Winterhawks up 2-0 in final; Gallacher speaks

1. Bill Gallacher, the owner of the Portland Winterhawks, met with the media for a question-and-answer session during the second intermission of last night’s game. This does not happen often, so it’s worth a watch. The video, courtesy of The Oregonian, is right here.

2. Portland freelancer Scott Sepich (@SSepich) was at the Gallacher session and tweeted this: “I didn't get a great look, but Gallacher was wearing blue loafers that you can only really get away with when you're a billionaire.” . . . Nah! Gallacher is a fan of Carl Perkins.

3. Prior to Game 2 of the WHL’s championship final, Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports posted a story on how the Portland Winterhawks came to be the Evil Empire of the WHL. That piece is right here.

4. Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune takes a look right here at the job Winterhawks’ GM/head coach Mike Johnston has done, starting with the trades that brought in G Corbin Boes and D Mathew Dumba.

5. The Indiana Ice won’t take part in the USHL next season. According to a news release: “Ownership of the Ice, working with the Office of the Commissioner and the USHL Executive Committee, requested and received approval from the USHL Board of Directors for the temporary withdrawal from on-ice competition in order for the organization to focus on development of new facility and permanent home for the USHL Member Club in the Indianapolis area.” . . . The Ice has been part of the USHL since 2004 and is about to play in the league’s championship final for the Clark Cup.

6. The IIHF men’s world championship begins in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday and runs through May 25. F Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice will spend some time with Canada’s team, but won’t play in the tournament. He will practise with the team and perhaps play in an exhibition game or two.
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THE QMJHL FINAL:
Tuesday -- Baie-Comeau Drakkar at Val-d’Or Foreurs. Series tied 1-1.
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THE OHL FINAL:
Tuesday -- Guelph Storm at North Bay Battalion. Series tied 1-1.
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THE FOURTH ROUND (best-of-seven; all times local):
WHL final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup
(x - if necessary)
(All games televised live by Shaw)
(All games televised by Root Sports -- Game 2 live, others on delayed basis)
PORTLAND (2, West) vs. Edmonton (1, East)
(Portland leads, 2-0)
Season series: Portland, 0-0-1; Edmonton, 1-0-0.
Saturday: Edmonton 2 at Portland 5 (10,947)
Sunday: Edmonton 1 at Portland 3 (10,645)
Tuesday: Portland at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: Portland at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Friday: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
x-Sunday: Portland at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Monday, May 12: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
INJURIES
Portland: None.
Edmonton: None.
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SUNDAY’S GAME:
In Portland, the Winterhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead and went on beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-1. . . . Portland leads the best-of-seven WHL championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup 2-0 as the teams head for Edmonton. They are scheduled to play there on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . The teams were to share a charter to Edmonton following last night’s game. . . . The Winterhawks, who won the opener 5-2 on Saturday, scored twice before last night’s game was four minutes old. . . . F Chase De Leo got his ninth goal of the playoffs at 2:12, with F Brendan Leipsic notching his 13th just 1:02 later. Leipsic, who also had an assist, was back on the ice after missing Game 1 while serving a one-game WHL suspension. . . . Portland F Paul Bittner, who scored twice on Saturday, made it 3-0 at 4:32 of the second period, giving him five goals in these playoffs. Bittner also had an assist. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson got Edmonton on the board with a PP goal at 13:32 of the third period. . . . Portland G Corbin Boes stopped 28 shots, one fewer than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich points out that Boes, who was acquired from Lethbridge this season, had a streak with the Hurricanes in which he lost 18 straight decisions. With Portland, Boes is 19-1-1. . . . Edmonton was 1-for-3 on the PP; Portland was 0-for-4. . . . Portland now is 42-3 since Jan. 11 and is 9-0 at home in the playoffs. . . . This is the third straight spring in which these two teams have met in the final. In the two earlier series, the teams split the first two games. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand had one assist. He leads the playoff scoring race, with 30 points, one more than Leipsic. . . . Portland D Derrick Pouliot, who leads the WHL in assists (24), had his playoff point streak snapped at 15 games. Yes, this was the first game in these playoffs in which he didn’t get at least one point. . . .

Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports filed a game story that is right here.

Scott Sepich covered the game for The Canadian Press, and his gamer is right here.

Brian Swane of the Edmonton Sun has a game story right here.

The gamer filed by Molly Blue of The Oregonian is right here.

Cam Charron of Yahoo! Sports breaks down the first two games right here, and he has the Winterhawks “in a class of their own.” . . . Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal won't need to look at any stats other than this: His club has fallen behind 3-0 in each of the first two games. It's tough to climb out of holes like that at any time of the season, never mind in the championship final.
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From Tom Morello (@tmorello): “When I was a kid I thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem on a daily basis than it really is.”

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Outdoor game for Portland?; long arm of law looking for Gaetz

F Kris Beech (Calgary, 1996-2001) has been loaned to the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) by the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL) for the rest of this season. With Straubing, Beech had 24 points, including eight goals, in 36 games. . . .
D Kenton Smith (Calgary, 1995-2000) has returned to the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite) for the rest of the season. Smith left Clan a month ago to be with his family in Cardiff. This season, in 33 games, he has 11 points, three of them goals.
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F Tyler Benson, the first overall selection in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, is expected to play for the Vancouver Giants against the Rockets in Kelowna tonight. Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that Benson is expected to join the Giants on a full-time basis next week. . . . Benson, who is pointless in three games with the Giants, has been playing for the Kelowna-based Pursuit Of Excellence under-18 prep team. He put up 91 points, including 35 goals, in 46 games. That team’s season ends this weekend, freeing Benson up to join the Giants. . . .
Ewen also reports Giants F Dominik Volek didn’t practise Thursday because of an undisclosed injury. D Dalton Thrower (ankle) has yet to return to the ice. According to Ewen, “both are unlikely for Friday in Kelowna.“
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Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, was in Kennewick, Wash., on Wednesday night. Here’s a note from his blog:
“In talking to Annie Fowler, the beat writer for the Americans, it was confirmed that the Tri-City Herald Best of the West Poll has met its end. The poll, which allowed players, coaches/management and media to vote on several categories has been a staple for the last 25 years and has always been an interesting conversation piece. The process is time consuming and receiving ballots from teams was always a chore.” . . .
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F Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice takes a 21-game point streak into Saskatoon for a game with the Blades tonight. He has 47 points, 18 of them goals, in the streak that has tied F Mike Comrie for the franchise record. . . . Reinhart also is riding a 14-game assist streak. . . . Both streaks are the longest in the WHL this season.
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Prince George is at home for Friday-Saturday doubleheader with the Victoria Royals, and Cougars F Troy Bourke is closing in on the club’s career point record. Bourke has 229 points in 270 regular season games; the record is held by F Eric Hunter (2002-07), who put up 233 points in 323 games. . . . Note that this doesn’t include the Victoria Cougars. . . . Prince George F Todd Fiddler goes into the weekend on a 16-game point streak. He has 30 points, 15 of them goals, over that stretch.
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Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune brings word that the Portland Timbers and Portland Winterhawks have chatted about the possibility of a playing an outdoor WHL game at Providence Park, the home of the MLS team that could seat 20,000 for such a contest. . . . Eggers has more on that right here. . . . There have been two outdoor games played featuring WHL teams. In Spokane, the Chiefs beat the Kootenay Ice 11-2 before 7,075 fans in Avista Stadium on Jan. 15,2011. The Regina Pats beat the host Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in a game played at McMahon Stadium before 20,888 fans on Feb. 21, 2011. (If you are so inclined, there is a list right here of every outdoor game played since Oct. 6, 2001, and there have been more than 100 of them. So much for the novelty!)
Eggers also writes about Winterhawks GM/head coach Mike Johnston’s niece, Rebecca, who was a major contributor to the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team. Oh, and Eggers also confirms that Winterhawks G Brendan Burke has been out with mononucleosis.
Meanwhile, in The Oregonian, Molly Blue talks with Burke, and updates his status. That report is right here.
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The long arm of the law is reaching out in an attempt to locate Link Gaetz. The former WHL defenceman (New Westminster, Spokane, 1986-88) has failed to appear in a Kamloops court room, nor has he been in touch with his lawyer. The result is that an arrest warrant has been issued for Gaetz. There’s more right here from Kamloops This Week.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Red Deer (8)
Regina (2) vs. Brandon (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Kelowna (1) vs. Tri-City (8)
Portland (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Victoria (3) vs. Everett (6)
Seattle (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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FRIDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Lethbridge at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Regina, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Kamloops at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Portland at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:
No games scheduled.
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From Geoff Baker (@gbakermariners) of the Seattle Times: “Just returned from Seattle delegation trip to Vancouver for (Wednesday) night's #Canucks game. Interesting time. Lots of #NHL optimism brewing.”
The story that Baker filed is right here.
 
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