Josh Critzer
U.S. Division

Portland Winterhawks practice report – February 15th

Written by Joshua Critzer on

On Friday afternoon I made my way to the Moda Center for the Portland Winterhawks practice in advance of their three-in-three this President’s Day long weekend starting with the Red Deer Rebels.

The Rebels are completing their own three-in-three after having their game with Everett, originally scheduled for Wednesday, delayed until Thursday. On Friday evening, Red Deer made the trip south to battle against the Thunderbirds.

Portland faces their U.S. division rival, Seattle, on Sunday in the final regular season game in the Moda Center.

I spoke with head coach Mike Johnston for a few minutes once all the players were off the ice. Johnston touched on the schedule and the much needed practice time, “We have several three-in-threes over the course of the month here. I think those are good for the team. It is nice to get in a groove of playing. We certainly had a good week in practice, the first week we’ve had. We really needed some practice time. Over the next couple of weeks we don’t have many midweek games, so I think that is positive. If you are not going to have mid-week games, you are generally to get three in threes. You have to accept that in the schedule.”

Portland concludes their three-in-three with an afternoon game on Monday in Langley, BC as they complete their regular season with the B.C. Division leading Giants.

With hockey players being creatures of habit, I asked Johnston how the early start on a weekday will impact his team, “Generally afternoon games are a little bit more challenging, because they are abnormal as your schedule goes. For me, I think it all starts with getting up at the right time, getting your food at the right time, then a really good warmup. A really good warmup to make sure your body is active. The good thing is with the afternoon games is that we practice every afternoon. Generally they are in that type of schedule throughout the course of the year. The afternoon game shouldn’t affect them too much. That is an interesting one because we play here at 4:00, and then play up there at 3:00. So, it is less than 24 hours to play, travel, and then play an afternoon game.”

Shane Farkas playing well

19-year-old Shane Farkas has stepped up his game since the acquisition of Joel Hofer. I pulled his numbers since the trade. Farkas has started five games and came in relief once. In those six appearances Shane stopped 146 of 156 shots, good for a 0.936 save percentage. His goals against average during the same timeframe, 1.90.

Shane Farkas (photo-Ben Ludeman/Portland Winterhawks))

The starts for Farkas haven’t been the easiest either, Saskatoon, Tri-City, Vancouver, Seattle, and Medicine Hat. The backup apperance came against the Spokane Chiefs. The home start against Vancouver included a shutout victory as well.

Johnston briefly about the goalie tandem, “[Shane] has been very solid. It has been good for him to have opportunities and to have games where he is not playing. It is good for both goaltenders to be pushing each other competitively. I think it is great for a team anytime you have forwards, defense, or goaltenders pushing each other for minutes.”

John Ludvig impressing along the blue line

Winterhawks second year defenseman John Ludvig is growing into a reliable player for Mike Johnston and the rest of the Winterhawks coaching staff. A lot has been made about how Ludvig came from playing Junior B before attending the Neely Cup two years ago. Johnston continued the praise, “He is a real key part of our defense. I think he is +37 which is quite incredible. He is a guy who can shut down another team’s top group. He adds grit to our team and we are using him on the power play a little bit right now too. Ludvig is a versatile player and is an important guy at 18-years-old that we are relying on guys like him. Also guys like Clay Hanus to play big minutes on defense for us as young guys.”

John Ludvig

Ludvig’s +37 rating is highest in the Western Conference and sixth in the league. Prince Albert Raiders hold the top five positions.

The Kamloops, BC native is eligible to be drafted in the upcoming NHL draft in his second season. Johnston spoke about how NHL scouts have spent their time viewing Ludvig, “A lot of teams did (scouted) last year. I think early in the year this year all the scouts focused on the 2001s because that is what their job is and what they are supposed to do. More in the second half as the stretch run, and playoffs, scouts get focused on are there other players on these top teams that we may be missing or may have overlooked. Luds (Ludvig) certainly is a guy I would be shocked if he wasn’t drafted or if he doesn’t get signed. I think he is a prototypical, real solid NHL type defenseman.”

Special teams are in a funk

Over the last 11 games the Winterhawks power play has slipped from fifth in the league down to ninth. The conversion rate dropped to 22.3%, which is only 0.02% away from being 13th in the league.

Cody Glass has missed the last eight games and during those games the power play only converted on one of their 30 opportunities (3.3%). However, going back three more games with Glass in the lineup, the funk extends to 1-for-46 (2.2%).

A quick comparison shows just how big of an impact Glass has on the power play though over the course of the season. With their captain in the lineup the Winterhawks are 40-for-166 (24.1%) while only 15-for-80 (18.8%) without the 19-year-old Winnipeg native.

Mike Johnston (Photo: Portland Winterhawks/Ben Ludeman)

I asked Johnston about the power play on Friday, “Like anything else, with the power play I’ve been watching a lot of NHL games. The [Toronto Maple} Leafs have been struggling for a month on the power play, and then all of a sudden the last two games they broke it open. That is what happens to the power play. I even heard Jim Hiller (Maple Leafs assistant coach) make a comment that they needed some practice time. That is basically what we needed for our whole team. We needed practice time and an opportunity to get to work on the little details in our game which you don’t get to do in video sessions. You need time to spend quality time on working on execution, and working on details. Certainly when Cody comes back it will help our power play as he is a big threat on the power play. He is the second top point getter on our power play.”

While the power play struggles, the penalty killing also took a hit when Glass started to miss games.

Portland sits fourth in the WHL successfully killing 83.5% of penalties. However, in their most recent eight games, the ones Glass missed, the percentage is only 71.1% (27-for-38).

Injury updates:

First, Jake Gricius took a puck or a stick up high during a drill and had to leave practice early as a result. There is no further update at this time. His availability for the weekend is still to be determined.

Second, and per Mike Johnston, defenseman Matthew Quigley has been ruled out for this weekend’s games with an undisclosed injury. There is no timeline for his return at this point.

Brendan De Jong is not expected to play this weekend after leaving the game early against Everett. He has since missed the Winterhawks most recent game against the Medicine Hat Tigers. The overage defenseman has already missed 11 games this season so far to different injuries.

 

Cody Glass has been unable to play in the most recent eight games since leaving a game against Seattle with a lower-body injury. On Friday Johnston provided an update:

 

Josh is passionate about hockey and relishes covering prospects and non-NHL teams. He spent 25 years in Minnesota where high school and NCAA hockey is king. After moving to Portland in 2015, the WHL and specifically the Winterhawks now tops his list of favorites. Although, he will never waver from his stance that players under 18 should have to wear full cages or fish bowls.