WinterHawksFan

Kelowna....

2010-11-01T08:05:00.001-07:00

Well, that was the Rockets weekend, and I guess Parents Weekend part 1? It was an odd weekend to have the parents in, unless the Hawks are planning another weekend after the deadline? I expected the team to introduce the parents as they have in years past, but I guess that was a different event?

On the ice, the team is staying with the hot hand in Mac Carruth. He is getting better and better... His numbers through the first month or so are outstanding. He is currently first in GAA and save percentage...

The Hawks overall seem to be hitting their stride. I think Nino was pressing way too much on Friday night, so it was good to see him relax a bit and play better on Saturday. As for the team, is 110 points within their reach? Is a 50 goal scorer, 100 points, yes and yes and yes. Ty and Sven are tearing it up as 17s with their scoring and with Nino back the Hawks have line 1a and line 1b. Both are going to score and teams are going to stack their D against Ryan, Brad and Nino, so Ty, Sven and Teal will have room to put up points.

One last thought... now that Portland has an open overage spot, wouldn't Tyler Johnston from Spokane look good in a Hawk Sweater for the rest of the season? He has won a Memorial Cup, knows the league and would add some real gritty experience to the roster...

Mac's Week

2010-10-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Mac Carruth is becoming one of the dominant netminders in the WHL. In two home games and in his last three he has allowed two goals in total. His save percentage for the season is 95.2% with a GAA of 1.58, and he is 4-1 in 5 games. Then his backup is 9th in the WHL with a 92.5% and 2.63 GAA. Not bad for a couple of 18 year olds. But what is really starting to show is that Mac is making a case to this team that he will do his part to back stop this team on a run for the cup. You can't win a cup in the fall, but you can lose one and with Mac starting the year on the DL, it would have been easy to either rush him back or fall back in the standings. Portland stuck with Hamilton to allow Mac to fully heal and now they are taking off.

In the last couple of games Mac looked confident and unphased at the play in front of him. He wasn't just mechanical as many young goalies are becoming, he was involved. He played the way you want a goalie to play, it is all about the player the puck and the goal line. Mac has that all going right now.

It was great to see Portland go to the young guys in the shoot out last night. Ty Rattie is in another world right now and is quickly becoming the scoring threat we all saw in Everett as a 15 year old. And did you see the pure joy on Brendan Leipsoc face, before he got his chance in the shoot out? That grin will not soon be forgotten, that is what you want to see, a player out there for the joy of competing having fun. Hopefully we will see that through out the season.

Parents weekend is up next... Odd that the Hawks play the Rockets in back to back games, never the less Portland beat the Rockets last weekend so it should be a good couple of games for the parents.

The first 2010 - 2011 Hawkey Talk Pizza Update Show is Monday. New location, Flying Pie in Milwaukie. I am going to miss Stark Street, but look forward to the new place. Come on out and meet 6 players... Mac Carruth, Keith Hamilton, Taylor Peters, Seth Swenson, Brenden Leipsic and Derrick Pouliot.

Weekend Through BC

2010-10-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

It was a good weekend for the Hawks after the horrible game at home against the Calgary Hitman. It was good to see that the Hawks were back into the full throttle offensive mode scoring 13 goals over the weekends two games. Ty Rattie is on a hot streak with the hat trick on Friday... he backed that up with another multi point game on Saturday. He really should have been the first star in both games... So far Ty is second in the WHL in scoring with 21 points in 11 games. Pretty good for a 17 year old second year player... he will be at the top of many prospect lists going into next years NHL draft.

I do find it interesting that Portland keeps dressing Keith Hamilton, and yet he hasn't played since he won in Everett almost two weeks ago... does he get the start on Wednesday at home? I kind of thought he would have got the start in his home town of Kelowna on Saturday. To this point he has a 92.5% save and 2.63 GAA, that puts him 10th in the WHL. Mac is slightly better to this point with a 94% and 2.35 GAA. Portland can't keep three goalies all season, the team has got to make a move.

Everett comes to town on Wednesday. Should be an interesting night as President Obama is in town at the Convention Center at a Rally for the Governors race. Traffic could be horrible depending on the timing of everything, so be prepared. Hawks have two games at home this week, so come on out and support them.

Calgary...

2010-10-15T06:36:00.001-07:00

I am not sure how best to describe the contest with Calgary. Not everything about that game was a complete disaster... was it?

Portland reminded me very much of a team trying to figure who they are... Over the weekend in Spokane, Portland had some issues. As a Mike Johnston team, they should be generating better quality offensive chances, and while the got out of Spokane with two wins, they simply got boat raced by the Hitmen on Wednesday night. Portland couldn't control the puck with decent passing, so of course how are they going to generate quality scoring chances?

Heck, the Power Play couldn't sustain offensive momentum, so how could the team on 5v5 hockey.

Portland is on the road again this weekend, hopefully they find a way to control the puck, play in their attack zone a bit more and generate scoring chances, or this could be a frustrating season for players and fans alike.

Three for the Road - Everett, Spokane and Spokane

2010-10-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Hawks continue to find ways to simply win. With three wins over the past 5 days the Hawks have beaten everybody except the T-Birds. The Hawks also welcome back not only Mac Carruth (win on Friday) but also Ian Curtis (win on Saturday). Not only did the Hawks win three on the road they did it with three different goaltenders. I am not suggesting they have a goalie controversy here, rather wondering what the team is going to do with three goalies. I feel that Hamilton has come full circle and is playing like the goalie that was drafted, not what Portland fans saw two years ago as a 16 year old. So, what is the team to do? Portland is done to 25 on the roster, yet with the status of Nino being completely unknown (how long does he stay in NY) then does the team hold on to all three until Nino comes back to town? I am fearful that if Keith is going to have to share the net with two others will his confidence wane? The goalie issue needs to be solved now. Ian has done some good things for Portland, but keeping him as a 20 year old back up doesn't seem to be the answer.

In other news, congrats to Oliver Gabriel, he is now a Columbus Bluejacket to be... we could see him Frannie and Ryan all playing together in the future. Also to former Hawk Micheal Sauer for making the NY Rangers roster.

Home game on the 13th, back at the MC. Another one of those dreaded Wednesday night games.

Game 5 - Lethbridge

2010-10-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Hawks currently have 7 points in 5 games... What does that really tell us? The Hawks have beaten Lethbridge, Vancouver twice and yet have only earned one point on the hated Seattle Thunderbirds.

What other interesting things have we seen, well, Kieth Hamilton has been pretty steady. He is the 11th ranked goalie in the WHL, one spot behind, yes, Calvin Pickard. Ask pretty much any Hawk fan if you would take Pickard and pretty much everyone would, so is Hamilton starting to come around? As Bantams, many suggested that Hamilton was right there with Pickard, heck as a 16 year old Hamilton was Pickard's backup representing BC. So, after 5 games, what do we have?

We have a team trying to find themselves... Against Vancouver and Lethbridge, the tame looked like they were in a game, fighting for pucks, going hard to the net and taking the game to the opponent, against Seattle they looked like a team just skating thinking another win was theres...

So, the challenge for this really talented group of players is going to be to beat the teams they are suppose to, battle and fight the teams they are even with and prepare for the playoffs, because winning the first round simply won't be enough for this years Hawks.

Last night was one of those games where the Hawks came to play, and when they come to play, not many opponents are going to stay with them.

Seattle - Game 4

2010-10-03T09:04:00.001-07:00

Hockey is usually not a game of halves, but last night in the Rose Garden it most certainly was... at the 10 minute mark of the 2nd, we looked up at the shots, 34 - 11 and the score, 2-1 Portland and those sitting around me all commented, wow, why isn't the score more like 4-1? From that point on Seattle really started to creep back into the game...

Calvin Pickard was on last night, Kieth Hamilton only really had one bad moment of indecisiveness and it cost him and the Hawks a goal, and in the end the game. But I do not place this loss on any one player, rather the final 30 minutes of the game it appeared the teams switched. Seattle became the more confident team, making better passes, controlling the puck better and creating better opportunities to score. Portland had their moments, now they need to put it together for a full 60 minutes. So, after 4 games, Portland has 5 pts, 4 against Vancouver and 1 against Seattle, before the season started, who would have thought that?

Tonight is Lethbridge, it is always fun to see the East come to town, and Portland needs to put last night behind them and get ready for another tough team coming into the Rose Garden.

One last point... what is up with the three stars, and I don't mean who is being selected. I am all for young kids getting to present the award, wait what award, and for goodness last night all three players skated over to the young fan, but no photographer was to be found, horrible, simply horrible.

Games 2 and 3

2010-09-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

I have got to come up with better titles... In any case the Portland Roster continues to change and at the same time the players that are on the ice are starting to get comfortable with each other. Case in point, after getting beat in Seattle, Keith Hamilton is really starting to play better between the pipes. He had a good game in Seattle, but has really battled well twice now against Vancouver. Also, I didn't think Portland did a very good job on Monday with puck control in the defensive zone and made some poor choices with breaking the puck out... it appeared that they improved on that last night and that is a good sign.

Brad Ross has really stepped up his game as well, he is scoring the puck and playing good aggressive hockey, without pushing it over the top. In the past his aggressive style could get him in trouble with silly penalties, but so far so good...

Now it is home for the weekend with Seattle on Saturday and Lethbridge on Sunday. Portland is getting the some more regulars back and should be ready for some payback on Saturday.

Game 1

2010-09-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the 2010 - 2011 got started tonight in Kent. Portland is still very light as several key players are still up with their NHL teams. Kieth Hamilton got the start tonight and played pretty well all things considered. Portland dresses 7 defensemen and 11 forwards, not your normal lineup.

Going into tonight's contest Portland fans had the expectation that the team might repeat last year's season sweep of the Birds, a very unlikely thing. Instead a group of players, some that might not play much this season, suited up and played against maybe the best goal tender in the West. Portland can't win the division in September, but they can lose it. Portland is going to have to play tough and scratch out points until the rest of the team is back from NHL camps.

Monday is the home opener, against a tough Vancouver Giants. Portland is opening at the Rose Garden and on a Monday no less. Hopefully we can get fans into the seats, fill the place up and show Portland some real support. Remember it was last April when Vancouver sent Portland home for the season on that same Rose Garden ice.

2010 - 2011 About ready to roll...

2010-09-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

It is almost time to hear those famous words in Portland, Let's Play Hawkey! One week from today, the 2010 - 2011 version of our Portland Winterhawks will host Vancouver for their season home opener. Unless you have traveled this preseason, this will be your first chance to see the Hawks in action.

Coming into this season, expectations for the Hawks have never been higher, but this team has some questions to answer...

1 - Who is going to replace Doyle and Sbisa at the Blueline? Those were two vets back there and with Doyle being a 20 and Sbisa already signed with the Ducks... It looks like the team is going to keep 9 defensemen...

2 - Goaltending... while it appears Mac is going to be the guy, who is going to back him up? Ian is rehabbing his shoulder again and Hamilton has had moments between the pipes in Everett and TC... I think the Hawks are still looking at options... until next season with the youngster Burke is in town...

3 - Scoring is still going to be a possible issue... with Francis gone, who is going to setup Walker? With Nino possibly sticking with the Islanders, the Ross, Nino and Ryan line maybe be Ross, Ryan and ??? and with the leadership on the checking line coming from Schneider, will Taylor Peters be the guy to fill that center checking roll?

4 - Overage players, Portland has 4 on the roster as of today... Who stays and who goes? Injuries always play a role in answering that question...

Portland opens in Seattle on Saturday, a team Portland swept last year. Portland should get off to a strong start again this year, depending on who is back from camp of course. More on that later this week, but until Saturday Night in Kent, hope for a title run is running higher then ever.

Draft... WHL Style

2010-04-29T06:34:00.001-07:00

Today is the next step in many a young hockey players lives.. the day where many start their path of playing in the WHL. While every kid taken doesn't turn out to be a super star, today is both a reward for quality play and a next step.

For teams this is all about the future as these kids don't have a real chance to play as 15s, but with poor drafts the talent of a team can diminish quickly.

Today will be interesting as Portland doesn't have one of the top picks, so we will see what gems are found later on today...

Earth Day

2010-04-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

I know that this is usually about hockey, and I will get there at some point, but first I want to comment on Earth Day, and Take your child to work day... Interesting that they are on the same day this year...

First, Earth Day - I am all for keeping a healthy environment. I love the outdoors, whether it is hiking on the beach, through the forests or just having parks for recreation. The idea of awareness was the original idea behind Earth Day, but what has it become? I believe that in the many parts of the world, we have an awareness of making our lives and environment sustainable. At this point however, we can not do this once a year on Earth Day, we need to choose to live a healthy life style and enjoy a clean world.

Second, Child to work - This use to be about getting young teens into the work place so that they could understand their options, and what it would take to get into a variety of careers. The simple fact is that this was first started so that young ladies could believe that they too had the chance to go into fields normally thought of at the time as men's work. Today this event has become more of a take your grade schooler to work and let them play. Many companies setup special events, more like an open house, then simply letting teens see what it takes to be a CEO, or Desk Clerk.

Now Hockey... hasn't the NHL playoffs been something... tons of OT games, and of course that means 1 goal tense games. The WHL Conference Finals have also been exciting, with Vancouver leading TC (2-1) and Calgary taking a big lead over Brandon (3-1). Also, the WHL draft is coming up quickly, and Portland will look to add some good young talent to the player list.

Enjoy the weather, do something to help clean up our world, and hug a kid today, telling them they can be anything they want when they grow up.

2009 - 2010 Comes to an end...

2010-04-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

And then it was over... The come back kids finish with a loss to the Vancouver Giants, dropping out of the playoffs in round two. At first glance, last nights game was a good one. Portland simply was not the better team last night.

While there are tons of things you can say about last nights game, and even more you can about the season, I am going to simply say good bye to some of the guys.

To Chris Francis and Stefan Schneider, you both were part of the bad and now the good. While Stefan has his next steps defined for him, Chris will get his chance somewhere to keep playing. These two guys both had quality seasons, helping get this team back into contention. Thanks Guys...

To Eric Doyle, you were brought into Portland to bring your 5 years of experience to teach these young guys about playing in the WHL. Thanks, you too helped get these guys going to the next level.

To the 19s... while some of you may be back battling for an overage spot next season some of you may go in other directions... So, to Luke Walker, Taylor Jordan, Ian Curtis, Spencer Bennet, and Luca Sbisa, thanks for all you brought this season, best of luck if you all are not back next year.

And to the rest of the team... use this as a spring board to getting back next year.

More on the season in review later this week and a look ahead.

Win or go home...

2010-04-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

So far Portland is 2-0 in a win or go home game... tonight is number 3. This is also the first one on home ice, so everything should be in Portland's favor... But is it? Portland has an outstanding road record in this years playoffs. Many would not believe it if we didn't live it... 6-1. Now Portland has to get it going with a road win tonight to setup a game 7, also at home.

The last time Portland played at home, the teams combined for 26 goals in two games... Then Portland put on the road warrior attitude and took two out of three close games in Vancouver, before returning home. Home should be an advantage, and Portland can make it that way tonight, and tomorrow...

First, just play guys.. quit thinking about what to do, and just do it. You had 72 regular season games to prepare for the playoffs, now just go play. With out a win there is no tomorrow.

Second, play Hawkey, not Vancouver's game. Portland shouldn't try and go toe to toe with the Giants, just play a puck control game, and limit your risks. The last time we saw the Hawks on home ice, they got beat on up ice rushes time and time again. If Portland controls the puck, generates quality scoring chances, then they don't get into a 8 to 10 goals against game. Limit the Giants scoring chances...

Third, use the fore check. Portland generates turnovers on the fore check, so use it at home, just like the road.

Finally, have some fun out there... I know this is a transition time of many players lives, between playing the game because you love it and moving on to making a living. These guys gotta remember to have fun... and winning is really fun, so go get it down.

Game 7 tomorrow... see you all at the rink then, right?

Now they have to win at home...

2010-04-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

Whew... That was a close one... The Road Warrior Hawks went out and did it again, winning on the road to extend their season. Now the challenge is to win at home... I know they have to take this one game at a time, but the team has to change up something to actually win a home playoff game. The team is a whopping 0-5 at home... and of course they are 6-1 on the road too.

One interesting fact is that with all of the switching of goalies and goals scored in this series, Mac is 1-0 while Ian in 1-3... But enough of that... The Hawks are coming back to Portland with supposed home ice and the chance to advance to round three. TC knocked of Kelowna in 5 games so they are home resting and preparing for Portland or Vancouver. In the East Brandon and Calgary lead their pairings 3-2 leading towards a Brandon and Calgary final.

Back to the Hawks... once again last night Portland won the fore check. It seems to be their main thing to win these days. Portland has to come home and play like a road game... play with their backs against the wall, and just go play. Portland has a great chance to win game 6, heck they can't go 0-6 at home, can they?

Road Warriors...

2010-04-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

There is something about this Winterhawks team... They must love playing on the road. Usually it is the older, veteran teams that have the ability to go on the road and step it up... but not this team, not this year. For the 5th time in 5 road play off games, Portland has stepped it up, shut down teams and won. On the other side, they have been beaten at home 5 out of 5 times, and a couple of times, flat out almost run out of the building beatings.

So, what is the big differences? I see two things...

1 - Portland is packing it in and playing tough defense all over on the road. The fore check is much heavier, guys are back checking and the scores are lower. Remember these two teams had 26 goals combined in games 1 and 2, last night... 5 total. Big change...

2- Since Portland does not have the last change, it seems that Portland is doing a better job making first Spokane and now Vancouver match up with them, as opposed to Portland matching up with the opponent. This seems to be working...

Portland is still in this series and 7 games are all about making changes. Portland and Vancouver are both not down making changes, and this series is a long ways from being over...

Next up, game 4 Friday. Nice to see Portland get a win, now gotta win game 4. Interesting side note, both Vancouver and Brandon lose for the first time in the 2010 playoffs on the same night, both at home...

Down but not out...

2010-04-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Hawks find themselves in the same whole they were in after two games in the Spokane series, down 2-0. The big difference between round 1 and round 2 is that Portland had all the confidence in the world playing in Spokane, but now... the never say die attitude will be tested.

In looking back on the last two games, Portland has netted 10 goals. You would think that scoring at 5 goals a game would result in at least 1 win... but Vancouver has scored 16 goals in Portland. Mac has been pulled in both games, and yet because Portland has kept scoring Ian has taken both losses in the series.

So, going into Vancouver, Portland once again has three in row on road ice, and the Red Shirts need to slow down the Giants attack and continue to get quality scoring chances. My concerns include...

Goalie, who is going to step up? Ian played a decent game in relief last night only allowing 2 goals on 29 shots. If he is going to start game 3 he has to step up. If not, then Mac needs to get back his confidence that he had against Spokane on the road.

Team speed... Vancouver is scary fast, and Portland's back end likes to jump into the play time and time again. Several times in game 1 and 2, the Giants attack simply skated away from the pressure and had 2-0 rushes resulting in several scoring opportunities and goals. In game one for sure the Giants scored two short handed goals as they jumped passes and skated away from the Portland skaters. Coach Johnston will need to continue to make adjustments.

And finally... can Portland contain their composure? Not only will this match up set scoring records, they are on pace to also set penalty minute records... Brad Ross spent over a full period on the box on Sunday and with his penalties at the end of game 1 is racking up the minutes. We can't win if we can't keep our skaters on the ice. Fighting is part of the game... but at some point the team has to skate and score.

The Hawks now face a difficult task, and many had the "Hawks are done" feelings after game 1 and 2 with Spokane... One thing for sure... This Hawk team will not quit and are in it until they lose 4. If nothing else, game 3 should be entertaining.

UGLY the Defense has no Alibi

2010-04-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up the game last night between the Giants and the Hawks. Round 2 started off very intense and didn't let up as both the Giants and Hawks were trying to show the other team they were going to be the physical team through out this series.

After all of the penalties, and all of the hitting, and all of the Giants goals, the series is still only 1-0 Vancouver.

Not everything was bad last night... Portland did score 6 goals... You figure if you can score 6 goals in a playoff game you had a really good chance to win that game, but not when you give up 9 goals. The big issue I saw last night was the team speed that Vancouver brought to the net. Time and time again Portland was caught trying to catch up ice rushes and with a team like Vancouver you can't be constantly trying to catch them. Portland can score on this team, now they have to make some adjustments on the back end. In looking at the shots last night, Vancouver threw 49 at the net. Portland usually doesn't get beat on shots on net, but last night they did by double digits. So, tonight is game 2, time to see if Johnston or Hay makes the right adjustments to get a game 2 win. This series has a long way to go, but for Portland they do not want to go on the road down 2 games, so tonight is huge for the home town Hawks.

In other Round two action, Brandon is once again taking it to an opponent, winning both games 1 and 2 on the road in Saskatoon. Now the Kings come home for 4 out of 5 in that series... Calgary won game one with Medicine Hat, and look to go up 2-0 tonight in Calgary, while Kelowna got their match up TC tied at 1 last night in TC. Stay tuned... Portland and Vancouver tonight in game two from the MC.

And... Happy Easter everyone!

Round 2...

2010-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

In looking back at round one, Calgary survived Moose Jaw, Brandon and Saskatoon blew through their match ups and Medicine Hat knocked off Kootney in 6. All in all the winners were the teams I thought would move on. However in the west things didn't go as I thought... For starters I really thought Chilliwack would steal the series from TC. TC was not playing great hockey and Chilliwack had played them very tough in the regular season. I also thought Everett would take out Kelowna, yet Kelowna had what it took to win a game 7 on the road. Vancouver blew out Kamloops, and while I had Vancouver moving on to the 2nd round, I thought Kamloops would finish games better and extend the series a bit. And of course we had the Hawks winning all 4 games in Spokane and moving past the Chiefs into Round 2... which is what we have starting tonight...

Round 2
Calgary vs. Medicine Hat
Medicine Hat can skate, and Calgary will need to slow the Tigers down in this series. Both teams started slowly in the first round, yet both also rebounded from early series deficits to knock off their opponents. In the regular season Calgary won 4 games while MH only took 2, however three of the match ups did result in bonus hockey. I still believe Calgary and Brandon are the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference and see them matching up in the conference finals.

Calgary in a hard fought 7.

Brandon vs. Saskatoon
This is a great second round match up. These are two high powered teams with Saskatoon earning 99 points and Brandon 104 during the regular series. Both teams rolled through their opening round and have their offenses clicking. This series like the Portland / Spokane opening round has the higher seeded team starting on the road. For Saskatoon to have a chance, they need to start strong at home because after games one and two, 4 out of the 5 remaining games will be played in Brandon. For me this series will come down to which goal tender plays better. DeSerres is an overage player for Brandon, and had a very nice year. Can he out play the 19 year old Steven Stanford? In the end, Brandon is going to the Cup as this years host, but I also see them going through the front door, not the back...

Brandon in 5.

Out west...
TC vs. Kelowna
The rockets were the big suprise upsetting Everett in 7. TC was the team that struggled down the stretch and held on thanks to Spokane to the number 1 seed... how does this turn out? Well, TC swept Kelowna in the regular season, but this is the play offs. The Rockets beat TC in the second round last year on their way to loosing in the Memorial Cup Final. Former Hawk, Mark Guggenburger struggled in the regular season, but stepped up against Everett, replacing Adam Brown and back stopped Kelowna to the second round. If he plays well, Kelowna has a chance. If not... well, the Americans Offense is very talented and should score enough to win. I think this series is closer then many expect.

TC in 7

Portland vs. Vancouver
For the second straight series Portland gets to open at home. Unlike the first round, Portland does get home ice. Hopefully Portland can win some at home... and switching to the smaller sheet at the MC should benefit Portland. Portland and Vancouver each won 2 games against each other, both winning on the road and at home. Vancouver took the first two games, while Portland took the last two. What is the determining factor going to be? Well, Portland will continue to miss Taylor Peters as he was key on both the checking line and on the PK. Portland switched things up after his injury to get by Spokane and will continue against Vancouver. The key for Portland is to continue to get balanced scoring. When Portland gets contributions from three or four lines, they are dangerous. Portland also has this never give up attitude right now, and if they can keep that pressure on the Giants they will advance.

Portland in 6 as this is a 2-3-2 series...

So, The finals should be...

Calgery vs. Brandon

TC vs. Portland

Portland gets it all started tomorrow at the MC.

Red Sweaters Win... Again

2010-04-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Could anyone have imagined a series where the road team couldn't lose? Last night was chapter 15 in the regular season and playoffs between the Chiefs and the Hawks. The home team went 1-14 this year... 0-7 in the playoffs. Simply stated, wow. And what could be better then your team winning a game 7 on the road? Oh yeah, winning game 7 on the road in OT... yeah that's even better. This is one of the many reasons why nothing is better then playoff hockey.

Last night Portland started out slowly, and got into a huge hole... but this team and the never out of it attitude was in full bloom last night as Portland continued to grind and work to get back into the game and eventually pull off the win. Last night was one of those games where it was a full team effort and that depth paid off in the end. Portland scored the gritty way time and time again by working in the crease. Spokane got its scoring from three of there four stars, Wahl, Beach and Johnson. Portland got goals from 3 lines last night, with Nino, Boychuck, Walker, Johansen and Rattie scoring. That is balance... something that should help Portland in the next round. This team is ready to move on and should have a favorable match up with Vancouver.

Speaking of Vancouver... Portland lost the first two games with Giants, but evened the season series up with the Giants by winning the last two games. Each team won and lost a game at home, so we shouldn't see the road team going 7-0 in this series. For now, celebrate the win, and get ready for the MC this weekend... Portland fans should fill the MC this weekend for some good playoff hockey.

Spokane and Portland Part 6

2010-03-29T22:31:00.001-07:00

The "Red" team showed up tonight and won another game... making it 6 wins in a row for the team wearing the red sweaters... the Team in the White Sweaters have been beaten and played with low confidence all series long. So what gives... Did we all watch the Road Warrior and think wouldn't it be cool to have the road team win all seven games in a series?

In reality we know that the teams do not go out and try to be a different team on the road then at home... but in this series it has become a tale of two cites and two teams. Spokane is playing much differently in Portland then at home too... and this goes back to the regular season as well... So as it stands today... Portland is 7-0 in Spokane and Spokane is 6-1 in Portland... at that one loss in Portland was during Snow Storm 2009... or whatever that one freak evening of snow did to Portland between Christmas and New Years. So now we head into that do or die game 7, where anything can happen... if we go with the trends, Portland should win 5-3 or so... but can you beat a team 8 times in their building in a season? I know Portland went 12-0 against Seattle this year... and has gone 7-0 against Spokane... and the last game 7 Portland was in they won in Seattle... so, yes, I believe if the Road Warrior Red Sweater Wearing Team shows up, they will win and be 7-0 in the Series giving Portland a second round match up with Vancouver... Heck Kelowna went into Everett tonight and won that anything can happen game 7... so Portland / Spokane has come down to this one game, Portland against the world... I believe the better Portland team arrives and wins in Spokane again.

As it sits today... Round 2 looks like this...

West
Tri City vs. Kelowna
Portland / Spokane winner vs. Vancouver

East
Calgary vs. MH
Brandon vs. Saskatoon

More on that and a look back at round 1 later in the week... For now... get on the Red Sweaters boys and go get em!

Spokane Weekend...

2010-03-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the trend goes on... Portland has swept Spokane in Spokane again, taking control of this first round series... the last two nights have been fantastic to watch this team grow up and face adversity, and of course succeed.

Portland is playing with extreme confidence. Players like Stefan Schneider and Chris Francis are leaving it all out there, and that is inspiring others. Luke Walker has found a new gear in the last three games and with Francis and Ollie Gabriel taking that number one line out there and applying constant pressure.

Going into Game 6, Portland needs to just keep playing hockey. At this point in the season there is no room to think about how to play. After 72 regular season games, the players have to just go out and play. Games 3 - 5 was Portland just going out and playing... not thinking, what do I do, don't get beat etc... Portland has taken the mojo and needs to finish on Monday at home. Lets rock the Garden!

Spokane and Portland Part 5

2010-03-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

And the road team winning trends continues as the Hawks once again were the better team on the ice and beat the Spokane Chiefs again in Spokane this time 4-2. The one trend that was broken last night is the defensemen didn't score a goal and the Walker, Francis, Gabriel line did net 3 of the 4 goals. So, maybe this team is getting it going at the right time... Spokane was not the more physical team last night and once Portland survived a 5 minute major against Taylor Jordan with only allowing one goal, they were in good shape to take home another win.

This series has all the makings for a 7 game battle... I really see Portland winning again tonight to take the series lead 3-2 before heading back to Portland for game six on Monday night.

A couple of notes from last night... That game was a chippy a game as I have seen in quite some time. The supposed charging call on Jordan, to me it looked like Spokane's Kichton (#8) helped Jordan into Reid, was in my opinion as result of who Jordan has become as opposed to a good call. I would have had an easier time with a goalie interference call, maybe, but charging? No way... Jordan had the puck and actually took a shot on net. His skates we turned trying to stop, and for all the things Jordan does well, he is not and never will be a foot magician on the ice. Chris Francis or Ryan Johansen would have stopped, but they have great foot work... So, now we wait to see if Taylor gets another game as he was sent off with misconduct penalty as well.

It will also be interesting to see if the issues at the end of the game between Wahl an Sbisa or Beach and Carruth have any impact on tonights game. Playing this many games between two teams this close together always has the potential for some fireworks, and tonight should be no different.

Game 5, tonight in Spokane... I predict another Hawks win as the road team has been dominate between these two teams all season long.

Spokane and Portland Part 4 B

2010-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

Game 4 is tonight here in Spokane. Portland should have all the confidence in the world going into tonight's game as Portland is 5-0 in Spokane this season. Going into the game tonight Portland has to continue to dominate the fore check and not allow Spokane quality scoring opportunities. I had a discussion with folks about shots vs. quality scoring opportunities and honestly, scoring opportunities are more important in my opinion. Portland needs to continue to get them and limit the number of chances for Spokane.

Here is my line up suggestions...

Walker, Francis, Boychuck (Riley is a big body and can screen the net without getting pushed around)
Ross, Johansen, Nino
Swenson, Bennet, Rattie
Gabriel, Schneider, Jordan

Sbisa, Aronson
Doyle, Ponich
Rutkowski, Doyle

Carruth in net...

It will be interesting to see how Portland continues to make adjustments to what Spokane will do differently tonight as well.

Hope to see a bunch of Hawk fans in attendance tonight! Time to tie the series.

Spokane and Portland Part 4

2010-03-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

What a great finish to game 3, another goal by another defensemen, well now that is two for Rutkowski... and in the end that is 5 of 8 by the defense. The number one line has yet to net a goal with Ross, Nino and Schneider getting the goals for the forwards.

Now it is on to game 4, and if Portland wants to continue the success they saw in game 3, they need to play within themselves. Last night they contained Spokane, limiting their quality scoring chances and the score was a result of that.

I know that several folks should be heading north east for the weekend, so let's go support our Hawks on the road!

In other series, Vancouver swept Kamloops and Brandon swept Swift Current, and with that we say good bye and thanks for the memories to Kurtis Mucha and possibly Travis Bobbee as Kurtis is an overage and Bobbee a 19. Best of luck in your future guys.

Spokane and Portland Part 3

2010-03-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Portland is in Spokane tonight to take on the Chiefs in a make or break game 3. Tonight is a chance for Portland to get back into this series and get their first win. As I mentioned after game 2, Portland gave away game 1 in my opinion and flat out got beat in game 2. Now it is Portland's turn to go on the road and get it going.

Mac played pretty well in both game 1 and game 2. Over all it appears that Portland's issue has been finishing scoring opportunities. Out of the 6 goals Portland has netted, 4 have been by defensemen, one each to Troy, Brett, Luca and Taylor. Not what you expect from a team with Nino, Brad, Ryan, Chris and Luke playing up front. In fact Stefan has a goal as well, so the big 5 up front need to start putting the puck in the net. Portland is going to give up goals, they have all year, so Portland has to limit Spokane's chances and score the puck.

Here is just a thought on forward lines with Peters being out.

Walker, Francis, Bennet
Nino, Johansen, Gabriel
Boychuk, Rattie, Swenson
Ross, Schneider, Jordan

I would like to see Ross on the checking line... and it might mix somethings up with the other lines as well. I am sure Coach Johnston has his lines ready to go, so just my thoughts. The Defensive pairs seem to be working so I would leave them...

Ponich, Doyle
Sbisa, Aronson
Morrow, Rutkowski

Even though getting Wotherspoon or Pouliot some time would be good for them, I would not play them yet. They are both very good up and coming players, and will be contributors next year for sure.

And I would leave Carruth as I believe Portland seems to play harder and be a better team with Mac in net. Mac is the future net minder, so leave him in there...

I really think Portland gets one tonight. I know some Hawk fans are planning on being in Spokane this week... we are going up Friday for the weekend. Those going tonight, get the guys going. Time to get back into this series.

Spokane and Portland Part 2

2010-03-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well it wasn't the weekend all Hawk Fans were hoping for... The Hawks gave one away and got beat in the other. All in all it makes Portland down 2 with 4 out of 5 possible games left to be played in Spokane.

First lets look at the other match ups... and if you are a Calgary fan I bet you are feeling a bit uneasy as Moose Jaw has come out and taken two from Calgary to lead 2-0 going home, well to Regina anyway. All of the other home teams held serve, except for our Portland Winterhawks. I did predict an upset with Chilliwack taking TC, and TC has looked pretty good, but that series is going back to Chilliwack and I do not think the Bruins are out of it. Everett and Vancouver look strong in their match ups with Kamloops and Kelowna. In the East, I still think MH can come back on Kootney. Brandon is on fire and with Calgary in trouble looks like the team to beat in the East.

Portland on the other hand is struggling to finish. In game 1 Portland seemed to have taken the game back over at the end of the 2nd getting that two goal lead back, then for what ever reason faded badly in the 3rd. Last night however, Portland got the first goal again, but that was about it for quality offense. Portland is really the team that is seems shaken and uptight, while Spokane looks to be playing free and easy. The Beech, Gal and Wahl line is dominating play and putting up big numbers. Portland is getting most of the scoring from the blue line with 4 defensemen scoring for Portland. Portland has got to get the forward lines going on offense.

I still think this series has a chance to come back to Portland for game 6. The Hawks have been very good on the road all year, and even better in Spokane. I also see some line up changes with Taylor Peters going down. It sounds like he may be done for the year... and he was killing penalties and a strong player on the checking line. Now Coach Johnston needs to make some adjustments...

On to Spokane... Game three Wednesday, time to get back in the win column Portland!

Spokane and Portland Part 1

2010-03-20T10:26:00.001-07:00

Tonight starts one of the oddest post season series seen in a long time. There are several interesting quirks to the years regular season match ups between the two most successful US Division teams in the history of the WHL.

In looking back at the regular season, Portland couldn't loose at Spokane, going 4-0 for the first time ever. In retrospect, Spokane had a winning record on Portland Ice as well going 3-1. So, who really has a home ice advantage? All season Portland was consistent on the road, sometimes playing better so not having the "home ice" maybe a good thing.

Another interesting fact is that although Portland is the 5 seed, Spokane doesn't have home ice available this weekend due to a little thing called the NCAA March Madness Basketball tourney, so Spokane comes to Portland for Games 1 and 2. Portland gets to open at home, but needs to play well this weekend as after Sunday, 4 of the last 5 in the series would be in Spokane.

So, in looking at match ups and who does what, Portland is successful when they limit Mitch Wahl and Kyle Beech from getting quality scoring chances. It is very important to have the checking line on the ice this weekend while Wahl and Beech are on the ice. The Ross, Nino and Johansen line were the top scores against Spokane. Portland is more balanced on offense with three lines that can score, while Spokane seems to have two, two very good lines, but still Portland should have some advantage there. Portland is the young team, with only three guys seeing WHL play off time and one with the most may not play. Eric Doyle and Luca Sbisa were brought to Portland for this very reason. Doyle may or may not play, but since this is play off time injury reports are sketchy at best.

For the Hawks to win tonight they need to bring it for 60 minutes, have Mac Carruth stand on his head and get quality shots on net. The Garden should be rocking tonight and Mac has fed off that energy all season. The team seems to play better in front of Mac right now so I say start him and go for it.

Hopefully we will have big crowds the next two nights and sent Portland back to Spokane with a couple of wins.

I really think Portland steps up and wins this one, so Portland in 6.

Play Off Preview... WHL

2010-03-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

With the WHL playoffs right around the corner, I thought I would take a moment to go on record with some of my predictions. I will leave the Hawks and Chiefs until later... so on to the Eastern Conference...

Calgary (107 pts) vs. Moose Jaw (78 pts) - Calgary has been an up and down team at times this year. First year coach Mike Williamson has the Hitmen peaking at the right time. Calgary seems to have everything needed to win this first round match up, including Martin Jones in net. Moose Jaw did win the season 5 pts to Calgary's 4, but in the end I believe Calgary will win this in 5. Their defense, PK, and PP is just too good to not beat the Warriors.

Calgary in 5.

Brandon (104 pts) vs. Swift Current (79 pts) - My how Swift Current has fallen. They are not the same team who was tearing it up when the came to Portland earlier in the year. Brandon is going to the Memorial Cup, but also have the ability to go by winning their way in, not just getting their because they are the host. Swift Current is playing their home games in Regina, so do they really have a home ice? Brandon has some very talented scorers, including Brayden Schenn and Scott Glennie and took 4 out of 6 against Swift Current this year.

Brandon in 4.

Saskatoon (99 pts) vs. Red Deer (83 pts) - The Blades lead the East for most of the season, yet stumbled down the stretch dropping to 3rd in the Eastern Conference. You never want to be fading going into post season play... that being said, this should be a very good match up. Red Deer does not have the depth of scorers that Saskatoon has, but the top Rebels can skate and score with anyone. The season match up between them went Saskatoon's way 3-1, with one win coming in bonus time. My guess is that Saskatoon takes the series to advance, but takes a real beating doing it.

Saskatoon in 7.

Kootney (91 pts) vs. Medicine Hat (90 pts) - This should be a real dandy of a series. The teams basically split the season 3-3 with Medicine Hat getting a bonus point. Ex Hawk Tristan King was the big scoring threat against the Ice getting 9 points in the 6 games. This like the Saskatoon / Red Deer match up is going to be close. The Tigers and Ice played very evenly against each other during the season, yet the Ice struggled down the stretch while Medicine Hat caught fire in February and seem to be ready for the playoffs. I see Medicine Hat surviving to see Calgary in the next round.

Medicine Hat in 6.

On to the Western Conference...

Tri City (97 pts) vs. Chilliwack (71 pts) - For the first 5 months of the season, TC was the best team in the west, then February hit and TC started to really slip. Chilliwack took the season series with TC 3 games to 1, and played TC as tough as anyone. So, what has to happen for TC to advance? First they need to get consistent scoring against the Bruins. Against all other teams the Ams offense was strong, yet against the Bruins they produced just 11 goals in 4 games. The Bruins need to keep the TC Offense from getting started as they did in their 3 wins. Ryan Howse needs to get it going like he did while the calendar said 2009 (scoring 30 of his 47 goals before New Years) and Chilliwack will advance. For TC, they need a healthy Drew Owsley back in net and for Lazo, Shinnimin and company need to get the offense going, starting in game 1 or lose home ice and potentially get upset. This is a tough first round match up for TC and I see it going the distance, or Chilliwack taking it in 6. I think I will go for the under dog and take...

Chilliwack in 6.

Vancouver (88 pts) vs. Kamloops (71 pts) - This will be an interesting rematch for Goal Tender Kurtis Mucha. The last time he was in the play offs Vancouver knocked him out as a young 16 year old. Now, several years later and a different team, Mukes has a chance to go out and play as the under dog to the Giants. Back in his first tangle with Vancouver, Hawk fans figured it was just time before Mukes was ready to play, little did we know it would be years before the Hawks or Mukes was back in the play offs. Another interesting note is the Vancouver finished with the 5th highest point total, but since they won the BC Division they get the 2nd seed. The season series favors Vancouver, taking 6 of 8 games, however half of the games ended in bonus time or a shoot out. Not something that Vancouver wants to do against a veteran net minder like Mukes. Neither Vancouver goalie has any playoff time, but Mukes has only played in 12 playoff games... Beating Seattle in 7 and losing to Vancouver in 5. If Kamloops can push the series to a 6th of 7th game, Mukes experience will be a key factor as Kamloops looks to upset Vancouver, if not they will be close games... Kamloops isn't great on defense in front of Mukes, so he will see a ton of shots. It will be a close series.

Vancouver in 5.

Everett (97 pts) vs. Kelowna (76pts) - The Rockets kind of snuck up on folks in the play offs last year before losing in the final of the Memorial Cup. That being said this is a different team... The Tips were not looked at in September to be a US Division contender, but really had a fantastic second half loosing the US Division with a loss to Spokane on the final day of the regular season. Everett dominated Kelowna in the regular season, and has not one but two of the top goalies in the WHL. Not a ton of playoff time for the Everett goalies, but they were both great during the 2009 - 2010 regular season. The defending WHL champion Rockets have both goalies back from last years run. 20 year old former Hawk Mark Guggenburger has not been great this year suffering from some injuries, but his back up Adam Brown has been solid. Brown didn't see a bunch of time last year in the playoffs, but has a good taste of playoff hockey. I think Everett is just too strong both at the blue line and with their top two scoring lines for the Rockets to upset them. As much as it pains me to say it, I see Everett rolling through this match up and getting ready for round two.

Everett in 5.

Spokane (95 pts) vs. Portland (91 pts) - More on this one later... but can you imaging finishing with 91 pts and that being only good enough for 4th in your own division... The US Division top to bottom was the best division in the WHL. I pegged Portland as an 80 pt team and to finish with 91 is fantastic... TC, Everett and Spokane just all finished with a few more. My prediction on this match up later tonight or tomorrow before game 1...

This is a great time of the year, sunny and 70 in town, the NCAAs and WHL Playoffs... what's not to like...

On to the Playoffs

2010-03-14T08:59:00.001-07:00

Now that the Hawks have finished the regular season, and finished it with a nice consistent run of play, they can start preparing for the Spokane Chiefs. This will be one heck of a first round match up... But lets look back before looking ahead shall we?

Ten days ago the Hawk faithful were looking at recent play and were grumbling about how this team was stumbling through the final days of the season. Portland had games with TC, Spokane and Everett at home and were really flat against TC and then Spokane. Ian and Mac both seemed to not be sure as to who was going to be the guy in net and the team was not playing with the same confidence they had earlier in the season. Then... Saturday night in the Garden, Mac got a chance to play against TC, the same TC who had scored 3 times in 52 seconds the last time Mac was in net, and for whatever reason Portland came with a renewed fire and beat TC. All seemed correct in Hawkeytown... Since that game, Portland and Mac have not dropped a game. Confidence is going sky high.

Any time a team is switching gears into post season play, you want three things.

1 - You want a goal tender who is hot and playing with extreme confidence. Portland has that right now in 17 year old Mac Carruth. He has taken over between the pipes and for whatever reason the team seems to be playing off his energy.

2 - You want to have roles defined for players on your team and you want them playing those roles with confidence. Coach Johnston seems to have settled on lines and players have bought in to the roles assigned to them. This team seems to believe in each other right now and players are confident in their assigned roles.

3 - You want to be healthy... For the most part Portland is a healthy team. Eric Doyle is still out from that wicked hit in TC, but the rest of the roster seems ready to go.

Overall Portland is back into the playoffs, finishing with 91 points, good enough for the 4 best in the West, but since Vancouver is in first in the BC Division they get the 2nd seed, dropping Portland into the 5th seed. Stay tuned for the play off schedule. Spokane will most likely open on the road at Portland because they do not have their arena next weekend as they will be hosting first round games for the upcoming NCAA Basket Ball tourney. So, as of now it looks like Portland gets the first two at home even though Spokane is the higher seed. Most likely it will be a 2 - 3 - 1 - 1 match up...

The other thing to watch is tonight's Spokane - Everett game in Spokane has big implications as if Everett gets 1 point they win the US and West, if not they tie TC for points, but TC gets the US and West...

Here we go into the post season, should be exciting!

Everett Down, Chilliwack and Seattle to go...

2010-03-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Last night was a big win for the Hawks. It was big for three reasons, and yet if they go out and lay an egg this coming weekend in Chilliwack and Seattle it will all be for not...

1 - Portland played pretty dang well in back to back games, beating two tough US Division foes. After the egg they laid against Spokane the other night, it is good to get some consistent quality hockey going. Yesterday I mentioned they needed to get the quality going again, and last night was the first step.

2 - Mac Carruth seems to have stepped up and laid claim to being the guy come playoff time. He got his first shut out in the WHL last night, and that came off of a good game against TC on Saturday. It appears that the nightmare of 2/23 is over for him and with two more games he should get starts in both if his quality of play remains high. This team just looks more fired up to play in front of Mac then they have showed recently playing in front of Ian.

3 - Portland is pretty much locked into 5th in the West. It would be easy to "rest" for the playoffs. Instead Portland has shown the attitude the last two nights that they want to get back on a roll going into the post season. Lines seem to have been shifted and Ty Rattie has gotten it going on that third line. This is all about building into post season play and I am pretty excited to see this team, the one from the last couple of games not the one that played Spokane the other night, play in the post season.

The Boosters have two buses heading to Kent for the Seattle game on Saturday. Should be a fun trip, heck Portland started the 2009 - 2010 season whipping up Seattle on opening night, should be the same results this time.

March 9th...

2010-03-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

Well tonight is the regular season finale at home for your Hawks. In looking at the last three games of the season, tonight may very well be the toughest test of the three for the Hawks. Everett is trying to steal the number 1 seed away from TC and will be loaded up and ready to play tonight at the MC. It really is too bad that after having the home final be the last game of the season for several years now, the Hawks end the regular season at home on a Tuesday of all things, and to boot the Blazers are playing as well so parking is going to be crazy.

I would like to see a couple of things tonight. First, I would like to see Mac play in net and really step up and grab that job for the playoffs. Coach Johnston has said he is wanting to pick one for the playoffs, and over the past couple of weeks neither has come out and played consistently like the want to be the guy. Mac can and needs to do this tonight. (My guess is that Ian starts now that I have mentioned Mac needs to go take the job, but that is why I am the fan and Mike Johnston is the coach.) Second and as important to me is the Hawks need to play like the playoffs start tonight. They need to have that we are against the world attitude and go out and play like it means something. You never know in this league when you will get that chance to have a special run and if these boys want to make some history, then they need to start playing like it now.

I really feel the weak link is goal tending right now and one of these guys needs to step up and grab that ring as they say... The last play off experience was behind a young 16 year old goalie, so youth is not a bad thing. One of them just needs to step up and take control between the pipes.

Three to go and then the Playoffs...

2010-03-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, with last nights win the Hawks are at 85 points on the season and a lock to be the 5th seed, or perhaps with some help catch Spokane for the 4th. Portland has three games left, while all three US teams ahead of them have four. So, what does that tell you? Portland has a realistic shot at 91 points, which would give them 44 wins. 44 wins is more wins then points last year... heck if you take the two previous seasons before that and combine the points, they would struggle to get 44, and yet going into last nights win against Tri City, several folks, me included were concerned that Portland had peaked and did not have the ability to ramp it up for the Playoffs, most likely against a very talented and veteran Spokane Chiefs.

Last nights win did a couple of things...

1 - it got Mac going again in net. The last several games in net for both Ian and Mac were not quality games. Mac had a pretty solid game last night and is it his turn to be the #1 for a bit? Johnston has got to pick one goalie for the playoffs, and to this point I'm sure he hasn't decided.

2 - by winning against TC, a team that has been limping into the playoffs BTW, Portland's offense started showing signs of life again. Coach has shuffled up the lines a bit, moving Nino up with Francis and Walker, and putting Rattie down on the 3rd scoring line, it allows Ty to have some room to work and since he will be up against a 3rd line, not a number 1 or the checking line, gives him a chance to shine. I think it is a good move. Ollie is playing where Nino was, and his energy will keep that line solid.

It was good to see the young defensemen play well last night too. Hopefully Eric Doyle will be back for the playoffs as it appears Joe Morrow may be out of the line up for a bit... and the Playoffs is really what Doyle and Sbisa were brought to Portland for...

One last thing, the final Hawkey Talk Pizza Update Show from Stark Street Pizza is Monday night. Come on out and hear from Taylor Jordan, Oliver Gabriel and Luca Sbisa.

December 14th... Already

2009-12-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Well first off, I have been lame on posting this season. I started with the idea that every game would get a post... well, I missed that one, then it was going to be every Monday... well I missed that too so for those of you out there... sorry. I have sucked... but with the holiday break coming up, the team is getting ready for a well deserved break and so am I.

The break helps get the team some rest and get ready for the second half... so here goes. After the break the team will have 34 regular season games left to play... so, Wednesday night is Spokane will mark game #36 on the season, and what a half a season it has been. Both on and off the ice, the team has made moves, won some games, lost some others and overall is playing pretty good hockey.

Now they have a stretch where depth is going to be critical as key players are getting a chance to go off and play in holiday tournaments, and will not be available to the Hawks. We see the return of Joel Ridgeway and my favorite Taylor Peters to Portland to help fill the void of injury and holiday opportunities. How this team fares... well, Portland isn't the only team missing players and as I told the Bantams yesterday, you lace em up and play with who you have... no excuses. So, to the Hawks, lace em up with you ya got, no excuses...

Hawkey Talk tonight at Stark Street... Ross, Wotherspoon, Swenson and Doyle for sure and maybe a surprise guest will make an appearance too.

Trade Outcome

2009-11-29T11:09:00.001-08:00

Well, we now know that Portland acquired 20 year old Eric Doyle and a 4th round pick for Kurtis Mucha and Travis Bobbee. With out clearing up an opening for an overage, the Hawks could not have picked up Doyle. The questions will continue to float around about the durability of Ian Curtis and his ability to be the number 1. Ian is going to make the outstanding play, and at the same time maybe not make the average play. Maybe time in the pipes is all he really needs to become more consistent...

As for Doyle, he has been pretty good in his two games for Portland. Doyle has a wicked slap shot from the point, seems to have pretty good feet and is partnered with Brett Ponich for now. At 6'3" he is the short one of that pairing... Speaking of size, his there a bigger line up then Curtis in net, Ponich and Doyle in back and Boychuck, Jordan and Schneider up front? Talk about size, wow. So in the end we will have to see how this set of trades work out for Portland. Mucha was the face off the team, and now he is with Kamloops... the Blazers are currently in 4th in the BC Division and will fight for a playoff spot all year. Doyle comes to an up and coming team in Portland and should provide some stability in the back as Portland continues to grow as a team and fight night in and night out.

As for Bobbee and Reddin going to the East, best of luck to both of you in with your new teams. I am a bit surprised that Portland made their moves so early, but with the team struggling a bit, I guess Johnston and company felt is was needed. With Reddin and Bobbee out, that leaves Portland with just 4 19s left on the roster... but we have a ton of Hockey left this season so no need to talk about next year yet...

One last comment as Portland does get 4 points this weekend... 16k bears last night was good, but come on folks... 9k plus in the building and only 16k bears? That is not even 2 per person, and I know of many folks who had 4, 5 or even 10 bears with them... So, while it is all for a good cause, we can do better... good crowd, needed to have move bears for the toss.

Next week Portland has two big games at the Garden. Come on out and see games with Everett and Spokane... Two teams that will battle Portland for a playoff spot all season.

Best of Luck Muchs...

2009-11-23T07:16:00.000-08:00

Over the past 5 years there has been one constant with the Portland Winterhawks, starting in net #35 Kurtis Mucha. Muchs has seen his share of the highs and lows with this franchise, and to many it would have been no surprise to see Kurtis not in net with Portland, rather playing with an AHL or ECHL affiliate to Edmonton. Kurtis showed very well in camp, and with Portland not knowing what kind of team they were going to have, it would have been completely understandable to see #35 moving on before the season began.

Instead, something different happened, Kurtis and his family decided to head back to the WHL and Portland to finish out Kurtis' junior career with the one team he had grown up with... In the last PWHBC Hawkey Talk Newsletter, Lee-Ann, Kurtis' mom wrote a heart warming and very emotional piece about what the last 5 years have been for them as a family. How they sent their son to Portland to follow his dream to play professional hockey.

So, today many are outraged that Portland has moved Kurtis to another team. Personally Mucha has been a stalwart with this team, time and time again saying he didn't play well enough to win, when it would have been easier to just throw his team under the bus saying how can he win seeing 50 to 60 shots a night. Kurtis is that kind of person. I will miss seeing that last 4 or 5 months of Mucha playing hockey. I am sure many will have the #35 jerseys on for January 20th in the MC and again on February 3rd when Mucha comes back to Portland. We can give him the kind of thank you he deserves.

Now we have what's next with the changing of this team. Moving Mucha for a pick is one thing, heck Seattle got a pick and a player for DeSerres going to Brandon. So, while I like many are frustrated that Mucha was moved, I also ask what is next? If Portland makes this deal, is it to make room for a different overage player? So, before I completely rip the team for making this move, I say, what's next and what is the overall impact. Is someone like Travis Ehrhardt coming back to Portland?

So while I say, good luck to Kurtis, and we'll see you soon, and hopefully for years to come in the NHL, I also say, hey Coach Johnston, what's next?

Monday Minute 11 - 09

2009-11-09T15:13:00.001-08:00

The Hawks had an exciting finish to the annual dash for cash game on Saturday Night. I am pretty sure this was the biggest crowd of the season, and many Hawk fans went home happy, well, some I guess were more relieved then happy, but never the less it was a fantastic finish. This was one game that if you left early, you missed out.

The Hawks were not playing all that great at home over the past couple of games. November really did not start out as well as October and September were.

After not playing well on Nov 1 against Spokane, the Hawks moved into the Garden for their first game of the season on the larger ice. I thought this would open up the game for Portland and allow more open ice for their puck control offense. How ever, Portland was not better then Vancouver on that night and were shut out at home. Vancouver is a good team, however a couple of things were big let downs for me...

First, why is it that not once did someone step up and protect Muchs? Time and time again he got ran or slashed and not once did someone step up and smack a Giant, or run their goalie? I know that fighting is not going to be the same, but dang it, Ponich needs to quit talking about it and hit someone. Teams are going to keep slashing, hitting, bumping and running Muchs if not one Hawk is going to push back. Protect the goalie.

Second, the big ice did not help, in fact it most likely helped out Vancouver and they seem to be getting the puck in the open ice and had better puck and player movement. If Portland is going to keep playing on the big ice, they need to do a better job.

Portland did have a better game on Saturday, but Portland is tremendously better then Seattle and to have to scramble at the end to win in a Shoot Out... big excitement, but I am sure the Coaches and players themselves would like to play better.

Parents weekend is coming up this weekend... It is always nice to see the Parents come in to Portland and see their young men play. Come out and see a couple of good games against BC teams, WHL Champion Kelowna at the MC on Saturday and Chilliwack on Sunday in the Garden.

Monday Minute 11 - 02

2009-11-02T09:08:00.001-08:00

The first quarter of the Hawks season has come and gone, with the Hawks going 13 - 5 - 0 - 0 for 26 points and tied with the Americans a top the US Division. (Of course the Hawks have played 3 more games total then the Americans and sit at 13 - 6 for the season). Over all this has been a great start to the season. It is interesting to see fans get upset with a loss now, compared to the past few season. Heck the Hawks won 11 games total two years ago and what 19 last year. I guess it is nice to see fans upset instead of just taking the norm of previous years as what to expect.

As far as the first quarter, this may be the toughest quarter of the season. Portland spent a ton of time on the road and has the long central swing out of the way. In looking at the team play I would rate the offense as an A- and the defense as a B- / C+. I am not referring to the forwards and defensemen, rather overall offense and defense. Portland has been scoring (Ok not last night) but has also been allowing too many goals. In looking at the stats Portland has scored 78 goals, but also allowed 59. Portland's current style of pushing the puck and controlling the puck in the attacking zone will leave the defense a bit weak at times. Earlier in the season Portland was doing a better job of containing their opponents in neutral ice, but now seem to be playing more in the defensive zone. If Portland keeps playing this attacking style (which they are good at, and the fans enjoy watching) they will need to get back to neutral ice containment.

Overall this team has surprised many in Portland as well as across the WHL. We fans get 4 more games at home before the team hits the road again, and get to see them in the Garden both Wednesday and Saturday. The big ice should be a bit different for Portland as they can use the wide open space to move the puck and get quality scoring chances. Come on out and watch.

One other note, Taylor Peters had a great game on Saturday for the Vees, way to go TP.

Taylor Peters

2009-10-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

This has been a emotional roller coaster of a season for one Portland Winterhawk player in particular. This week 17 year old forward Taylor Peters was assigned to the Penticton Vees of the BCHL. Taylor will be back in the WHL at some point, and hopefully it will be back wearing the familiar #25 of the Portland Winterhawks.

Taylor has dealt with the ups and downs of playing some as a 15 year old, as a regular during his 16 year old season, and now being caught up in the numbers game as a 17 year old. During this time Taylor has always supported his team mates, the organization and dealt with it all with grace and humility.

Taylor is much more then just a hockey player. All the time that this has gone on, he has also maintained outstanding grades with his school work, taking classes like advanced physics and biology to name a few. From my perspective Taylor has shown to be a classy person, quality student, and the type of person one can hope their own son can admire and strive to become both on and off the ice.

TP, I for one am looking forward to your return better then ever to the WHL and the Winterhawks. Keep working hard, you will be missed both on and off the ice. Tear it up in the BCHL.

Monday Minute - Tuesday 10/27

2009-10-27T08:41:00.001-07:00

Well a day late this week, but I waited to see how the first Hawkey Talk Pizza Update show from Stark Street Pizza went last night...

First, over all the Hawks had a very nice trip through the Central Division. Portland ended up... 4-2 on the trip and besides the Red Deer drilling the team competed and came home with a winning record.

This is junior hockey, and in the end nights like Everett and Red Deer are going to happen. If the team learns from the those games and builds some character then all the better. One of the players last night commented that getting drilled on occasion reminds them that any team can win on any night and Portland is not going to sneak up on anyone anymore.

Tonight is Brandon, another Eastern team. Portland is 1-0 against the East and 5-2 overall against the Eastern Conference. Brandon is a good team, and will be a good challenge for the Hawks. Reminder to anyone going to the game, The Blazers are opening their NBA season tonight as well so parking and traffic will be an issue... Hopefully Portland fans will be on hand to welcome the Hawks back to the MC and help keep the team rolling. Portland is tied for first place int the US Division points wise, but has played three more games then co leader Tri Cities. Portland needs this win before a home and home with Spokane over the weekend.

Back to last night... a good crowd was on hand as Luke Walker, Stephan Schneider, Chris Francis and Brett Ponich visited with the Portland faithful. Some of the highlights included learning some interesting things about the players. For instance we learned that Brett Ponich is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and Luke Walker enjoys techno dance music, Stephan Schneider likes the color green the most and Chris Francis likes Audi's and Mary Ann over Ginger...

The next Hawkey Talk Pizza Update Show is scheduled at Stark Street Pizza for November 23rd. Hope to see you all there next time, as well as at the MC tonight for Brandon.

Monday Minute 10-19

2009-10-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Hawks fans... The central swing is half over and the Hawks have played the good, the ugly and better. The roadie started with a good effort in Edmonton. The Hawks beat the Oil Kings for the first time and got off to a good 5-2 win. It was nice to see Kurtis Mucha as a 20 get a win in his home town, and to show the Oilers that he can play in that building.

The next game in Red Deer was nothing like the game in Edmonton. Ian Curtis did not have a good game and the Hawks were flat out not the better team on the ice. We all know that games like this are going to happen and that the Hawks were not going to go 6-0 on the swing and not finish the season 68-4... The real question in how do they react and and do the play the next game out. Calgary is a tough team and really is favored to win the WHL this season.

The Hawks came out quick against the Hitmen and rebounded well jumping out to a quick lead. It was not a win, but a good effort coming back from the debacle in Red Deer. In previous years a game like Red Deer would have been taken as the norm and instead this year it looks like the Hawks are not going to take it. The Hawks have games in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Kootney before coming home to play Brandon. The team can still go 4-2 on this trip, but the room for error and the ugly isn't there.

Remember that the First Stark Street Pizza show will be Monday October 26, Francis, Ponich, Schneider and Walker will be in attendance.

Monday Miunte - 10-12

2009-10-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I have decided that every Monday I will take a minute and post thoughts on the weekend that was...

And well, this past weekend was interesting as Portland was up and down all weekend...

Game 1 - Tri Cities - This was suppose to be payback for the Hawks lone loss of the season. Instead, Portland was beat at the game they are wanting to play. Portland has been a puck possession team. They have out quicked folks to the puck and consistently forced the action. Well against Tri Cities it was a different story. Portland was not the quicker team, and while they did get shots on goal, they were not quality scoring chances. I really noticed that this team did not have the Boychuk factor as he seems to be that big body that at times says you are not going to knock me off the puck and I am going to get to the net. Plus once he sets up in the net he isn't going to be moved out of there. With Boychuck being hurt, I am not sure why Taylor Peters isn't playing? He is a big body with good hands...

Game 2 - Prince Albert - Portland took some time to get rolling, but once they did look out as the scoring came in bunches. All four lines got into the action and controlled the play. Ian Curtis was solid in net, and the defense seemed to have a better time clearing the puck from the front of the net. Portland did start to show that if a big body does get in front of the net, they are able to screen the Hawks goalie and redirect entry shots for goals. Portland is going to have to work on clearing the crease...

Game 3 - Everett - This game shows what can happen with scheduling. Last Wednesday Portland went to Everett and beat the tips. Portland came home and started a three in three weekend, Everett sat at home and didn't play again until last night. Now, I am not going to sit here and tell you that the Hawks were tired, but Portland did play three in three and had to travel to Everett for the game. Portland got off to a quick lead, but couldn't hold it and this by far was the worse game Mucha has played this season. Portland spent more time killing penalties then they did getting quality scoring chances and showed some chinks in the armor.

What are we left with...

Well, Portland is playing at a 70% win percentage. This is something that at the end of last season we all would be thrilled with... If Portland continues to play at this level they will have a 100 point season... 50 - 22 would be pretty great... Is that realistic for this team? My guess is they are more like a 80 - 90 point team, but with an odd bounce of a puck here or there they can be better.

Portland is also being lead in the scoring column by a 17 year old D-Man, Troy Rutkowski. I see this as a couple of different things. 1 - Portland has balanced scoring, with multiple lines putting the puck in the net, and 2 - Portland is getting a ton of shots, but the quality of those chance are limited. The forwards are getting chances, but need to get quality chances and they need to finish those chances.

Finally, Luke Walker is a more complete player then ever before. He is constantly working, all three zones and is fore checking, back checking, scoring and playing quality hockey. Keep up the good work Luke.

Now the Hawks hit the road for a long two week stretch. This team can grow together on this trip or get down on themselves if things don't go as well as we now expect. So, I see Portland going 4-2 on this trip before seeing Brandon at home on the 27th. It will be fun to see how this trip goes.

At the Top, now they have to stay there...

2009-10-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

After two good wins over the weekend, the Winterhawks now sit in first place in the US Division. It is too early to say the Hawks will ride this all the way to March, but so far the Hawks have stood up to the tests thrown at them.

It was really nice to see the team come roaring back last night in Kamloops and while following the game to have the feeling that this game was not over at the end of the second with Portland being down 2-0. This is a different Portland team... not only do they have the attitude that they are in every game, they are going out there and showing it. It is early, but if you look at the standings, Kamloops is leading the BC division... and Portland beat them in their building with a good come from behind effort. It shows that Portland is going to go in with the attitude that they are there to win the game and will keep working and pressing until the game is over to make that happen.

While the Hawks with 10 points are not leading the WHL in points, they are tied with Calgary with the highest win percentage... again, it is early, but nice to see. Portland is 5-1, with 3 wins already on the road. The Hawks have a chance to get their 4th road win in Everett on Wednesday before coming home to the MC for a rematch with TC (10 minutes in the second cost Portland the first meeting) and Prince Albert. So far the hockey has been fun to watch and both games this weekend should be more of the same...

Home Opening Weekend

2009-09-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Hawks had a very successful home opening weekend going 2-1 with the loss coming Friday on the road.

One trend that has stuck with the team into this 09-10 season is that for what ever reason the team is not playing well in the second period. In all four games the second has been the weak period, and it cost them Friday at Tri Cities. I really thought the team would be 4-0 at this point, but for about 10 minutes on Friday Night they were just not on their game. On the silver lining in the black cloud, this team has made adjustments along the way and has had very strong third periods.

So, is it one thing that can be easily fixed, yes, and if they continue to win at a 75% clip, then even better.

A couple of notes from the play...

Isn't nice to see Kurtis Mucha at the top of the leader board for goalies, and when was the last time Portland had two in the top 10?

The young defensemen are really coming around... In Portland's three wins this year, the number one star has been one of the 17 year old D-Men, Rutkowski in Kent, Johnson on Saturday and Morrow on Sunday. I really liked that Morrow stepped in against Seattle and protected his goalie. Did you all see Mucha skate over and give him a "thanks" pat with his paddle as Morrow was skating off the ice? Nice to see...

Luke Walker is becoming an all around player. Last year he was a scorer, this year he is total player, and is going to have a very good year.

I still think Portland is a 80 to 90 point team, and we as fans can enjoy watching hockey in Portland again this season.

Hawkey is back...

2009-09-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

The trip yesterday up to Kent and back was made so much better by a good game played by the Portland Winter Hawks. I say good because although the team won the game, they were not great. This team has some real potential, and last night they showed what that potential can do... Only one comment about the rink, nice seating area, but the concourse is going to be packed if they actually fill the place in Kent. Why didn't they give the fans more room to walk around?

Again, they played a good game, and for the most part controlled the puck, did a good job of keeping it in the zone while on offense and had a really good penalty kill going.

A couple of things that will get better has to be the power play. The team scored short handed, and at full strength, but didn't have a good power play. Portland also has to do a better job of getting their shots on net. Good things happen when the puck is on net... and many times they had a clear lane and the shot was wide, or high... I know that you are not going to get everything on net, but the Hawks did miss a couple of gimme goals because they were not on net.

Now a couple of predictions...

This is a 80 point team. I can see them winning 40 games this year... and they will be competitive night in and night out. They have the chance to win more, but 40 - 32 will be a really nice turn around.

Mike Johnston will be the WHL coach of the year. I just look at what he has done with a full camp and off season... now many of the players were drafted before he got here, but he has done wonders with them to this point in the season.

Troy Rutkowski will flirt with a 100 point season. This is a stretch, but I think he has a really good shot at it when the power play gets going, as he will QB it most of the time, and has a nice shot from the point.

Brett Ponich will be a good team Captain, and have the job for the next couple of years...

The team has some time off to get ready for three in three nights next weekend, and very well should be 2-0 to open the season at home with Seattle and PG at home next weekend. Let's fill the MC.

2009 - 2010 - Time to Start

2009-09-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

This past off season has gone by very quickly, and now that we have a taste of the 2009 - 2010 Winter Hawks, I for one am ready for the season to begin. At this point the Hawks still have several guys away at NHL Camps, and it looks like one is for sure not coming back to Portland. That being said, the coaches have some very tough choices to make.

As of today, the WHL site still lists Portland with five overage players and three Euros. It is a good thing for Portland to have this issue and now the coaches need to decide who do we go with on this roster. Here are a couple of thoughts...

Radim Valchar has had not only a good stint in Portland, but also a quality camp and pre-season. But, on a building team, how can you use both a overage slot and a Euro slot for him? Nino Niederreiter and Jacob Berglund are both younger and both have looked impressive too. Nino is only 17 and Portland may get three seasons out of his play. Hopefully if Portland does go with the two younger players, Radim will find a place to play.

On the overage front, Portland has 1 goalie and 4 forwards to think about. With the goalies, I do not see Portland going with three again this year. They may start the year with three, but Portland has to keep an eye on the future and get someone ready to be the number 1 goalie of the future. I almost feel that Ian Curtis will either be the number 1 goalie in Portland, or may not be on the team. If Kurtis Mucha sticks with Edmonton, and I hope he does because he is a quality player and an even better person. Then Ian Curtis has his shot at being the number 1 and Portland can develop a young net minder, maybe Keith Hamilton. What Portland can't do in my opinion is keep both Kurtis and Ian and hope to have a goalie for the future.

On the forward line, this is going to be tough, and I believe will hinge on whether Mucha sticks with the Oilers in some capacity. If Mucha comes back, that leaves two slots, with one most likely going to Chris Francis. So does Portland have one remaining overage slot available or two? We should find out soon...

Time to head up to Kent and drop the puck... only 4 days... Portland should have a fun team to watch this season.

Greetings from Everett

2009-09-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

So far that Hawks have won both of their games here at the Everett Pre-Season. In game one against Spokane, the Hawks came out and for 57 minutes were the dominating team. I love the aggressive play this team is showing. The power play, while still not scoring on a regular basis, is looking strong. Troy Rutkowski looks to be the Quarterback of the PP so far, and the diamond look with a high slot shooter is working. The puck is moving, they are keeping it in the zone, now they just have to start finishing. In the end the team held on for a 3-2 victory. It wasn't this close, but at the end of the game the scoreboard says it all and Portland got the win.

In game two the Hawks were not as crisp, and had to scrap with Prince George to get it to OT and eventually a shoot out. Portland out shot PG 62 - 26. When was the last time Portland had 62 shots on goal? Again, finishing seems to be an issue. However in the shoot out, Portland had three good looking shots out of five, Berglund, Leier and Reddin lighting the lamp, with Rattie and Pouliot not. (Yes Portland sent out two 15, a 16 and a first year Euro in the shoot out and it was great to see.) Hamilton held on in the shoot out for the win... so Portland is 2-0 heading into the night cap this evening with the Tips. Portland has looked good, and Coach Johnston is sticking to his plan of each goalie getting a game and each skater dressing for at least two games. So, it will be interesting to see who Everett skates tonight, I do see a fast exciting game as Portland seems to want to push the pace and play agressive hockey.

One last note for this morning... Derrick Pouliot is going to be one of those special players in this league. Watching him in camp and now in three WHL pre-season games, he has showed poise and composure that many players at 19 do not have. Time and time again he has been in the right place to make the play. Taylor Leier is another youngster who will fit right in with Rattie, Ross, Wotherspoon and Rutkowski as building blocks for the future. I know we all saw Ty Rattie last year and commented, can't wait for him to be in Portland, well, the same thing can be said about Derrick Pouliot... Portland is headed in the right direction, that is for sure.

Pre Season

2009-08-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well the first home preseason game in quite some time happened last night in the MC. While I was impressed with many aspects of the game, you could also see that not only were the players not quite ready for the opening face off of the year, but also game operations, the refs and many other areas were not ready either...

I know it was only preseason... but let's take a minute to review a couple of things from last night... Nissen is still not a WHL ref, he is just plain bad. Maybe I didn't see the rule change, but those two boarding calls on Boychuk were just bad calls. Nissen blew calls on both sides last night and overall I would rather see someone like Brian Fortin get a chance to ref then see Nissen call games this year. The WHL is a learning level of Hockey for the players, lets see some new refs too.

I know it was only preseason... but I really missed hearing "The Voice" call the game last night. The new PA person was not good in my opinion. This is not the NBA, so let's not try and introduce the players like it is an NBA game. I know that "The Voice" chose to move on, but he will be missed. Does this new person not understand that you have a volume control and that you do not have to yell? The PA needs to give information to the fans, and in this case they did OK... maybe this was a try out, and I will always give someone more then one chance... In the end, I just don't see this PA sticking...

I know it was only preseason... but, the Hawks have to bury the puck. Time and time again they had up ice rushes, and not to be turned away by the defense, rather they lost the puck because they tried to get fancy, or make one more move to beat the goalie. They have got to start burying the puck in the net. They had a ton of chance...

I know it was only preseason... but, Wotherspoon looked great. Time and time again he made the right decision and that will go a long way. The Hawks will be young on D, but have the players to be good, and that means not only this season, but next season too...

On to the Everett Pre Season Tourney, and I know, it was only preseason....

Camp is Underway

2009-08-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it is late August, and that means one thing around the WHL, camp. The Portland Winterhawks, yes one word now not two, are back at it like the other teams around the Northwest and Western Canada. So far this off season has been full of admin changes around the Hawks. The team changed their name, have a new look with Twitter, a new web site and have moved the team into the modern techno savvy world. I would guess that this is a big selling point to teens and parents alike with getting kids committed to playing in Portland. And from the look of things, it is working. Once again Portland was quickly able to get their top picks signed...

Going into camp, the team has some real on ice decisions that need to be made. The team has made their big off ice moves, now it is time to make the same splash on the ice. Coach has come out and stated that this year camp is not only for players wanting to make the roster, it is also for players that want to make the 50 player protected list. This should make for an exciting camp, as part of those battles, three things stand out to me.

1 - Overage players, It was nice to see Radim Valchar in camp. I really didn't think he would be back in Portland as a 20 year old Euro... Radim has done some really great things over the past two years on this team, but is he worth two slots? Other overage guys in camp include Kurtis Mucha, Stefan Schneider and Chris Francis. Portland still has the WHL rights to Brock Cornish and Travis Ehrhardt, but I do not think either defensemen will be here, leaving Portland to pick between the remaining four players.

2 - Defensemen, this has to be one of the youngest groups of talented players with only one 19 year old potentially coming back from last season, and several key players returning as 17 year olds. If this core comes together, Portland could have a very good back end for the next 2 or 3 sesasons. I really could see 18 year old Brett Ponich stepping up to lead this group, and could be the guy in line for the "C". One of the newspaper articles from St. Louis suggest that Brett has some of the same qualities as Zendo Chara. I am not suggesting that Brett is the next Chara, or Chris Pronger, but he has some of the same qualities that both of those guys had as young, physical defensemen and Brett could be the leader the back end needs this year.

3 - Goalies... Portland will not carry three all year, like they did last year. So, who is the future to Kurtis Mucha? Ian Curtis is back trying to win the back up job, yet he is 19... so, is Keith Hamilton ready to be that back up net minder? Ian did a good job last year, yet how do the Hawks really move forward with the future in net? Kurtis may stick with Edmonton (Where he is going to NHL camp) and then is it Ian and Keith? It will be interesting, not for this year, but for the future.

The team brings back most if not all of the front line scoring from last year. With Brad Ross, Taylor Peters and Ty Rattie all being a year older, add in the new Euro's and I believe the Hawks have the makings up a US Division challenger.

They drop the puck at the MC against Seattle on Saturday night...

Schedule

2009-08-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

The latest version of the 2009 - 2010 schedule has been released. In looking at the game schedule, the Hawks again start with a ton of road games. This may be a blessing come the end of the season, but for a young team, needing some momentum to get started, this could be difficult. I know that every team plays 36 at home and 36 on the road, but I know that Portland wants to get off to a hot start. This team has been playing catch up for the past several years and with most of the month of October on the road, 11 out of 14, it could make for a tough start. On the other hand, if this young group gets some wins early, bonds on the road, it could make for a really good year. My guess is the team is going to strive to survive the early start.

I know that the ownership group would love to get into the Rose Garden full time. The Garden is newer and fancy, and Paul Allen puts money into keeping the building at the top of it's game... however, for the most part the arena is too big for the Hawks. 3000 fans on a Tuesday has been a big draw, and at times mid week games has had crowds much smaller. 3000 in the MC looks small, but in the big arena, well, it will look deserted. What kind of home ice advantage does that give the team? The MC can be loud with 3000, the RG seems to swallow up the noise of 3000. We will have to see what 18 in the MC and 18 in the RG look like this year... I for one would love to see some real money get spent on updating the MC. We all know the MC needs a new ice surface, and updated facilities. It has to be cheaper then building a whole new rink, doesn't it?

Overall, the Hawks have a preseason game in just over two weeks. Should be interesting to see who hits the ice on the 29th...

2009 - 2010 Right around the Corner

2009-07-27T09:02:00.001-07:00

Well, the summer is going by quickly. With the temps reaching triple digits in Portland, it is hard to believe that camp will open in less then a month. Several key roles on this team for 09 - 10 are up for grabs. It should be an exciting camp with several players battling for not only playing time, but roster spots as well.

First, I want to say "The Voice" will be missed. After all of these years, Dan is hanging up his headset as the PA Voice of the Hawks. His, here come the Hawks, and fill in singing the National Anthems will be missed. Dan was the Voice and will be a hard act to follow. Be well Dan, I will miss hearing you and chatting after games about the team.

I also want to say congrats to former Coach Mike Williamson, in getting the top job with the Hitmen. Willie inherits a very strong team and should have a strong title contender next season.

As for the Hawks, hopefully this is the year that the Hawks make it back into the Play Off hunt. Over the past couple of seasons, we as fans have always thought, next year is the year to get into the playoffs and the following season go for a cup. Well, as fans, we all usually have high hopes during the off season and camp. Like the Cubs, wait until next year has been the plea... however, if a couple of things fall into place, this very well could be the year the Hawks make a US Division run and should make the playoffs.

A couple of roster thoughts... at the end of last year, it looked like Portland would have 7 possible returning 20s and with the ability to keep 3... well that has changed. With Travis Ehrhardt signing with Detroit and Ryan Kerr being moved to Calgary that leaves Portland with 5 maybes... the idea that Radim Valchar will be back for a 3rd tour seems very remote, and with two young Euros taken in the draft, I do not see Radim coming back. That leaves 4, one being Brock Cornish. I do not see Brock back in Portland, with his shoulder trouble and his reported issues with being in Portland, I do not see him back as a 20 either, so that takes 7 down to 3. Kurtis Mucha, Stefan Schneider and Chris Francis. I see all three of these guys being key contributors for next season. Will one of them being the team captain, or will it be a 19 again? That will develop during camp.

The other Roster concern I see is goal tending. Kurtis is most likely back as a 20, and with Ian Curtis and Keith Hamilton as the other two from last year. Ian being a 19, was solid last season and pushed Kurtis for playing time. Keith didn't show much as a Hawk, but his skill level must be high as he played for one of the U-17 teams last year. Hopefully he will show that promise on the ice this season as Portland needs to identify their goalie of the future.

More as camp rosters and other details are announced. For now... Stay Cool Portland.

2009 - 2010 Tickets

2009-05-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

I like many other Hawk Ticket holders got a very fancy packet in the mail recently. I have to admit that I have not fully looked through everything, but the highlights include not only a fancy folder with DVD included, but also information about ticket prices, how the games will be setup in each building and even more options as a ticket holder.

Like the Blazers, the Hawks will not have options for food to be included in the Garden as well as areas in both buildings that will be dedicated the more serious season ticket holders where things like the stoppage of play rules will be "strictly" enforced. "Strictly"... this is a manners thing, and some thing that I thought they were suppose to be enforcing anyway... so I can pay $60 extra bucks to have good manners enforced? Wow... It just so happens that my seats are in the new blue zone anyway, and I really like where my seats are so I will stay put, but come on Hawks...

The other change is that the attack zones are changing in the Garden. This interest me for two reasons... 1 - are the teams trading locker rooms or 2 - are the Hawks going to long changes in the Garden like Spokane does? My guess is that since the zones did not change at the MC, then the Hawks have changed dressing rooms at the Garden.

In other news, the Hawks have the fall camp info posted as well... I can tell you that this ownership group seems to be with it over all better then the previous group...

WHL representative to the Memorial Cup, Kelowna is rolling right on through to the Cup Finals on Sunday. It looks like the WHL could extend the winning streak for the Memorail Cup to 3 years with a win on Sunday, and of course the third win from a team in the west of the WHL too...

Good Old MC

2009-04-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like the Hawks will be calling the good old MC home once again next season. The plan to tear down the old barn and build a triple A baseball stadium have shifted from the Rose Quarter to the Lents district in SE Portland. Of course the folks out in Lents don't really sound like they want it over that way either... So, Portland Mayor Sam Adams in once again befuddled with what to do with his promises to the Beavers and Timbers...

While MC is showing it's age, it is the home of Portland Hockey. While the ice is bigger and the benches nicer at the Rose Garden, it just doesn't seem like or feel like home for the Hawks. Getting 2500 in the Garden on a Tuesday is just not going to work...

So, what to do for the MC... Personally the building is still workable for the Hawks. It can be a place to call home, and build a real home ice advantage for the team. I would love to see the ice plant replaced, and in doing so I think the end zone seating should be removed so the ice sheet can gain the length needed to get to the size of the garden. This has to be more cost effective then tearing the place down, and building something new, or moving the team into the garden full time. The Rose Garden is a nice option for the extra big games, but if the MC gets the money promised from the city (remember our friend Randy Leonard) coming to the Hawks game a couple of years ago, claiming that the Hawks were back on track etc etc... well, where are those improvements and funds? With some upgrades the MC can get back to being the home of the Hawks, a place to raise some new banners.

What a Time of Year

2009-04-22T09:46:00.001-07:00

Well this time of year is always chalk full of activities both in the world of sports and around the good old North West. The past few days have been almost perfect weather wise and the abundance of out door activities keeps you always on the go.

In the sports world the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing. In both the East and the West we have seen some great match ups... The Rangers and Caps will go seven... and when will someone win on home ice. The Hurricanes and Devils are getting snippy with each other, and the pure hatred between the Habs and the Bruins makes for some interesting physical play... and that is just the East. In the West, can you believe the talent at the Blue Line? The Ducks and Sharks have been dominated by the play of the defenseman, and of course Detroit has a strong back end as well. Chicago and Calgary may be the most even matchup and I can see that tilt going a full 7 as well.

In other sports news the NBA is off and running with the playoffs, and with the NFL Draft and the opening of Baseball season... well choices. In the WHL the semi finals are going strong. The Hitmen should close out the Wheat Kings tonight, and then be fully rested for the WHL finals. In the other match up, the Giants and Rockets keep battling, with both clubs winning on the road and the Giants leading 2-1. I am going out on a limb here, but I still see Calgary beating either Vancouver or Kelowna... and really I think it will be Vancouver that will be their finals partner. I really do believe that the Hitmen will take not only the WHL title, but the Memorial Cup as well, continuing the WHL hold on the Cup for another year.

As for the Hawks, the front office should be working on getting ready for the drafts. With good old flip flop Sam Adams now saying the MC is not going to be torn down (like he won't change his mind again...) the team knows that the old barn will be home for another year. I do have some thoughts on the MC, but will get to those in another post.

As for the draft... well, that will come tomorrow... gotta enjoy some sun before the rain comes... and it will, it's spring in the NW.

Vancouver - Spokane

2009-04-13T11:20:00.001-07:00

Well the Second Round in the East was over before it began with the Hitman and Wheatkings going through their second round match ups like a hot knife through butter... I still believe Calgary walks all over Brandon and will take the WHL's bid to the Memorial Cup.

In the West, Kelowna picked up the upset by dumping the Americans in 6 games. Getting the game 5 win in Tri Cities was huge and gave the Rockets a 4 game run after getting beat in games 1 and 2.

The Vancouver / Spokane matchup has been everything that we hoped for going into the playoffs, with road wins, Vancouver getting game 6 last night on the road, setting up for a game 7 in Vancouver. Anything can happen in a game 7, and will Spokane have a game like they did in game 5 or like they played game 1 and 2 in Vancouver. Should make for great drama, and we should know the outcome about 10:00 tomorrow night...

2009 - Round 2

2009-04-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Round two of the 2009 WHL playoffs are set to begin. Lethbridge and Medicine Hat both had upset victories in the first round and hope to take that positive momentum into the their second round matchups...

First in the East
#1 Calgary vs. #7 Lethbridge - This is a rematch from last year's Eastern Finals where Lethbridge upset the Hitman. Calgary came back in 08 - 09 to dominate the east and has too much firepower to not get past the Hurricanes in 09. I do think Lethbridge gets a game so I see this best of seven going to Calgary in 5.

#3 Brandon vs. #5 Medicine Hat - Brandon blew right by Kootney in the first round sweeping the Ice right out of the playoffs. The Hat had a hard fought 7 game battle with Swift Current to advance. Brandon can score and I think they have enough to get past Medicenc Hat, but it will not be easy and I do not see this not going atleast 6 games. I will pick Brandon to advance.

Now to the West
#1 Vancouver vs. #4 Spokane - This is going to be a great match up, Vancouver and Spokane have both recently held up the Memorial Cup as Champions and both teams have expirenced players all over the ice. Sexsmith and Tokarski have both led their teams to big wins in the playoffs, and both Kane and Bowman have scored big goals. Losing Jared Cowen to an injusry is going to hurt Spokane, and with the home ice I see Vancouver getting by Spokane, but it will not be easy, nor a short series. I see this one going to Vancouver in 7. Tokarski plays big, but in the end I think Vancouver has too many scorers.

#2 Tri Cities vs. #3 Kelowna - The rockets had a much easier time with Kamloops sweeping the Blazers in 4. The Americans took 5 games to eliminate the Tips, and in game 4 and 5 showed they flat out had more talent then the tips. Jamine Benn and Colin Long can score on anyone and it will really come down to Benn and company vs. Reese and the other Americans. I think this comes down to who has the better goalie and I see Pickard as being better then Guggenburger. Tri Cities to advance in 5.

It should be a great weekend, WHL round 2, the NHL getting close to wrapping up the regular season, MLB starts up for 2009 and the NCAA Tourney wraps up... Sounds like my kind of weekend!

US Division Weekend

2009-03-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well it was the weekend for the Eastern Washington teams in the US Division. Both Tri Cities and Spokane looked very good at times in putting Everett and Seattle away in 5 games each. I have to say that to me Tri Cities looked better in putting away Everett then Spokane did against Seattle. This was my first trip to Spokane and I really liked the Spokane barn. Really all of the US division teams, execpt Portland, have a pretty nice and new looking place to play. Hopefully Portland will do something to either finish cleaning up the MC, or if the MC goes the baseball route, the Hawks can either get a new building or try and make the Garden more of a home rink. That is another topic for another day though... on to the weekend thoughts.

The elder Pickard looked more solid in net for the Americans then Tokarski did for the Chiefs. I also think Spokane is going to continue to miss Jared Cowen as the defensive pairings have been shaken up as Cowen's season is over with the knee injury. On the other hand Tokarski did win a Memorial Cup last year so he know what it will take in going up against the Giants in the next round. Offensively Bowman, Wahl and Johnson all looked very good moving the puck and scoring. The fourth goal that Wahl scored this eveing was a thing of beauty that every young player is going to try to duplicate for years to come. He started from behind the net like a wrap around and at the last second pulled the puck back to flip it over the sliding leg pad of young Calvin Pickard.

Reese and company looked very comfortable moving the puck and finding quality scoring opportunities. Hopefully rookie F Spencer Asuchak will be OK as he went flying into the side boards while trying to through a check late in the third. The game was stopped for a good ten minutes as Asuchak was taken off the ice on a backboard.

In the second Round for the west, I feel Spokane and Vancouver go 7 games with Vancouver coming out on top at home, I also think Tri Cities and Kelowna will be a tough matchup, but in the end Tri Cities should come out on top, setting up a WHL West final between the two division winners.

Lethebridge took a big win tonight to go up 3-2 against Saskatoon. It was a big road win and Lethbridge should advance with a win at home in game 6.

WHL First Round 2009 Part 2

2009-03-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well in the West, the two BC division matchups ended in 4 game sweeps. I really thought that Kamloops would have given Kelowna a better match up then getting swept in 4 games as I thought this one was going a full 7 games. In the other match up between Vancouver and PG, well PG gave them a run in game 3 before falling in OT and that was it for the Cougars. Former Hawk Cameron Cepek finishes up his WHL carreer wearing the C for PG and going through one more play offs. The 4 US Division Teams are still battling with Everett hosting Tri Cities for game 4 on Friday and Spokane hosting game 5 against Seattle on Saturday. With Tri Cities and Spokane leading their respective matchups, these two could both be advancing by the end of the weekend.

I am going to head up to Everett for game 4 and then head over to Spokane for their game 5. Should be some good hockey this weekend.

In the East, Calagary looks to be the cream of the crop after dropping Edmonton in 4, but don't over look Brandon who also dropped Kootney in 4. The other two matchups seem to be very competitive as they are all knotted up at 2 games a piece.

I stil think Spokane and Tri Cities advance in the West and will stick with my picks of Lethbridge and Medicence Hat getting upsets in the East. More from Everett...

WHL First Round 2009

2009-03-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

Now that the play off pairings are set in the WHL, I am going to try and give my two cents on the first round...

In the West...
#1 Vancouver vs. #8 Prince George... Well someone had to be 8th, and I do not think this matchup goes past 5 games. Vancouver is just to deep and very seasoned for the playoff grind.

#2 Tri Cities vs. #7 Everett... Everett played very poorly down the stretch and I do not see that changing. Tri Cities will need to get this match up done ASAP so they can rest up for the second round.

#3 Kelowna vs. #6 Kamloops... To me this will be the most competitive first round matchup. Kelowna has Jamie Benn who can dominate up front, and with Colin Long will flat out score, but can they shut down the Blazers and CJ Stretch? If they can they advace. I see this one going 7 games.

#4 Spokane vs. #5 Seattle... Spokane has the best goalie in the West and maybe all of the CHL. Seattle and Calvin Pickard is tired, and I do not see him being able to dominate the way Dustin Tokarski will for Spokane. Chiefs in 5.

In the East...

#1 Calgary vs. #8 Edmonton... No one in the East will be able to keep up with the Hitman. They are a very loaded, seasoned and dominating Team. They will sweep the Oil Kings out of the playoffs, this one is over early. Sonne and Company should come out of the East. They will not over look the Kings though.

#2 Saskatoon vs. #7 Lethbridge... The Huricanes of Lethbridge are a popular pick by some to knock off the Blades. I am not sure if they can or not, but I see this matchup going the distance. Lethbridge does return several players who went to the finals last year against Spokane, so they know what it takes to win. I will pick Lethbridge to upset the Blades... Brian in Sherwood and I agree on this one.

#3 Brandon vs. #6 Kootney... I really do not have much of an idea on this one at all. Brandon was led by three of the top twenty scorers in the WHL and should have no issue scoring. I say Brandon in 6 games.

#4 Swift Current vs. #5 Medicene Hat... The Broncos are led by 20 year old Keegan Dansereau. He has a ton of play off expirence and led the Broncos with 81 points, but will the be enough to match up with the Hat's Tyler Ennis and Linden Vey? I think not and see the Hat winning this in 6 games.

I will post some thoughts on the games, and hopefully will make my way up into Washington to see a game or two. Once the second round match ups are posted I will make some predictions there too. My best guess at this point is Calgary wins the East and Spokane and Vancouver battle it out in 7 games in the West with Drayson Bowman scoring the winner in OT game 7 to advance the Chiefs on to play the Hitmen... It will be fun to watch!

That's all folks...

2009-03-16T07:40:00.001-07:00

Well, the final weekend of the season did not end the way the fans, players or organization had hoped for... after starting with the 9-1 blasting of the Birds on the road, the team had two bad periods of hockey, the second in both home games, to loose both final games. The team had the chance to get to 20 or 21 wins this season, yet it was not to be.

I'm not sure what happened, yet both Saturday and Sunday the team fell very flat and turnover prone in the second period of each game. Chilliwack scored 4 unanswered goal in the second last night. Ian Curtis was pulled after the 4th goal for Kurtis Mucha, yet a couple of those goal were not Ian's fault. The team got sloppy, and could not retain possession of the puck.

Now it is on the playoffs for most of the teams in the WHL, while for teams like Portland and Moose Jaw, it is time to have the team exit interviews, give the players their summer workout plans and start preparing for the draft.

The team also had their team awards... While I agree that when the players vote for their awards it can be a subject for debate. So, here are my winners:

Fan Favorite - this awards is voted on by the fans, and they selected Chris Francis. While I did not vote for Chris, he was very deserving of this award, after winning player of the month twice this season he was a good choice. Personally I voted for Radim Valchar. To me he did everything he was asked to do and then some. You never heard him complain about getting moved from one line to another, he skated on the power play, on the penalty kill, and flat out looked like he was hustling all the time.

Rookie of the Year - this award goes to the best first year player, and the team selected Brad Ross. I feel Brad had a good year, but two others stood out more to me, Killian Hutt and Troy Rutkowski. My pick for consistency through out the season is Troy Rutkowski. To me, playing as a defensmen is harder then a forward. Troy skated consistenly all season long and was looked upon to be a key blue liner this past season. Killian Hutt was an exciting hard working player as well, but to me Troy nudged him out for Rookie of the Year.

Top Points - This one is easy, Chris Francis was the clear high point player. Luke Walker fell one goal short of 30 for the season (That is a big number as Dan DaSilva was the last full season Hawk to net 30 (he had 31) for a season.). Chris had a faboulus season all things considered and hopefully he and Luke Walker will be ready to pair up again in 09 - 10.

Defensemen of the Year - Travis Bobbee won this award. Travis is another one of those guys who really had two seasons in one. His start to the year was anything but great. It seems like his confidence was shot early on, and he really picked it up once the new year came around. But does this reflect enough to be the Defensemen of the Year? To me Brett Ponich was consistent all season as a stay at home defensemen. Nothing seem to really phase Brett one way or the other. Maybe he had some of the sophomore slump, but to me he was consistent all season both on the ice and from what I know off the ice.

MVP - Travis Ehrhardt was selected MVP. Travis was a solid, yet quiet team captain all season. I really like Travis' game, and maybe I place a higher expectation on what he can and can not do on the ice. Travis is a quiet guy, works hard, seems to always be on the ice, and never seems to back down from anyone. He is not a stay at home defender and at times this causes issues with defending odd man rushes, but the wing on that side should notice the Travis is pushing the puck and cycle back to cover. All in all I would have put the MVP down to three players, Travis Ehrhardt, Chris Francis and Radim Valchar.

More coming later in the week on the season in review, player grades and things the team should be looking for in the upcoming drafts.

Last day of the Season

2009-03-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

The last two nights were very cool for different reasons. What could you not like about going into Kent and beating the Birds 9-1? The only real downside that I see is that Taylor Peters, a young and promising star in the making, injured his MCL. He was pretty entertaining last night trying to do some tricks on his crutches too. What I really like about this kids is not only his ability to consistently win draws, but also his willingness to do what ever the coaches ask from him... whether it be to kill penalties, or center the big checking line trying to stop the opponents scoring line, all in all he works. Then you add that to his off ice school work, when asked what his favorite subject in school is he replies, honors physics, you see that this teen really has a plan. Work on being the best hockey player he can, and at the same time get his education. Whether he makes it to the NHL or not, he will succeed in life.

Last night was cool for the simple reason that the Hawks played tribute to the Portland Buckaroos. This was not the normal honor night, it was the chance to raise a banner to the rafters of the MC in honor of 3 championships that the Buckaroos won while playing in the old WHL representing Portland. Several Bucks players along with Harry Glickman were on hand to witness the banner going up to the rafters.

From the on ice side of things, Portland came out fast and had to be in Calvin Pickards head going up 2-0 in 1:20. After pasting him 9-1 the night before he had to be thinking, oh Crap here we go again... but this Portland got sloppy. Portland got careless with the puck and Seattle took advantage. Travis E had a corssing pass deflect off of him allowing Seattle's second goal as well... Portland did battle back on a dribbler by Oliver Gabriel to send the game to OT, however Portland was forced to fight off another OT penatly and a hard point shot got in 46 seconds into it allowing Seattle to get the win.

I was amazed once again that the Refs let penatly after penalty go without making a call to then call what I felt was a touch penalty forcing Portland to finish regualtion in PK mode and to start OT that way. Being a man down from 5-5 is much easier to defend the being a man down in 4-4 hockey. So, Portland has earned 3 points this weekend, leaving them 2 ahead of MJ and tied with Chilliwack with 43. Portland has the chance to finish ahead of both Chilliwack and Moose Jaw. It was great to see the MC packed last night, hopefully the fans of Portland can do it again this evening. Portland is building for the future, and getting the win tonight will once again send them into the off season on a positive note, getting points in three games in a row to finish would be great!

Four to go...

2009-03-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Hawks had an up and down weekend. The almost in Kamloops coming back from being down to have victory denied at the end, to the melt down in Chilliwack to the 2-0 shut out at home last night... Ah, the emotions of team play and the youth.

Last night could have been an easy let down for the Hawks, rather they played a decent team game and got a big win on home ice. Francis and Valchar continue to lead the team in socring and effort. Valchar seems to be everywhere on the ice right now, and is really finishing up his 19 year old season with some big efforts. Francis is putting together a great season as well, with almost leaving the team, to the passing of his father, this year has been anything but easy for Chris. He is showing some real maturity and if he is back as a 20 next year will be poised to follow up his success this year with even more next season. The Hawks now have 4 games left, two on the road (Kelowna and Seattle) before finishing out next weekend with Seattle and Chilliwack. The Hawks also have a big tribute to the old Portland Buckaroo's planned for Saturday night. The Hawks should once again be in Buckaroo uniforms as the Birds usually wear old Totems garb.

Tonight is also the last Pizza Update show at Stark Street. Eight players are scheduled to be in attendance... that will be one full show of player interviews and of course the player picture aucations that raise money for the education fund.

Everett Effrot

2009-03-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

The Hawks came out with a big first period, survived an ugly second and finally got a bounce to go there way in the third to beat the tips at the MC last night. This game really was three different periods of hockey, the mini game within the game and this time Portland got the win.

In the first Portland dominated most areas of the game, with 17 shots on net, and two goals. The first 12 seconds into the game. Portland played in the offensive zone for much of the period with Ridgeway getting the first and Valchar scoring the second. Valchar once again looking very much like the best Hawks on the ice.

The second was a very different period of hockey, starting with Taylor Jordan getting a roughing penalty at the end of the first, putting Portland on PK to start the period. Everett can still produce on the PP and scored to cut the lead to 2-1. March 3rd was not Jordan's night as later in the period he got called for charging. It was a legitimate call, my issue is that it was called as a major, not a minor. Jordan also disagreed on the major call and got to spend the rest of the night in the locker room in getting a game misconduct. Portland did kill off the major, but as it expired Travis Ehrhardt got sent off for a rough, another mystery call. Portland also killed off that minor, spending 9 minutes of the second on the PK. Portland only got one shot on net in the second and that was on a long dump in shot from the blue line... not a quality scoring opportunity.

In the third Portland got back into playing more in the offensive zone. Both refs seemed to have swallowed their whistles last night and many plays resulted in non calls during the period. Evertt did score the tieing goal in a goal mouth scrum... Killian Hutt did take a loose puck in the nuetral zone up ice for a lucky break goal to take back the lead late in the third. It was about time Portland caught one of those lucky breaks, and he did force the issue by skating hard to the net and getting just enough on the shot to slip in...

Overall Portland has a good record at home on Tuesday night this season, 3-0. Valchar continued his very strong play and earned the 1st star because of it.

Next up a couple games in BC, Saturday night in Chilliwack, before coming back to the MC for another date with the Tips.

Weekend Trio

2009-03-01T20:18:00.001-08:00

Well the Hawks went 0 for 3 over the weekend, with road games in Spokane, Seattle and Tri Cities. The team finishes up the US Division series by hosting Everett on Tuesday. I didn't get to attend any of the games over the weekend as the Jr Hawks had there Playoffs over the weekend.

A couple of interesting things that I picked up on in listening to the broadcast...

Ty Rattie just might be that sniper the team is looking for. His midget stats this season were outstanding and in game #2 he picked up what could be the first of many goals in a Hawks sweater. I just have the remember along with other Hawks fans is he is 15, and next year will be a 16 year old rookie...

Kieth Hamilton dressed in Seattle last night. I am not sure if that is some kind of reward for working hard in practice, or if he is actually putting out the effort to get on the ice. He is a nice kid, but nice doesn't always make it in the WHL. Over Mucha's tenure with the team they have always had a nice kid, Chris Ward and Jordan White to name two. (Note, Hamilton did play after Mucha got run into... and did stop 15 of 17 shots...)

Dan Johnson scored tonight in Kennewick. He is starting to come back in to shape and show some of that grit and fire that he had as a 15 year old last season. He went through a big surgery in the off season so to be getting back into the flow will lead towards bigger things next season.

The Hawks need to start building expirence for next season. Get some of these young guys out there so next season they will not be seeing things for the first time. Many of them will tell you the game is faster at this level, and many of them if not all were super star players at home. They need to play against the WHL to get use to the speed and play in the WHL. That is what these last handful of games need to be for...

Tuesday night against the Tips...

Shoot Out...

2009-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you left a game and were slightly bummed out with the team getting a win? Well for me it was last night. It was a very good game by both the Bruins and the Hawks and I wonder if the quality of game was there because it was the Bruins and the Hawks... In any case I went home last night with a mix of, cool another win and gal darn it the Hawks needed to gain 2 points last night and now sit 1 point behind both Chilliwack and Moose Jaw.

The Hawks are left with a tough weekend, playing in Spokane, Seattle and Tri Cities before coming back to the MC on Tuesday, against Everett. The Hawks have 4 home games left, and 11 total, so anything is still possible with getting to 45 points.

From last nights game, I really think Radim Valchar was the Hawks best player. Luke Walker and Chris Francis are playing at a really high level right now, and with Radim they seem to have put together a really good quality line. One person around me last night compared it to the Dubi, Budnick, Wolger or Hansen line from seasons past. What really works on this line for me is that Valchar is willing to get in the corners and dig, work for the puck, chase the puck and last night he was one guy really getting greasy on the boards and in the corners, wanting the puck. Walker is another normal get after it player, but last night for me it was Valchar. His game has progressed this season. Valchar should be right up there as one of the canidates for player of the year in my opinion.

It was also good to see Luke Walker take a different approach to his turn in the shoot out. His attempt at a penalty shot last Saturday was a pretty weak effort and it was good to see him make the goalie commit to something before taking that quick wrister to get the hawks on the board in the shoot out.

Spokane is Friday, starting another 4 games in 5 nights, all against the US Division, and none of the games will be repeat opponents...

Effor better then the scores...

2009-02-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well Hawk fans, I have to say that both games over the weekend showed much better overall effort then the scores indicated. Yes, they were both losses, and both games were winnable, so... is this team moving forward?

I do believe that the Hawks are now competitive night in and night out. Yes you are going to get the turd of a game like the road loss to Everett last week, but you are also going to get the keep on fighting effort that the team put out on Saturday against the Birds. Both end up as losses on the scoreboard, but the effort and competitiveness is the key.

The playoffs are out of reach, yes some will argue that the team is not out of it mathematically, but short of a complete crash by PG and the Hawks ripping off ten wins in a row, any hope for post season play is over. So, what should the team fight for? Well, first off it is getting out of the basement for the 3rd year in a row. Second, this team should continue and work on game situations that will make them better for next year and with the number of 16 year olds getting quality minutes, make them even better as 18 year olds.

A couple of interesting issues are beginning to surface for this team...

1 - Goal Tending for the future... I my opinion the Hawks have decided that Keith Hamilton is not the future #1 goalie for this team. I understand that most likely it was too late to find him another place to play once Ian Curtis was brought in, and if he was going to be the future, why bring Ian into the mix? Mucha is a 19, maybe he will be back as a 20, maybe it will be Ian's net next year. I just have the opinion that Johnston and company do not feel Hamilton is the answer...

2 - The team has several 19 year olds that are contributing, and trying to determine who to keep as 20s next year will be intersting... If you start to rank the 19s in order, do you look to keep Francis, Mucha, Ehrhardt, and then have Kerr, Schnieder, Valchar and Cornish. I would rank Valchar higher, but do you keep him as a 2o, and as a Euro? I also believe Cornish is done... so who would you keep? Or would you not keep three and see who else might be out there...

Chilliwack is up on Tuesday...

Hawks out of 10th...

2009-02-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well the team has done it... they have caught the struggling Chilliwack Bruins to no longer be in last place in the WHL. The team played pretty good hockey today in the MC, killing off 8 penalties, and scoring on 2 of 4 power plays. There was some real fight in the Hawks today as they scored pretty quickly in the first off of ex-Hawk Mark Guggenburger. Luke Walker was creditted with two goals off of nice entry shots from Travis Ehrhardt, even though his second goal really looked like a nice low slap shot from Travis.

Overall the Hawks should be feeling pretty good about getting out of last. They have not been out of last this late in the season since Brandon Dubinsky and Brian Wolger were teaming up to pace the Hawks to a second round show down with the Vancouver Giants.

So, where do the Hawks go from here? They are one point behind Moose Jaw, so that should be easy to get... then they are still 14 behind PG, I do not think they can catch them, so what is realistic? 40 points? 45 points? The Hawks have 15 games left, can they get 10 or 11 points in 15 games? To me, that is the goal, finish on a strong note and see if they can get there. Too bad they onliy have one game left with Kelowna, as the Hawks have 5 points in three games off of the Rockets...

Until next time...

Holiday Special

2009-02-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Once again the Hawks will be hosting a President's day afternoon special today, this time with Kelowna. Baseball for years has had these week day afternoon "businessman's specials". I think today would be a great day to offer $2 tickets, just give folks looking for something to do a chance to come on down to the MC and see a game. You are going to get the normal folks to show up, now is a chance to really get some new folks interested in hockey.

As for the game today, both Ian and Kurtis have played this weekend... I say give Keith a game. Why not? The team needs to know what they have in this kid, so give him a shot!

More after the game...

Interesting Stats

2009-02-13T12:18:00.001-08:00

I have never been a huge stats person... Hockey isn't like baseball where you live and die by stats, but hockey does have some interesting stories that can be told in looking at stats. What I find to be an interesting debate is what is more important, points or plus / minus. Overall a person with a few games can have a great plus / minus and yet not really have contributed much in points. Case in point, Dan Johnson has played a mere 4 games for the Hawks, and has a +/- of 0, yet also has 0 points, 0 penalty minutes. On the other hand Chris Francis has appeared in 48 games, leads the team with 43 points (13 - 30) and has a -15. Of course in this case Chris has played and contributed much more the Dan.

Now here is what is interesting to, take these four players;
Luke Walker has played in 54 games, has 33 points (19 - 14) with 70 penalty mins and a -6.
Travis Ehrhardt has played in 50 games, has 25 points (7 - 18) with 76 penalty mins and a -21.
Brett Ponich has played in 54 games, has 15 points (1 - 14) with 85 penalty mins and a -7.
Sawyer Mick has played in 34 games, has 9 points (4 - 5) with 9 penalty mins and a +1.

In comparing these 5, Chris, Luke, Travis, Brett and Sawyer we can see a few different things... One thing missing is how many shifts or minutes on the ice as Travis seems to have considerable more ice time then the others, however, Luke and Chris are usually on the same line. So, Travis plays on the power play, the penalty kill and seems to double shift regularly while Brett takes some shifts on the pp and pk. To see that Brett has a 14 difference should mean something right? Without knowing minutes played however it is hard to really come to any conclusions.

Now with Luke and Chris, many fans feel Chris has been playing quite well over the past three months. He has been voted player of the month twice (Luke did get the other). I would argue that Luke has contributed more and been more productive as he has played in 4 more games, and has a lower negative plus minus.

I also just wanted to mention that Sawyer has really contributed in his short amount of time with the team as in 34 games, and the lack of overall team scoring, still has a +1.

On the goalie front, in 14 games for Portland Ian Curtis has slightly better numbers then Kurtis Mucha in his 38 games. Keith Hamilton and Jordan White have appeared in 6 and 4 respectively. Ian has a 90.4% save with 3.58 GAA, Kurtis is 89.2% with 3.73 GAA, so really not a huge difference.

I welcome any comments from the real stats folks out there... Hawks play the Chiefs tonight, before heading up to Kent tomorrow to play the Birds. I have not been to Kent yet, maybe this weekend will be my chance.

PG Split

2009-02-11T06:24:00.001-08:00

It was good to hear Portland rebound last night in PG after falling the night before to the Cougars. I really believe Portland needed to win both games to continue having the slimmest of playoff hopes.

First the game... Portland seem to have put together a complete game last night. To have the away team pick up all three stars is a rare happening and for Walker, Francis and Ehrhardt to pick them up last night proves that Portland played the better game. It was also good to hear Mucha back between the pipes as his last home start it looked like he got dinged up a bit, and Curtis has been playing pretty well. I was beginning to think that Ian had past Mucha as the number one goalie, and maybe sitting for a few games has made Mucha look at how he was playing and fire him up for the remainder of the season. I am still not sure what to think of young Keith Hamilton as he has been lost in the shuffle and does this point to what for next year? Ian is 18, Kurtis 19 and Keith 16... I can't see Portland keeping three again, and with several 19s on the roster is Kurtis on his way out with Ian and Keith playing next season? No one really knows what Portland has in Keith as he is just plain not playing.

Standings... Portland has gotten to within one point of Moose Jaw and two of Chilliwack to get out of the the basement of the WHL. The Hawks are still 14 behind PG, so getting to 8th is the west is pretty much over. Portland can still pass both MJ and Chilliwack, and that will be an improvement over the past few years. Portland also still has 2 games more to play then both MJ and Chilliwack so hopefully... it also means that last home game this season against the Bruins could be for something... Portland should get to 40 points this year which is a huge improvement from the 27 they had last year.

Portland now has the long bus ride home before playing again on Friday at the MC against Spokane.

Close....

2009-02-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

The difference in these past two games in comparison to the two last weekend were night and day. Yes Portland did pick up 2 points over the weekend and 3 this past week. The intensity and fight in the Hawks was vastly improved. In some ways I think the game Portland played last night was better then Friday's against Tri City, and was better then the game Wednesday against Lethbridge.

Portland played better team hockey last night. Yes, the results was still a loss, but when playing against the best team in the West and most likely the WHL (1 point behind Calgary, yet 4 games less then the Hitman), Portland showed they were a team that should be in the WHL. I do think it hurts not having Hutt available to play, but Ross, Boychuck and some of the other young guys are really starting to step it up for this team. Heck, Joe M and Troy R have been matched up to play defense together, two young guys that may be able to build some real chemistry. The last point about last nights game is that Travis E has been playing some serious minutes. We clocked him last night and he played just under 30 minutes... the most of any defensmen... I did not clock him on Friday, but he seems to always be on the ice. With 120 minutes of "D" time available, I am guessing he is playing about 30 minutes a night or 25%... those are big time minutes.

Now the Hawks travel on to PG for two, Monday and Tuesday nights. These two games are must wins for Portland, anything less and any slight bit of hope for the playoffs is gone. Even with these wins, Portland is going to have to play outstanding team hockey and PG is going to have to not. Personally I think Portland should have some goal on catching Moose Jaw in the East and Chilliwack in the West. That would be a step for Portland.

Good luck in PG guys...

If ever...

2009-02-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

If ever a team needed a win, the Hawks were that team. Last night was a pretty good all around effort from the Hawks. Ian Curtis is continuing to show that he does in fact belong in the WHL and his play is allowing the team to not rely on Kurtis Mucha night in and night out. Of course with the solid play of Ian, what does that mean for Kieth Hamilton and his continued development? Ian will be 19 next year, so maybe he is going to be around next year, and maybe Mucha as a 20 is playing at the next level?

Time will tell on that...

As for the game last night, the Hawks battled, won races to the puck and played pretty good team hockey. The one thing that really bugged me about last nights game was the temper and attitude of Taylor Jordan. I like that he plays a physical style of hockey, but the couple of incidents, after the whistle or out of the play stuff has to stop. Portland got lucky last night that the "Hanson Brothers" act of almost taking a swing at players on the bench only resulted in a 10 minute miscoduct. That kind of play could have been worse.

Brad Ross really brought it last night and Riley Boychuck also showed some extra last night. Hopefully that will rub off on to the team and allow them to keep it close with Vancouver. Heck all the Giants did last night was shut out Spokane on the Chiefs home ice...

Portland has 3 points in the last two games, hopefully the point streak will continue tonight.

Lethbridge...

2009-02-04T23:00:00.001-08:00

Well at least the team came out with some fire tonight and played a decent game. Lethbridge may not be playing like they were at the end of last season, but seeing a line of Boychuck, Colton and Beach together is a pretty scary thought. Portland played through some adversity tonight, and Ian Curtis came in and played pretty dang well in replacing Muchs.

There are two things that irratate me about tonight... First, Johnson, the ref not Johnston the coach, was all over the place tonight. He had no rhyme or reason as to why he made calls and changed how he was calling the game shift by shift and play by play. This makes it almost impossible of either team to get into any flow of the game. This is not the first time this season that he has had this kind of game either. I am not one to say that the officials cost Portland the game, however in this case, the referre did impact the game and in the end shouldn't. Lethbridge got out of Portland with two points, but they too should be frustrated. The fact that in OT, Portland was called for an interferrence call that 30 seconds earlier was not called when Walker had a up ice rush is horrible. If the ref is going to let one go, then he has to let the other go as well. Either way you have to be consistent.

The second thing that got me tonight is that most of the Portland faithful, I do not know what the announced attendance was but it seemed like less then a 1000 to me, felt relieved to get a point. Have we sunk to the level where a point out of three home games in a row is acceptable? Come on fans, those of us who showed up for the game have shown to be Hawks fans, but to feel like we got some moral victory... hogwash. Portland played better, much better then over the weekend. This is the effort that needs to be there every night. Portland has to play consistent for 60 minutes, well in this case 65, to compete.

I was glad to see Max Brandl come back after limping off the ice (On another nothing call). He was limping pretty bad... and to see Killian Hutt in dress clothes and learn he will be out for a few weeks with a bum shoulder. I also hope that Muchs is not dinged up too badly from getting crashed into tonight. I am guessing that might be why Ian replaced in early in the second.

Well two more home games this weekend, the last Rose Garden game of the season on Friday and Vancouver for mascot night on Saturday. Hopefully the Hawks will bring it to both games this weekend.

Ticket Prices

2009-02-03T15:01:00.001-08:00

I understand that recently the Hawks raised ticket prices for walk up sales. Since I have not purchased a game day or walk up ticket in years, I am not completely sure what the changes were, or the rational used to make the choice. (I guess having season tickets keeps you unaware of what many casual fans, or fans who cannot afford season tickets are seeing and feeling from the team.)

Here are my thoughts on the ticket price change or surcharge or whatever...

- This does not seem to be the right time to change ticket prices for several reasons. The economy is horrible, the Blazers are winning and the amount of disposable income for many is getting smaller and smaller. I know that the team is hiring more folks and wanting to expand ticket sales, but raising the prices for single game tickets... The fight for the entertainment dollars in the Portland market are more then just the Hawks vs. the Blazers. You have to throw in the Jax, the Timbers, Beavers and of course the college sports in Eugene and Corvallis. To raise your prices when families have a limited budget for this type of thing seems to drive fans to spend their dollars elsewhere.

- When the product on the ice is struggling, you should be looking at ways to get the fans in the seats. Raising prices usually is not the way to do that. Improvements in the product should come first and then the increase in costs.

- Is this the forerunner to the Hawks raising season ticket prices next season. I have heard the the new ownership wants to have more games at the Garden next season, and I know that the fees to the team are higher at the RG then the old MC. So, does that mean season tickets go up? I know that the season ticket base seems to have continually gone down over the past few years, or at least the number of folks going has...

So, in the end what is the main reason to raise prices? To make more money, but in the long run will the actually make the team more money?

Superbowl Weekend, Wasn't Super...

2009-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

I started this post last night, and in my frustration decided that what I had written was not completely fair, so I took some time to try and find a positive thing or two to add to my post. The past couple of games at home have not been very good. I know that is an understatement, but overall team play has not occurred. The past two nights have been 5 skaters playing against an opposing team. Team hockey has failed to exist. For any group of players, that want to play selfish one on five, skating and stick handling not passing the puck hockey, the results will continue to look like the two home loss shut outs that the Hawks have faced the last two nights.

Last night was even worse then Friday nights game against Tri Cities. Against the Tips, it really looked like most of the team just didn't want to be out on the ice. Winning races to the puck, didn't happen. Digging in the corners, didn't happen, thinking and playing team hockey, didn't happen. I think you are getting the point here, over all this team failed to play as a team.

I guess the Hawks need to have some new goals, because the play offs will just not happen. Maybe one goal needs to be winning 20 games, heck they have 12 so far, and getting 8 more is a good goal. Maybe getting to to play as a team, or catching Chilliwack for 9th in the west... Something so that they just don't play out the remaining 23 games. 8 - 15 would be a nice way to finish the season... bummer that we Hawk fans are hoping for something like 8-15 to finish the season.

One last comment from last night... once the team was not going to win that game (6 periods of being shut out at home... ugly) why is Hamilton not getting a chance to play? I understand the Ian is here becuase maybe Keith is not ready for prime time... then I do not understand why he is not home getting playing time. Can he really develop into a WHL goalie watching night in and night out? I know that right now he does not give the team a great chance to win, but when the are out of it... maybe he should get a chance...

Next up will have to be, how to build for next year... Is Feb 1 a record for alreaydy thinking about 09 - 10?

Superbowl today... I hope it is a good game, no real interest in one team over the other... just like to see a good game.

Opportunity Lost

2009-01-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

As the season leaves January and enters February the Hawks are in a position where if they want any shot at making the post season, they need to start playing today like their hair is on fire. The playoff intensity needs to begin now. The team has 14 home games and 11 away games for a total of 25. If you break down those remaining games into chunks, like the next 5 games are all at home. The Hawks really need to win 3 out of those 5. Then the Hawks go to PG for two, which are must wins, the other three in that chunk would be Spokane at home, Seattle in Kent and Kelowna at home. Again Portland needs to win both in PG and then at least 1 of the other three to have 6 wins in that 10. If Portland can go 15 - 10 over the last 25 games, and win those two back to back games at PG they have a shot. To this point Portland has 12 wins, so 15 out of 25 is a long shot.

This morning Portland stood at 27 pts in 47 games, while Chilliwack has 34 pts in 51 games and PG has 40 pts in 51 games. Portland has the potential to pass Chilliwack and cut the margin to 5 pts by winning those 4 games in hand... Is it possible? Not likely, but PG is streaky and Portland has shown they can compete night in and night out. Maybe the goal for the team should be to catch Chilliwack...

Portland has played the fewest games in the WHL, so they are going to be busy over the next 6 1/2 weeks. The time is now to play like tomorrow you go home if you lose.

On another note, it sounds like the team had some real fun at the Outdoor Rink in Enterprise Oregon. I would think North Eastern Oregon would be Tri Cities American's country, but I guess it was a chance to go do some good will items and have some fun at the same time. Maybe this was the weekend retreat to get them started on the late season push... This weekends games at home are both winnable and the team need to get points if not wins in both, other wise the talk of playoffs is dead.

Kent

2009-01-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I really can't make any real comments on either the bus trip to Kent or that game since I was in Kennewick for the Tri Cities Desert Classic, a Pee Wee Hockey Tournament. I did see that the Hawks fell to Seattle, and did not gain any ground on the Cougars, or Bruins. Time is running out on any real chance to make the playoffs, and the team needs to get it going if they want to get into that 8th spot.

I know that many will say, why get in there just to play Vancouver or Spokane or Tri Cities. Well, I guess my thoughts are the young guys on this team can benefit from being there, when they start to make a run in 2009 - 2010 or 2010 - 2011. Getting some expirence in the play offs will make it easier next time. So, it would be a good thing... and show that the team is starting to go in the right direction.

One quick reminder for tomorrow night... Doug Piper will be at Stark Street Pizza for the Pizza Update show. I Believe he will be there to answer questions and discuss the team off the ice for sure starting at 7:00 PM. Come on down and have some fun, and get to know Doug.

Hawks play at Tri Cities on Wednesday... before having the Americans and Tips at home over the weekend.

Winter Hawks Boosters

2009-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

What is a booster? One definition is; An enthusiastic promoter, as of a sports team or school. So I ask all fans of the Winter Hawks, why are you not a Winter Hawks Booster? The Boosters are suppose to be a group of fans that promote Hockey in the area. I for one see the function as more then just promoting the Winter Hawks, supporting them, but also promoting the sport of hockey in our area. The Boosters have sold out their first bus trip in two years, this one going to Kent on the 24th to root on the Hawks.

While the politics of any organization will keep some away, the fact that the Booster have a membership of less then 200 really is disappointing. With home attendance once again low, the Hawks are still drawing more then 200 per game. So, again why are fans not becoming boosters?

The Boosters do some really good work. This year they are working with the Hawks office and Jerry Moss to help with game day activities, including the three stars, working the puck shoot, doing hand outs and helping with fan relations. The Boosters also host pizza up date shows at Stark Street, and help the Goal club raise funds for the players scholar ship fund.

In fact this coming Monday, the players will be out of town, but new team President Doug Piper will be the guest speaker in a town hall forum event. Admission is $3 and gets you a free soda from Stark Street Pizza. The last town forum was under the JJJ era and was filled with hot air promises, this event should prove different. Usually Andy Kemper MCs the event, but since the team will be out of town, Andy maybe with them.

But back to my question, If you are a fan of the Winter Hawks, or just a fan of Hockey living in the greater Portland area, why are you not a Booster? If you do not like something about the boosters, then join up and work for change. Like any organization, you have options, get involved and work for change, sit back and do nothing, or just plain stay away. This is the time to get involved.

The Hawks are off until Saturday... if they have any ability to make the playoffs, this is a must win or must point.

Parent's Weekend

2009-01-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

The 2008 - 2009 version of Parents weekend has not turned out to be what everyone had hoped for.. Portland had two very winnable games this weekend and in both failed to put the puck in the net time and time again. The team seems to have moments of playing good team hockey, but in the past two nights those moments were very few and far in between.

Today is the annual skills challenge, being held at Mt View Ice Arena in Vancouver. I know the past couple of years this event has been held at the MC, and I am not sure if it is a scheduling conflict, or throwing a bone to a sponsor, but I would hope that Mt View would have been to small to hold the event. In any case the typical events will be held, and hopefully the players and fans will have a good time.

Since my son has been ill all weekend, starting on Thursday morning, I was not able to attend the game on Friday, but did get to watch it on TV. A couple of comments on that game...

1 - How many times will the Hawks allow Mucha to get run over, knocked into, slashed and out right mauled before some one either runs into the Spokane net minder, or someone knocks out a Spokane skater. That was unbelievable to me... Muchs is a tough kid, but that was ridiculous.

2 - Portland seemed to be skating up hill all night. The individual races to the puck was consistently lost, the battles in the corners the same way. I have heard that the team is tired... well the only player that I could say should be exhausted in Chris Francis. He has had an emotional roller coaster over the past couple of weeks, and yet he seems to be one of the guys who is skating hard, trying to win those battles.

3 - Portland ran into a better team... 7 current NHL picks to 0. The talent is flat out older and better at this point. Like in the NHL, maybe the good teams use the first half of the season to try new things, mix in new players and then use the second half to get ready for the playoffs. Now the Hawks are running into those teams.

On to the Kamloops game.... It was good to see new Hawk, Max Brandl suited up. The little bit I got to see of him looked encouraging. On to the team, Portland came out flat. The team was down 2-0 before many folks even made it to their seats. I did make part of this game, but had to head for home as my son was back to not feeling well... so I didn't see any more then the first period. Kamloops is a team Portland has to beat at home. Portland needs to get points in these home games if they have any chance of catching Prince George for the 8th spot. I really believed Portland had a chance for 8th, but that is starting to slip away. Portland now has a full week off until they travel up to Kent next Saturday. It is time to regroup, and if they want to make the playoffs, the run has to start now.

Have fun at the Skills Challenge, not sure I am going to make it this afternoon. If I do, I will try to get something written up about it.

Shoot Out

2009-01-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well the Hawks came from behind in one of the worse called games I have ever seen to force not only OT, but also a shoot out. I for one hate the fact that a team game like hockey can be decided by a shoot out. I know that in the regular season, if you keep playing sudden death 20 minute periods like you do in the playoffs, games could go on for ever. So, we have a couple of options... play OT periods until someone scores to win the game, or play the one and call it a tie. Hockey use to have ties in the regular season, so why not go back to them. Since the standings are all about points, not just wins, maybe having ties would not be a bad thing. In basket ball you do not see a free throw shooting contest decide games, and in baseball it is not a home run derby...

As for last nights game, I only have two things to say about the officiating of Mr Johnson... it was terrible. So...

#1 - I hope the league office watches the tape of that game. To be nice, that game should be used in training classes about how not to ref a game.

#2 - I undersetand folks having a bad game, but Johnson was out of position to be making calls all night, and when he did make a call, you really didn't understand why he made a call one time, and didn't the next. If he would have been more consistent on what he was calling, then the players could adapt to what was going to be allowed and what wasn't.

Three other thoughts, First I was disappointed that the team did not have a moment of silence before the game last night for Dave Francis. It was the first game back home after his passing. Maybe they were going to and Chris asked that they didn't, but it would have been nice. I know that the Boosters are collecting donations, and will be making some donation in Dave Francis' name.

Second, I really felt Portland was flat in the shoot out last night. Both Hutt and Walker seemed to go for the power shot into the goalie. Maybe I am not giving Simpson any credit but the shots were just off. Francis treid something different, but just didn't get the lift on the shot like he needed. So in two shoot outs recently, Portland in 1 for 6, Francis getting the one goal in Kelowna.

Lastly, I am not a proponent in Portland having three goalies. Since the deadline came and went, it looks like they will carry, Mucha, Curtis and Hamilton. To me three is a crowd and if the team is not going to use Hamilton as the back up wouldn't it be better for him to be back home playing on a regular basis, rather then practicing in Portland and not playing? I do not know the inner workings of the team and front office, but have never been a fan of keeping three. Hamilton could go play at home and be called back up if one of the others gets hurt...

That is all for today folks... Friday night the game is back at the Rose Garden and it is parents weekend too.

Deadline comes and goes

2009-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

The Hawks are back home tonight to finish up a three games in three nights stint. The team has put on some real miles in the past week, both on the bus and emotionally. The trip had some terrible off ice news, much to do about nothing at the deadline and many miles rolling down the road.

First with the off ice... the passing of Mr Francis was trully shocking. He was a very interesting person, and was very much a supporter of Chris on the ice. I had the chance to visit with Dave many times, and to learn of his passing shows how valuable life really is.. He will be missed during the upcoming parents weekend. Hopefully the Hawks will do something nice for him...

On to the trade deadline... The past week had several rumors running all over. In the end, Portland moved the rights to Bo, and got the rights to a 20 year old German. I guess the Hawks have the room for both an overage and a Euro. So, hopefully all the paperwork will get done in a timely fashion and Max will be in Portland soon. I do think the Hawks still need to do something about having 3 goalies... At least I have not heard of them reducing one from the roster.

Tonight will be the first time that Portland will see the Beachless Tips in town. Portland beat them easily on the 2nd, so hopefully that trend will continue tonight.

On the road again...

2009-01-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

The Hawks had a great end to the short home stand last Friday night, which carried into the game on Saturday in Spokane. Some will comment that Spokane was missing some very key players, and Seattle was with out one of the best D-Men in the WHL, but in the end you have to play the schedule with who you have. Portland was missing a couple of key players as well, and in the end it all seems to even out over the course of the season.

I am starting to really believe that this team will make the playoffs, maybe as the 8th seed, but I do believe they can catch PG and Chilliwack. The Hawks are starting to play consistent attacking hockey. The team now has more wins for the 08-09 season then then did all last year, just 3 points behind Chilliwack. Both PG and Chilliwack have played 3 more games then Portland as well. What does all of this mean? To me it shows that the players believe in the coaching staff, and that change is actually happening on and off the ice. Players are showing confidence in the structure that the new ownership and coaching staff have put in place and things are getting better. Are the Hawks all the way back, no. Do they still have some holes to fill in the roster, yes. So, as the trade dead line approaches, Portland has some issues to resolve.

1 - They now have three goalies... Mucha, Hamilton and Curtis. If Hamilton is the future, where does Curtis fit in? He did get the win yesterday in Spokane, and he is more seasoned then Hamilton. I do not think Portland can carry three goalies for the remainder of the year. I feel the team needs to keep two, in this case three is a crowd.

2 - Stay young, or move some young talent for a big time scoring threat... At this point I would keep the talent as it stands. Portland is building for next year, and yet has a chance to make the post season with this group. Players like Ross, Peters, Hutt and Rutkowski are making impact plays, and will only be better for it. With the addition of Wortherspoon and Rattie, this team has the real making of something good, not only next year, but for a few years. I would like to see the team not make any moves at the deadline.

3 - The roster is too big, and the Hawks need to trim it down at the deadline... This is going to be tough. I know the Hawks have been through this issue, like other teams in the WHL. How do they cut the roster down, and keep in mind the building process for the future, and keep the playoff drive going...

Well, new GM Mike Johnston will the one making the decisions. To this point he has made some good ones, like bringing in Mick and Milhouse... Speaking of Milhouse... did he just drop out of sight? I have not heard anything about his status, just know he has not played the last two games.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a New Year, the Hawks finished 2008 in style, beating the T-Birds not only once in Seattle, but twice getting the second win at the Rose Garden last night. There were several good things to come out of last nights game, and one big loss.

First the loss, the scrum with 5:34 to go in the game may have caused Brock Cornish to be out for some time. Nothing from the Winter Hawks yet, but Brock did fall in the scrum, looking like he twisted the shoulder while falling to the ice. Honestly, I am not sure if it was the same shoulder he had surgically repaired last year, but you could tell the way he grabbed it while falling that something was wrong. Hopefully it is not a major injury and Brock will be back on the ice soon.

Now on to some good things in my opinion... The game over all is starting to come together for this team. I know that Seattle was missing T Hickey, but Portland was missing two key contributors as well in B Ross and T Rutkowski. Portland seems to be putting it together at times, and you can see the influence of change on this team. I really liked a couple of the lines last night... Francis, Walker and Reddin seem to be playing pretty well together, and the line of Schneider, Boychuck and Jordan has some real size.

I really felt Mucha played very well last night. I was hoping he would get the shut out, but with the odd number of fighting majors from the game, caused Portland to be in a 5 minute major penalty kill. Portland did get it even to 4 - 4 as Seattle was called for a minor, but majors are hard to kill. Seattle pulled their goalie and it turned into a 6-4. Two goals during that time was the scoring from Seattle.

Ollie had a nice penalty shot, scoring the second goal for Portland after Riley pushed the first goal in off a rebound in the crease. Riley has a big body and should be in the crease more often...

Overall Portland seems to be getting it together. If Portland can continue to play this type of hockey, the playoffs are not out of reach. PG is in 8th, with 29 points, Portland is still in 10th with 21, Chilliwack has 25. Portland is also now 1 win away from last years win total, something they should be able to match on Friday with the Tips coming to town.

Greetings from Canada

2008-12-28T07:59:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and in finally getting a wireless connection for the laptop, I was able to see that the Hawks came screaming back from the holiday break to thump the Thunderbirds 6-1. It sounds like it would have been on heck of a great game to watch.

I will miss the game again tonight in Portland as I am up in Chilliwack BC, attending the 50th Pee Wee Jamboree. My son's team is playing, representing the Portland Jr Hawks. We are going to attend the Bruins vs. Tips game tonight as we play on the practice sheet adjacent to the main rink where the Bruins play. It should be a fun afternoon and evening.

Good luck to the Hawks playing in both the U17 and World Juniors. What a great honor to represent your Country.

Still Snowing

2008-12-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that we are into day 8 of Arctic Blast Storm Watch 2008. Portland is not a town that can function in this weather... too many cars unprepared on the roads, and too many drivers that do not have any experience with slick roads. Heck I have seen many drivers who can't function in the heavy rain, let alone snow and ice.

This may seem odd to the folks back east or up north, but once again the city and area is shut down by the weather. As I told my neighbor yesterday, ice bad, snow good, unless the ice is a rink right?

All in all this weather looks like we may get a white Christmas after all. Stay safe out there folks.

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday ended up to be like any other snow event in Portland... Storm Watch 2008, everywhere. It was interesting to see how the kids all reacted to having some winter fun, and get the day off today... On the other hand, us adults had to trek into the office.

As for the Winter Hawks... I know it was a frustrating weekend, for both the fans and players. The last second goal in the PG game was a killer. The Hawks needed that game, not only to make up ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings, but to also let teams know that they are up for a real fight and that if you don't bring your A game, Portland will beat you. Portland had chances to bury PG, and just didn't capitalize on them.

Medicine Hat is a good team. This season several times Portland has skated with the better teams and gone toe to toe with them. Saturday night was actually a better game in my opinion. For the most part Portland played better, but couldn't keep pace with putting the puck in the net. Portland would score and seconds later it seemed the Hat would put one in... never allowing Portland to get back into the game, scoring wise. This is something that Portland needs to get, the attitude to put opponents away.

Stay warm folks, it looks like a cold week in Portland.

The one that got away...

2008-12-12T23:29:00.001-08:00

The title of this post pretty much tells the story to me... The Hawks out worked the Cougars for 55 minutes in my opinion, and then went into a lets not lose mode, instead of a we need to win mode. A couple of things stood out at the end...

1 - With 30 seconds to go, the Hawks lost every face off in there end... amazing, they could not win just one, and clear the puck. Coach tried a couple of guys out there, and yet in the end they could not get just one...

2 - With an empty net and the Hawks driving the puck, they needed to get a shot off, instead Luke Walker tried to play keep away and kill the clock. The Hawks needed that goal so that one fluke, like with 3 seconds left would not cost them the game....

I really feel like the team let this one get away tonight and instead of getting a good start to the weekend with 2 points, they end up with 1. I heard several folks leaving the game, saying "I'll take a point tonight..." My thought was, what? Have we as fans gotten to the point where loosing in OT or a shoot out is good? Portland should have won the game, period.

A side note... Savage called a terrible game tonight... I hope he is not around for tomorrows game...

Another side note... Tristan King is back in town. Should be interesting to see how he and Killian play. I really do believe that Portland got a player more suited to what Portland needed in that deal.

Holiday send off...

2008-12-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

This weekend we find ourselves once again at the get a way weekend for the players and fans before the Christmas holiday. Typically this weekend has been a time for players and fans alike to have one last hurrah before the players head home for a holiday break. This year the break seems early, and I believe the players will actually not start for home after the game on Saturday, rather mid week.

In any case, the Hawks have two very winnable games this weekend. The last time PG was in town, the Hawks handled them 4-1 at the MC. It would be fantastic if the Hawks could start this weekend off with another great effort game, and another home ice win. It would be great to see some passion from these guys, some Ryan Kerr energy tonight as Portland needs to head off into this break with some positive momentum.

Tomorrow is the Hat. The Hat is in second in the central, just ahead of the Ice, who Portland beat at home last week. Portland has skated to their opponents level many times this season, down to low teams and up to play the top teams. This weekend Portland has one of each (not that Portland isn't looking up at PG in the standings...). It is time for Portland to play their game on home ice, and have some consistent energy filled passionate games of hockey.

Let's see if everyone can get their holiday season really started with a couple of wins on home ice before the break.

Interesting Chat

2008-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

I had an opportunity to chat a bit with both Joe Morrow (Happy 16th tomorrow) and Travis Ehrhardt this evening. It was interesting to talk with them about where they have been and where they think they may have the opportunity to go.

First in talking with Joe Morrow, it was interesting to learn that he, like Luke Walker is a second generation Winter Hawk. Joe's dad, played on the first Winter Hawk team in Portland. Joe is also from Sherwood Park, and attend school for a time with Kurtis Mucha's younger sister. One of the things that really stood out to me is that Joe is a young player (just 16 tomorrow) and he wants to be a defenseman.

I also got a chance to chat with Travis, about is short time with Detroit, his being the "C" this year and about how much his foot work has improved.

Being a defensemen, in my opinion is one of the harder things to do on a Hockey team. I know you say that when the team has the puck it takes 5 players to score, and when the team doesn't have the puck, then 6 players are playing defense, but... To me, defensemen have to be able to read the play, and make better decisions on ice. For instance, the play is mostly coming at them, when should they pinch, when should they not. When do they challenge the puck carrier, when should they take away the pass... and if they are beat, then it is usually the goalies seeing a skater firing at them one on none...

So, what makes a good defensemen? Well for starters they have to have hockey knowledge and the ability to see the ice. Many times a defensemen is as concerned about where the puck isn't as opposed to where it is. If the puck is deep in a corner, and it is not my side to dig on, then as a D-man, I need to be guarding the crease as well as watching where the other skaters are moving. It is a tough mental as well as physical position and requires great foot work. I feel that Travis may not have the points that he did last year, but his foot work is improved and his transistions from back to front and front to back are maybe the best on the team.

As for the games over the weekend... I liked the effort against Calgary, up until the start of the third. The team lost focus for a few mintues and bang, the Hitman, hit'em, and it was 4-1 before you could get comfy in your seats. I feel that is what killed the Hawks on Friday.

On Saturday, I was frustrated that the team couldn't put the puck in the net. Several of the shots were not quality plays, and to score this team is going to have to work and grind. Several times it looked as if players were still not sure where they should be, in fact I noticed Killian Hutt pointing a few times to Brad Ross to get in a particular place or go in a direction. That has got to be a hard thing for a young player, one who domintated his bantam and midgit games, to coming to the WHL where skating talent alone will not make you great. Team work is the name of the game, and Calgary worked it time and time again. I guess that is one reason the Hawks PP is not where it needs to be, they lack the ability to move the puck consistently as a team, to create scoring chances, and bury shots. The team is getting better, but it will take some serious effort in practice to get there... two games left before the break, PG on Friday and MH on Saturday. A couple of former Hawks will be back in Cepek and King.

Another MC Win...

2008-12-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

For starters, I was happy to see the Hawks get another win, yet missed the game as I was coaching my son's Pee Wee team instead. So, I only have a couple of second hand comments...

1 - According to what I could get on the radio, and from a couple of friends at the game, is sounds like Muhca was back on his game last night. After a couple of games where Muchs struggled a bit, it was good for him to get back into his groove.

2 - I find it interesting that Stefan is playing wing. He is a big body, and with some folks sitting for what ever reason I guess the team needs some size up front. If I was a healthy scratch and saw a defender getting my minutes, I would be busting my arse in practice to get minutes... and it seems like the Coaches have some real faith in Stefan up there as he was getting a ton of shifts in the closing period, when the Hawks were holding on to a 1 goal lead.

3 - 8 Wins... while this does not seem like a ton, remember the Hawks had 11 last year. We could see them get that by Christmas... or by the end of December for sure.

4 - Back to the Garden again on Friday night... hopefully the Hawks will draw better, 3K in that buidling is just not enough...

Have a good rest of the week, 4 more games at home before the break!

Noon, lets not do that again

2008-11-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

About the only good thing about a noon start time is that you can have a big breakfast before the game and avoid paying those high prices for food items at that game. With only 3500 and some change showing for the game yesterday against the T-Birds, I can imagine the Hawks lost money having the game at the Rose Garden. According to the JJJ administration, the added costs of using the Garden would require something like 6K to show up, not 3500, and since with the old lease the Hawks do not get anything on parking nor food sales, only 3500 would have cost them big bucks...

A couple of other notes from the Garden... first, for only 3500 lines at the food stands were for the most part long and slow. I guess only having a few of them open was a good thing, yet what would have happened if say 7k fans showed up? Second, I was impressed that the garden could have NBA basketball on Friday night and have an ice surface ready to go for a noon hockey game. From my seats during the annoucing of the starting lineups, I could see small pools of water, not something you are use to seeing at WHL or NHL games... adult rec league yes, but not at this level. It could have been from the timing of the cutting or lack of practice in the building, not sure, but something that needs to be addressed. I also helped with the ham shoot after the game, and the ice was pretty chunky. What I mean is the snow caused from playing on the ice was not the normal shavings you are use to seeing, rather more like little marbles all over the surface. Hopefully that will be addressed between now and Friday night when the Hawks are back at the Garden.

Lastly with the team... Ryan Kerr is one vocal emotional player. I loved how he tried to energize his team mates, getting right in his own benches faces after his brief fight trying to get his team mates going. Ryan shaw that the team was loosing focus and drive and tried to recreate his get'em going hits like he did at the MC vs. Kamloops. Too bad the team did not go on another 5 goals in 10 minute run...

As for the Civil War... I am glad Oregon won, but bummed out because USC most likely is going to yet another Rose Bowl, and hope someday that the ND Irish figure out how to play football again... and soon. Have a good rest of the weekend folks, the Ice are in town Tuesday at the MC.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone in the States had a great Holiday. Thanksgiving is a great time of year, a day to reflect on the year, remember the things we have and not dwell on what we may have lost or didn't have in the first place.

As we officially get into the Holiday season, we as Hawks fans can be thankful of getting a new owner, getting a new coaching staff, and hopefully getting a renewed spirit on the ice. Tomorrow is the first game of the 08 - 09 season in the Garden. I like the ice in the Garden, but the building is big, maybe too big for this team right now. I can see how it would be frustrating to play in the MC with only 2k showing up, but what about 2k in the Garden? That building will seem like a limited seating dress rehearsal, and frankly it is hard to be loud in the Garden when the attendance is that low. It would be great to see 8k show up for the game tomorrow, but with the noon start time, I think the Hawks will be lucky to get 3k. I also feel that the players will be out of sorts with the early start time, and playing in Everett tonight will not help. At least the Birds are playing tonight as well.

I know the Hawks set the time to try and get folks who would have skipped the game because of the civil war football game... but I am not sure it will really make any difference on attendance in the end.

Good Bye Key and Other thoughts...

2008-11-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

The last game for the Hawks in Key Arena happened over the weekend. I guess I really should say hopefully the last game in Key...

Brian made an interesting comment about Seattle Fans, and in general I agree with the thought that many of them act like they have to hate you if you root for the other team. The idea that I would not root for my home town team, whether they were in Seattle, Everett, Spokane, where ever is ridiculous. What has happened to the day where we all went to enjoy the game, and have a good natured rivalry between teams and fans? I have been in Everett, watched the players get beer dumped on them, been in Seattle and not wanted to stray from the group as many of the Seattle fans were rude, vulgar and childish. We can and should all be passionate about our teams, but going over board is uncalled for and those fans ruin it for the rest of us...

Back to the Key... that place flat out sucks for hockey. The far end is under the stands, poorly lit and the ice is not centered in the building. The new place will be much better for hockey. Hopefully we can get a bunch of Hawks fans up to the first game the Hawks play in Kent...

Lastly for today... I hate the excuse of too many games in too few nights. The only thing the players loose out on with so many games in so many nights, is practice time. Time they need to continue to learn new systems... besides that, this team shouldn't skate with a lack of focus. That is mental... tired legs, they come from skating, not only games. Yes the team played several nights in a row, but I am not believer in that being an excuse. The team has several healthy scratches, and while up north could have pulled up a young 15 year old or two if the coaches felt the team was tired. The schedule is the schedule, lace'm up and go play. At the end of the season everyone plays 72, 36 home and 36 away.

What was that...?

2008-11-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

The game on Wednesday night looked more like the Hawks of 2007-2008, then the Hawks of 2008-2009 part two. In listening to the game, it sounded like the team was flat, uninterested in skating and a step behind all evening. I have heard and read about the scheduling excuse. Yes the schedule had the Hawks playing several games in several nights. Yes the schedule had them going traveling to Vancouver, and then to Chilliwack and then to Everett... But in the end, shouldn't the fact that you are playing a game give you something to at least start the game off with?

I would think given you as a team are trying to get out of the cellar and back into the thick of things, and with playing the next four against teams right above you in your division would give you something to start the game.

In this case, Portland just didn't have it. Time to put this one into that "lets not do that again" column, and learn from it and move on.

Portland has a chance to once again gain some ground on both Seattle and Everett, playing them both twice in the next week or so. If the Portland that played PG and Tri Cities is back on the ice, Portland can gain some points, if not they will fall further back. Each player has to find that one thing within themselves and bring it every night. The talk of we can do it needs to be replaced with we are doing it right now attitudes and action.

Zero for BC

2008-11-19T14:26:00.000-08:00

In listening to the last couple of games via the Internet, I am still feeling better about the direction of this team then I was a month ago. The last couple of games have been losses, but the play has sounded more consistent.

One of the issues that I have seen with the Hawks at the start of the year was consistent effort and pressure through out the full 60 minute game. Mike Johnston seems to be getting that more and more from the players. This will bring closer games, and more wins. This is not going to be overnight success, but is large steps in the right direction.

I also liked the story from Sunday night... Andy Kemper asked who might be the scratches from the game that evening, and Coach says, he wasn't sure, it depends on who is feeling it during warm ups... needless to say, Don Hay, Vancouver's Coach, was not impressed with that as typically the home coach gets to know who the visitors are scratching before finalizing the home list... A new attitude from the bench, will impact a new attitude on the ice. Good times are coming, the growing pains are here, and on the way out...

Tonight the team plays Everett, who they will see three out of the next four games... Portland has always played pretty good in Everett, so hopefully some wins will come the Hawks way.

Good Home Stand

2008-11-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

The Hawks are hitting the road again, with several games at Everett, before returning home for a strange noon game on the 29th.

So, what has happened in the past week..

Well, the Hawks roster has started to change. Out go two "A"s in Scott G and Matt S, interesting that they were the only two overage players left after starting camp with 4. The Hawks also released 18 year old Ryan Anderson. In return the Hawks brought in a 19 year old and 17 year old. All in all the two new players looked pretty good last night in the win over PG. The interesting thing to me is that not only are the Hawks getting younger, they are replacing the leadership on the team. Looking back to last year even, Travis E is the only player on the roster today that wore an A or C last season. With a new coaching staff, did they feel that they needed to change the leadership on the ice and in the locker room? I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the expirement of Gabes playing as a wing had to end. He simply does not have the skills to play wing in the WHL... and with this roster, did not appear to be able to get ice time with the young Hawks blue liners playing very well. In fact, another young player is due to join the team in the next month or so, and if he is anything like what he did as a 15 year old last season, he will improve the already young and talented defense.

I am also impressed with the change of attitude on the ice. The players are responding to what the coaches are telling them. The players are actually playing together, and have been bringing energy to the ice for longer stretchs of the game. This is not the same team that Coach Johnston took over in late October. Since he has arrived he has coached the team to wins in Tri Cities, in Spokane, and at home against Kamloops, Prince George and now Tri Cities again on home ice. A nice 5-2 record under the new staff, and a team that will have more wins by New Years day, then they had during all of last season. The other thing to watch is Portland is gaining on Everett and Seattle, with three games at Everett coming up, the Hawks can make some ground up on Everett.

All in all, this has been a very positive and excting honeymoon period for Coach Johnston. Hopefully the long haul will be there too, if the start is any indication it will be.

The Hawks finish up the weekend tomorrow night in Vancouver... Another great road test foe this improved Hawks team.

Kamloops Flame Out

2008-11-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a story of two completely different games with two completely different thoughts. For the first two plus periods this looked like another effort of many parts and not a whole. Then came an impressive scoring period, the likes Hawks fans have not seen from the Winter Hawks in a couple of years. Portland's game high going into this game was 4 goals in a game. That was the high mark for the last two years...

Tonight the team scored 5 (plus 1 I will comment on in a minute) in the last 10 minutes of the 3rd period alone. Something sparked this team and bang... they were unable to miss... Players were making the extra pass, not hitting the goalie in the chest and Portland fans started to believe.

Now the plus 1 goal... Since when is the on ice official, not considered part of the playing surface, like the boards, goal pipes and the net? Brett Ponich appeared to score the insurance goal, on an empty net. The shot was waived off by an apparent call of the puck being deflected off of one of the officials, I am not sure if it was a linesman or the referee. Now, I do not know every rule in the official WHL rule book, but this is the first time I have ever heard this one. It was good to see Luke Walker work with Chris Francis moments later to get that 7 goal, just to make sure one fluke goal is not going to tie things up.

Overall it was good to actually see a home win. The Hawks are not 3-2 in Mike Johnston's tenure, and 4-4 in their last 8 games overall. The team did not get into a winning streak, but if you would have told me they would win two out of three this weekend, I would have taken it. If the team can continue to play at or near 60% for the rest of the calendar year, they will be in good position to make a playoff run after the break. I am not completely convinced that they are ready to make that far of a jump yet, but I am starting to get the feeling that this team is getting better.

The one huge thing I did like tonight is that the overall team discapline is getting better. A couple of times I thought a fight or two was going to break out, but the team showed some poise. I really thought that Tayler Jordan was going to go with 30 seconds left, but he didn't and I also thought Brett Ponich was going to go late in the 3rd as well. To me that is a sign that the team is starting to get some focus.

I also heard that Coach Johnston did not want Brad fighting his brother tonight. So, whether they were going to drop'em or not, I was wrong with that prediction...

So, overall the weekend ended up being pretty good afterall...

Pizza update show at Stark Street tomorrow night.

Red Deer...

2008-11-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

Well I do not believe that the final score of this game tells the whole story. There were some good things from tonight's game. It was good to see Hamilton get a home start. Heck three in three nights, why not. Mucha had played every game under the Johnston era, and the coaching staff has to get a feel for what Hamilton is going to bring to the ice. I felt overall the energy level and intensity was there for longer stretches then we saw on Wednesday. Hamilton played pretty well, not spectacular, but well. He is going to get better, yet as a fan you are going to have to endure games like tonight where he is not going to stop everything and may make some judgment moves that may not be correct. You can only learn that by playing.

Around the rest of the team... Luke Walker taking a 10 minute misconduct for not having his tie down on is completely unacceptable. Walker scraps on a regular basis, and knows that he needs to have his fight strap on... Riley Boychuk has got to learn to keep his elbows down... and finally to Brad Ross, at times you are starting to look like Viktor going in folks on the side boards. Jumping into them has a tendency to get you charging calls... hit'em, finish your checks, but keep your feet on the ice...

On a positive note... I do like many of the defensive pairings and the forward lines. Peters, Jordan and Boychuk is a really big line, while both the Reddin, Hutt and Ross line with the Francis, Walker and Valchar line, seem to be jelling some. I do like the large number of shots on net, yet the team needs to quit hitting the goalie in the chest pad. As Travis Ehrhardt likes to say, ya gotta go cheese, and hit the top corners.

Kamloops tomorrow night, it will be interesting to see Ross (Portland's Brad) and Ross (Kamloop's Nick) play against each other. Big brother Nick plays D so he and little brother Brad should have ample opportunity to go at each other. Do we predict gloves coming off??? Seeing the way Brad takes on all comers, I say they drop'em at some point and settle the off season whos is better debate once and for all.

That's all for now folks... Portland has to get some home points, tomorrow night is that chance!

Oil Kings

2008-11-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I am disappointed in the outcome of tonight's game. After the win in Tri Cities last Friday night, I actually felt that the Hawks had a chance to notch points in back to back games in quite some time, and in fact felt that since the team has Spokane on Friday, Red Deer on Saturday and Kamloops on Sunday, could they actually get on a winning streak? I guess I was getting way to far ahead of this team. Progress is going to come slowly at first, but in the end, this team will be better, maybe not today, or this month, but by the winter break, I feel they will be showing that they are getting back into the thick of things. I just hope the rest of the west is not too far ahead of the team.

Well back to tonight; tonight was a game where you can not tell the whole story by looking at the scoreboard. The team had spurts of dominating the play. On the other hand they had stretches where they looked out of sorts, tired and uncertin what to do when. A positive sign to me is that Coach Johnston is coaching and teaching on the bench. You can see the team making adjustments not only during the period, but between perionds as well.

Three players that stood out tonight...

- Taylor Peters, that first goal he scored tonight was one heck of a shot. With a regular shift, he can possibly become that sniper the team is looking for. Ty Rattie will be one next year, but the Hawks really could use more then one...

- Scott Gabriel, The expirement of Scott playing wing does not look to me like it is working. Scott had a couple of penalties tonight, and I know he brings some toughness to the ice, but to me that is not enough for him to be taking ice time away from some of the other forwards on the roster. This team is loaded at D as well, but if Scott is a D - Man, and can't get ice time back there... well you fill in the blanks

- Kurtis Mucha - I have always had a high opinion of Kurtis as a person. Last Friday night he played very well in net, and got his first win of the season. Tonight, well, it was not the kind of effort this team needs night in and night out. Kurtis has been pretty inconsistent and one night is on top of his game and the next he is off a bit. Plain and simple, if this team is going to start making a move towards becoming competitive and making a play off drive type run, they are going to need the Mucha of Halloween and not the Mucha of post election night.

Three games (one away and two at home) this weekend. Get out there and get some more fans in the seats. Attendance tonight looked pretty light...

First Weekend Thoughts

2008-11-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I got the chance to hit the road and make the 3.5 hour drive to Tri Cities, with some friends to enjoy the Toyota Center and watch the new look Winter Hawks. For starters the Toyota center is a nice small barn for Hockey. I was totally shocked at the lack of attendance... the kids in attendance did get a chance to trick or treat around in the concourse before the game started.

As for the game... it was refreshing to see coaches working with the kids between shifts. I was tired of the cross armed stare of Coach Kromm, and to see this coaching staff working with the boys was encouraging. The play of three guys really stood out in my opinion.

First Kurtis Mucha looked more like his 16 year old season, and not like the first part of this year. He looked like he was back playing more care free hockey, and was the better net minder on the ice that night. This is a game he can build on.

Second Riley Boychuk is starting to come around. I have always thought that Riley was one of the softer big guys on the ice. Whether is was because he is not fully back from the off season surgeries, or it is not his style of game, Riley needs to use his size more on the ice. He has a big body, and should be able to get crease posistion, and in fore checking. In Friday nights game he did start using his body more, and if he continues, he will become a deep scoring threat.

Third, the combination of Brett Ponich and Troy Rutkowski is really coming together. This young duo are just two of the future of the defense for this team. Troy seems to have some of the same skills as Travis Ehrhardt and can learn from working with Travis on a regular basis.

Taylor Jordan and Brock Cornish were back with the team, and brought energy to the team. Taylor got his first penalty after 4 seconds on the ice, but showed he will back down from no one.

Wednesday night is the first home chance to see coach Johnston in action with the new look Hawks. Lets get a few more then 2500 in the stands and prove to the new ownership and coaching staff that Portland is Hawkeytown.