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Portland Winterhawks

Portland Winterhawks This Week

February 8, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Hawks Happenings On The Ice:

The Winterhawks could clinch their first playoff spot since 2006 as early as Wednesday night, but Seattle's game against Tri-Cities tomorrow comes into play. If that's enough information for you, you may want to stop here, because the scenarios start to get complicated. But if you're so inclined, here are the scenarios for how the Winterhawks can clinch a playoff spot in the next 48 hours, depending on how Seattle does Tuesday:

If Seattle loses in regulation to Tri-Cities Tuesday: In this scenario, the Winterhawks clinch at least a one-game playoff against the Thunderbirds to decide eighth place. WHL tiebreak rules dictate that two teams who finish tied for eighth place play a one-game playoff, as Edmonton and Prince Albert did last season. Thus, if Seattle loses in regulation Tuesday, Portland needs one point from Wednesday's game, also against Tri-Cities, to clinch a playoff spot.

If Seattle loses to Tri-Cities in overtime or a shootout Tuesday: If the Thunderbirds gain a point from tomorrow's game, Portland would then need a win over Tri-Cities Wednesday to earn the playoff berth. If Seattle gets a point tomorrow, and Portland gets a point from an overtime or shootout loss, the Winterhawks clinch at least a one-game playoff.

If Seattle beats Tri-Cities Tuesday: If Seattle beats the Americans and earns two points, the Winterhawks would then need to beat Tri-Cities Wednesday to clinch at least a one-game playoff.

Wednesday's game against Tri-Cities has been moved from the Rose Garden to the Memorial Coliseum to accommodate the rescheduled Elton John/Billy Joel concert. The concert had originally been scheduled for November, but John fell ill, forcing a postponement.

With 31 goals this season, Nino Niederreiter has become the first Winterhawk to hit the 30-goal plateau since Dan Da Silva and Cody McLeod both had 31 in the 2004-05 season. The Winterhawks haven't had a 40-goal scorer since the 2001-02 season, when Josh Olson had 40 and Josef Balej scored 51 goals.

Hawks Happenings Off The Ice:

Winterhawks players Spencer Bennett and Gasper Kopitar will be at the Childrens' Creative Learning Center at 2215 SE Gladstone Street tomorrow morning at 10:15 to celebrate reading with students.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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