A Winterhawks Chat


winterhawks

With a few extra days in between games, the Winterhawks have been fitting in some quality time with their Portland fans. This Saturday, the entire team will be popping in at various Toyota dealerships around the metro area for their Toyota Hockey Family Day. In the meantime, I was able to have a small chat last night with defensemen Anton Cederholm and Josh Hanson and goalie Adin Hill in the Tigard Les Schwab tire center.

[quote align=’right’]Now that the Hawks have settled back into the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the big concerns for the season can shift to the U.S. Division.[/quote]Yesterday it was announced that rookie goalie Michael Bullion was sent back to the NAHL, meaning Brendan Burke and Hill are both back to healthy status and are now the entire goalie roster (Bolton Pouliot was released late last week). Hill said “I’m feeling good,” when asked about his injury during the Eastern Conference road trip. “I’ll be back on the ice this weekend. Not sure when I’m starting yet, but I’ll be back in the lineup.”

Now that the Hawks have settled back into the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the big concerns for the season can shift to the U.S. Division. “Everett seems to be the one with the hot start up to now, and we’re fortunate to get two games against them Friday and Saturday,” said Hanson. “We’ve been playing a lot better lately, so it’ll be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at.”

Both defense veterans confirmed for me that the increase in special teams activity of late has been no accident. “Especially with not taking penalties,” Cederholm elaborated. “Our PK has been very good lately as well.”

This is encouraging, as the team was averaging 18 penalty minutes per game before the eastern swing. Now, they have reduced that to 14. ““We took way too many penalties to start the season, so that’s something our coaches have focused on,” Hanson agreed. “Taking less penalties obviously gives them less power play chances, less momentum. I think we’re doing a really good job with that, and our power play’s getting some really good chances.”

All three players were enthusiastic about Portland’s fans, who have been showing up in droves that rival that of several NHL teams (8,843 for last Saturday night alone). “Great fans, great rink, and great organization,” Cederholm said, “Not a lot to complain about.”

Once the back-to-back games against Everett are in the can, Portland will spend the rest of November testing the B.C. Division, with Kamloops and Kelowna lined up for next week. If you’re curious about the standings for those games, keep your eye on Ryan Bosh’s weekly power ranking. Portland is currently at #17.

 

Tags:
0 shares
Kyle Martinak
In addition to being a hockey nerd, Kyle is also is an on-camera personality for www.escapistmagazine.com and maintains various podcasts and webcomics revolving around movies, video games, and comics at his personal site, www.chaingangmedia.com.
X