With Ty Rattie returning from a breakout season, and rookie defenseman Seth Jones projected as a top pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, the Portland Winterhawks have some marquee players to market.
With five experienced defensemen, the Winterhawks have one of the most proven groups of blueliners in the Western Hockey League.
But the season that begins tonight with raising the Western Conference championship banner for a second-consecutive year will be defined by how a group of young, big forwards, adapt to the challenges of a 72-game grind.
“When I was 16, I was tired by game 12,” Rattie said.
Rattie is now 19, an established star of the WHL, having produced career highs of 57 goals and 64 assists for 121 points in 69 regular-season games, the best offensive production from a Winterhawk in 14 seasons.