Franchise Playoff History:
The U.S.Division rivals face-off for the second straight year as the second and third place finishers in the division. This year, Spokane has the home-ice advantage should the series go seven games. Last season the Winterhawks used their home-ice advantage to defeat the Chiefs in seven games.
The teams have played 70 playoff games over eleven series in their history. Portland holds a 42-28 advantage.
The teams met in the playoffs in 1986, 1987, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2018
2018-2019 Head-To-Head:
Portland: 3-3-0-0
Spokane: 3-2-0-1
The season series between the two teams featured a significant amount of goal scoring. In six games the Chiefs outscored the Winterhawks 29-27.
Only one game was decided by one goal, which came via a shootout. On November 4th a two-goal game ended 8-6 in favor of Portland. Otherwise, the remaining six contests were not close with margins of victory including three goals (twice), five, and six goals.
The WHL’s leading scorer in the Western Conference, and Western Conference’s Player of the Year, Joachim Blichfeld leads the series with 19 points. The San Jose Sharks signed prospect scored seven goals to go along with 12 assists in the six games.
Riley Woods paced the Chiefs against Portland this season with his four goals and ten assists.
Two of the marquee players did not play many games in the regular season for Portland or Spokane. Cody Glass, only played in 38 games this season with two coming against the Chiefs. Jaret Anderson-Dolan missed a significant portion of the season due to time in the NHL, injury, and representing Canada at the World Juniors Championships.
However, Anderson-Dolan came back on fire in the second half of the season. In just 32 games the 19-year-old netted 20 goals and 23 assists. His last ten games of the regular season he scored 11 goals and picked up seven assists for 18 points.
Bailey Brkin appeared in all six games against Portland this season with Reece Klassen and now inactive Dawson Weatherill each appearing for under 30 minutes.
Portland on the other hand had three goalies make at least two appearances and all three picked up one win. Shane Farkas, Joel Hofer, and Dante Giannuzzi each have a victory against the Chiefs.
2018-2019 Season:
Spokane: (40-21-2-5) 87 Points. The Chiefs led the Western Conference with 267 goals while finishing 6th in goals against with 222. Where the Chiefs are strongest is on the power play. At the conclusion of the regular season they finished with the league’s best power play scoring on 29.1% of their opportunities. Calgary was second 1.2% behind.
Portland: (40-22-3-3) 86 Points. The Winterhawks were second behind the Chiefs with 258 goals; however, they gave up 12 less (210). Portland’s power play, which struggled at times during the second half of the season, finished sixth with 23.2%.
Both teams picked up accolades from the WHL on Wednesday afternoon (All awards are for the Western Conference):
Spokane: Ty Smith (Top Defenseman & First Team) and Riley Woods (Second Team)
Portland: Joachim Blichfeld (Top Scorer, Player of the Year, and First Team) and Cody Glass (Most Sportsmanlike & First Team)
Storylines to Watch:
Perhaps the biggest storyline is if Vegas Golden Knights signed prospect Cody Glass plays in the series. The Winterhawks captain has not played a game since February 23rd against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Should Glass return, is he fully healthy and able to make the impact everyone knows he can. How quickly can he Joachim Blichfeld find the chemistry which led to many goals earlier in the year.
Goaltending, goaltending, goaltending. A year ago Bailey Brkin was replaced by Dawson Weatherill starting with game four. Brkin’s 2018-2019 regular season included 45 games played, 2.45 goals-against-average, 0.914 save percentage, and two shutouts. The Chiefs acquired Reece Klassen from the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the trade deadline. He appeared in 13 games with a 2.71 goals-against-average, 0.905 save percentage, and one shutout.
Portland acquired Joel Hofer from the Swift Current Broncos at the deadline to go along with Shane Farkas. Hofer’s numbers in 18 starts with Portland included a 3.18 goals-against-average, 0.911 save percentage, and two shutouts. Farkas played well down the stretch and finished the year with 50 appearances, 2.71 goals-against-average, 0.906 save percentage, and four shutouts.
A key to this series is which team can get consistent goaltending night-in and night-out.
Both teams will also leveraged their power play to gain an advantage. Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston said, ‘Both teams can explode, they can score, both teams’ power plays are good, and I think both rely on their power play a little bit.”
Part of the success the Chiefs had on the power play this year was how production focused it was this year. The Chiefs produced 81 power-play goals, 11 more than the second placed Moose Jaw Warriors, and 12 than the Winterhawks. Spokane has three players with double digit goals on the man advantage, Luc Smith (15), RIley Woods (11), and Jake McGrew (10). Jaret Anderson-Dolan is only one away with nine.
Meanwhile, Portland’s power play will be dependent on whether Glass plays. If not, the power play usually flows through Joachim Blichfeld. The overage forward leads the team in power-play assists with 32 and is tied with Jake Gricius with 16 goals on the man advantage. Similar to the Chiefs, the Winterhawks have three players with double-digit goals on the power play, Josh Paterson has 11 to go along with Blichfeld and Gricius.
Line matchups will play a key role as each team will look to get their top scorers away from the other’s top defenseman. A year ago, Ty Smith played the majority of his shifts against the Glass, Kieffer Bellows, and Skyler McKenzie line. Portland used Henri Jokiharju against Kailer Yamamoto’s line. This year expect Smith to play a similar role and for the Winterhawks to use John Ludvig provided he is able to return from injury.
Blichfeld commented on Sunday about possibly lining up opposite of Ty Smith, “He is a first-round player and has a good hockey sense. He is a great player, but that is what you want. You want to play against the best players to get yourself better.”
How They Match Up:
These two teams are familiar with one another after playing six games this season, eight in the regular season last year, and seven in their first round series in the 2018 playoffs. Both teams know how the other will try to play and how to best get the other off their game.
While the power plays for both teams are strong, the penalty kill is not a significant strength for either team in the season series. Spokane killed 74.1% of Portland’s power plays while the Winterhawks defended 64.3%. The penalty killers could prove to be the biggest X-Factor in the series.
Both teams are built similarly and prefer to play an offensive style of game as evidence by being the top two scoring teams in the West. This series could possibly be the most intriguing of the other seven series in the WHL.
Johnston concluded saying, “We had a tight series with them last year, I expect the same this year.”
DUBNetwork Prediction: Winterhawks in seven games.
