With the brunt of the schedule taking place in the next month or so, there are times like this where the week in review is most appropriate, and certainly, as time goes on, there will be more in-depth games where several might take place within a week.
For now, this is a tale of two parts. Home and away.
Already giving the fans watching online for away games something to look at with going 2 and 1 to open September, the start of October saw four games in two weeks and three against one team. There always seems to be a quirk in the schedule, and this year is no different. Having already gotten their feet wet from three road games, it was time to bring the boys home for a pair. The Victoria Royals and Prince George Cougars gave the opposition playoff-style hockey. Both games were incredibly close. The Hawks, though, seem to be on the short end regarding shots on goal.
Having given the shot advantage in the road games, the first night versus Victoria seemed to do the same thing. The Hawks, though, used their fewer shots as marksmen, with goals by Ryan Miller and then John Zakreski on the powerplay. The lead evaporated with two goals just 12 seconds apart in the first period, the latter on the powerplay.
Victoria took their first lead of the night less than three minutes into the second frame. However, a pair of goals by Tyson Jugnauth and Ryan Miller, with his second of the night as only eight seconds remained in the period, both of which occurred on the powerplay, sparked the Hawks. Carsyn Dyck would add another for the Hawks just 35 seconds into the third period, and the Hawks claimed a 5-3 win. As was mentioned, shots heavily favored Victoria 42-22, but the Hawks, at 3-5 on the powerplay with Victoria 1-4 on theirs, spelled the difference for the home squad.
Next up were the Prince George Cougars, a team in the CHL Poll for Preseason and the first week of the regular season. Earlier in the week, they made a deal with the Spokane Chiefs to obtain goaltender Cooper Michaluk for a mid-round bantam pick in 2027. Michaluk started the contest for the Cougars, with Marek Schlenker for the Hawks. Just 18 seconds into the game, Hudson Darby got things going for the Hawks. That lead held until just past the midway point of the first period. Less than five minutes into the second period, the Cougars added a powerplay tally to push the Hawks. It wasn’t until the late stages of the second period that Josh Zakreski was awarded a goal after being the last player to touch the puck before it went in—another playoff-type game where both teams searched for a goal, only to be denied. In a heartbreaker, the Hawks’ Ryan Miller scored with just three seconds left on the regulation clock, and the Hawks won 3-2. The Cougars had a 40-33 shot advantage and scored the only powerplay goal of the game, with both teams having five tries with the man advantage.
The quirky schedule happened as both teams boarded their respective buses and traveled over 500 miles to play a pair up north in Prince George’s.
Much like the previous game, the first contest was very much playoff style, Ondrej Stebetak started for the Hawks with Joshua Ravenbergen responding for the Cougars, The home ice helped Prince George with a pair of goals, one just 55 seconds in and the other seven minutes later. In the second, the Hawks replied with two goals 45 seconds apart as Rayder Thompson and Josh Zakreski did the honors, and then just past the twelve-minute point, Tyson Yaremko added the go-ahead goal. Similar to the last game, the Cougars, however, stole the thunder with a goal as the extra attacker hit the ice, sending the game to overtime.
It went four of five minutes before Diego Buttazzoni broke the deadlock, and the Hawks had now won two in a row over the Cougars at 4-3. PG had a slight shot advantage of 33-31, and both teams were blanked on the powerplay, Portland 0-5 and PG 0-3.
The next night, Luke Brunen started for the Hawks, and Joshua Ravenbergen for the Cougars. Two goals on six shots saw Brunen’s night end, as the Cougars scored the pair just 19 seconds apart before the fifteen-minute call of the first period. Ondrej Stebetak took over and had a goal against in the final two minutes of the first and less than a minute remaining in the second to put the Hawks down by 4. The PG announcer said to stick the fork in the Hawks, and they’re done.
Perhaps it was that talk or just the picking up of the bootstraps, but whatever it was, it marked a massive comeback by the team. Just past the seven-minute mark, Diego Buttazzoni got it started on the powerplay. Then it was Hudson Darby six minutes later, and the Hawks then rattled off a pair just 23 seconds apart by Kyle Chyzowski and Tyson Junauth, and all of a sudden, regulation ended with both teams at four apiece. Five minutes of overtime didn’t settle a thing, so it turned into a shootout. Three straight misses by Prince George and a goal by Diego Buttazzoni in the shootout capped off a five-goal output for the Portland Winterhawks, securing their fourth straight win in a row and three in a row over Prince George, taking the contest 5-4. PG took the shot count 31-29 but could not convert on the powerplay 0-5 versus Portland 1 for 5.
The Hawks will have two more on the road with Kelowna and then Seattle on their way back to a pair of home games, one of which will be the revenge of sorts as they face the Everett Silvertips, who is the only blemish on the Hawks’ record thus far.
The Hawks also made a quiet trade with the Kelowna Rockets. They acquired the rights to Max Psenicka, a defenceman, an import drafted by Kelowna for a fifth-round conditional pick in 2025 and a third-round conditional pick in 2026. Psenicka is in the Czech Republic and plays for HC Plzen U20. Last season, he played for HC Slavia Praha U17, where he tallied 10-25-35 but was a plus 30 in the 39 games he played.
The Hawks have played seven games with a 6-1 record, good for 12 points. They are tied with Everett and Spokane for the top spot in the US Division. It will be interesting to see if the Hawks place in the poll this time around, having not placed in the Preseason or the first week.
