Former Wimterhawk of the Week: Ryan Johansen

Could it really have been anyone else? The Mighty Johan has taken the NHL by storm this season, his 3rd professionally, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets with 25 points (11 Goals, 14 Assists) in 32 games. Combine that with his developing ability to play in his own zone and you have a guy that is looking to be one of the top Centers in the league for years to come.

It did not come easy for Ryan, as this piece by The Hockey Writers, points out, he was benched during a post-season run in the AHL only last season. He obviously put hard work in during this past off season as his point total and hard earned minutes can attest. He was also placed in the right situation this season, after several top liners for the Blue Jackets went out with injuries (one of them was former Hawk Brandon Dubinsky, a fellow Center). Now he has firmly cemented himself as a guy who can score and is not a liability at all on the defensive side.

This past week (12/6-12/12) he netted 1 Goal and 4 Assists for 5 Points in 4 games, leading Columbus to a 3-1 record, putting them only 2 points out of the last playoff spot.

First, he netted 2 assists in a 4-0 win over Minnesota last Friday, then he assisted on CBJ's only Goal in a 2-1 tight checking affair on Monday. He then closed out the week with an assist in a 5-4 win over New Jersey 5-4 and then scored a a goal last night in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. With points in the last 4 games, Johansen extended his point streak to 7 games currently. With his size and the fact that his point explosion has not relied upon power play goals, there does not seem to be any reason why Johansen cannot keep this going.

Dumba Trade: What Does it Mean?

Dumba

So after much speculation on the twitter-verse, Portland revealed the other day that they had traded beloved 4th line center Presten Kopeck and 3 conditional draft picks to the Red Deer Rebels for the rights to Matt Dumba. Dumba is a 19 year Defenseman who was picked 7th overall in the 2012 NHL draft and has been with the Minnesota Wild all of this year. Dumba, who has only played in 13 games this season for the Wild and not since November 23rd, could be sent back to the WHLm due to not being eligible to play in the AHL.

The full details of the trade would not come out until the next day, revealing that the Hawks, who do not have a first round Bantam draft pick in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, have conditionally given up their second round Bantam draft picks in 2014, 2015 and 2016 to Red Deer. Should Dumba not return until an un-specified (to us anyways) date, the 2016 pick would turn into a 3rd rounder. Should Dumba not be returned at all, the Hawks would receive a 2014 3rd round pick from the Rebels for Kopeck.

So What Does it All Mean?
-This is yet another gamble by Head Coach/ General Manager Mike Johnston for an elite player. He has made many such moves in the season, in an attempt to shore up the lineup with proven WHL assets, even though they may only play the rest of the season for the Hawks:

1) 2009-10 With Lethbridge for Luca Sbisa:

Sbisa (now with Anaheim)

-D-man Daniel Johnston, Forward Jacob Berglund and their 2010 first round CHL Import Draft pick for 19 year old D-man Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge's top CHL import pick (Sven Bartschi) and their 5th round 2011 Bantam Draft pick (Michael Fortin).
Sbisa, who had played in 47 NHL games over 2 season, was picked up to provide a needed top pairing D-man and he delivered. He had a hand injury that did not allow to play as many games in the regular season as hoped, but provided 4 points in the playoffs and played well, before the Hawks were bounced by Vancouver. Acquiring the rights to the 7th pick in order to pick Bartschi was easily the best part about this draft, as he would go on tear up the WHL and help lead the Hawks to 2 straight Western Conference titles. Result: WIN.

2) 2010-11 With Vancouver for Craig Cunningham:

Cunningham (now with the AHL's Bruins)

-Forwards Spencer Bennett, Teal Burns, 2011 first round Bantam pick (Thomas Foster) and second round 2012 Bantam pick (Jesse Roach) for Cunningham and the Vancouver's 2011 6th round pick.
Cunningham was a natural fir at Center on the Hawk's second line with Bartschi and Ty Rattie, potting 42 regular season points over 35 games with the Hawks and then adding 21 post-season points in 21 games as the Hawks made it all the way to the WHL Finals before falling to Kootenay. Cunningham not only centered that second line, he brought a lot of post-season experience and winning attitude from his being a 16 year old on Vancouver's 2006-07 Memorial Cup champion team. Bennet, a fellow 20 year old netted 49 points in 35 games with Vancouver and Teal Burns scored 13 in 30, before bouncing around to 3 different teams over the next 2 seasons in the WHL. Foster, a 17 year old, has 12 points in 33 games with the Giants this season and could blossom into something, while Roach is not playing with the squad.
Result: WIN (but a lot closer)

3) 2011-12 With Seattle for Marcel Noebels:

Noebels (now with the AHL's Phantoms)

-Forward Seth Swenson, 2012 (Keegan Kolesar) and 2013 (Kaden Elder) first round Bantam picks for Marcel Noebels.
Noebels was another acquisition that fit exactly what the Hawks needed, a big gritty Forward that can score goals. He would end up scoring 34 points in 31 regular season games and adding 23 points in 22 post-season games, as the Hawks would advance to game 7 of the WHL finals before losing to Edmonton. Noebels came as advertised and scored several key goals during that run for the Hawks, as well as, providing sold back-checking form the forward position. Kolesar, a 16 year old playing in his first season, has looked like he might be a burgeoning star, but it still is too early to tell. Meanwhile, Swenson, not getting much time in Portland, has blossomed into a solid 2 way forward and a great leader in the Seattle locker room. He brings a lot of the same assets to the table that now ex-Hawk Kopeck did.
Result: Too Early To Tell. If Swenson leads Seattle to a deep run and Kolesar becomes a proven asset, the T-birds might pull this one out.

So, as you can see, Johnston loves to make big moves, as long as, that fit into the mold of his team and Dumba certainly does. There will be much speculation regarding whether Minnesota will send him down, but it was a gamble the once excellent on defense Hawks had to make.

All in all though, Johnston has gotten a lot out of "rental" players and consistently found a way to get players outside of the Bantam draft to come to Portland and produce. If Dumba does come to Portland, look for a player that should fit really well into the Hawks locker room and provide the team with a guy who has played some on the highest level in the sport.

Weekend Wrap Up: Hawks Go 1-1-0-1

I finally got a chance to watch all of last weekend's games, as I was down in San Francisco during that time attending the Seahawks 49ers football game.

Portland got 3 points out of a very up and down weekend that saw them dominate parts of games and then fall asleep for just long enough for the opposing teams to take advantage. It probably did not help that this, second portion, of the Alberta Eastern swing, came against 2 teams in Edmonton and Calgary that are probably the best the Conference has to offer and another in Red Deer that has a solid Goaltender and are desperately trying to cling to playoff hopes. It was also Teddy Bear toss night both Friday and Saturday nights in Edmonton and Red Deer, bing enthusiastic crowds to cheer against the Hawks.

Leier- 2 Goals vs. Edmonton

Portland 4 @ Edmonton 5-SO (Friday)

-Portland got off to a quick start in their first of 3 games in 3 nights, probably hoping to surprise the Oil Kings with their speed and puck control. They did take advantage somewhat with an early goal by Nic Petan, but after the Oil Kings's defense got it's feet under them and Goaltender Tristan Jarry made a couple solid saves, the Oil Kings took over. They turned the Hawks puck control style against themselves and created a lot of traffic in front leading to a 3-1 lead, 2 goals of which came from Defensemen. After going down by a 2 goal margin, the Hawks seemed to finally respond and Chase De Leo scored a goal, that I still do not understand why it was disallowed. This seemed to fire up the Hawks even more and Derrick Pouliot scored on a point shot making it a 3-2 game. Edmonton's Edgars Kulda then somehow squirted one past Burke, on a terrible goal given up by the 18 year old net-minder and it was back to a 4-2 game. Then in one of the most thrilling comebacks this year by the Hawks, Taylor Leier (on a mission) scored 2 late goals, knotting it up and preserving one point form a mostly lackluster night out of Portland. The Hawks, despite creating more chances in the over-time session ended up losing in a 4 round circus, as Jarry stood tall vs. 3 of the Hawk's shooters. 

Leipsic- 2 Goals 1 Assist vs. Red Deer

Portland 5@ Red Deer 4 (Saturday)

-Too many times this year has Portland been the far better team talent wise, jumped out to an early lead and then let the inferior team get back into the game. I would like to see far more closing out of teams by the Hawks then they have shown so far this year. This is exactly the case in the game at Red Deer Saturday night. Chase De Leo scored 9 seconds in and Portland appeared to be off to the races, as the top 2 lines created a load more chances, resulting in Brendan Leipsic finding Paul Bittner in front and then Petan locating Leipsic on the power play with a wicked back door feed, giving the Hawks 3 goals in the first off of 13 shots in the first. Red Deer's Goalie: Patrik Bartosak actually played really well in the loss for Red Deer, making the key saves to keep the game close in the first. Shane McColgan then notched his first point in a Winterhawk's jersey when he found Alex Schoenborn on a nifty play, giving the Hawks a brief 4-1 lead in the second. The the wheels started to fall off for Portland. They allowed significant chances through lackluster defense and backup Goalie Jarrod Schamerhorn, despite an overall subpar outing, saved the Hawks with a few key stops. Leipsic would score the eventual game winner off a feed from Bittner late in the second, showing that he can sometimes be just as nifty with the puck as his much smaller line mates. Taylor Leier left the game in the second period with flu like symptoms and those would keep him out of the lineup the next night in Calgary. I am starting to realize just how important a player like Leier has become to the Hawks.

Driedger- 24 Saves vs. Portland

Portland 1@ Calgary 4 (Sunday)

-Just like Friday's game, the Hawks took it right to a very good defenseive team in Calgary, resulting in an early goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand off a fantastic pass form behind the net by Leier's replacement on the second line: McColgan. That would be all the goals Portland would score though as Calgary Goalie Chris Driedger recovered to play a fantastic game between the pipes, stoning the Hawk's forwards on countless high quality scoring chances. Calgary may have "out shot" Portland 33-25 but I would argue the Portland had far more Grade "A" chances than the Hitmen. One of those was a Nic Petan short-handed break-away that he somehow could not get past the Goalie in the second period. On the (non-empty netter) goals for Calgary, Portland proved that they are not over their early habit of poor defensive positioning. Pouliot was badly out of position on their first 2 goals and somehow a 1-0 Portland lead with not much time left in the second turned into a 3-1 Hitmen lead only a minute into the third. That kind of let down is definitely worrisome in a team that looks to be making a playoff run.

Portland's next game is this Friday in Seattle, where they will see yet another opponent's Teddy Bear toss before having their own Saturday, again vs. Seattle.

Former Winterhawk of the Week: Colton Sceviour

Former Hawk Colton Sceviour (2004-08) had an amazing week, racking up 7 points over 4 games for the AHL's Texas Stars, the affiliate of the Dallas Stars. As I wrote earlier this year, Sceviour had a great preseason with his NHL team and was a surprising last cut for the Stars.

Sceviour started with a 1 goal and 1 assist night, including scoring the game winner in a 2-1 win over Oklahoma City on 11/27. He then added an assist in a comeback effort in losing to Grand Rapids 5-4 on 11/29. He then capped his week with a 2 goal and 2 assist night, factoring in on 4 of the 5 Star's goals in a 5-4 win over OKC on 12/3. Sceviour got the game winner in that affair as well.

His 7 points now put him in a tie for the AHL point scoring lead with 29. The guy he's tied with: fellow Texas Star Travis Morin was just called up by Dallas, meaning Sceviour can take over the lead from his teammate in tomorrow's game vs. Iowa.

Sceviour now has 207 career professional points into his 5th season, though only 1 of those is in the NHL. If he keeps up this though, Dallas has got to give him more games this season.

Portland Re-takes Top Spot From Everett: 6-3

The Portland Winterhawks returned the favor against the Silvertips in Everett on Tuesday night. After losing the top spot in the overall standings to the Tips the last time they met, Portland ousted them and re-took the top perch with a 6-3 win.

Everett controlled a lot of the early play and this led to Portland taking the first 5 penalties of the game. They scored on one of them after a pass in the slot found the ever dangerous Joshua Winquist, who beat Brendan Burke for the 1-0 lead. Portland, slowly but surely, settled the play down and were able to establish a solid forecheck. This forecheck directly led to Garrett Haar beating Austin Lotz with a point shot for his 4th of the season, late in the first period. From there it became a tightly checked affair in the second until Taylor Leier broke it open for Portland off a feed from Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Hawks then added a deflection score from Alex Schoenborn, a pretty goal from Bjorkstrand and a power play marker from Chase De Leo to take a firm 5-1 lead and most Everett fans started heading for the exits.

Those that did leave missed a semi-exciting finish though, as Everett scored twice late and created several more chances that Burke was able to stop. Derrick Pouliot would put an end to this game, however, with a late score finishing the scoring at 6-3.

Pouliot

Austin Lotz, who has been magnificent in most of his starts against Portland and was the sole reason they were able to take a couple games from the Hawks in the playoffs last year was yanked in this one, after giving up De Leo's goal 8:20 into the 3rd period. He stopped 28 of 33 shots in a very average, but not poor performance. Daniel Cotton, the goalie the Hawks have chased on occasion in the past, came in and stopped 4 of 5 shots. I was going to put Burke in the top 3 stars, as he made several solid saves in the first and second period, when Everett was able to establish long periods of possesion in the Portland zone, but Everett's two late goals show that he still has trouble making it to the elite level of WHL goalies. He stopped 35 of 38 for his 50th career WHL win.

Burke

Observations From the Game:
-Joshua Winquist's first goal extended his point streak to 18 games, the longest of the Silvertip's franchise history, as well as, the longest in the WHL this season.
-The defensive pairing of Garrett Haar and Keoni Texeira had perhaps their best overall game of the season. They have been susceptible to being victimized by the talented players from the other team and coughing up the puck in their own zone, but in this one they were excellent. Haar showed why he fits Coach Mike Johnston's up-tempo system by carrying the puck into the Everett zone himself several times. Texeira, meanwhile, his really improving in regards to his ice vision and passing. He is probably the best 16 year old D-man I've seen in a Portland uniform since Braydon Coburn.
-The second line of Leier, De Leo and Bjorkstrand seems like they will be the difference makers this year for Portland. Even the better teams will struggle with matching up a comparable second unit with these guys.
-De Leo was placed out there on the first power play unit in Brendan Leipsic's spot on the top power play unit, after Leipsic took a vicious cross check leading to the man advantage. De Leo received some pointers from Petan prior to the draw in the Silvertip's zone. De Leo then was in perfect position to snipe in a shot off a feed from Petan.
-Ethan Price continues to impress and he and Adam DeChamplain have found a way to put together a good fore-checking fourth line, even in place of the missing Presten Kopeck and Adam Rossignol, who have centered the fourth line in the past and are still out with injuries.
-Everett is a team that has definitely surprised the WHL this season, but in my opinion, has a few changes to make before they can be a legitimate threat for the WHL title this season.
-Jujhar Khaira was a fine addition this season for Everett and has centered their checking line, but he needs to improve before becoming the shut down center I think Coach Kevin Constantine envisions him to be.

Elsewhere in the U.S. Division, Tri City scored 2 early first period goals on their way to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades. Saskatoon is now 0-4 on their U.S. Division swing.

3 Stars:
#3- Oliver Bjorkstrand- Bjorkstrand added a goal and an assist to his point totals this season and was hard to handle all night for Everett's defense.

#2- Joshua Winquist- 2 goals for the 20 year old. Winquist has put this team on his back in a similar way that Mitch Holmberg has for Spokane. Winquist has more talent surrounding him as Manraj Hayer and Tyler Sandhu both have big play ability.

#1- Garrett Haar- I probably gave him the top billing tonight, as I have not been that impressed with him this season and he turned in, easily his best work tonight. Hopefully this a sign of things to come as Haar gets more used to the WHL game after playing college.

Portland's next stop on the road trip is up to Edmonton on Friday where they will play the first of three games in three nights in Alberta.

Petan, Leier and Pouliot Invited to Canada's World Junior Camp

Nic Petan, Taylor Leier and Derrick Pouliot were all part of the list of 25 players invited to take place in  Team Canada's Invitation Camp from December 12th-15th. If they make the final roster, they will be taking part in the World Junior Championship in Sweden from December 26th-January 5th.

What makes this year very different is the fact that Head Coach Brent Sutter and Team Canada invited  only 25 players, whereas in the past they have invited as many as 40. The fact that the roster only has to get down to 22, means that the 3 Winterhawks are virtual locks to make the team. 

Petan, Pouliot and Leier all played extremely well in the Subway Super Series, where they played for Team Canada Coach Sutter. This had to help them make the 25 man camp. Because Edmonton's Griffin Reinhart was invited and has to serve a 3 game suspension and they only invited 8 D-men to the camp, Pouliot has the best chance to make the team of the 3. He was also a late cut from last year's camp, meaning that they will probably give him his shot this year, similar to what Ty Rattie went through.

Portland plays Seattle December 13th and 14th, so all 3 will be out for that game and should they make the team, 6 games December 27th-January 4th. This includes the last 2 games of the season at home vs. B.C. Division leading Kelowna.

Winterhawks Survive Opportunistic Blades Behind Petan's 4 Goal Night: 6-5

The Portland Winterhawks were able to come back and beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Sunday night in Portland, despite being down 4-1 late in the 2nd period and 5-4 with only 6 minutes left.

Portland out shot the overmatched Blades 53-16 overall and created scoring chances in the double digits, but still trailed for most of the game. This was because Saskatoon Goalie Alex Moodie turned in one of the better 6 goals against performances in recent memory. Moodie made multiple diving athletic saves in the game and frustrated the Hawks time and time again.

Nic Petan was the main reason the Hawks survived the 10-17-1-2 Blades, potting 4 goals and 1 assist, 3 of which came on the power play. This was Petan's second career 4 goal game, the other coming against Seattle in March of the 2011-12 season. Petan also notched his second career 5 point night, the other being also against Seattle during the final game of the 2012-13 season. Despite being in on 5 of the 6 goals, Petan was not on the ice for the game winning goal, which was scored with 20 seconds to go when Taylor Leier found Oliver Bjorkstrand with a slick backhand pass from behind the net which found Bjorkstrand between the face-off circles, where he blew it by Moodie and the exhausted Blades.

Saskatoon was in their 3rd game in 3 nights against the U.S. Division and they lost all 3 games. They looked flat out beat at the end of the game, despite clinging to a 1 goal lead at 5-4. Saskatoon Coach Dave Struch had already called a time out earlier in the game and so was unable to give his tired players a late rest. This directly led to the Blades defense leaving Goalie Moodie out to dry for Petan's game tying goal with 6 minutes left and Bjorkstrand's winner.

Jarrod Schamerhorn got his 4th career start for the Hawks, as they chose to rest starter Brendan Burke for Tuesday's game vs. the WHL leading Everett Silvertips. Their dreams of doing so were squashed by a very subpar performance by Schamerhorn. He stopped only 7 of 11 shots and was yanked with 8 plus minutes left in the second period. He was the victim of 2 early costly errors by his defense and simply took a bad angle on the Blades 4th goal, leading to his early exit. Burke came in and proceeded to stop 4 of the 5 shots he faced. Moodie was excellent for much of the game and stopped 47 of 53 shots.

Observations From the Game:
-All 4 of Petan's goals were scored in similar ways with either a fortunate bounce off the back boards or a sweet pass form behind the net, leaving him all alone with an empty net to shoot at as Moodie dove in vain to make a save.
-The Blades really seemed to over commit on the back door pass that the Hawks are known for and this made plays to the net and then out in front available.
-Layne Viveiros and Derrick Pouliot were out there together for 4 on 4 hockey which does not happen often. It may not happen much again as they proceeded to make a couple costly errors early in the second period, allowing grade a chances and the Blades a 3-1 lead.
-Brendan Leipsic notched the first 5 assist game of his career in the win.
-Oliver Bjorkstrand had 2 goals and an assist. Petan now has 60 points on the season, 4 off the pace set by Spokane's Mich Holmberg. Holmberg has been held off the score sheet in the last 2 Spokane games, since scoring a hat trick against Portland. Bjorkstrand is 13 back with 51.
-Portland was 3/7 on the power play after failing to score on a 5 on 3 advantage in the first. Portland created their 7 power plays by simply being way too fast for the Blade's defense. Saskatoon's top pairing: 5 of the 7 penalties were taken by D-men, most times in situations where they felt they had to take one.
-The Blades sport a large team, but their weakness (lack of speed) was apparent tonight, as the Hawks blew by them time and time again.
-Despite out playing the Blades, the Hawk's gave up 5 goals to a Blades team that capitalized on every good chance they were given. Former Vancouver Giant Nathan Burns scored twice, as did 17 year old Matt Revel.
-Elsewhere in the U.S. Division: Spokane lost to Seattle 5-1, behind Shea Theodore's 3 assists. The Chiefs have now dropped 3 in a row. The Chiefs had fallen the previous night to Tric City (2-1), helping end Tri City's own 3 game skid.

3 Stars:
#3- Oliver Bjorkstrand- scored the all important game tying goal, whcih essentially ended the night for the tired Blades.

#2- Brendan Leipsic- Both he and Petan were much better than they were in Spokane, after getting some rest Saturday. They had played 3 games in 3 nights, with the Subway Super Series.

#1- Nic Petan- Seems like the coaches are encouraging him to shoot more on the power play as he probably took over 10 shots total. In today's WHL, where every second of game tape is studied, this really opens up more options for the most talented unit in the league.

For the second time in 3 weeks Tuesday's game in Everett will match up the team's with the 2 best records in the league. Portland, which is now only 1 point back (44-43) is hoping to re-take the top spot that they gave up to Everett the last time the two played.

The game will kick off their second Alberta swing of the year.