The Portland Winterhawks regular season is coming to a close. Last weekend, Portland was able to secure themselves the #1 seed in the U.S. Division. Here are three takeaways from the triple header weekend, as the Winterhawks prepare for the final stretch of the regular season.
- The Winterhawks have the best offense in the WHL. They have the most Goals For in the league with 316. The next closest team, is Prince George who has 302 with one more game played. The Winterhawks have four games where they’ve scored at least 10 goals, and they’ve only been shutout twice all season. Portland’s goal distribution is strong as well. The Winterhawks have 8 skaters with 20 or more goals this season. They also have six skaters with at least seven power-play goals. An offense this potent will be difficult for opponents to prepare for this postseason.
- Home ice advantage for the playoffs. Despite wrapping up their weekend with a 5-4 loss to Seattle, the overtime point was enough to give Portland the U.S. Division regular season title. It’s the first time Portland has won the division since the 2019-2020 season. Now with the division title in hand, the Winterhawks are guaranteed home ice advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Winterhawks have been one of the best teams at home this season, with a record of 26-6-1 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mathematically, Portland can still reach the #1 seed in the Conference and the league. However, it would require Portland to win at least two of their three remaining games, plus multiple losses from Saskatoon and Prince George.
- Jan Špunar is a difference maker for Portland. Špunar had a save percentage of .889 this weekend, which was below his average. However, Portland still went 2-0-1 this weekend and Špunar had the opportunity to get some rest against Tri-City. What is noteworthy, has been Špunar’s improvement from last season to this season. Špunar has dropped his goals against average down from 2.61, to an even 2.00 this year. His save percentage jumped up from .908 to .919 as well. Špunar now has the 2nd best goals against average and save percentage in the WHL. You could argue that he has the benefit of a great roster in front of him. However, the backups for Portland have struggled to replicate Špunar’s numbers this season. The closest has been Luke Brunen, who has a goals against average of 3.61, and a save percentage of .879. In other words, if Portland is going to make a deep playoff run, Špunar will be a major reason why.
The Winterhawks have three games this weekend to wrap up the regular season. The first is on the road in Kennewick, Washington for their final game against the Tri-City Americans. After that, they return home to play against the Seattle Thunderbirds. They end their regular season in Kent, against Seattle.
Northwest Sports Desk 