This week: host Kootenay, 3 p.m. Friday (Memorial Coliseum); at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m. Saturday; at Victoria, 7:05 p.m. Tuesday; at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5.
Last week: won 4-3 at Kelowna (OT), won 4-3 at Kelowna, beat Victoria 4-2.
Where they stand: At 12-12-0-3, the Winterhawks are fourth in the U.S. Division, five points ahead of Seattle. Spokane also has 27 points but has played five fewer games.
Daylight game parking: Fans who attend the Friday game against Kootenay, which starts at 3 p.m., can pay $8 to park at Rose Quarter lots. After 3:30 p.m., prices increase to $15. The Trail Blazers play in the Moda Center at 7 p.m. the same day. There are group ticket deals for the Burgerville Daylight Classic available at Winterhawks.com.
Beating the best: The Hawks handed top-ranked Kelowna its first two home losses of the season last weekend. On Friday, Portland rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime. On Saturday, Portland built a 3-0 lead on the way to another 4-3 win. The Saturday win was only the second regulation loss through 26 games this season for Kelowna. Portland won three of the four regular-season meetings with the Rockets, who have five total losses.
The Rockets entered last weekend as the No. 1-ranked team in all of major junior hockey (they dropped to No. 2 in this week’s CHL rankings). The Rockets were shorthanded because of injuries — they dressed only 16 skaters on Friday — and worn down by a stretch of five road games over nine days before hosting Portland.
Still, the wins boost the confidence of a Portland team that has slowly closed the gap in the U.S. Division.
“Now we know we can play against any team in the whole CHL because we beat the No. 1-ranked team. That’s a real good confidence boost for us,” Oliver Bjorkstrand said.
Bittner day to day: Forward Paul Bittner suffered a leg injury in Friday’s game at Kelowna. He did not play Saturday or on Tuesday, but has skated by himself and could return for Friday’s game against Kootenay according to coach Jamie Kompon.
Oliver rolls along: With two goals in Tuesday’s win over Victoria, Oliver Bjorkstrand has points in seven consecutive games. His 15 goals and 15 assists on the season is identical to Chase De Leo atop Portland’s scoring chart. Nic Petan (team-best 21 assists in 20 games) assisted on both Bjorkstrand goals on Tuesday — the first a pass through the crease on a power play and the second a nifty skate deflection that created a two-on-one chance that Bjorkstrand buried.
Hill backstops three wins: Adin Hill took over for Brendan Burke with the Hawks trailing Kelowna 3-0 after the first period last Friday. The 18-year-old stopped 84 of 89 shots over eight periods, and helped Portland protect late leads on Saturday and Tuesday. Kompon said after Tuesday’s win that he will ride the hot goalie, while also paying attention to the schedule demands and the mental fatigue in deciding how to use his goalies.
Humane Society calendar: A 2015 calendar that features photos of Winterhawks players with cats and dogs goes on sale beginning at Friday’s game. Sales of the calendars will benefit the Oregon and Southwest Washington Humane Societies.
Booster club trip — Limited space remains for the Jan. 15-19 bus trip to Prince George to watch the Winterhawks play the Cougars on Friday and Saturday, according to booster club president Stuart Kemp of Vancouver. For details, visit www.pwhbc.com/fantrips.
