Jack Dougherty accomplished quite a bit before joining the Portland Winterhawks.
The 19-year-old WHL rookie was drafted 51st overall in 2014 by the NHL’s Nashville Predators. He scored the go-ahead goal in the championship game as Team USA won the gold medal at the 2014 Under-18 World Championships. And he played one season of college hockey at Wisconsin.
But according to Winterhawks coach Jamie Kompon, Dougherty is a better defenseman today “by leaps and bounds” than he was when he arrived in Portland six months ago.
That’s not unusual. Kompon noted that playing in the Western Hockey League can be an eye-opening experience even for players who have strong backgrounds.
“Things were happening a quicker for him early on. Now he’s got the ability to control the pace and control the puck,” Kompon said. “And on the power play he does a tremendous job up top shooting the puck and finding lanes and feeding players.”
With 39 points through 47 games (nine goals and 30 assists) the 6-foot-2, 196-pound Dougherty has provided the offensive lift the Winterhawks hoped he would. Dougherty and fellow rookie Caleb Jones rank among the top scoring rookies and defensemen in the WHL.
But Dougherty’s improvement really shows on the defensive side. According to Kompon, subtle adjustments and being diligent about basics such as body positioning and stick positioning have allowed Dougherty to play with consistency on defense.
Dougherty said many factors went into his decision to leave Wisconsin’s Badgers for Portland. Among them was the fact that Kompon teaches a system similar to that used by the NHL’s Predators.
Dougherty said one of the challenging adjustments from college hockey to the WHL was the smaller ice surface. At Wisconsin, the Badgers play on a larger, Olympic-sized rink.
“You had more time to make plays. Here you’ve got to know what you’re going to do with the puck before you get it,” Dougherty said.
The other significant difference between the WHL and college hockey is the 72-game regular-season games the Winterhawks play. As a freshman for Wisconsin last season, Dougherty played in 28 games. For Portland he has appeared in 47 games this season. But Dougherty said he prefers the busy game schedule.
“I’d say it’s more taxing on the body” playing as many as four games a week, Dougherty said. “But it’s a nice refreshing change to play 72 games instead of 30 regular season. I think it’s a much more professional style of schedule to get ready to go to the next level.”
Winterhawks
This week: Host Seattle, 7 p.m. Friday (Moda); host Victoria, 7 p.m. Saturday (Moda); at Spokane, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday; host Everett, 7 p.m. Feb. 12 (VMC).
Last week: Lost at Kelowna 5-2, lost at Kamloops 4-2, lost at Everett 3-2.
Where they stand: At 25-24-2-0 (52 points), the Winterhawks are in fourth place in the U.S. Division, five points back of second-place Seattle. The Hawks are currently in the eighth and last playoff spot, four points ahead of Tri-City. Portland is sixth in the Western Conference.
Late-game losses: In the Saturday loss at Kamloops and the Wednesday loss at Everett, Portland was tied 2-2 late in the third period. Giving up late goals stings — and is bound to happen in the course of a season. But late-game breakdowns “cannot seep into our game,” Kompon said.
“There’s no magic solution. We’ve just got to be smart about puck management, win our battles, win our shifts, gain the momentum and play our game.”
Not-so-special teams: For much of January, the Winterhawks penalty kill was dominant. But recently both killing penalties and cashing in on power plays have both been a struggle for Portland. In the three recent losses, opponents were 6 for 11 on the power play compared with 1 of 6 for Portland.
Home cooking: Over the next 11 days the Hawks play at home four times and twice on the road. They then are gone on their six-game Eastern swing for the rest of February.
Vancouver Rangers
This week: Idle. Up next are home games against Butte on Feb. 12-14 at Mountain View Ice Arena..
Last week: Won two of three at Whitefish (Mont.) Vancouver won 5-4 in overtime, lost 2-1, then won 9-1 to wrap up the weekend visit.
Where they stand: At 25-13-0-3 (53 points), the Rangers are three points behind the second-place Missoula Maulers in the Northwest Division of the Western States Hockey League, and eight points behind the first-place Idaho Junior Steelheads. Idaho has four games in hand, Missoula has two games in hand.
