilliwack…Game Notes…

Finally…an Internet connection that works…nothing last night in Kamloops and it hasn’t worked since we arrived at the hotel in Chilliwack…hence the lack of posts for me yesterday.  Here are tonights game notes…I’ll post thoughts on this weekend on Monday after it is said and done…

Hawks Notes: Portland @ Chilliwack – March 7, 2009

Previous Game – Portland 4 @ Kamloops 5: The Portland Winter Hawks rallied from a three goal deficit in the final period but came up one goal short, falling to Kamloops 5-4 on Friday night. Portland got on the scoreboard first when Chris Francis buried a wrist shot on the power play from the left circle in the first period, set up by Travis Ehrhardt and Travis Bobbee. Kamloops got two goals 23 seconds apart, one from Tyler Shattock and the other from Seth Compton to take a 2-1 lead after one period. Portland would tie it on a Luke Walker power play goal early in the second, but Kamloops would strike three more times – Shayne Wiebe, Brendan Ranford and Shattock – to take a 5-2 lead after two periods. Portland got goals from Ehrhardt and Rutkowski to make it close. Portland appeared to tie the game in the final seconds, but the goal was determined to have crossed the line after the buzzer had gone. Francis (2-2-4), Walker (1-2-3) and Ehrhardt (1-2-3) all had multiple point nights for Portland. Kurtis Mucha started in net and stopped 18 of 23 shots in just under 36 minutes before giving way to Keith Hamilton who stopped all 10 shots he faced the rest of the way. Justin Leclerc made 26 saves on 30 shots for Kamloops. On special teams, Portland finished 2 for 6 on the power play while Kamloops finished 2 for 4.

Team Notes: Portland is (17-45-2-2); (11-19-2-1) at home (2-4-0-0 in Rose Garden); (6-26-0-1) on the road. The Hawks last home win was on March 3, 3-2 over Everett. The last road win was on February 10, 5-1 over Prince George.

Portland vs. Chilliwack: This is the third of four meetings between the two teams this season. Each team has one win in the series, with Portland’s coming via the shootout. Portland has outshot Chilliwack 66-45 in the series. On special teams in the series, Portland is 1 for 5 (20.0%) while Chilliwack is 1 for 8 (12.5%).

Game Schedule:

11/18/08 – Portland 0 @ Chilliwack 2

2/24/09 – Chilliwack 1 @ Portland 2 (SO)

3/7/09 – Portland @ Chilliwack

3/15/09 – Chilliwack @ Portland

All-Time vs. Chilliwack:

Total: 11 GP – 5 (W) – 5 (L) – 0 (T) – 0 (OTL) – 1 (SOL)

At Home: 6 GP – 4-2-0-0-0 – On Road: 5 GP – 1-3-0-0-1

Portland All-Time:

Total: 2370 GP – 1144 (W) – 1059 (L) – 127 (T) – 30 (OTL) – 10 (SOL)

At Home: 1185 GP – 721-390-61-9-4 – On Road: 1185 GP – 423-669-66-21-6

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Luke Walker (24)

Assists: Chris Francis (42)

Points: Chris Francis (59)

Penalty Minutes: Tayler Jordan (154)

Plus/Minus: Daniel Johnston (+2)

GAA: Ian Curtis (3.83)

Save Percentage: Ian Curtis (89.7%)

Power Play: 45 for 309 (14.6%) overall

Penalty Kill: 244 of 334 (73.1%) overall

Current Streaks: Travis Ehrhardt (1-4-5 in last 3).

Injuries & Roster Updates: Jason Grecica, F, Knee (Indefinite); Brock Cornish, D, Shoulder (Indefinite); Max Brandl, F, Ankle (Day-to-Day). The Hawks have lost 177 man games to injury in 2008-09. Portland has added 1993 born Ty Rattie (1^st Round, #2 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster. Portland has also added 1993 born Tyler Wotherspoon (2^nd Round, #23 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster.

Milestones: Travis Ehrhardt needs 3 assists to reach 100 in his WHL career. Chris Francis needs 1 point to reach 100 in his WHL career.

Winter Hawks Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 7 (11/9/08 vs. Kamloops, 7-5 win)

Fewest Goals Scored: 0 (Ten Times)
Most Goals Allowed: 8 (Twice)

Fewest Goals Allowed: 0 (1/2/09 vs. Everett, 4-0 win)
Most Power Play Chances: 10 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances Against: 11 (12/28/08 vs. Tri City, 4-3 loss)
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 3 (1/11/09 vs. Everett, 5-4 SO loss)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 (Twice)
Most Shots Taken: 40 (9/20/08 vs. Spokane, 3-0 loss)
Fewest Shots Taken: 17 (9/21/08 vs. Kelowna, 2-1 win)
Most Shots Allowed: 53 (Twice)
Fewest Shots Allowed: 19 (Twice)
Last Shutout: 1/2/09 vs. Everett (Mucha, 38 Saves – 4-0 win)
Last Time Shutout: 2/27/09 @ Spokane (Tokarski, 32 Saves – 8-0 loss)

Overtime Game Winning Goals: Rutkowski 10/22 @ Saskatoon

Shootout Game Winning Goals: Reddin 2/24 vs. Chilliwack

In Vancouver…

Sitting in the Pacific Coliseum press box, going to watch the Vancouver Giants host the Tri City Americans tonight.

A nice win last night for the Hawks as they knock off the Everett Silvertips at the MC.  When I saw the line combination of Radim Valchar/Joel Ridgeway/Colin Reddin on the opening shift, I tried to think back if they had been together at all this season and my memory drew a blank.

Maybe they should have been put together sooner as they were as dominate as I’ve seen a line for Portland pretty much all season in the first period.  A new line combination scores 12 seconds into their first shift…not bad…and the second one only a little over six minutes later.

As good as the first period was, the second period wasn’t.   One registered shot on net, and that was a dump-in from center ice by Stefan Schneider.  Granted the Hawks had to kill a bunch of penalty time, but still…the ice was slanted to the South end.

The Tayler Jordan charging major was questionable at best IMO…I was more disturbed by the fact that Markus McCrea came off the ‘Tips benched and it appeared that he slew-footed Riley Boychuk (or at least interfered with him) at the blue line.  Jordan then came in to give McCrea a shot.  No one will say it officially, but penalties are sometimes assessed by reputation…this may have been one of those.

Either way…it was good to see the PK unit kill of seven straight minutes of power play time for Everett, giving up no shots on the five minute major penalty.

Killian Hutt’s game winner wasn’t pretty, but it sure was beautiful, wasn’t it?  Brad Ross’ well timed lob shot of a pass worked well and Portland has done that play with success a few times this season…mainly with Ryan Kerr delivering the lob.  No one was more surprised to look up and see the puck in the net than Hutter (or Hutt/Hutt as my 8 year old daughter calls him).

The Hawks are now guaranteed at least a .500 home record against Everett this season, marking only the second time in their history that they will have a .500 record at home vs. Everett.  (And this is the first season that Portland went winless in Everett…go figure…).

Time to wrap it up….I’m looking forward to just watching a game tonight and the behind the scenes of the SportsNet broadcast…more tomorrow…

‘Tips vs. Hawks…Game Notes…

Killian Hutt returns to the line-up tonight for Portland…and the home debut of Ty Rattie…

Hawks Notes: Everett @ Portland – March 3, 2009

Previous Game – Portland 3 @ Tri City 5: Adam Hughesman scored two third period goals and the Tri City Americans held off the Portland Winter Hawks by a score of 5-3 on Sunday night at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Portland got two goals from Luke Walker, one in the first period and one in the third, each set up by Chris Francis.  Portland’s other goal came from rookie defenseman Daniel Johnston late in the second period. Johnston’s goal was his first of the season and second of his WHL career, set up by Stefan Schneider and Colin Reddin. Jason Reese, Brennan Shinnimin and Mitch Fadden had goals for Tri City while Taylor Procyshen and Jarrett Toll each had two assists. Kurtis Mucha stopped 38 of 43 shots for Portland while Brett Martyniuk handled 27 of 30 for Tri City. On special teams, Portland finished 1 for 4 on the power play while Tri City went 2 for 5.

Team Notes: Portland is (16-44-2-2); (10-19-2-1) at home (2-4-0-0 in Rose Garden); (6-25-0-1) on the road. The Hawks last home win was on February 24, a 2-1 shootout win over Chilliwack. The last road win was on February 10, a 5-1 win over Prince George.

Portland vs. Everett: This is the ninth of ten meetings between the two teams. Portland is 1-6-0-1 in the series. Everett has outscored Portland 34-14 in the eight games. Everett is 12 for 45 (26.7%) on the power play while Portland is 7 for 38 (18.4%). Everett has outshot Portland 281-225 in the series.

Game Schedule:

9/26/08 – Portland 0 @ Everett 2 1/11/09 – Everett 5 @ Portland 4 (SO)

11/19/08 – Portland 1 @ Everett 7 1/31/09 – Everett 5 @ Portland 0

11/21/08 – Portland 2 @ Everett 5 2/18/09 – Portland 3 @ Everett 7

11/28/08 – Portland 0 @ Everett 3 3/3/09 in Portland

1/2/09 – Everett 0 @ Portland 4 3/8/09 in Portland

All-Time vs. Everett:

Total: 62 GP – 15 (W) – 39 (L) – 4 (T) – 2 (OTL) – 2 (SOL)

At Home: 30 GP – 6-20-3-0-1 – On Road: 32 GP – 9-19-1-2-1

Portland All-Time:

Total: 2368 GP – 1143 (W) – 1058 (L) – 127 (T) – 30 (OTL) – 10 (SOL)

At Home: 1184 GP – 720-390-61-9-4 – On Road: 1184 GP – 423-668-66-21-6

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Luke Walker (23)

Assists: Chris Francis (39)

Points: Chris Francis (55)

Penalty Minutes: Tayler Jordan (145)

Plus/Minus: Daniel Johnston (+2)

GAA: Ian Curtis/Kurtis Mucha (3.83)

Save Percentage: Ian Curtis (89.7%)

Power Play: 43 for 300 (14.3%) overall

Penalty Kill: 239 of 326 (73.3%) overall

Current Streaks: Chris Francis (0-4-4 in last 2); Luke Walker (2-2-4 in last 2); Colin Reddin (0-2-2 in last 2).

Injuries & Roster Updates: Jason Grecica, F, Knee (Indefinite); Brock Cornish, D, Shoulder (Indefinite); Killian Hutt, F, Shoulder (Day-to-Day); Max Brandl, F, Ankle (Day-to-Day). The Hawks have lost 171 man games to injury in 2008-09. Portland has added 1993 born Ty Rattie (1^st Round, #2 Overall in the 2008 Bantam Draft) to the roster. Rattie played for the UFA Bisons in the AMHL this season, scoring 29-25-54 in 34 games with 12 PIM.

Milestones: Chris Francis needs one game played to reach 200 in his WHL career. Travis Ehrhardt needs two games played to reach 250 in his WHL career. Travis Ehrhardt needs 6 assists to reach 100 in his WHL career. Chris Francis needs 5 points to reach 100 in his WHL career.

Winter Hawks Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 7 (11/9/08 vs. Kamloops, 7-5 win)

Fewest Goals Scored: 0 (Ten Times)
Most Goals Allowed: 8 (Twice)

Fewest Goals Allowed: 0 (1/2/09 vs. Everett, 4-0 win)
Most Power Play Chances: 10 (Twice)

Most Power Play Chances Against: 11 (12/28/08 vs. Tri City, 4-3 loss)
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 3 (1/11/09 vs. Everett, 5-4 SO loss)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 (Twice)
Most Shots Taken: 40 (9/20/08 vs. Spokane, 3-0 loss)
Fewest Shots Taken: 17 (9/21/08 vs. Kelowna, 2-1 win)
Most Shots Allowed: 53 (Twice)
Fewest Shots Allowed: 19 (Twice)
Last Shutout: 1/2/09 vs. Everett (Mucha, 38 Saves – 4-0 win)
Last Time Shutout: 2/27/09 @ Spokane (Tokarski, 32 Saves – 8-0 loss)

Overtime Game Winning Goals: Rutkowski 10/22 @ Saskatoon

Shootout Game Winning Goals: Reddin 2/24 vs. Chilliwack

Tough Weekend…

Three games in three nights equalled three losses for the Portland Winter Hawks this weekend, all in the State of Washington…21 hours on the bus added in and it made for a long weekend.

There isn’t much you can say about the 8-0 loss to Spokane on Friday.  It was ugly…and I was disappointed in the effort level put forth by the majority of the Hawks roster.   The team did have considerable better efforts against Seattle and Tri City, but they both wind up in 5-3 losses.

There were some positives out of the weekend, including Ty Rattie getting his first WHL regular season experience and not looking out of place.  His goal on Saturday in Kent was nice, going to the front of the net and getting rewarded with a rebound of a Luke Walker shot that bounced off the skate of Chris Francis onto the stickblade of Rattie who wasted no time in filing it top shelf.    Rattie also made some nice plays to set up both Francis and Walker last night in Tri City, but neither could finish their chance.

Francis did rebound after having his 12 game point streak ended in the shutout on Friday night.  He had back-to-back two assist games, giving him 21 points accumulated in 14 of his last 15 games.

There was some controversy on the Devon LeBlanc hit on Kurtis Mucha on Saturday night in Kent and when I saw it live, it was hard to discern just how much Joe Morrow’s contact on LeBlanc had an effect on the heavy collision.  After watching the replay, yes Morrow did bump LeBlanc.  Did LeBlanc do all that he could to avoid contact with Mucha?  In my opinion…no.  It looked like he felt the contact and then lowered his shoulder to make contact.  It is hard to determine intent, but that is the way I saw it.  I do believe that matching minors were warranted on the play, but Jason Nissen saw it differently.

In the end, Mucha is OK (thankfully) and he played pretty well against Tri City.

Also, nice to see Daniel Johnston back healthy and playing well…scoring a pretty goal last night with a hard wrister from the circle after jumping into the rush from the blueline.  It was the second career WHL goal for Johnston, as he had a power play in Key Arena at the end of last season.

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It was interesting to talk with folks who witnessed the Spokane/Tri City festivities on Saturday night.  Of course, I was only getting the Americans point of view, but its obvious that the hard feelings won’t subside soon.  It should be interesting when the two teams meet again at the Toyota Center later in the month.  Any chance that Kevin Muench will be in attendance at that game for the WHL?

No official word on if either team has signed Ogie Oglethorpe to a WHL contract…

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After this weekend, the Hawks now have four players with over 100 penalty minutes:

Tayler Jordan – 145, Brett Ponich – 107, Travis Ehrhardt – 103,  Brad Ross – 102

The last Hawk team to have four over the century mark was 2006-07:

Frazer McLaren – 186, Tayler Jordan – 137, Scott Gabriel – 120, Max Gordichuk – 107

Riley Boychuk (84) and Ryan Kerr (80) are the next closest to the 100 mark.  The last Hawk team with more than four players over 100 was in in 2004-05 when eight players broke the mark.

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Chris Francis now has 39 assists, the most since Brandon Dubinsky (46) and Jannik Hansen (40) both hit the 40 assist mark in 2005/06.

Francis is scheduled to play in his 200th career WHL game on Tuesday vs. Everett.

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Congrats to Kelowna Rocket broadcaster Regan Bartel on reaching the 1,000 game plateau as a WHL broadcaster.

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That’s it for now…