EVERETT — The 2014-15 Western Hockey League season is just three weeks old and already the Everett Silvertips have had their fill of the Portland Winterhawks.
Everett plays Portland yet again Friday night at Xfinity Arena, but this meeting finally ends what’s been a saturated start to the season between the two teams.
“It’s always fun playing those guys,” Everett center Kohl Bauml said. “It’s weird we’ve played them four times in the first six games, so we’re kind of getting sick and tired of them now. But it’s always fun, it’s always competitive games. It’s a good test.”
Friday’s game completes an opening stretch that’s seen Everett face Portland almost exclusively to start the season. It marks the fourth time the Tips have faced the Winterhawks in their past five games, and four of Everett’s first six games of the season have come against Portland. Friday is the fourth time the teams meet in a span of 14 days.
Therefore, it will be a relief to the Tips when they arrive in Kamloops for Saturday night’s game against the Blazers, meaning they’ll finally be able to play against a different team.
“It’ll be a good change of scenery, for sure,” said winger Brayden Low, who was originally selected by Portland in the 2009 bantam draft. “But we’ve formed a pretty good rivalry with Portland, especially the past two or three years. It’s always fun playing against them, but hopefully we can get a win Friday night, then go up to Kamloops and get the job done there, too.”
When the schedule was released during the offseason, it was impossible not to notice Everett’s unusual opening stretch. Not only did the Tips have to face one team repeatedly, that team just happened to be the four-time defending Western Conference champion.
But so far it’s worked out for the Tips. Everett swept two games in Portland during the season’s second weekend, winning by scores of 5-1 and 6-4. The Tips then dropped a 3-2 overtime decision at home last Saturday, but still managed to get a point from the contest.
Considering Everett played Portland 10 times each of the past four seasons and never managed more than two wins or six points in an entire campaign, they’re satisfied with how they’ve fared against the Winterhawks.
“It’s been pretty good,” Bauml said. “Obviously, they have some guys back in the lineup and that’s going to help them out. But for the most part we played pretty good games agains them. The last game we didn’t manage the puck very well, had a couple too many turnovers, and when we do that they’re going to hurt us because they have some good skilled guys over there. We just have to protect the puck, play our game, try and get in their face a little bit and we should be fine.”
However, Portland wasn’t at full strength in any of the previous three meetings, missing key players to NHL training camps and injuries. Star winger Oliver Bjorkstrand missed the first two encounters while at camp with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and overage defenseman Josh Hanson also sat out those two games because of an upper-body ailment. They were back for last Saturday’s game and helped Portland pull out the overtime victory.
Now the Winterhawks have another of their stars back. Center Nicolas Petan, who tallied 233 points the past two seasons, has returned from his stint with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. He’ll be a major headache for the Tips to deal with.
“He one of those guys in the league who can change the game in a matter of seconds,” Low said. “We have to be aware of that fully, and we’re going to have to be very cognizant of when he’s on the ice, that’s for sure.”
Otherwise, Portland should be nearly at full strength. The only player on the injury report is defenseman Blake Heinrich, who’s listed as week to week with an upper-body issue. That will make Portland a bigger challenge than in any of the previous three meetings.
Nevertheless, Everett has a chance to take seven of a possible eight points from its early-season series against Portland. Had one asked beforehand how the Tips would have felt about being in position to take seven points from the four games against the Winterhawks, they would have grabbed it eagerly with both hands.
“Absolutely we would have taken that,” Low said. “Obviously, we would have liked to have gotten all eight, that overtime loss got away from us a little bit. But getting seven out of eight against the Portland Winterhawks, the four-time (Western Conference) champion, that would be a good start to the season.”
Mueller makes NHL debut
Everett defenseman Mirco Mueller became the 12th former Silvertip to play in the NHL on Wednesday night when he suited up in the San Jose Sharks’ 4-0 season-opening victory over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings. Mueller received 17 minutes, 54 seconds of ice time, including 2:47 on the power play. He had no points, but was a plus-1, blocked two shots and received positive reports for his play. Mueller, a 19-year-old from Switzerland, was originally slated to be an integral part of Everett’s defense this season. However, it’s looking more and more like he will stick with the Sharks. His rookie contract kicks in once he appears in his 10th game in the NHL.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
