The Winterhawks held practice Thursday afternoon as they make final preparations for games against the Tri-City Americans and Seattle Thunderbirds this weekend.
There were many items of note from today’s practice which should help the Winterhawks attempt to climb out of their 0-2 start. Associate Head Coach & Assistant General manager Kyle Gustafson said, “We are in a little bit of a hole here as we haven’t won a game in two games. I thought we got a positive game coming out of our first loss in which I thought we made some strides. Being in a hole, we want to make sure we’re fighting tooth and nail to get that first victory.”
The return of Cody Glass and Joachim Blichfeld
Help should be arriving in the form of Winterhawks’ leading scorer last season, Cody Glass, being returned from Vegas Golden Knights. During practice Cody was playing Center with recent returnee Joachim Blichfeld on his wing. Gustafson discussed just how big of an impact Glass has already made, “Our group has really risen up since he’s been back. There is a little bit of ‘we want to perform for him. Cody’s done a good job of leading by example… there is a good chance you will see Cody with Blichfeld together next game.”
Earlier in the week some tough decisions were made with the return of Blichfeld from San Jose. This required Portland to open both a 20-year-old and import spot. As a result, Conor MacEachern and Dean Schwenninger were placed on waivers and both cleared. The loss of MacEachern is going to be felt in the locker room as Conor was a player who brought an “honest approach to his game” per Gustafson and “a mature kid and great teammate, a tough one to swallow.” Given the CHL rules regarding trading import players, the Winterhawks were faced with either trading Blichfeld or placing one of their 2018 Import Draft players on waivers. Dean Schwenninger happened to be the player which wasn’t an easy decision for the coaching staff. Kyle Gustafson does feel Dean is “highly respected and highly regarded, and has a bright future ahead of him.”
Captain Winterhawks?
The Winterhawks have yet to formally announce the captains for the 2018-2019 season, but it is being discussed internally. Cody Glass, Brendan De Jong, and Ryan Hughes all return from last season with experience wearing an additional letter on their jersey. When I asked Gustafson for more information he felt “there are a lot of players deserving of the leadership role. We want the player’s feedback. We want to ask them what they see since it is their locker room.” I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team take a little more time before a formal decision is announced.
Roster Moves:
After practice I was told that Lukus MacKenzie is back home and as of right now is still on roster. He will act as a scratch for this weekend, but that may change before puck drop on Friday depending on roster limits. The expectation is fans will not see Lukus back with the Winterhawks this season.
Earlier this evening the Winterhawks made a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings to acquire forward Rylan Bettens in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2021 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. The newest Winterhawk stands 6-foot-1, 195 pounds and was previously selected in the third round of the Bantam Draft. The expectation is for Bettens to join the team after this weekend’s games.
Injury Report:
As players were coming off the ice, I noticed Ryan Hughes wearing a full-contact red jersey. He continues to recover from his injury and per Kyle Gustafson, Ryan is “close, probably a week or two away still.”
Nick Perna was injured during the Neely Cup, but was also in a full-contact jersey and has been for a couple weeks. According to Gustafson, we may see Perna as early as this weekend; however, keep in mind “…when a player [Nick Perna] misses exhibition games that’s tough for a rookie to come in and his first game be a regular season game.”
