This has been a busy week for the Portland Winterhawks, as they have a couple of weeks before the Christmas Break with six games slotted in. Two trades happened this past week as the Hawks tried to bolster and slim down their roster. Having four goaltenders is challenging, with two on the shelf for an unknown amount of time, so they are looking to pad up front a bit. They made a deal with Kamloops in trading a 3rd Round 2024 bantam pick to obtain the right to Tyson Jugernauth, a 19-year-old defenceman at Wisconsin University who the Seattle Kraken drafts. As soon as they received his rights, he signed with Portland, giving Kamloops a 6th Round 2024 and 2nd Round. 2025 and a 2nd Round. 2026 pick. He would play in Saturday’s game. They traded 19-year-old Luke Schelter for a 5th-round 2025 and 6th-round 2026 conditional pick to regain some picks. With three games in three nights, it was a six-point weekend against US Division teams.
First up are the Spokane Chiefs, who are near the bottom of the US Division but can quickly snatch a victory from unsuspecting opponents.
Things started well for Portland with a goal just 50 seconds into the contest by James Stefan (you’ll see that name a lot in this article) with a backhand baseball-style swing after a save by Spokane goalie James Cowan rebounded to Stefan. Just over a minute later, Spokane sprang on a breakaway and made no mistake, with Hayden Paupanekis scoring to tie it up. Seconds later, a center goal feed to Stefan made it 2-1 Portland. Just 16 seconds later, a stretch pass to Josh Zakreski made it 3-1. Spokane would score 6 minutes later to pull the Chiefs to within one as the period ended.
The second period saw Marek Alscher dribble one across the line for a 4-2 lead. Cowan made a tough save on James Stefan shortly after but couldn’t stop them all as Klassen again found Stefan on the goal doorstep to make it 5-2 and a hattrick for Stefan. Spokane would score the only powerplay goal of the night as the period closed 5-3 Portland.
Spokane opened the third with a goal just 33 seconds in but was responded to by Carter Southern a minute later as he rushed from inside his team’s blueline and stuffed it under the pad of an outstretched Cowan for the 6-5 lead. Two empty net goals by Marcus Nguyen and Josh Davies capped off the night in an 8-5 thriller. Portland narrowly outshot Spokane 42-41 and went 0-2 on their powerplay with Spokane 1-3 and a shorthanded goal.
The next night was Teddy Bear Toss night, a sold-out crowd televised versus Seattle Thunderbirds. Portland had the crowd buzzing with two highlight reel saves stopping the fur flying by Scott Ratzlaff in the Seattle net. At the other end, Justen Maric was doing his best to help his team with a few key stops.
Sixteen minutes in, James Stefan flipped the puck in front past Ratzlaff, and 13,542 plush cascaded on the ice. With less than five minutes left, the intermission was held and tacked on to the second period.
Josh Zakreski fired a wrister from inside the blueline to fool Ratzlaff as the Hawks went up 2-0. Seven minutes later, on the powerplay, Carter Southern scored after a feed from Tyson Jugnauth, his first assist as a Hawk. Six minutes later, also on the powerplay, Jack O’Brien notched his 8th of the year, assisted by Jugnauth to make it 4-0 at the end of two.
A pair of Seattle markers, one early on the powerplay and the other just over five minutes in cut the lead to 4-2. Portland, however, wasn’t to be denied. Jack O’Brien scored on the powerplay three minutes later and capped off a hattrick 5 minutes later to give the Hawks a commanding 6-2 lead. Josh Zakreski got his second of the night just a minute later to hand the Thunderbirds a 7-2 loss. Portland outshot Seattle 43-34 and went 3 of 6 on the powerplay, with Seattle 1-5 on theirs.
The final game saw them travel to Everett to take on the Silvertips, who are ahead of the Hawks but give up four games in hand. The Tips started off the gate just 27 seconds in and added to the lead at 8:24. Portland clawed back on the powerplay by Gabe Klassen and added another by Josh Zakreski with 35 seconds left in the period. Again came the Tips early in the second, scoring just over a minute into the frame. As Josh Zareski answered just 48 seconds later, Portland would not be denied. In ten minutes in the period, James Stefan buried hopes of an Everett comeback.
Scoring on the powerplay six minutes after Zakreskii, he tallied a regular strength goal and saw starting goaltender Tyler Palmer chased from the game. It took just another four minutes later to give Stefan a natural hattrick and the second hattrick in three days, scoring on replacement goaltender Ethan Chadwick. The Hawks scored on the powerplay due to a check to the head major just as the goal was scored In the remaining minutes. Everett pulled Chadwick following a penalty to Luca Cagnoni but failed to score on the 6-on-3-man advantage and didn’t on the 6 on 4 the rest of the game. The Hawks outshot Everett 42-34 and went 2 of 3 on the powerplay while allowing Everett just one goal on seven tries.
Meanwhile, the concern is Nicholas Johnson, who wasn’t on the bench favoring his leg after a collision in the period.
Josh Davies signed an NHL ELC with the Florida Panthers this week. He will still be in Portland for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, depending on Florida’s decision next year if he is to go pro or remain in junior hockey.
Next up for the Hawks is a midweek game hosting Wenatchee Wild, who will be without Connor Geekie and Matthew Savoie at World Juniors, and then a back-to-back matchup with the Spokane Chiefs as the Winterhawks go to the holiday break at home after the 16th, which is Wear Your Favorite Holiday Sweater Night. They will resume action in Kennewick on Wednesday, December 27, to face Tri-City Americans.
Stefan can get the Player of the Week for his performance in the three games this weekend. Seven goals are part of the 21 scored this weekend.
