Portland Winterhawks
This week: 7:05 p.m. Friday at Victoria; 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Victoria; 5 p.m. Sunday at Vancouver; 7 p.m. Jan. 17 vs. Moose Jaw (Memorial Coliseum).
Last week: Lost 5-1 at Tri-City; lost to Victoria 3-2; beat Everett 4-1.
Where they stand: At 26-12-2-2, the Winterhawks have 56 points. They lead by three points over Seattle and by four points over Spokane and Everett in the ultra-competitive U.S. Division. Kelowna owns the best record in the league (33-5-0-2, 68 points). Portland is seventh in this week’s top-10 for all three CHL junior hockey leagues as voted by NHL scouts.
Trade winds: With the WHL trade deadline at 11 a.m. PDT on Friday, the Winterhawks made two deals this week. On Thursday they sent 17-year-old rookie forward Steven Alldridge and a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft to Lethbridge for 20-year-old goalie Corbin Boes. In four seasons in the WHL, Boes has 51 wins in 151 regular-season games with Brandon and Lethbridge. He went 5-9 in 14 playoff games for Brandon in 2011 and 2012. On Wednesday Portland sent the rights to list-player Adam Tambellini to Calgary. A 19-year-old, Tambellini had a goal and three assists in his Calgary debut on Thursday. Portland receives a first-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft and a conditional pick in the 2015 draft.
Goalie depth: Boes brings experience the Winterhawks lacked with or rookie Jarrod Schamerhorn backing up Brendan Burke, in his first season as the team’s No. 1 goalie. Burke is sidelined by an injury suffered during last Friday’s loss at Tri-City. Head coach Mike Johnston said Burke’s injury should be a short-term issue. Adin Hill, 17, won his WHL debut on Wednesday at Everett, stopping 28 of 29 shots in the 4-1 win. He will return to the Alberta Junior Hockey League for the rest of the season and the Winterhawks are seeking a team for Schamerhorn to get playing time this season. Schamerhorn has played in 10 games for Portland this season.
Dumba to Portland: Portland made an impact trade last month, when the Winterhawks acquired 19-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba, who played 19 games in the NHL this season with the Minnesota Wild. The Wild assigned Dumba to Portland for the rest of this season. He is still in Minnesota recovering from an illness he contracted at the World Junior Championships. Johnston said Dumba could join the Winterhawks on the road this weekend or meet the team when it returns to Portland.
Firepower back: The win at Everett on Wednesday came in the first game back with the Hawks for forwards Nic Petan (World Juniors), Taylor Leier (World Juniors) and Brendan Leipsic (suspension) and defenseman Derrick Pouliot (World Juniors). Johnston said Dominic Turgeon took a step forward while playing a more prominent role during the absences.
Fort Vancouver Vipers
This week: 7:35 p.m. on Friday at Tri-City, 7:35 p.m. Saturday at West Sound (Bremerton); 7:05 Wednesday vs. Tri-City (Mountain View Ice Arena); 8:05 p.m. Thursday vs. Eugene (Mountain View Ice Arena).
Last week: Lost at Bellingham 8-2; lost at Bellingham 11-0; lost at Eugene 13-4.
Where they stand: At 0-26, the Vipers are last in the five-team NPHL Bellingham (23-5) and West Sound (20-2-1-2) are the only teams with winning records.
