Updates on the Portland Winterhawks and Vancouver Rangers hockey teams:
Winterhawks
Last week: Beat Everett 2-0, beat Tri-City 5-4, beat Brandon 5-0, beat Tri-City 5-2.
This week: At Everett, 7:35 p.m. Friday; host Everett, 5 p.m. Sunday (Moda); host Kelowna, 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 and 7 (Moda).
Where they stand: At 6-6-0-0, the Winterhawks have climbed to second place in the U.S. Division, five points behind Seattle.
Bukarts acquired: On Thursday, the Winterhawks acquired WHL veteran Rihards Bukarts from Brandon for two conditional third-round bantam picks. Bukarts fills both the open 20-year-old slot on the roster, and replaces Swedish import Carl Ericson as one of the Hawks two import players. Ericson recently had surgery and coach/GM Jamie Kompon announced that Ericson is out for the whole season. Bukarts was in Portland on Thursday morning after scoring his fifth goal of the season Wednesday night in Brandon’s win at Everett. In his third WHL season, Bukarts is averaging a point a game in 137 WHL appearances. He had five goals and four assists this season in 10 games for the Wheat Kings.
Kompon called it a tough decision, because of the commitment the Winterhawks made to Ericson. But the severity of his injury, which Kompon declined to specify beyond saying it is lower body, meant the team could not know if or when Ericson might be able to play again.
“It’s a real tough situation,” Kompon said. Ericson can stay in Portland for his rehabilitation, if he wants to, Kompon said. “Our obligation is to him as a player and a person,” Kompon said.
The addition of Bukarts improves the skill level on the team, Kompon said. He joins fellow Latvian Rodrigo Abols on the Winterhawks, which Kompon said was a factor in deciding to acquire Bukarts since the two Latvians have the potential to feed off one another.
Turgeon on a tear: Team captain Dominic Turgeon has scored a goal in a career-best six consecutive games. He now leads the team with nine goals and five assists for 14 points. Rodrigo Abols (4 goals, 8 assists) is second on the team in scoring.
Special teams improvement: A key to the four-game winning streak is tremendous penalty kill play. Portland killed 19 of 20 short-handed situation in its four most recent games. The Hawks are still taking too many penalties, Kompon said, but the penalty killing combined with some timely power-play goals has keyed the winning streak. Kompon pointed to the 20 saves Adin Hill made on six short-handed situations against Brandon as critical. “Your best penalty killer has to be your goalie. He’s been outstanding,” Kompon said.
Injuries update: Kompon said Igor Larionov II and Austin Gray are on schedule to start practicing next week. Neither has played yet this season.
Vancouver Rangers
Last week: idle.
This week: Host Missoula for three games, 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at Mountain View Ice Arena. Nov. 6-8 at San Diego.
Where they stand: At 8-0-1, the Rangers are third in the Western States Hockey League’s Northwest Division, trailing unbeaten Missoula (12-0) and Idaho (11-0).
Scouting the Maulers: Missoula has five of the top 10 points leaders in the Northwest Division. Damon Hanson (13 goals, 18 assists) leads the division with 31 points and Misha Akatnov (15 goals, 11 assists) is second on that list. Rangers coach Dave Daniello said that on video, the Maulers look like a fast team that is also strong defensively. He said that during the bye week the Rangers focused on improving defensive consistency. He said getting off to better starts in games is also a point of emphasis.
Pink the Rink: On Saturday the Rangers will wear special pink jerseys to promote breast cancer awareness. The jerseys will be auctioned off and proceeds donated to local breast cancer charities. The team will also recognize Grayson Szumilas, a forward from Maine whose mother died from breast cancer.
Roster moves: The Rangers traded forward Steven Columbo and defenseman Tristan Klewsaat to the Arizona Hawks for cash, trimming the Vancouver roster to 25. Daniello said the move was made to give both players a chance for more playing time.
