After a long trek to the middle of Canada, the Portland Winterhawks now begin to backtrack home, starting in the middle of Manitoba and ending near the Saskatchewan / Alberta border. All told, there are six games set over nine nights, and except for one team, the teams are relatively strong on their records.
The first game followed the trade deadline, which we went through in the last column, and so teams adjusted to their new players.
Against the Wheat Kings, the Hawks sought to establish a strong front and start a great bonding experience for many young talents.
The Hawks started things off with Alex Weirmeir in the first with a great cross-goal pass by Kyle Chyzowski. Five minutes later, the Wheat Kings started two within three minutes, holding a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
In the second, the Hawks waited until just past the midway mark when a Ryder Thompson goal slipped just inside the right post. Near the end of the period, Reed Brown used a backhand push at the goalmouth to give the Hawks the lead, but with 43 seconds left, Brandon found the net, also on a backhand shot, and the game was tied at the end of two.
The third saw the Hawks with a pair of goals the Kings goaltender wishes he had back. Alex Weiermeir with a floater over the glove of Carson Bjarnason early in the third, a strong effort by Jordan Duguay on his, and a floater over the outstretched pads by Ryan Miller, while shorthanded capped off a 17-8 shot advantage for the Hawks as they win 6-3. With that strong period, Portland outshot Brandon 43-32. No powerplay goals were scored in the contest despite three chances for either side. Ondrej Stebatek was in the net for Portland.
The next stop was Regina, one of only two teams the Hawks faced on this swing with a losing record. Regina started things off just under three minutes in as Regina wristed a shot over the shoulder on Marek Schlenker, The Hawks would reply several minutes later with a bullet from Ryder Thompson as he hit from the blueline. Diego Buttazzoni clicked on the powerplay, and then Kyle Chykowski scored with a great screen in front just 39 seconds later. Carter Southeran, who assisted on the Chykowski goal, fired just under the leg of Kelton Pyne for a 4-1 lead; Ewan Huet replaced Pyne in the net for the start of the second period. Regina responded with a tally in the second, only to be matched by Portland’s Chykowski with his second of the night. Goals by Diego Buttazzoniless than a minute in and a riveter by Tyson Jugnauth beside goaltender Heut’s right leg before 5 minutes had elapsed gave the Hawks a 7-2 lead; Regina did get one back just past the midway mark of the period but could get no closer, dropping a 7-3 game to Portland, now 2-0 on the swing. Portland again held the shot advantage at 42-29 and went 1-3 on the powerplay with Regina 0-1 on theirs.
The Hawks travel to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, for a game on Tuesday, followed by Saskatoon on Wednesday. The swing wraps up Friday in Moose Jaw and Saturday in Swift Current. Portland next plays at home on January 24 against Tri-City in the popular Pride Night, celebrating LBGTQ+, and unveils a unique t-shirt for that game.
At the end of the trade deadline, the Hawks also announced the signing of Max Psenicka, who has signed a WHL scholarship deal with the Portland Winterhawks. Initially obtained in a trade with Kelowna for a draft pick, the Hawks will now have two European players in the future in goaltender Ondrej Stebatek and Psenicka.
Speaking of the Rockets, Kris Mallette has been removed as coach of the Kelowna Rockets and replaced by assistant Derrick Martin, now listed as the interim coach, and recently signed assistant coach Liam McOnie. The Rockets, set to host the Memorial Cup in a year, are just four points from being the last-place team in the Western Conference and tied for last in the BC Division with Kamloops. With numerous trades recently, President of the Rockets Bruce Hamilton felt that with the influx of new talent and picks, the time would be right to change the coaching strategy. Currently, the Rockets are one point out of a playoff spot but 12 back of the seventh place, which, unless they can move up, are destined to face a mighty Everett Silvertips team, currently 31 points ahead in the standings.
On a different note, the Rockets’ recent trade of Andrew Cristall paid dividends for the Spokane Chiefs, who traded for him. In his debut game, he netted a hat trick in a crazy 12-2 win over the Wenatchee Wild. Shea Van Olm also scored a hat trick in that game for Spokane.
The last thing to note is that even with the Hawks in a lower bracket at fifth in the Conference, they have three players as league leaders. Kyle Chykowski has 29 goals just two back of Spokane’s Shea Van Olm, and Tyson Jugnauth places twice with 45 assists, one back of leader Gavin McKenna of the Medicine Hat Tigers, and leads with powerplay assists at 24 where Chykowski sits fifth having 19. Finally, Kyle McDonaugh has three shorthanded goals, two back of league leader Hunter St. Martin.
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