WHL Playoffs
All games 7 p.m. All Portland home games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Game 1 — Kelowna at Portland, Friday, March 23
Game 2 — Kelowna at Portland, Saturday, March 24
Game 3 — Portland at Kelowna, Tuesday, March 27
Game 4 — Portland at Kelowna, Thursday, March 29
Game 5 — Kelowna at Portland, Saturday, March 31 (if necessary)
Game 6 — Portland at Kelowna, Monday, April 2 (if necessary)
Game 7 — Kelowna at Portland, Wednesday, April 4 (if necessary)
PORTLAND — The Portland Winterhawks are optimistic this will be another special postseason.
Among the many solid reasons for that confidence are some rather special special teams.
Portland led the Western Hockey League in power-play production during the regular season, scoring 104 goals and converting 29 percent of their power-play chances. The Winterhawks 83-percent success rate killing penalties ranked third in the league.
“We are lucky enough to have great players who are good at both offense and defense,” team captain William Wrenn said.
Add in coaches who excel at teaching their NHL-style systems, and on-ice leaders to organize things, and the result are a power play and a penalty kill that are difference makers.