Portland Winterhawks
This week: 7:05 p.m. Friday at Spokane; 5 p.m. Sunday vs. Saskatoon (Moda Center); 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Everett.
Last week: Beat Spokane 6-4; lost at Seattle 5-4 in overtime.
Where they stand: At 18-5-2-1, the Winterhawks have 39 points and are second in the highly-competitive U.S. Division, three points behind Everett. Their winning percentage (.750) ranks third in the Western Hockey League behind Kelowna and Everett. Portland is eighth in this week’s top-10 for all three CHL junior hockey leagues.
Subway Super Series: The Winterhawks’ Nic Petan, Taylor Leier, Brendan Leipsic and Derrick Pouliot played for the Western Hockey League team in the Subway Super Series on Wednesday in Red Deer and on Thursday in Lethbridge. The series is part of a six-game swing through Canada for the Russian junior national team.
Alberta trip ahead: In a span of 48 hours on Dec. 6-8 Portland visits Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary. The game in Edmonton is a rematch of the last two WHL championship series.
Hot Hawks: Nic Petan has 16 points in his last six games, including a four-point night against Spokane on Nov. 22. His 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) on the season is second in the WHL to Spokane’s Mitch Holmberg, who has 61 points. Petan is one of four Hawks among the league’s top-20 scorers. Oliver Bjorkstrand (18 goals, 27 assists), Taylor Leier (19 goals, 16 assists) and Brendan Leipsic (17 goals, 14 assists) are all among the top 20 in the WHL in points. Chase De Leo (17 goals) is also among the top-10 goal scorers.
Community involvement: At Sunday’s game against Saskatoon, the Winterhawks encourage fans to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the KPTV Toy Drive to support children in need during the holiday season. On Wednesday afternoon, Winterhawks players took part in a “Shop with a Hawk” event for children of military families. The event at a Fred Meyer store in Portland was held in conjunction with Fred Meyer, the Winterhawks Booster Club and the Sunshine Division.
Fort Vancouver Vipers
This week: 7 p.m. Friday vs. Eugene at Mountain View Ice Arena; 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Eugene.
Last week: Lost twice at West Sound, 10-0 and 12-0. The Vipers had only 13 skaters available.
Where they stand: At 0-15, the Vipers are last in the five-team Northern Pacific Hockey League.
Scoring drought: The Vipers have scored only seven goals through 15 games, and have been shutout in seven consecutive games.
Roster moves: Last weekend at Bremerton, 18-year-old goalie Jacob Mullen from Hayden, Idaho, made 103 saves in less than 100 minutes of playing time in his Vipers debut. Vipers general manager Chuck Cheshire said Mullen asked to come to Vancouver after leaving the Glacier Nationals of the American West Hockey League, where Mullen was 2-3 with a .905 save percentage in five games this season. Cheshire also said he expects to add several forwards to the roster soon.
