The Portland Winterhawksâ offense can run-and-gun with the best in the Western Hockey League.
The are also well-known for their proclivity to light up opposing teamâs netminders.
On Friday night, the top two scoring teams in the Western Conference will go head to head to open up the second round of the WHL post season.
Led by the likes of Cody Glass, Skyler McKenzie and Keegan Iverson, (278) were second only to Âé¶čAV (283) for goals scored during the regular season.
While the Rockets are well-equipped to trade offensive blows with pretty much any opponent, captain Rodney Southam said his club has no intention of allowing the series to become a track meet.
âIt wonât be easy, theyâre fast, high powered offensively and they like to run-and-gun,â Southam said of the Winterhawks. âWe need to stay away from that and play our game, make sure weâre responsible two ways.
âWe like our depth and we feel our top lines match pretty well against theirs. We feel like when weâre on our game and playing our systems, we can play with any team in the league.â
The Winterhawks, who upset the Prince George Cougars in six games in the opening round, come in as the underdogs and fully expect to have their plate full with the surging Rockets.
Âé¶čAV won nine of its last 10 regular season games, then took out the Kamloops Blazers in six games in the first round of the postseason.
âHawks head coach and GM Mike Johnston said while the Rocketsâ flaws are few, his team will needs to find those weaknesses and do its utmost to expose them.
âWe recognize that they have high-end players, they have good speed, theyâre well-balanced and are very good defensively,â said Johnston, who returned to the Winterhawksâ helm this season after two years in the NHL.
âTheir top three or four players are as dangerous as any in the league, they donât have many holes, so our job is to find those holes and take advantage of those the best we can.â
The clubs met four times during the regular seasonâthe last coming back on Jan. 28 in Âé¶čAVâwith the Rockets winning three of those.
Both teams have made considerable strides since that last encounter, so Johnston isnât putting too much stock into regular season outcomes.
âThe key thing for us in this series is to establish our game right way,â said Johnston. âWe played them pretty well the last two games there (in January) and won one of them, so thatâs positive for us.
âAt the same time, both teams were missing players, both teams have made progress since then, so I donât think the season series shows us much.â
Had the Winterhawks not upset Prince George in first round, the Rockets would have been on the road to start the best-of-seven conference semifinal.
Forward Dillon Dube said kicking off round two at Prospera Place presents a big opportunity to the Rockets.
âThatâs huge for us, nice to start the series at home and get a chance to put them on their heels,â said Dube. âWe know itâs a tough place to play down there (in Portland), so itâs important for us to get off to a good start and get the jump on them.â
The Rockets and Winterhawks are meeting in the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The last time the clubs met, in 2015, the Rockets won in six games on the way to capturing the WHL title.
have a renewed playoff battle with the Portland Winterhawks for round 2! Read about it here: đđ
â Âé¶čAV Rockets (@Âé¶čAV_Rockets)
WHL Western Conference semifinal
Âé¶čAV Rockets vs Portland Winterhawks
Friday, April 7 âPortland @ Âé¶čAV 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 8âPortland @ Âé¶čAV 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11âÂé¶čAV @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12âÂé¶čAV @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 14âPortland @ Âé¶čAV 7:05 p.m. *
Sunday, April 16âÂé¶čAV @ Portland 7:00 p.m. *
Tuesday, April 18âPortland @ Âé¶čAV 7:05 p.m. *
* If necessary
