The Portland Winterhawks play their 40th home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Moda Center when the Everett Silvertips visit Portland.
The game is the first of five in a row at home for the Winterhawks over the next two weeks. It is also the Winterhawks’ only game in a 14-day span. Coach and general manager Jamie Kompon is happy to have extra time for practice and team-building.
Kompon noted that Paul Bittner, Dominic Turgeon and Keegan Iverson returned from NHL camps in time to ride the bus to Victoria, skating with their Portland teammates for the first time in the pregame skate before the season opener.
“The way our schedule sets up is really nice,” Kompon said. “We’ve had a really good week of practice with the team that at this point we’re going to have for the year.”
Six different Winterhawks scored goals in the two season-opening losses at Victoria. Defensemen Keoni Texeira had a team-leading three assists.
Winterhawks
This week: host Everett, 7 p.m. Saturday (Moda), host Spokane, 7 p.m. Oct. 9 (Moda).
Last week: Opened seasons with two losses at Victoria, 4-1 and 6-5.
Netminder injured: Goalie Adin Hill suffered an upper-body injury during warmups before the season opener and did not play in either game at Victoria. His status for Saturday is to be determined according to Kompon. Hill did practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
Turgeon named captain: Detroit Red Wings prospect Dominic Turgeon is the Winterhawks team captain. Beginning his fourth season in Portland, Turgeon is the 41st team captain in team history. Alternate captains are Bittner, Blake Heinrich and Texeira for home games, Jack Dougherty, Iverson and Alex Schoenborn for road games.
Kompon said the way Turgeon approaches each game, practice and workout make him the kind of leader a successful team needs.
“He makes other people better just by being around him,” Kompon said.
Naming six alternate captains spreads the leadership responsibility while rewardeing players who have earned a leadership role, Kompon said.
Productive debuts: Five Winterhawks recorded their first WHL points at Victoria: Carl Ericson (goal, assist), Caleb Jones (goal, assist), Rodrigo Abols (two assists), Cody Glass (assist), and Nick Heid (assist).
40th season note: The Winterhawks (then the Winter Hawks) played their first home game on Oct. 10, 1976, a 7-5 win over the New Westminster Bruins at Memorial Coliseum.
Vancouver Rangers
This week: Host the Southern Oregon Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Friday. 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (Mountain View Ice Arena). These are the first games of the season for Southern Oregon.
Last week: idle.
Where they stand: The Rangers (2-0) are third in the Northwest Division of the Western States Hockey League, trailing Missoula and Idaho (both 3-0).
Openers recap: On Sept. 18-19, the Rangers debuted with two home wins over the Lake Tahoe Icemen, outscoring the visitors 24-4.
Surprising offense: Led by seven goals from Finnish forward Jesse Vuorinen, the Rangers scored 14 goals on opening night and 10 more the next in sweeping Lake Tahoe.
Seeking discipline: Discipline is a point of emphasis after the Rangers had 135 minutes of penalties in their second win over Tahoe. “We demand discipline in everything we do,” coach Dave Daniello said.
Daniello said the crowds (estimated at 500 for the home opener and slightly smaller the following night) were the largest many of his players have played in front of, which might have contributed to the parade to the penalty box.
