WHL Portland Winterhawks

Portland Winterhawks This Week

Published on October 11, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks enter this week tied with the Tri-City Americans for first place in both the U.S. Division and the Western Conference with 13 points apiece. The Winterhawks have won four straight games, and have not lost in regulation since the season-opener in Seattle on Sept. 25.

Wednesday night the Winterhawks host the defending WHL champion Calgary Hitmen at the Memorial Coliseum. The Hitmen are coached by former Winterhawks player and coach Mike Williamson. As a player from 1991-1994, he totaled 51 points in 204 games. Following his playing career he spent several seasons as an assistant coach, and took over the head job midway through the 1999-00 season, where he lasted through the 2006-07 season. He compiled a record of 219-248-31-26-7 in 531 games behind the bench.

The Hitmen boast another local connection with center Trevor Cheek, a native of Vancouver, Washington. In his first WHL season, Cheek has one assist through four games.

The Winterhawks' penalty kill has been nearly impenetrable lately. The Winterhawks were a perfect 17-17 killing penalties in the back-to-back set in Spokane this weekend, and over their last five games they've killed 34 of 35 penalties. The Winterhawks are tied for third in the league in penalty killing this season, at 90.4%.

Two Winterhawks sit atop the league's plus/minus rankings, as Brad Ross leads all players with a ranking of +10, while team captain Brett Ponich is close behind at +9.

Nino Niederreiter made his NHL debut Saturday for the New York Islanders against Dallas. He logged 11:27 of ice time and had two shots on net. Niederreiter and the Islanders are in action again this afternoon against the New York Rangers.

Hawks Happenings Off The Ice:

Several Winterhawks players will be at the Gateway Fred Meyer store Thursday, October 21 at 5:30 p.m. to sign autographs for Winterhawks fans. The store is located at 1111 NE 102nd Avenue. The players who will be in attendance are: Sven Bartschi, Spencer Bennett, Teal Burns, Ian Curtis, Josh Hanson, Ryan Johansen, Brett Ponich and Tyler Wotherspoon.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 11, 2010


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