December 30 Weekly Preview
The second half of the 2014-15 regular season is underway as the Hawks returned from the league’s holiday break. There are three more home games this week as the Hawks prepare to host more divisional rivals in the next five days, beginning with the annual Toyota New Year’s Eve game on Wednesday against Seattle.
Look Back at the Weekend: Dec. 26-28
- With two road victories before the break, the Hawks are now 19-16-0-3. Though the Hawks struggled in the first ten games of the season, the four-time Western Conference champions have continued to climb in the standings since the beginning of the Eastern Swing in mid-October with a record of 18-9-0-1 over the last 28 games.
- Nic Petan, who’s representing Canada at the World Junior Championship, leads the tournament in scoring with one goal and five assists in two games so far. Oliver Bjorkstrand has three points in three games for Denmark. He scored the first goal of the tournament on Dec. 26, and was named Denmark’s player of the game the following night against Sweden. Chase De Leo helped his team earn their first win of the tournament when he scored the shootout winner in the USA’s opening game last Friday against Finland. While the Hawks are back in action in Portland, Petan, Bjorkstrand, and De Leo continue to represent their respective countries at the World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal. The round robin portion of the tournament concludes on Dec. 31, while the playoff round begins on Jan. 2 and lasts until the end of the tournament on Jan. 5.
- Adin Hill continues to lead all WHL goaltenders with a save percentage of 0.923. He’s stopped 442 of the 479 shots he’s faced so far this season, with a goals against average of 2.85 which gives him ninth place overall in the WHL in that category.
- Now that the teams are back from the holiday break, the U.S. Division will continue to see a lot of movement in the upcoming weeks. The Hawks are just halfway through a ten-game span against their divisional rivals, and are in the midst of seven straight games within the division.
Look Ahead: Dec. 29 – Jan. 2
- The Hawks host the Seattle Thunderbirds at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the annual Toyota New Year’s Eve game. Ring in the New Year with the Hawks in a fun night for fans of all ages with a concourse carnival including inflatable bounce houses and slides. Join us as we count down to 2015, with a special money balloon drop at midnight in the Moda Center. After the game, the Hawks will also host one of the year’s most popular events as fans are invited to bring their skates that night to skate with the players after the game. For details, please visit http://www.winterhawks.com/page/newyears.
- The New Year’s Eve game will also be a very special night for one local family when the Hawks give the team’s 2014 Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition pickup to the Toyota Hockey Family of the Year. The winning family will be announced on the ice during the first intermission on Wednesday night. Voting for this contest is still open, and you can help the Hawks find the 2014 Toyota Hockey Family of the Year at http://www.winterhawks.com/page/toyota.
- Tomorrow night, the Blazers are hosting their annual Winterhawks Night at their game against the Toronto Raptors. The special promo tickets have already sold out, but there are still other tickets available at trailblazers.com for those Hawks fans looking to catch some NBA action.
- The Hawks host the Tri-City Americans on Saturday in the first matchup between the division rivals in Portland. Parker Bowles’ 38 points so far this season leads the Americans, who have a record of 18-16-0-1. Like the Hawks, the Americans are playing without goaltender Eric Comrie (Canada) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (USA) who are both away at the World Junior Championship.
