PORTLAND — When Taylor Aronson started his end-to-end rush on Wednesday, he did not know he was about to etch his name into Portland Winterhawks lore.
When the Winterhawks opened the Western Hockey League playoffs two weekends ago, they did not foresee how quickly they would grow into playoff-tested winners.
By winning four road games, and rallying from three goals down to beat Spokane in Game 7, the Winterhawks find themselves in the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs — and with home-ice advantage against the Vancouver Giants.
Because Portland had the better regular-season record than did the B.C. Division champion Giants, the series starts at Memorial Coliseum with games at 7 p.m. today and 5 p.m. Sunday.
Winterhawks vs. Giants
WHL Western Conference Semifinals:
Game 1, 7 p.m. today at Memorial Coliseum.
How they got here: Vancouver swept Kamloops 4-0; Portland beat Spokane 4-3.
The series: The teams split four regular-season games.
Players to watch: Craig Cunningham (5 goals, 5 assists), Brendan Gallagher (4 goals, 6 assists), and team captain Lance Bouma (1 goal, 5 assists) led the way in the Giants' sweep against Kamloops. For Portland, 12 players scored goals against Spokane led by 17-year-old rookies Nino Niederreitter (4 goals, 5 assists) and Ryan Johansen (3 goals, 6 assists).
Mike Johnston says: "I think getting momentum in the series and wearing the opponent down are going to be things that both teams talk about, and the team that does it better will probably win the series."
Winterhawks vs. Giants
WHL Western Conference Semifinals:
Game 1, 7 p.m. today at Memorial Coliseum.
How they got here: Vancouver swept Kamloops 4-0; Portland beat Spokane 4-3.
The series: The teams split four regular-season games.
Players to watch: Craig Cunningham (5 goals, 5 assists), Brendan Gallagher (4 goals, 6 assists), and team captain Lance Bouma (1 goal, 5 assists) led the way in the Giants’ sweep against Kamloops. For Portland, 12 players scored goals against Spokane led by 17-year-old rookies Nino Niederreitter (4 goals, 5 assists) and Ryan Johansen (3 goals, 6 assists).
Mike Johnston says: “I think getting momentum in the series and wearing the opponent down are going to be things that both teams talk about, and the team that does it better will probably win the series.”
As was the case in the first round, the Winterhawks do not have the playoff pedigree of their opponent. But do not call these Winterhawks inexperienced.
Surviving a seven-game series has a way of maturing a team. Winning Game 7 on the road after falling behind 3-0? That is the kind of experience that can propel a franchise.
“We talked about the character (of the) win, and that it was going to go a long way for our organization for the players to learn how to win under those circumstances,” Winterhawks coach Mike Johnston said, recalling his postgame comments to his club. “It was really special. I just told them to really enjoy it.”
Today, Portland hopes to enjoy another new experience — a home playoff victory.
The Winterhawks were winless in three home games against Spokane, winning all four games on the road. They will have to win at least one home game against Vancouver if they are going to reach the Western Conference finals.
One difference for this series: Portland will be playing home games at the Memorial Coliseum, where the ice surface is smaller than at the Rose Garden.
“Vancouver’s a gritty, physical team and we’re a big physical team, so I think you’re going to see a lot more contact in the game than you saw in the Spokane series,” Johnston said. “There’ll be a lot of battles for open ice, and battles for loose pucks. Because it is a little bit smaller building, I think it’s going to intensify.”
Three of the five goals Portland scored to overcome Spokane in Game 7 were the in-close, rebound scramble finishes that often typify playoff hockey.
“It shows that we were hungry to win,” Johnston said. “And being hungry to win is going hard to the net, and battling hard around the crease. It’s not easy to go there because it’s physical and you get knocked around.”
After being kicked around by the rest of the WHL for the previous three seasons, advancing to the second playoff round is a special experience. For 20-year-old forward Stefan Schneider it is extra special. He is a British Columbia native who played 36 games for the Giants two seasons ago.
“It’s going to be great,” said Schneider. “Playing my former team gives me a little extra motivation to get up for the games.”
The matchup with Vancouver presents different challenges than did Spokane. The Giants’ approach is somewhat similar to the Winterhawks’ style.
Both teams like to shoot on the fly and set the tone with physical play.
“Vancouver just takes a lot of shots from everywhere,” Portland goalie Mac Carruth said. “They don’t like to get deep and grind it out too much. They like to shoot on the rush.”
The 17-year-old rookie from Minnesota allowed just over three goals a game and stopped 90.5 percent of the shots he saw in the Spokane series. After giving up a soft goal early in the second period of Game 7, Carruth bounced back and made several big saves in overtime.
“I just realize there’s a lot more battle in the playoffs,” Carruth said. “It takes a lot more to win a game in the playoffs than during the regular season.”
Against Spokane in Game 7, it took a gritty comeback and an opportunistic up-ice rush by an 18-year-old defenseman.
Aronson said he noticed Spokane was changing players and saw enough space to carry the puck into the offensive zone.
“If you can, the coaches want you to (carry the puck deep), but they don’t want you to turn it over,” Aronson said.
Hustling along the right-wing boards, Aronson squeezed past a Spokane player, and carried the puck all the way beneath the goal line.
“I just picked my head up and I saw Rattie, and he finished,” Aronson said.
Rattie’s goal finished the Spokane Chiefs, and propelled the Winterhawks to a new chapter — one that starts tonight and could have a lasting impact on the direction of the franchise.
