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Winterhawks notebook: Bjorkstrand, Petan solid 1-2 combination

By Paul Danzer, Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter
Published: March 6, 2015, 12:00am

Including games Friday and Saturday at the Moda Center, the Portland Winterhawks have five regular-season home games left.

Which means opportunities to watch Oliver Bjorkstrand dominate junior hockey are running short.

If he scores a goal in Friday’s home game against Seattle, Bjorkstrand will stand alone in the Winterhawks record book. He has scored goals in 11 consecutive games, tying the franchise record set by Tony Currie during the Winterhawks’ first season in Portland, 1976-77.

Bjorkstrand was named the Western Hockey League player of the month for February. If that sounds familiar it’s because the 19-year-old from Denmark also won the award for January. Since returning from the World Junior Championships, Bjorkstrand has torn up WHL defenses.

His 48 goals lead the league — Bjorkstrand has scored those in just 49 games. Second on the goals list with 47 is Medicine Hat’s Cole Sanford who has played 65 games. Kelowna’s Rourke Chartier is close to Bjorkstrand’s pace with 46 goals through 53 games.

With 43 assists, Bjorkstrand’s 91 points puts him second in the WHL in scoring.

It helps, of course, that Bjorkstrand plays alongside set-up man Nic Petan. Petan has climbed to third in the league with 59 assists in only 44 games played.

Given their production, Bjorkstrand and Petan seem destined to be playing somewhere other than Portland next season — perhaps in the NHL. Bjorkstrand is a Columbus prospect, Petan a Winnipeg prospect.

Around the rink

This week: Host Seattle, 7 p.m. on Friday (Moda Center); host Tri-City, 7 p.m. Saturday (Moda Center); at Everett, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday; at Spokane, 7:05 p.m. on March 13.

Last week: Beat Seattle 5-2.

Where they stand: The Winterhawks have clinched a playoff spot for a sixth consecutive season. At 37-20-2-3, they are second in the U.S. Division, four points behind first-place Everett and six points ahead of third-place Seattle. Portland has two more games remaining (10) than do Everett and Seattle.

Pennant race heats up: After playing only nine times in February, the Winterhawks will play their final 10 regular-season games over a stretch of 16 days. They will play Tri-City and Spokane three times each, Seattle twice and Everett and Prince George once.

Everett plays five of its eight remaining games on the road. The Silvertips also have (on paper) a more difficult final weekend, with home and away games against Victoria.

An encouraging sign for the Hawks is how well they played during a busy stretch in January. Playing eight games in the final two weeks of January, Portland was 8-0. Then came five days off … and a loss.

Hawks on TV: Friday’s home game against Seattle and next Friday’s visit to Spokane are both scheduled to be shown live on Root Sports Northwest.

Former Hawks in NHL deadline trades: Braydon Coburn was traded from Philadelphia to Tampa Bay. Coburn, who turned 30 on Feb. 27, played with the Winterhawks for four seasons (2001-05). He was the eighth overall pick in 2003 by the Atlanta Thrashers and traded to Philadelphia during the 2006-07 season. He goes from a team that is rebuilding to a club that is geared to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Sven Baertschi was traded from Calgary to Vancouver. The 13th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Baertschi played only 66 NHL games for Calgary, spending most of his time in the American Hockey League. The Canucks see the 22-year-old as a potential top-six forward — in the future. For now, Baertschi went from the Adirondack Flames to the Utica Comets of the AHL, where he is reunited with former Winterhawks assistant coach Travis Green who is the Comets head coach.

Dumba scores twice: Defenseman Matt Dumba scored two goals in Minnesota’s 3-2 win over Ottawa on Tuesday and now has six goals and four assists in 39 appearances as a Wild rookie.

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Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter