Big week for Winterhawks’ goalie

After a busy weekend, Portland Winterhawks goalie Adin Hill was busy collecting good news.

On Tuesday, Hill was named the goalie of the week for both the Western Hockey League the Canadian Hockey League. More significantly for the Calgary native, he was added to Team WHL for the CHL Canada-Russia Series. The WHL team will face Russia on Nov. 9-10 in Kelowna.

“I’m really excited about it,” said Hill, whose goal is to play for Canada in the World Junior Championships this season. This will be a chance to audition for that team.

Shutout wins over Everett and Brandon last weekend gives the 19-year-old a career-high three shutouts early in his second full WHL season. Drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in June, Hill said he spent his summer in Calgary working to get stronger. On the ice he focused on improving fundamentals with his longtime goaltending coach Justin Cardinal.

Hill, 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, said that he has had a tendency to rely on his athletic ability, which meant his feet were sometimes moving too much. Hill said that “getting my feet set before the shots is one” improvement that has helped him start the season well.

Coach Jamie Kompon agreed.

“There are time when he gets a little too busy with his feet,” Kompon said. “When he can be settled, and trust his feet in going side to side, it stabilizes him” and allows him to be square to the shooter.

Hill stopped 114 of 118 shots as the Winterhawks won three games in three nights over the weekend. A 45-save performance in a 5-0 Sunday win over Brandon capped the big weekend. He followed that on Wednesday by making 50 saves — 23 in the third period alone — in a 5-2 home win over Tri-City. Hill’s 334 saves and 355 shots faced through 10 appearances are both the second most in the WHL this season.

His recent success is a result of solid teamwork in front of him, Hill said. As newer Winterhawks get more comfortable in their roles, the team is doing a better job of executing its systems of play, Hill said.

“The team is playing really well in front of me,” Hill said. “We all just bought into the system and we are playing to team’s identity. As long as we do that, we’re going to be successful.”