Winterhawks this week: at Prince Albert, 6 p.m. today; at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m. Saturday; vs. Kelowna, 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Last week: Won 6-2 at Moose Jaw 6-2; lost 10-3 at Brandon; won 3-1 at Regina; lost 5-4 at Swift Current.
Where they stand: at 3-9-0-2, the Winterhawks eight points are fewest in the U.S. Division. Their 14 games played is the most in the division.
Goalie injuries: Brendan Burke left Tuesday’s win at Regina with an injury and Adin Hill is out with an upper-body injury. Bolton Pouliot, acquired last week, played at Swift Current. Michael Bullion, 17, has been recalled from the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League and will join the team at Prince Albert. Boullion was in goal for the Winterhawks’ Sept. 20 loss to Prince George.
Tough loss: Swift Current scored a power-play goal with 13 seconds left — just six seconds after a penalty on Keoni Texeira — to give the Broncos the 5-4 win. That came after two goals from Paul Bittner got Portland a 4-4 tie with 42 seconds left. The Hawks outshot the Broncos 30-19, but Swift Current scored two power-play goals and a third goal just seconds after another man advantage ended.
Captain Nic: Nic Petan was named the Winterhawks captain on Oct. 17. The 19-year-old is in his fourth full season with Portland. The Winnipeg Jets prospect has been one of the best forwards in junior hockey the past two seasons. He is the 40th team captain in franchise history. Oliver Bjorkstrand, Anton Cederholm, Chase De Leo and Dominic Turgeon were named assistant captains.
Heinrich plays: Defenseman Blake Heinrich saw his first regular-season action for the Winterhawks in last Friday’s win at Moose Jaw. The 19-year-old defenseman appeared in one game of last season’s WHL finals after signing with Portland. He missed the first 10 games of the season after suffering a concussion in the preseason.
