WHL Portland Winterhawks

Number One Ranked Kelowna Slips Past Winter Hawks, 2-1

Published on January 10, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland goaltender Krister Toews was brilliant, making 43 saves, but the number one ranked junior hockey team in the world, the Kelowna Rockets, got an unassisted goal by rookie Justin Keller on their 44th shot of the game with 7:10 left to edge the Portland Winter Hawks 2-1 Friday in Memorial Coliseum.

Kelowna outshot Portland 45-18, including 33-4 in the last two periods. Robin Big Snake scored Portland's lone goal in the first period. Simon Ferguson tied the game for Kelowna in the second period and then Keller notched the winner as the Rockets spent most of the last two periods in the Portland zone.

Portland, (19-16-4-1) for 43 points, came into the game 5 points behind first place Tri-Cities and has played 6 fewer games. Friday's game was to have been played Thursday in the Rose Garden but was postponed due to the difficult travel conditions forced by the recent winter storm to hit the Pacific Northwest.

Kelowna, now (31-10-3-0) for 67 points, the number one ranked team in all of junior hockey, is undefeated with 10 wins and a tie in their last 11 games, has only lost 3 times in their last 28 games. With Friday's win, Kelowna became only the fifth team in the 35-year history of the WHL to win 10 straight road games.

The Rockets won the WHL championship last season and have a better record this year through 44 games than they did last year, even though they had scored 50 fewer goals than last year. They had trouble scoring again Friday, in part because of Toews' brilliance, but it remains to be seen if they can win a Memorial Cup without finishing more of their chances. But, Kelowna is only giving up 1.70 goals per game and is on a pace to obliterate every defensive record in the 35-year history of the Western Hockey League.

In spite of Portland's recent tendency of giving up leads, the Hawks came into the game with the second best record in the entire league, (7-2-2-1) in the last 12 games. Now, the Hawks regroup for two big games this weekend at Everett Saturday and then in Memorial Coliseum against that same Everett team Sunday at 5:00. Everett came into Friday's action just one point behind Portland.

Hawks' team captain Braydon Coburn made it back from Finland where he won the silver medal for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships. But, Coburn's hockey equipment, was, at last report, in Chicago so he was unable to play Friday. Defenseman Brendan Mikkelson, forward Frazer Mc Laren and goaltender Dustin Butler all returned from the World Under-17 championships in Newfoundland where Mikkelson and Butler were part of Team Pacific, a team comprised of the best 16-year-olds from B.C. and Alberta, which also won a silver medal.

Portland was also without leading goal scorer Dan Da Silva, who is "day to day" with bruised ribs, and 20-year-old Brad Priestlay, reacquired in a trade yesterday, because of the interrupted service at Portland International Airport. Priestlay is expected to fly into Seattle and meet the Hawks in Everett for Saturday night's game (Airtime 6:35 on 970-AM KUPL) and then be welcomed back by his home fans Sunday against Everett at 5:00 in Memorial Coliseum. Priestlay only played one game against his former team while with Prince George and never was in the City of Roses as a visitor.

Kelowna beat Spokane, 3-2 in overtime, Wednesday and made themselves stronger with the acquisition of 19-year-old St. Louis Blues draft pick, left winger D.J. King, at yesterday's trading deadline. Kelowna has four wins in overtime and almost never loses a one-goal game, including the only meeting against the Hawks this season, a 4-3 Kelowna win on November 30 in the Coliseum. The Rockets only allowed 5 shots on net, and 20 in the game. Overall, this season, opponents only average 20 shots per game against them.

The first period was fast paced and the Hawks were able to generate 14 shots. Many of the shots came from the outside, but the quick shots seemed to disrupt Kelowna's normally controlled, defensive system. Portland's point men shot the puck quickly and, when not on goal, toward the goal, producing lots of bounces. Richie Regehr had several early shots that got through that set the tone and Brendan Mikkelson and Taylor Sutherlin followed suit and were dangerous on point shots. The Hawks scored the only goal of the period right after a successful Kelowna penalty kill. But, Portland's power play showed good puck movement and generated sustained pressure in the Rockets' zone. Just 17 seconds after the Rockets regained full strength, defenseman Tomas Fojtik patiently waited at the right point for things to open up in the low slot and he wristed the puck off Cody Mc Leod's stick to Big Snake on the back door for an easy tip-in. Portland had some great chances on the next shift to make it 2-0 as the line of Brandon Dubinsky, Big Snake and the newcomer, culminating when May's attempt to ram it in at the side of the net stopped by Kelowna goalie Kelly Guard. Toews stopped 13 shots in the period as the up and down action was relatively even, but most of Kelowna's shots came from the perimeter.

Toews' cool, calm and collected first period would get a lot more interesting in the second. Suddenly, the defending Western Hockey League champions showed their stuff as the completely dominated the second period, starting with establishing themselves winning face offs and getting several shots through on their first power play early in the period. Portland killed it, but Kelowna gained momentum and then took control when Portland had a power play and the Rockets impressively killed it without allowing any chances. With Dubinsky in the box for a tripping call behind the play, the Rockets tied the game on the power play. Sophomore Tyler Spurgeon started what would be a game-long trend, winning a face off and Mike Card fed the opposite point to Brett Palin while Ferguson cut to the front of the net to get in position for the perfect deflection. Toews spent the rest of the period in a puck storm as Kelowna outshot Portland by an incredible 23-1 margin. Part of it was during four Kelowna power plays, but at even strength, the Hawks rarely had possession as the Rockets won nearly ever face off and a large majority of battles along the boards. Toews had to come up with quite a few large saves – two on feisty, quick Tyler Mosienko, another on rookie Nolan Waker on a partial breakaway, a terrific glove stop on Keller, and two or three really good saves on 17-year old sophomore Blake Comeau, who was dominant at times in the period. Toews' 22 saves kept the game tied through 40 minutes.

The Rockets, led by Mosienko and Cam Paddock who must have won 90% of their face-offs in the last two periods, continued their relentless game of puck possession, winning battles on the boards, supporting the puck by outnumbering Portland, and forcing mistakes. Frustration set in and the Hawks started to commit some unforced errors too. Kelowna was physical when necessary, keeping Portland off balance, and forcing turnover after turnover and plenty of poor passes. It is the way Kelowna has succeeded all season and how they have now outshot 42 of 45 of their opponents. But, Toews continued to keep his team in it with save after save after save, although some was his own doing as the Rockets generated quite a few flurries off rebounds. Just when it looked like Toews might steal Portland a point, the Rockets came flying in on Regehr behind the Portland net and he threw the puck up the slot. Keller blocked it down, alone in front, and roofed it for the winner.

One of Kelowna's concerns as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup is, unlike last year's Kelowna team, goals do not come easy. Last year, Kelowna led the league in scoring, but lost in the Memorial Cup semi-final. This year, the Rockets are just a middle of the pack offensive team and Portland nearly made them pay at the end. Big Snake had a tip chance on the doorstep that just barely went wide, May just missed a deflection at the top of the crease and then set up Regehr for a blast in the slot that went just above the crossbar. And, finally Dubinsky's pass out of the corner just barely missed Big Snake's stick in the crease.

So, Portland actually got four decent chances in the last 90 seconds, but went nearly two full periods without a decent look at the Kelowna goal.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2004


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