Game Day Hub: April 24
Seattle Thunderbirds vs. Portland Winterhawks
Once again renewing their rivalry inside The Glass Palace, Portland and Seattle are set to tussle for second place in the U.S. Division this weekend.
Portland Record: 6-5-3-0 (Second, U.S. Division – Fourth, Western Conference)
Seattle Record: 7-7-0-0 (Third, U.S. Division – Fifth, Western Conference)
Puck Drop: 5:00 p.m. PT
Venue: Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Previous Meetings This Season:
- Saturday, March 20: Portland (4) vs. Seattle (1)
- Saturday, March 27: Portland (2) vs. Seattle (3)
- Sunday, March 28: Portland (7) vs. Seattle (4)
- Saturday, April 17: Seattle (1) vs. Portland (3)
Listen Live: Winterhawks Radio Network and on the Winterhawks App
Watch Live: WHL Live OR Portland’s CW
Game Notes: Winterhawks Game Notes
FOLLOW ALONG: Box Score
This starts the homestretch, doesn’t it?
It does.
The team enters tonight coming off of their only five-day stretch without a game and now begins a sprint of 10 tilts in 18 days to finish the season. Sounds kind of wild, doesn’t it? We knew the 24-game season would fly by, but blink and we got to halfway, blink again and we’ll be done. We’ll save the sentimental “here’s what was accomplished this season” stories for when it’s all said and done, plus, the fact of the matter is that a lot can still be written, starting tonight.
What’s at stake?
Plenty.
Right now the Hawks lead the season series against the T-Birds three games to one, but with two more tries this weekend, that could certainly change. It matters none that it’s a shortened season, we all know that we don’t want to lose the rivalry’s head-to-head meetings in any year. Plus, with the teams neck-and-neck for second in the U.S. Division, it just adds that much fuel. While we know that there won’t be playoffs at this point, it would still also be nice to finish above Seattle in the standings, right?
An early goodbye?
Thanks for coming, Luke Schelter.
The 17-year-old forward is limited to six games with the club this season and he enters the weekend with five. He’ll return to Minnesota to wrap up the year with Northstar Christian Academy’s AAA program with WHL experience and his first point under his belt. At 6-foot-2, 181 lbs., the stint on the roster gave Luke a taste of what the league and organization are like – and we look forward to seeing him again in the fall.
PROJECTED LINEUPS:
Portland
Forward
Jaydon Dureau – Tyson Kozak – Seth Jarvis
Simon Knak – Gabe Klassen – Reece Newkirk
Kyle Chyzowski – Robbie Fromm-Delorme – Mason Mannek
Kishaun Gervais – Luke Schelter – Aidan Litke
Defense
Jonas Brondberg – Nick Cicek
Kurtis Smythe – Ryan McCleary
Kade Nolan – Luca Cagnoni
Goaltenders
Dante Giannuzzi
Brock Gould
Scratches: Jonah Bevington, Marcus Nguyen, Brody Tallman, Ryder Thompson
Seattle
Forwards
Sam Oremba – Henrik Rybinski – Keltie Jeri Leon
Gabe Ludwig – Jared Davidson – Jordan Gustafson
Reid Schaefer – Sam Popowich – Lucas Ciona
Nico Myatovic – Mekai Sanders
Defense
Jeremy Hanzel – Tyrel Bauer
Kevin Korchinski – Ryan Gottfried
Luke Bateman – Spencer Penner
Goaltenders
Jackson Berry
Scott Ratzlaff
Scratches: Cade McNelly (undisclosed), Payton Mount (inj.), Matthew Rempe (inj.), Conner Roulette (IIHF U18), Thomas Milic (IIHF U18)
