In the midst of their longest road trip of the season, the Portland Winterhawks are looking to catch a break in the middle of the Great White North.
The Winterhawks (6-5-1-1) are on a nine-game, 17-day road trip that is taking them nearly 2,600 miles through western Canada and the Western Hockey League’s Central Division.
“It’s going to be tough; it’s going to be challenging,” head coach Mike Johnston said before departing for Canada. “But I thought we handled the road trips well last year.”
Tonight, the Winterhawks will try to break a two-game losing streak when they face the Calgary Hitmen (4-5-0-1) in the trip’s third contest.
After last week’s thrilling 7-6 shootout victory over Saskatoon at the Memorial Coliseum, the defending Western Conference champions Winterhawks have struggled through the opening games of this road marathon. Portland opened the road trip with an 8-4 loss in Edmonton Friday before following it with a 2-1 shootout loss in Red Deer on Saturday.
Portland currently sits in third place in the division and fifth place in conference.
Wingers Ty Rattie and Brad Ross are leading the Winterhawks’ offensive line with 19 points each. Rattie has a team-high 10 goals with nine assists, while Ross has seven goals and 12 assists.
Left winger Sven Bartschi rounds out Portland’s top-three forwards with 17 points off five goals and 12 assists. Last week, he was named the Western Hockey League’s Player of the Week for picking up seven of those points in just two games.
Fifteen Winterhawks attended NHL training camps this year and out of that select group, only wingers Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen are still suited up with their pro teams.
Niederreiter, who led the Hawks in scoring last season, injured his groin during a preseason game for the New York Islanders and it is unclear whether or not he will stay in New York or be sent back to Portland. Johansen, meanwhile, has played five games and tallied an assist with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We knew we were going to have growing pains, with guys away and the potential of losing Niederreiter and Johansen,” Johnston said. “Those are two 40-goal scorers—they make a big difference in your lineup. But we knew that they would probably be gone and we were going to have to live without them.”
The Winterhawks return to home ice in two weeks, when they host Spokane for a pair of games on Nov. 11–12.
Tonight’s first puck drop is set for 6 p.m. The game can be followed via live audio on Winterhawks.com.