Winterhawks wrap up notable season

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The Portland Winterhawks pulled off their share of surprises this season.

But there was no surprising the Kelowna Rockets.

Led by a talented and hot power play, Kelowna put to rest Portland’s 2016-17 Western Hockey League season by winning the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals in five games.

A 4-2 win for Portland in Game 3 breathed life into the series. But injuries and suspensions toughened the challenge from there, and Kelowna did what good teams do — made its chances count.

The Rockets’ power play scored on 37 percent of its chances — including a sizzling 8 of 16 over the final three games.

In Friday’s series-clinching 6-2 win, the Rockets turned four Winterhawks penalties into three goals in the first 12:51. Reid Gardiner scored two of those on his way to a four-goal, six-point night.

Gardiner is the kind of difference-maker WHL championship contenders lean on. A Pittsburgh Penguins prospect, the 21-year-old forward (hockey age 20) started this season with the Penguins’ American Hockey League team, where he played 23 games. Kelowna acquired the rights to Gardiner in a trade with Prince Albert (with whom he developed into a 90-point scorer) and he returned to the WHL to help fuel the Rockets’ second-half surge.

In the five playoff games against Portland, the 5-11, 200-pounder had seven goals and nine assists. Gardiner had at least two points in each game.

The younger Winterhawks didn’t have anyone to match that output. With rookies filling leading roles — even more so after Skyler McKenzie was lost to a concussion late in Game 3 and 19-year-olds Evan Weinger (Games 4 and 5) and Alex Overhardt (Game 4) were suspended by the league for plays that injured Kelowna players — the Hawks did show some fight.

In Game 5, Joachim Blichfeld and Matt Revel scored second-period goals to get the Winterhawks within 3-2. Revel’s goal, the last of his junior career, was the second shorthanded goal for Portland in the series.

Blichfeld, the 18-year-old WHL rookie from Denmark, had three goals and two assists in the series to lead the Hawks. Cody Glass had two goals and one assist in the series, and four goals and five assists in the playoffs. Defensman Caleb Jones, on his way to pro hockey, had two goals and two assists in the Kelowna series.

The suspensions, which came down only hours before Game 4, didn’t do the Hawks any favors. Even with three of their top six forwards out of the lineup, the Hawks outplayed Kelowna for the first 30 minutes of Game 4. Kelowna — on two quick power-play goals by Gardiner — led 3-1, but Portland had some momentum until the Rockets scored twice in 28 seconds as part of a five-goal second period in Game 4 that took the remaining suspense from the competition.

Kelowna will meet Seattle for the second year in a row in the conference finals. It’s the fourth consecutive West final for the Rockets.

The Winterhawks, meanwhile, turn their attention to a bright future. Among Portland’s top scorers, only captain Keegan Iverson won’t be eligible to return next season.

For Glass, the season continues, even as he looks forward to the NHL draft, June 23-24, as a projected first-round NHL pick. Glass has been added to Team Canada for the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championships, which are underway in Slovakia.

pdanzer@portlandtribune.com

@pauldanzer