Hawks End Eilvertip's Season in Game 6: 5-1

The Portland Winterhawks have not found a more comfortable place to play this post-season then Comcast Arena, Everett. After losing Game 5 at home, they journeyed up to Everett and easily dispatched the home team, in order to advance to the second round for the fourth year in a row. Everett has now lost in the first round six years in a row. Portland now awaits the outcome of the Seattle Kelowna series to see who they will face in round two. Seattle has a 3-2 series with Game 6 going tonight in Kent. If Seattle wins, Portland will play them starting Friday at home. If Kelowna comes back forces Game 7 on Wednesday and wins, then Portland will play Spokane at home on Friday.

Game 6 did not start well for the Winterhawks on Monday night, as on the power play, Ty Rattie made an errant pass then ended up on Everett penalty killer Reid Ptryk's stick. Petryk was off to the races and beat Mac Carruth, for the first short-handed goal of the series. Just over 5 minutes later, Taylor Peters was able to keep the puck in the Everett zone on a poor clearing pass. He got the puck to Seth Jones who made a move on the far boards before charging the net and roofing a backhand shot past Auston Lotz, to tie the game. Portland would then take a lead they would never relinquish when, with 5 minutes left in the period, Derrick Pouliot's point shot caused a rebound that found Oliver Bjorkstrand. Bjorkstrand quickly put it right back on net, beating Lotz for his second of the playoffs.

Oliver Bjorkstrand

Portland would turn up the pressure in period two, out-shooting Everett 20-4 and putting two more past Lotz. The first one would come, like many Portland goals in this series, on the power play, when Tyler Wotherspoon's pass deflected off a Silvertip right onto the stick of Bjorkstrand in the slot. Oliver quickly wristed it back Lotz for his second of the game. Not to be outdone, with a little over a minute left in the period, Seth Jones pinched in on a long rebound and snapped a shot past Lotz that knocked the water bottle off the top of his net.

Then, in the third period, Portland did not let up, scoring one more and limiting Evrett to an astounding one shot on goal in the frame. The Hawks just simply controlled the puck for the majority of every shift and if the Tips did get the puck, they were too tired to mount an attack. Taylor Leier would get the insurance 3:47 into the period, after a great cycle between him, De Leo and Bjorjstrand finished with him in prime position in the slot. Leier beating Lotz has got to be sweet redemption for Taylor, as Lotz has performed highway robbery on him many times thorughout the series.

Taylor Leier

Mac Carruth, in one of his best games in the series, stopped 12 of 13 shots. He will need to be ready for the next series, in which he is sure to face a bigger workload. Austin Lotz, in another great performance stopped 47 of 52. Portland was 2/5 on the power play and Everett was 0/3.

3 Stars:
#3- Austin Lotz- Not his best performance, but I have to give him a star based on how amazing he has played for most of the series. Everett does not win any games unless he stands on his head in Games 1 and 5.


Seth Jones



#2- Seth Jones- Has been shaky for large parts of this set but came to play in Game 6. He was more aggressive then he has been.Keeping pucks in at the point and not being afraid to go one on three. He finished with 2 goals in the game, his only ones of the series. Fitting for a guy that got booed every time he touched the puck.

 #1- Oliver Bjorkstrand- 2 goals and 2 assist in the game. He has improved so much this year. He no longer goes down as easy as he did at the start of the year and the chemistry that his line has developed is a pretty thing to see.

Random Notes:
-Taylor Leier had a goal taken away in the second after the referee ruled that he knocked the puck down with a high stick.I looked at the video and did not agree with this assesment, thougn it is a tough call to overturn, once you've made it.
-Brendan Leipsic also argued that he had put a puck past Lotz in the second period. Play was never whistled dead and the puck does appear to go, at least, on the goal line.
-Portland is 4-0 this series when they play Keegan Iverson and Paul Bittner, instead of Joe Mahon or Dominic Turgeon. Look for Coach Travis Green to keep Iverson and Bittner with Taylor Peters, as the fourth line played fantastic in Game 6. This line has been makeshift, but mostly has been Preston Kopeck centering Joey Baker and Adam De Champlain.
-Landon Oslanski, put on the ice, for the last 40 seconds of his WHL career, instead took a classless slash on the wrist of Seth Jones. He spent the last part of his career sitting in the box instead, a fitting end for a frustrating series for the 20 year old Defensman.
-Connor Cox, the other Tip's 20 year old, had an amazing series and, in my opinion, was their most consistent D-man.
-Lotz has most certainly increased his stock in this June's NHL draft with his performance this series.

Look Ahead to Game 6/ Monday News and Links

Portland had a golden opportunity to close out Everett on Saturday night and get some rest prior to a second round series vs. either Spokane or Seattle. Instead, the Silvertips stayed alive, combining excellent goaltending with capitalizing on everything that Portland gave them

Austin Lotz

In short, it was exactly their game plan coming into the series and something they also did well at in Game 1. Since that Game 1 loss, Portland has responded by increasing possession time and passing around the Everett zone like they were the Harlem Globetrotters.

Everett in Game 6 somehow stopped this spread out attack, by getting sticks in passing lanes and starting breaks the other way. There were several rushes by the top line of Leipsic-Rattie-Petan, that were turned aside by well placed sticks and successful gambling by the Everett defense.

The good opportunities the Hawks did get on goal, Lotz was ready for. This is impressive for a Goalie in his 17 year old season, who was pulled in 2 straight games at home prior to Games 3 and 4. He made 43 saves in Game 5 including a couple heart-breakers for Portland fans. One of these was on Taylor Leier, who despite having many golden scoring chances in this series, has only one goal. It seems that Lotz is saving his best saves for anything coming off the 18year old's stick.

Taylor Leier

Despite blowing the chance at advancing, the Hawks have got to feel confident heading into the Comcast Arena tonight. This is a place they have won 6 of 7 games through the regular and post seasons. They have scored 18 goals in the 2 games there this series.

The game plan for the Hawks is simple: control play, position yourselves well defensively, in order to limit Everett scoring chances and don't try and do too much. They have so many talented forwards, but it seemed like some of the Hawk's players were trying to go one on five late in the game.

Facing elimination tonight, though, the Hawks will be getting everything Everett has left in them. This should be a close, tight checking game, not the blowouts of games 3 and 4. It should be a good one.

Game 6 goes at 7:05 tonight.

Random Notes:
-Joshua Winquist has 6 goals in the series and seems to have beat Mac Carruth high glove side on all of them.
-Michael Zipp had an assist in Game 5, meaning all four Everett 16 year olds have at least one point.
-Everett moved Ayrton Nikkel out of the lineup and had Cole McDonald move back to defense, which seemed the right move as he made several good defensive plays.
-15 year old Kevin Davis played again for Everett, this time as a fourth line forward.
-Keegan Iverson was held out of the lineup for Portland, possibly because of his late hit after game 4 in Everett that started a melee. He has played well in the series, but seemed to let his hot head get away from him in that moment.
-Landon Oslanski again played on Everett's top line with Winquist and Tyler Sandhu, though he committed a couple in-opportune penalties.
-Preston Kopeck's play in this one moved him from the fourth line, mid-game, up to the third line with Taylor Peters and either Paul Bittner or Adam DeChamplain.

News/Links:
-Nick Patterson's look back at game 5.
-Paul Buker's piece about game 5, mentions that the ice in the Coliseum's ice surface was terrible, possibly due to it being 70+ degrees outside.
-Connor Honey missed game 5 in the Kelowna-Seattle series and could miss another after being suspended for a hit on Kelowna D-man McKenzie Johnson, who is out with a hurt shoulder.
-Interesting piece about why the Memorial Cup host Saskatoon Blades were swept in the first round.
-In former Hawk news: Sven Bartschi, who has been playing most of the year with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL scored on Saturday and has 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 30 games. He has gone up and down from the NHL with the Calgary Flames, most recently being demoted on March 9th. He has only one point in 10 games in the NHL this season.

Sven Bartschi, Hawk from 2010-12

Everett Staves off Elimination with 3-2 Win in Game 5

The Everett Silvertips were one win away from being eliminated in the first round coming into Saturday night. Instead of giving up they showed a lot of fight however and forced Portland to make another road trip up i-5 for Game 6 Monday night.

Everett jumped out to the early lead, just over 10 minutes in when Portland Defenseman Josh Hanson went for the shot block on Everett Forwad Joshua Winquist. Hanson instead obstructed his Goaltender: Mac Carruth's view and is was 1-0 Everett. The goal was Winquist's 6th of the series. At the 13:41 mark of the period, Carruth went to pass the puck to Hanson behind the Portland net and the puck bounced off Hanson's skate right to a waiting Logan Aasman, to make it 2-0 Everett after one period of play.

Logan Aasman

It would get no better for Portland in the second, despite out-shooting Everett 17-4. Everett would get the only goal of the period after Ty Rattie and Brendan Leipsic failed to convert a 2 on 0 break. Tip's Goalie Austin Lotz sent a the puck quickly the other direction and Reid Petryk capitalized on a breakaway to make it 3-0 after 2.

The Hawks would not go quietly into the night in the 3rd period, however and scored 2 different power play goals in the period. First, 5:59 into the period, Leipsic deflected a Troy Rutkowski point shot to make it 3-1. Then, after the Hawks pulled Carruth to make it 6 on 4, Derrick Pouliot blasted a shot past Lotz with 1:25 left in the game. The Hawks would keep the pressure dialed up and appeared to put one in with around 10 seconds left in the game after a mad scramble, but referee Kevin Bennett ruled no goal.

Troy Rutkowski

Carruth made 15 saves on 8 Everett shots. Lotz out-did him in this one with 43 saves on 45 shots.

Portland entered the game 39% in the series on their power play and went 2/5 in this one. Everett was 0/2.

3 Stars:
#3- Joshua Winquist- By far Everett's best forward this series, has 6 goals, which ties him with Rattie for the series lead.
#2- Troy Rutkowski- Easily the Hawks best D-man in this game. 2 Assists in the game and jumped up into the play creating many scoring opportunities.
#1- Austin Lotz- Won another game in Portland. He made 43 saves and again robbed Taylor Leier a couple times

Austin Lotz

Random Notes:
-Portland inserted Joe Mahon into the lineup removing Keegan Iverson.
-After the final whistle there were again more shenanigans with Ben Betker putting a stick in the ribs of Leipsic. Ty Rattie jumped to his defense and was then jumped by both Betker and Dawson Leedahl. All this occurred while most of the Everett team was on the ice celebrating.
-Everett did a fantastic job in this one, keeping the passing lanes blocked.
-Victoria beat Kamloops 4-2, to extend their series to a Game 6.
-Spokane closed out Tri City with a 3-1 victory.
-Kelowna extended their series to a Game 6 in Seattle with a 4-3 win.
-Tyler Wotherspoon was signed to a 3 year entry level deal with the team that drafted him: the Calgary Flames.

Hawks Soar Past Everett 11-4, are One Win From Advanving

Apparently a trip to Everett is just what the Doctor ordered for Portland in this series. The Hawks struggled at times with Everett at home, losing game one. Then they headed up I-5 and outscored them 18-7 in only 2 games.

Portland scored often in this one, opening with a goal from Ty Rattie 8:02 into the game. This was one that Everett goalie Austin Lotz would want back as Rattie shot from a bad angle and banked it off his pad and in. The top line for Portland smelled blood in the water and took advantage on the 5on 3 power play when Brendan Leipsic followed up a Nic Petan shot that Lotz made a great save on, making it 2-0. Then Chase De Leo converted the other power play with his second of the playoffs. Leipsic scored his second of the game with an assist to Rattie and the Hawks had a commanding 4-0l lead. Josh Winquist got one back for Everett when he picked the top glove side corner on Mac Carruth. What life that gave the Tips was short lived however, as Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon wired one past Lotz to end the first period with a 5-1 lead.

Winquist scored his second of the game on a 5 on 3 power play for Everett only 2 minutes into the second period to get them back within 3 goals. Then the Ty Rattie show happened as he scored off consecutive long outlet passes from Derick Pouliot and Wotherspoon to make it 7-2. That would not be the last goal of the period as Wotherspoon fired home a point shot for his second goal of the game.

Ty Rattie

For the second night in a row Lotz would be pulled heading into the third period for Daniel Cotton. About 10 minutes into the period things got a little hairy, when Ben Betker slashed at Ty Rattie's wrist. Rattie had already hurt the wrist earlier from a Landon Oslanski slash and took exception with this behavior. He slashed Betker back and the game deteriorated from there. Carruth was pulled to keep him from getting injured, as he had already gotten tangled up 2 different times with Everett players. The top line didn't see the ice for the rest of the game and the second line saw very little time. Joey Baker, Taylor Leier and Josh Hanson all scored for the Hawks in the period, while Cole MacDonald and Reid Petryk scored on replacement goalie Brendan Burke to end the game at 11-4.

Carruth stopped 16 of 18 shots, while Burke stopped 3 of the 5 he faced. Austin Lotz made 21 saves on 29 shots, while Daniel Cotton stopped 6 of 9.

The Hawks were 3 of 7 on the power play while Everett converted 1 of the 6 chances they were given.

3 Stars:
#3- Tyler Wotherspoon- Lobbied for some late power play time in hopes of getting his first career hat trick, but was turned down by Coach Travis Green. He ended the night with 2 goals and 2 assists.
#2- Brendan Leipsic- 2 goals and 3 assists in the game. He really seems to have been woken up by some of the rough treatment he received in game 3.

Brendan Leipsic

#1- Ty Rattie- 3 goals and 2 assists. Everett's defense could not keep up with the speed the top line brought.

Random Notes:
-Carruth had a better game in this one, making several solid stops.
-Keegan Iverson threw a late hit after the final buzzer starting a late melee that ended with Nikkel throwing several punches at a prone Shawn MacPherson.
-Edmonton eliminated Kootenay with a 4-1 victory.
-Everett fans threw many items on the ice and at officials, seemingly more over frustration with the scoreboard then actual perceived missed calls.
-Leipsic's 4 first period points tied a franchise record held by Adam Deadmarsh and Ray Ferraro.
-Rattie now has 69 career playoff points, only 2 shy of Randy Heath's team record.
-The Tips gamble in putting two of their experienced defensemen up front seems to have backfired as Portland's relentless fore-check was more then their young d-men could handle.
-Game 5 goes tonight at the Coliseum in Portland.

Look Ahead to Game 4/ Friday News and Links

Portland restored order in their first round series on Wednesday night. They let Everett and the entire WHL know that yes this is the team that rolled up 57 wins in dominating fashion this year. After back to back games at home where Everett was either winning the game or coming close to it, the Winterhawks left no doubt after the 2nd period that game 3 and home ice advantage was theirs.

Ayrton Nikkel

How did they do this?  Besides playing well at both ends of the ice and moving around on the power play a little more, there wasn't that many differences in their play. Everett, however, played much worse in game 3. Particularly Austin Lotz, who had no chance on several of the Hawk's goals, but pulled the gaffe of the series so far on Portland's 6th goal. He really needs to make 3-4 remarkable saves to keep Everett confident that they can win the game. Also, defenseman Ayrton Nikkel had to have one of his worst games of the year. After starting out great leading the rush on Everett's first goal, he took two stupid penalties that led to pivotal Portland goals. Forward Kohl Bauml was also missing in action after playing great and creating chances in the first two games.

Everett will need to play much better against a Portland team that has thrived on the road all season, setting the WHL record for road wins in the process.

Mac Carruth has got to play much better in game 4. Two of the three Everett goals are probably ones he wants back. He seemed very frustrated with himself after the tips made it 5-3 in the 3rd.

Mac Carruth

News and Links:
-Everett top line forward Manraj Hayer blocked a shot and broke a finger Wednesday and will miss games 4 and 5. Mill Creek, WA resident and 7th round bantam pick, 15 year Daniel Woolfenden was at Everett's practice today.
-Yet another Spokane Tri City playoff game went to overtime last night with Blake Gal getting the winner in a 4-3 game. Spokane now leads 3-1 in the series. Luke Lee-Knight has taken Troy Trombley's place as Tri's starting goalie.
-Dylan Willick got the OT winner 17:47 into extra session for the 5-4 win, giving Kamloops a 3-1 series lead.
-Calgary ousted Swift Current 3-1 last night and 4 game to 1 overall, meaning there are no longer any teams left from the East Division in the playoffs.
-Kelowna could be without 6 regulars for Saturday's pivotal game 5 vs. Seattle (they are down 3-1 in the series).

Marcel Noebels Hawk in 2011-12

-In former Hawk news: here is a piece on Marcel Noebels' rookie season.

Hawks Blow Out Everett 7-3; Take 2-1 Series Lead

It was a markedly different game from the first two games in the series on Wednesday night up in Everett. For one thing the first two games had audiences of 9,000+, this one had 2,000. Also, Austin Lotz, who had been the best player in the series so far, had a terrible game and was pulled after the 2nd period.

Portland overcame a little adversity on the way up to Everett after their bus broke down right outside of the rink. Once they got up to Everett and started the game Wednesday night, they had to immediately battle back from a one goal deficit as well.

Only 3:50 into the game, after Portland Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon pinched down into the Everett zone, Everett broke out against the flow of play and 17 year old forward Dawson Leedahl executed a perfect 3 on 1, with Portland's Nic Petan forced to play defense and it was quickly 1-0 Everett. This lead lasted until 14:41 into the period, when after Ayrton Nikkel took a kneeing penalty, the Hawks got several excellent scoring chances, setting up Petan to bury it backdoor on a wide open net.

Oliver Bjorkstrand

The second period had been pivotal in the first 2 games and last night was no different. Portland would end up taking over the game after scoring 4 straight in the period. First at the 3:15 mark, Ty Rattie finished an odd man rush with his 3rd of the playoffs and it was 2-1 Portland. Then Nic Petan sniped one from the left faceoff circle, picking the top glove-side corner and the Hawks were off and running. Landon Oslanski would give the Hawks their second power-play of the night and Troy Rutkowski tapped in a loose puck in front, converting the Hawks second power-play. Oliver Bjorkstrand would join the scoring party after a great feed in from from a driving Chase De Leo and it was 5-1 to close the period.

Everett seemed to get a little jump in the 3rd period. Joshua Winquist and Dawson Leedahl scored only 21 seconds apart at the 6 minute mark and it was suddenly 5-3. Derrick Pouliot would all but seal the game with his first of the playoffs only 48 seconds after Leedahl's second of the game, making it 6-3. The way he scored the goal, took what energy the crowd had completely out of the building. He fired a weak wrist shot on Daniel Cotton, who had replaced Lotz, from center ice, in order to change defensive pairings. Cotton caught the puck and then promptly lost it into his own net, with no pressure from Portland.  Brendan Leipsic would further greet Cotton with a power play goal to close the scoring at 7-3 with 10:52 left in the game.

Mac Carruth had his worst game of the playoffs, giving up 3 goals on only 13 shots. Lotz gave up 5 goals on 24 shots and Cotton gave up two goals on 6 shots. Portland was 3/5 on the power play and Everett was 0/2.

3 Stars:
#3- Derrick Pouliot- Seems to play his best games up in Everett. Scored one goal and had 2 assists. Both he and his defensive partner: Troy Rutkowski had another great night, setting up chances and keeping Everett from getting any easy looks at the net.

Nic Petan

#2- Brendan Leipsic- Once again got involved in the after the whistle shenanigans early and was inspired to another great game. He finished with a goal and 2 assists.

#1- Nic Petan- Best game of the series so far for Petan, with 2 goals and 2 assists. He showed a lot of confidence and the puck seemed to be glued to his stick at times.

Random Notes:
-#2 Ayrton Nikkel: a mid season acquisition from Brandon was sat for games one and two in favor of 15 year old d-man Kevin Adam. One would think he will not see the ice again this series after taking 2 stupid penalties that led to two Hawks power play goals.
-Portland has seemed to adjust to Everett using Landon Oslanski on their 3rd forward line. He did not seem to be much of a factor all game.

Manraj Hayer

-Everett's Manraj Hayer, who had been playing on their top line, left the game with a broken finger after blocking a shot.
-Dawson Leedahl, playing in his 16 year old season, had 3 goals all year long and had 2 in this one, playing on the 2nd line.
-Portland's top line, as well as, Seth Jones and Tyler Wotherspoon did not play the final 10 minutes of the game.
-Medicine Hat shocked the Saskatoon Blades by sweeping the Memorial Cup champions with a 3-1 win. The Tigers were the 7th seed in the east and the Blades were the #3. They will now have almost 2 months off before hosting the Memorial Cup in mid-may.
-Kelowna beat Seattle 4-0 avoiding the sweep and sending the series back to Kelowna for Saturday's game down 3-1 in the series.
-Edmonton took a 3-1 series lead with a 4-0 win in Kottenay.
-Red Deer completed the 4 game sweep in Prince Albert with a 3-2 win.
-The WHL admitted that they missed the hand pass that led to Calgary's game winning goal in over time. Former Tri City American Brooks Macek gloved the puck into the crease and Victor Rask banged in the loose puck for the 1-0 win and 3-1 series lead. Now if they will only admit that they got the situation wrong in penalizing the Winterhawks franchise...
-Spokane is leading Tri City 2 games to 1, heading into tonight's game 4 in Tri City.
-Kamloops also has a 2-1 lead on Victoria going into tonight's game 4 in Victoria.

5 Differences in Games 1 and 2/ Monday News and Links

Portland played very differently in games 1 and 2. To me there were 5 major things Portland did better in Game 2:

Troy Rutkowski

Derrick Pouliot

1) Better defensive coverage- Particularly the Derrick Pouliot and Troy Rutkowski pairing. They were victimized quite often in game one and seemed to struggle with the more shifty Everett players- Kohl Bauml, Reid Petryk and Joshua Winquist especially. They were not caught out of position very often in game 2 and did a great job of stick checking any Everett player who attempted to carry the puck in.

2) Blocking shots- This is something that the forwards, particularity Ty Rattie with a nice block on a point shot, helped out with as well. Though, Seth Jones and Tyler Wotherspoon were the ones to really excel at this in game 2. This kept the amount and type of shots that Goalie Mac Carruth had to face to a minimum and from a distance.

3) Puck control- Portland has done a better job this year at controlling the boards against teams and Saturday night was no exception. They did not take as many shots, but the shots that they did take were mostly of a better quality then the night before.

4) Creating turnovers- Troy Rutkowski's pocket picking of Landon Oslanski to set up the Rattie goal is the biggest example, but Portland did force more turnovers Saturday night. They will continue to try and do this and should be able to, considering Everett is using two of their more experienced Defensemen as forwards in an attempt to use their size to wear down the Hawk's defense.

5) Back-checking- The forwards have, all year, come back into their defensive zone and pressured the Everett forwards, helping out in limiting shot quality and quantity. This is something that they have done well for most of the year and so is almost all effort based. They will need to continue to do this to advance in the playoffs.

News and Links:
-17 year old Luke Philp got the over time winner for Kootenay over Edmonton  on Sunday night. Their series is now tied at a game apiece.
-Vancouver Giant's coach Don Hay was named the Canada U-18 coach on Monday.
-Silvertip's blog looks at #38 Defenseman Kevin Davis, who played games 1 and 2 and is 15 in hockey years.
-There was an odd trade in the NHL on Sunday. Former Hawks Joe Morrow and Brendan Morrow(no relation), were traded for one another as Pittsburgh and Dallas swapped the two.

Brendan Morrow Hawk from 1995-99