Taylor Leier will long remember the week he turned 20. The Winterhawks team captain was chosen player of the week for both the WHL and all of Canadian major junior hockey for the week ending on Feb. 16.
Leier, who turned 20 on Saturday, had four goals and six assists over four games last week, and a plus-4 rating. He is the first Winterhawk this season to win the CHL player of the week honor.
As exciting as the honor was, Leier is more thrilled about the Hawks’ team-record 17-game winning streak. Given the cohesiveness of the team and the talent on the ice, there is no reason this streak should end soon, Leier said.
“The guys we have, we’ve always been on winning teams,” Leier said. “We know what it takes, and we all hate to lose.”
In his third year with the Winterhawks, Leier has played in 50 games and already has career bests of 31 goals and 34 assists.
The Winterhawks have been chasing top-rated Kelowna since Leier, Nic Petan, Derrick Pouliot and Matt Dumba returned from the World Junior Championships. The Rockets have 98 points from 59 games, the Winterhawks 91 points from 60.
“That’s our goal,” Leier said of catching Kelowna for the WHL’s best record. “If we wouldn’t have had this win streak, we wouldn’t have a chance to catch them.”
Leier said the honor of being the Winterhawks captain has been fun because the players all get along, and the recent additions of veterans Dumba and Corbin Boes has only strengthened the bond among players.
That cohesiveness has translated to this unprecedented string of victories.
“We don’t play as individuals,” Leier said. “It’s a really, really good group of guys. No one is selfish.”
Leier spent six weeks in the offseason recovering from a concussion suffered during the Memorial Cup. He said he still had a productive offseason to prepare for this season.
It is turning into another unforgettable season.
“Not a lot of guys get to experience something like this (win streak),” he said.
Portland Winterhawks
This week: 7 p.m. Friday vs. Kamloops (Memorial Coliseum); 7 p.m. Saturday vs. Kamloops (Memorial Coliseum); 4:05 p.m. Sunday at Everett; 7:05 p.m. Feb. 28 at Spokane.
Last week: Beat Kamloops 7-4; beat Vancouver 7-4; beat Prince George 5-1.
Where they stand: At 43-12-2-3, the Winterhawks have 91 points. With 12 regular-season games remaining, the Winterhawks lead by 12 points over Seattle in the U.S. Division.
Kelowna owns the best record in the league (47-8-0-4, 98 points). Portland is up to third in this week’s top-10 for all three CHL junior hockey leagues as voted by NHL scouts. Kelowna remains No. 1 in that poll, Edmonton is No. 5 and Victoria is No. 10.
Win streak at club-record 17: The Winterhawks have not lost a game in regulation since Jan. 4, a stretch of 19 games. The previous win-streak records for Winterhawks teams was 15 games in 1979-80 and 1997-98.
Fort Vancouver Vipers
This week: 7:35 p.m. Friday and 7:35 p.m. Saturday vs. West Sound (Mountain View Ice Arena).
Last week: Lost 12-3 at Bellingham; lost 16-0 to West Sound.
Season ends this week: The games on Friday and Saturday end the 2013-14 schedule for the Vipers, who are 0-38.
