Six joueurs de la LCH au sein de la sélection américaine U18

The Portland Winterhawks opened the 2009-10 season Saturday night in Kent with a 5-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. Ian Curtis turned away all 22 Seattle shots to earn his first career shutout.

Portland got off to a quick start with two first period goals. They opened the scoring at the 17:15 mark of the first period on a goal by defenseman Troy Rutkowski, with an assist to Nino Niederreiter, his first WHL point. Two minutes later, while killing a penalty, the Hawks generated a turnover and Luke Walker and Chris Francis came down the ice on a 2-on-1. Walker waited for Seattle goaltender Jacob De Serres to commit, slid the puck across the crease to Francis, who fired it into the empty net for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0 at the 19:28 mark.

The Winterhawks increased the lead to 3-0 late in the second period on a goal from Niederreiter, his second point of the night. Assists on the third marker of the night went to Ryan Johansen, his first WHL point, and Rutkowski, his second point of the night.

Up three goals going into the third, Portland refused to let up. Rutkowski got his second goal and third point of the game on a slap shot from the point three minutes into the period, with assists from Ross and Niederreiter. Just under three minutes later, Spencer Bennett got his first WHL goal on an assist from Walker to make it 5-0.

From there, Portland held Seattle at bay to earn the shutout win. The Winterhawks outshot Seattle 34-22 on the night.

Portland’s next game is Friday in Tri-Cities. The home opener is next Saturday, September 26 against Seattle at the Memorial Coliseum.