WHL Power Rankings – Week 1: Winterhawks Have Work to Do


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Portland came out of the gates strong on Friday night to a great crowd scoring the first goal. Eventually, the lack of transition defense between the blue lines came back to haunt them giving up 40 shots. Even with a great game from the goalie, Adin Hill, who kept the Winterhawks in the game, the mixture of poor defense mixed with poor offense lead to opening game defeat to the rivals. Saturday night, the defense was no better conceding six goals to a team that Portland is supposed to be superior to.

With Three games on the slate for the Winterhawks this weekend, they could end up above .500 and forget about last weekend in a hurry. They have two against undefeated Everrett who has yet to yield a goal.

Checkout where the Winterhawks fell in Week 1’s inaugural WHL Power Rankings:

[table colwidth=”8%|18%|8%|8%|8%|50%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|left” rowlalign=”center”]
RANK,TEAM,REC,TREND,PREV,COMMENTS
1,Brandon Wheat Kings,2-0,—,—,”Brandon Wheat Kings~~Pre-season favorite scores 10 on opening weekend.”

2,Kelowna Rockets,1-0,—,—,”Kelowna Rockets~~Western conference favorites start the season off with 6-1 win.”

3,Edmonton Oil Kings,1-0,—,—,”Edmonton Oil Kings~~Defending champs off to another good start.”

4,Swift Current Broncos,2-0,—,—,”Swift Current Broncos~~11 goals in two games, could scoring record be in jeopardy?”

5,Everett Silvertips,1-0,—,—,”Everett Silvertips~~If the goaltending/defense stays like this, expect them to compete for a title.”

6,Prince Albert Raiders,2-0,—,—,”Prince Albert Raiders~~Solid opening weekend, two easy wins.”

7,Spokane Chiefs,1-0,—,—,”Spokane Chiefs~~Grinded out a 4-2 win in opener.”

8,Vancouver Giants,1-0,—,—,”Vancouver Giants~~Defense looked solid only giving up one goal in the opener.”

9,Medicine Hat Tigers,2-0,—,—,”Medicine Hat Tigers~~They put it to both their opponents totaling eight goals and giving up just three.”

10,Tri-City Americans,1-1,—,—,”Tri-City Americans~~After losing the opener, they beat Prince George 7-0 to make a bounce back statement .”

11,Seattle Thunderbirds,1-1,—,—,”Seattle Thunderbirds~~Looked superior against Portland before dropping the game on Saturday to Everett.”

12,Kootenay Ice,1-1,—,—,”Kootenay Ice~~Played close in a loss to Edmonton but scored five in opening game win.”

13,Red Deer Rebels,1-1,—,—,”Red Deer Rebels~~Solid offensive performance.”

14,Kamloops Blazers,1-1,—,—,”Kamloops Blazers~~Nine goals against in two games is not good.”

15,Prince George Cougars,0-1,—,—,”Prince George Cougars~~Not a way to follow up a win against Portland by losing 7-0 the next night.”

16,Calgary Hitmen,0-1,—,—,”Calgary Hitmen~~Played like anything but hitmen in the opener losing 4-1.”

17,Portland Winter Hawks,0-2,—,—,”Portland Winterhawks~~Going to need to repair the transition defense if they want to win fifth straight conference title.”

18,Regina Pats,0-2,—,—,”Regina Pats~~Getting outscored by seven goals in two games is sure to leave you winless.”

19,Victoria Royals,0-2,—,—,”Victoria Royals~~After a strong season last season, this is not the start they were expecting.”

20,Moose Jaw Warriors,0-2,—,—,”Moose Jaw Warriors~~Averaging one goal a game is not going to win many games.”

21,Saskatoon Blades,0-2,—,—,”Saskatoon Blades~~Not a great start following up a terrible ’13-’14 campaign that saw them towards bottom of the standings as well.”

22,Lethbridge Hurricanes,0-2,—,—,”Lethbridge Hurricanes~~Finished with worst record in league last year, the trend seems to be continuing.”

[/table]

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Ryan Boshoven
Ryan is a former Division 1 athlete now working in the world of sport marketing. He earned his Master's Degree in Sports Business. He likes to spend his free time playing golf and going to sporting events. Ryan also has two brothers that are the same age as him. "Being a triplet is pretty awesome!" he says.
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