The Portland Winterhawks lost eight consecutive games early in the 2024-25 season, and coach Kyle Gustafson started feeling somewhat nervous.

What direction would the team go? Was it, indeed, going to be a rebuilding year after playing for the Western Hockey League title the season before? Would the team trade players and go with a youth movement? Gustafson and Mike Johnston, general manager and vice president, talked about it.

“We took off after that, but we weren’t going to mortgage our future,” Gustafson said. The Hawks signed Alex Weiermair, who had played for national champion Denver University, and traded for Joel Plante. More importantly, young players got better, goalie Ondrej Stebetak developed and the likes of 20-year-olds Ryder Thompson, Tyson Jugnauth and Kyle Chyzowski led the way.

The result: Two series wins in the WHL playoffs, winning Game 7s at Prince George and Everett. The Hawks upset the Silvertips, which had the WHL’s best record. Portland plays Spokane in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals, starting Friday.

“You lean on experience and veteran players, you lean on just luck, getting some bounces,” Gustafson said. “If you would have asked us early in the season, when we lost eight in a row, if we’d even make the playoffs, we would have questioned that. I can’t say enough about our character.”

Resilient team
It would be tough to count the number of times against Prince George and Everett that the Winterhawks showed true resiliency. The Silvertips routed Portland 8-4 in Game 6 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, chasing Stebetak, but the Hawks came back to win 4-2 in Game 7 at Everett.

“A word that characterizes us, it’d be resilient,” Gustafson said. Fighting throughout the season, in which the Hawks finished fifth in the West (36-28-3-1, 76 points — 28 behind Everett), and playing strong third periods helped forge their character.

“We always have a sense that we can win it,” Gustafson said.

The first-year head coach, a Hawks assistant for years, made the season about “themes.” Before the Prince George series, he had retired UFC fighter Ed Herman talk to players about “grit.” Against Everett, it was “nightmares,” because Everett chased dreams.

He didn’t reveal, yet, what the theme would be against Spokane, except to make an eye-opening statement about Spokane’s Andrew Cristall, Berkly Catton and Shea Van Olm, who combined for 135 goals and 333 points.

Great players
“In 20-plus years (as coach), I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more dominant line,” Gustafson said.

Acquired from Kelowna during the season, Cristall, who scored the game-winner in series-clinching Game 6 versus Victoria, led the WHL with 132 points (48 goals, 84 assists) and Catton finished at 109 points (38 goals, 71 assists). Van Olm, who had a hat trick in Game 6 against Victoria, added 49 goals and 43 assists (92 points).

Cristall was a second-round NHL Washington Capitals pick. Catton is a star. He was the WHL’s No. 1 bantam pick in 2021, and then went No. 8 overall in the first round to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken in 2024. He’s 5-10, 175 pounds and 18 years old and from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He was a member of Canada’s world junior team. Van Olm is a 20-year-old player.

“They’re good but we’ve played against good players,” Gustafson said, referring to the likes of PG’s Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer and Everett’s Austin Roest and Julius Miettinen.

The Chiefs went 45-20-1-2 (93 points) during the regular season, and they scored the second most goals in the WHL (292) and allowed the fifth fewest (202). They had the top power play in the league at 28.9%. The Chiefs won four of six regular-season meetings with Portland.

“They’re built to win right now,” Gustafson said. “Very deep team. Defense is big and long, they can present problems if you’re not sharp with the puck. They can play run and gun (like Everett), especially with the top line, or hard and heavy, heavy on the boards and go to the net like with Prince George.”

Playing well
The Winterhawks have been up to stiff challenges through two series, especially 17-year-old rookie goaltender Stebetak, who had countless great saves. It was an up and down season, a trying season, but “I believe what we’re seeing with Ondrej is who he’s going to be. I like his demeanor,” Gustafson said. “He’s been a rock star in the playoffs, and it’s going to be exciting with him for years to come.”

A lot of players have contributed, including Weiermair, Kyle McDonough, Ryan Miller, Josh Zakreski and Hudson Darby, but the veterans have really come through — Carter Sotheran, Diego Buttazzoni, Chyzowski, Thompson, Jugnauth.

Chyzowski (fourth in WHL scoring, 41 goals-64 assists-105 points) and Jugnauth followed up stellar offensive seasons and rank third and fourth in WHL playoff scoring — Jugnauth 3-23-26, Chyzowski 11-14-25 — behind Spokane’s Cristall (13-15-28) and Catton (7-21-28).

With forward Chyzowski, defenseman Jugnauth and D-man Thompson, could the Hawks possess their best trio of overage players in a long time? Some of the best is what Gustafson says, because the Hawks have sported some good ones. The Hawks had several overage prospects coming off last year’s WHL finals series team, but they had to part with some of them — Marcus Nguyen, Josh Mori, Josh Davies, Marek Alscher.

Gustafson, Bardsley
One of the most interesting things about the Winterhawks-Chiefs series: Gustafson, Portland native and Centennial High School graduate, will face a Spokane team led by general manager Matt Bardsley, Portland native and Wilson High grad. Gustafson and Bardsley each persevered through ownership and coaching changes through their early careers with Portland; Bardsley went from scout to team executive to Kamloops GM and now the Chiefs’ GM. He built a Memorial Cup-quality team at Kamloops, and Spokane could be good enough to make the major junior hockey championships, too.

Gustafson called he and Bardsley “like best friends.” Bardsley offered Gustafson the Spokane head coaching position once he took over in Spokane.

“He’s done his job really nicely,” Gustafson said. “He deserves a lot of credit for where they are. He’s always had the ability to seek out talent.”

Once Spokane beat Victoria, and after Portland had dispatched of Everett, Bardsley texted a nice congratulatory message to Gustafson.

“I wanted to be tight-lipped on the text, but it was genuine sincerity,” Gustafson said.

Portland-Spokane schedule
Game 1 at Spokane, 7 p.m., Friday, April 25

Game 2 at Spokane, 5 p.m. Sunday, April 27

Game 3 at Portland, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 30

Game 4 at Portland, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1

if necessary …

Game 5 at Spokane, 6 p.m. Saturday, May 3

Game 6 at Portland VMC, 7 p.m. Monday, May 5

Game 7 at Spokane, 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 6

For home game tickets: winterhawks.com.