That was one hell of a ride...

Well, that was fun.

During the Mike Johnston era we witnessed a lot of goals & a lot of wins.  The last 4 playoff runs featured more wins (59) than the 3 full seasons prior to his arrival in the Rose City (47).  This team posted a .731 winning percentage in the 5 regular seasons that began with MJ behind the bench.  Pretty unheard of for junior hockey, if not anywhere in modern sport.

Most of us are familiar with the meteoric rise of this franchise back to relevance in the WHL, but here's a great piece about MJ turning this ship around.  It shouldn't be forgotten that the Winterhawks were on the verge of either being relocated or simply folding during the dark ages.  My understanding is the previous owner (who I won't even mention his name here), who was a bartender back east somewhere, fired Ken Hodge and was going to play GM himself.  Ron Robison had to step in & force the team to re-hire Hodge in order to have some sort of hockey-man making decisions.  It was that bad.

Some fans feel that MJ is a better GM than coach, and I lean that way - if only because you have to be better at one or the other by definition.  If you look at the talent he's amassed during his Portland career - its pretty staggering.   Guys like Ryan Johansen (7th round bantam pick), Chase de Leo (9th round bantam pick),  Brendan Leipsic (6th round bantam pick) - etc etc etc.   Many WHL teams can't find a decent Euro at all it seems, and we've seen a steady procession of top shelf import talent come through here.

Johnston would argue otherwise - as he's been coaching as a profession for over 30 years.  Much of coaching is managing the players personalities & mannerisms.  It ain't gonna be easy to balance Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin with your 4th line guys, but its all in the approach.

Its apples and oranges, the NHL & major junior, but think about the attitudes he's saddled up here:  Boychuck, Ross, Rattie, Morrow, Leipsic, Pouliot, etc.  You hear the phase "I'd rather try and tame a tiger than paint stripes on a kitty cat" - but that's a whole damn streak of tigers right there.  Remember what he did with Taylor Jordan as an overage?  Made him into a legit hockey player.  He handled both high-profile defencemen who left school for Portland without distraction.

I've heard that there are serious challenges in Pittsburgh right now: salary cap issues, sky high expectations, lack of identity - things like this.  After the mess that Mike cleaned up here, I'm sure the Penguins will be fine.

I have serious concerns about the future of the Portland Winterhawks.  The next time they drop the puck will be my 10th season living in Portland & following this team.  Its not an exaggeration to say that every ounce of success I've witnessed this team have comes directly from Mike Johnston.  To go from worst-to-first is a wonderful story, but the clock is supposed to strike midnight at some point.  Somehow MJ found ways to simply keep this team on top.  The Winterhawks are still stocked full of top shelf players, after 4 years of long playoff runs.  Completely unheard of at this level.

Its inevitable for this team to fall back to earth, but it seemed almost impossible under the leadership of MJ.  The next guy has some shoes to fill, alright.  We may be destined to experience the cycle of winning / losing / wining / losing that every other team is subject to - which is a day I've dreaded for some time.  Its way more fun winning all those games year after year.

Anybody got Travis Green's number?  I hear his contract is up........

Ethan Price: next great Nebraskan

Here's a brief list of Nebraska greats:

 

Vice-Grips 

 

Cabela's

 

Warren Buffett 

  

 

Kool-Aid  

2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch

Union Pacific Railroad

Kawasaki Jet Skis

Photo credit: Bryan Heim

Even at this stage of his career, as a 16 year old player about to make his Major Junior debut, he's already one of the greatest Nebraskan hockey players.  According to my research,  there have been 24 NHL goals scored by Cornhuskers in the history of the league.

I've played on the rink that Price grew up on.  I know this for a fact, as there is only one ice sheet in Lincoln:  the arena that is home to the USHL's Lincoln Stars.  Its one of my favorite places to watch a hockey game - its literally a barn - built to house livestock during the state fair.

The development of Nebraska hockey has been an interesting story.  The Omaha Lancers started in 1986, and have generally been successful.  Lincoln won the cup in 1997 - their inaugural year.   My hometown Tri-City Storm blew into town in 2000.  People say the influence of Gretzky being traded to L.A. wasn't seen in homegrown players until the last few years - guys like McColgan & De Leo are part of this phenomena. Hockey fever caught in 1988, so kids growing up after that were exposed to the game.  Ethan Price was born the same year the Stars came to Lincoln.

It probably would have been attractive to play for the hometown Stars, but the Youngstown Phantoms hold his rights.  Different leagues aside, if it comes down to spending the year in Youngstown VS Portland - I'm taking Portland.   It looks like the Stars only passed on him once,  which if I'm the Stars I HAVE to take the local kid.

Often American kids are attracted to the NCAA route.  However, in this part of the world the "local" college program is in Omaha - with their first year being 1997-98.  Not a lot of history there.  Otherwise you are looking at programs in Minnesota or Colorado - not particularly tied to the Star City.

In late July, Coach Johnston said there would only be one 16 on this years team:

As far as 16-year-old rookies go, it seems blueliner Keoni Texeira, who was selected 26^th overall in 2012, will be the only one to make the jump.

“I think Texeira will be our only 16 year old on our team next year,” says Johnston. “He looks like he’s ready to make an impact. We’ve been really happy with his development.”

Poking around on his twitter account, it looks like Price came to town on a mission to earn a spot:

You have to love that kind of drive in a player.  Its also worth mentioning that this is a player, US born, highly touted (according to the 'Hawks), who signed post-sanctions.  Presumably there's nothing the team has offered that is beyond what is WHL legal.  Some have proposed that these signings may dry up, and time will tell.


Poking around the google, I found some various reviews of Price:


Chris Dilks follows the US National Development Program (USNDP).  Here's his scouting report from September 2012:

Ethan Price-F-Omaha Lancers U16- Price is listed at 5'11" 190 lbs. I don't believe that for a second, but the point stands that he's not all that big, while being pretty developed physically. There's a lot to like about his game. He skates, he hits, he's got a pretty heavy snapshot with a quick release. I just wonder how high the ceiling is. Maybe I'm way off, but I see him as more of an energy guy than a big-time scorer as he advances.

His report from the March 2013 tryout camp:

Ethan Price-A strong kid. Not a ton of offensive upside, but he'll be a very tough two-way forward to play against.

Also from Chris Dilks upon Price signing:

Another American heads to Portland.

Ethan Price, a '97-born forward that skated last season with the Omaha U16 team, has signed with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. Price had 15 goals and 23 assists through 22 games with Omaha last year, helping them to an undefeated season in the NAPHL.

Price was invited to skate at the NTDP tryout camp this past spring, and was a second round selection of the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL in the league's Phase II future's draft. Previously, Portland had selected him in the 6th round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.

Overall, it looks like a very good American addition for the Winterhawks roster.

I'm not sure if I've heard of an undefeated season in hockey at any level - and they played some heavyweights.    They won the cup, too:

 This past season, Price led Omaha in scoring during NAPHL games with 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 22 games played. He also had eight points in five playoff games as the Omaha AAA 16U Hockey Club won the NAPHL Championship.

In July of 2013 there was a US National tryout, and Russ Bitely was there. He had Price listed as a "B" grade prospect to make the US team:

Ethan Price – Forward: Omaha AAA U16; Lincoln, NE – Draft eligible 2015
He is a shooter for certain. He likes to get that puck on his stick and fire away a quick, snap shot. He can score by placing his shots or saw him get lucky too by putting puck to the net from behind goal line and getting a fortunate bounce off defender. He handles the puck well and has some decent speed. He had a pretty solid effort at Select 16s.

 I always love seeing the "C" on sweaters of guys joining the 'Hawks:

Those scouting reports are all over the board, which makes perfect sense:  you're looking at a 15 year old kid playing against other 15 year old kids.  I'm sure those guys are also going off of a small amount of viewings as well.  

That being said, if we get the average of the reports - we are looking at a physical, two way forward with a sneaky snapshot.  I like it.

Saskatoon VS Portland: Memoral Cup Game 3

Apparently the NHL handles supplemental discipline in this tournament (as well as goal replays).  Its my opinion that they will come down on Thrower, judging on how they have handled things this season.  I'm concerned with Leier: short term & long term as well.  That kid is a huge part of this team, and will be next season as well.

Other highlights from the 1st were:

Pouliot's stick work - there were 2 or 3 noticeable instances where the play was headed towards the 'Hawks end and #51 stuck his stick out and picked off the puck, and BAM the play was headed the other way.  Looked really good with his stick position in the period to me.

One of the biggest plays in the entire game was the save Carruth  made on the Stransky breakaway.  I'm a glass-half-full guy, and often times if a goalie is struggling and/or the shooter is hot I'm especially optimistic of our goalie making the save.  That being said, I wasn't all that sure on this one, until Carruth came up victorious on this play.  That's a huge momentum play, as well as confidence - as all goalies have struggled in this tournament.


One thing that was fun was when Ferland took Iverson into the camera well between the benches:

The smile on Iverson's face was great - as well as him touching on it during a mid-game interview.


2nd Period:

How 'bout that Pouilot goal: was it soft?  He just threw a wrister on net, as both teams were changing.  I felt he was rewarded for his good play over the game.

Powerplays were a big part of the 2nd.  The two that stand out were the 5-on-3 that the Blades had & the double minor on Ferland.

 The first penalty was on Pouliot, for taking a guy into the crossbar behind Carruth.  The Blades were trying extra hard to get into Carruth's kitchen all night, and the defense corps had to clean up extra garbage because of it.  I'm not sold that Pouliot's X-check was worth 2 minutes, but I'd feel pretty good if it was - I've got no problem with taking a penalty to help establish your goalies crease - especially from a guy who plays his position like Pouliot does.

Then Taylor Peters took a high sticking penalty.  The replay looked bad:  the puck was head high, he swung his stick at it and whacked a dude.  I've heard some in house accounts that the puck hit the other guy in the face, rather than #25's stick, but you can't get your stick in the vicinity of anyone's face and think you're in the clear.  This is a huge issue, now that you have one of your top 4 defenseman AND your #1 draw man / penalty killing forward in the box for a minute-and-a-half.  Petan took the draw, and eventually Rattie took off on a breakaway.  That's how the 'Hawks kill penalties - in my mind their PK is the #1 reason for the success they've had all year.

Then, after killing off the 2 man short portion, the Blades get a flukey goal:  centering pass goes off of Rutowski's stick, and past a screened Carruth.  Part of me thinks he should have had that one, but between the screen + deflection, I'm not sure.

How many times this year have we seen a 'Hawks powerplay that moves the puck like magic, but has zero sense of urgency to shoot?  Its often discussed that you can't just shoot whenever you want, as teams are so good blocking shots & heading the other way (and we saw that too on this PP) - but you have to get some shots AT SOME POINT - which just didn't happen.  Four goddamned minutes, like 2 shots got through.  Not good enough. 

Ferland had 10 pim through 2 periods.  That ain't good.

1 -1 after 2 periods.

The 'Hawks have been a 3rd period team for a few years - many credit that to their conditioning.

There were a few moving parts to the DeLeo goal: 'Spooner shot the puck so hard that it knocked the stick clean out of  Makarov's hand (at least I'd like to think it did).  The rebound ends up behind the net with Bjorkstrand setting up DeLeo out front -  with Bittner planted firmly in the slot.  DeLeo put that shot right where the goalie's stick would normally be.  Bittner ultamitley had little to do with that goal, but I sure liked the look of that big Minnesotan causing a ruck in the slot.  I could get used to that.

Shortly thereafter there was the Leipsic goal: #leipsnipe.  This has been a "blood in the water" team - they get one, they generally get a couple more.  This goal felt like that.  During intermission rumor broke that Leipsic signed a pro deal.  He hadn't done much to this point of the tourney, then buried this goal - which was huge.

Rattie with the casual 4th goal - dude acted like he's been there before.

Josh Nichols made it interesting with a goal with 3:33 left - good shot, good player, right time to score.  Brought the Blades back in it, if only briefly.

Its been fun watching the national (Canadian) media get used to Mac Carruth.  Things like being the last one off the ice after warm ups, to getting guys faces in scrums, to playing the puck ALL THE TIME, to things like intentionally fanning on the puck as a fake - he's got too much character to get used to in 4 years - let alone 10 days.

sportsnet highlights

scoresheet

photo essay

Buzzing The Net: Leier hit

BTN: 3 stars

O-live twitter reaction to the Leier hit

Winterhawks prevail:

 How was a four-minute penalty kill actually counterproductive for the Blades? In their win, the Blades were buoyed by the combo of a late second period penalty kill and an out-of-the-box breakaway goal by Matej Stransky.

It was 1-all with 4:10 left in the second period when Saskatoon overage Michael Ferland got a double minor. Thanks in part to both Brett Stovin blocking "five or six" shots — by his own rough guesstimate — and the puck bouncing on some bad ice, the Winterhawks didn't capitalize. It didn't lift the Blades, though, despite a huge ovation at the end of the period from the announced crowd of 9,239. It took a lot out of them.

"It was probably our only positive of the game," Nicholls said. "Unfortunately, the period ended. What we really needed was a good first five minutes of the third period to keep that momentum. We weren't able to do that. We kind of slowed the game down. We have to keep pushing the pace and use our endurance to push teams to the brink."

"It took a lot of energy out of us," Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken added. "We had some mistakes that Portland took advantage of."

Friday night should be fun:  1 win away from the Memorial Cup game.  I like these odds.

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clean hits don't draw blood

Portland VS London: Memorial Cup Game 2

scoresheet

real time fan discussion

faxplease

i will say one thing ... " the bull " is devoting a helluva lot of air time to this memorial cup - 90 minute pre game show before every game ... every game on the radio .... long post game show

gotta be a lot of stress on Les' voice

Sportsnet highlights

Green: "We went out and played well"

Pouliot 1-on-1

Domi making highlight reels all over 

Domi raises his profile 

 presser video

 official highlights

 photo gallery

 Scott Sepich

For hometown boy Leier, the thrill of scoring in front of friends and family brought a huge smile to his face in the postgame press conference.

“I think I heard my mom screaming from the crowd, so it was pretty cool to score a goal,” Leier said.

StarPhoenix: 

It’s the second straight year, and second time since the current format began in 1983, that all four teams have started at 1-1.

“It makes this tournament real interesting now,” summed up Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth, who rebounded from a disappointing first start against Halifax. “Everybody’s got the same thing going and it’s going to be fun from here on.”

 CBC:

Bo Horvat and Alex Broadhurst replied with a goal and an assist each for London, while Scott Harrington also scored. Anthony Stolarz allowed five goals on 26 shots before being replaced by Jake Patterson. The Knights backup finished with five saves.Portland defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 1 ranked North American skater according to NHL Central Scouting ahead of next month's draft, had a relatively quiet night for the Winterhawks, but still finished with a plus-4 rating.

After London tied the game 3-3 early in the third period, Pouliot, a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012, ripped a shot off Stolarz's shoulder and in on a Portland power play at 6:20. De Leo ended the London netminder's night at 6:43 by sliding a shot home from the slot.

The Knights had a couple of chances to get closer as the period wore on but Carruth shut the door.

 Globe & Mail

With Portland leading 1-0 after a sleepy first period, the floodgates opened in the second. Bjorkstrand doubled the Winterhawks’ lead 2:17 into the second after wheeling out from behind the London net and snapping a shot shortside on Stolarz.

Rattie then stretched the advantage to three with a goal that was a carbon copy of his effort against Halifax on Saturday night. The St. Louis Blues draft pick moved into the London zone and toe dragged the puck around a Knights defender before slipping a backhand past Stolarz at 10:23 while falling to the ice.

juniorhockey.com

 Ty Rattie led the Winterhawks with two goals and also added an assist, while Taylor Leier scored a goal and added a pair of assists. Mac Carruth turned aside 25-of-28 shots for the Winterhawks, who also got goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand, Derrick Pouliot, who scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Chase De Leo.

 First and foremost: the goalie played better.  He said he would.  Other than that, this was the same 'Hawks team we've seen all year:  sick moves by Ty Rattie, secondary scoring, & help from the back end.  The entire second line scored goals tonight - which means victory on most nights.

It was a little sketchy after coughing up that 3-0 lead, but that's why they are the #adversityhawks.  Upon staking that 5-3 lead, I remarked, "If they can't hold a 3 goal AND a 2 goal lead in the same game, they don't deserve to win this thing anyway" - but they found a way to ride it out.

 I've been critical of patterns all playoffs that are "not sustainable" - winning off of flukey bounces & out of character sub-par performances by key players or goalies standing on their heads.  I feel you can chalk up almost every 'Hawks loss this spring in these categories.  Can you say the same thing about the goals that Ty Rattie is scoring right now?  Those things are crazy:  its 5 star highlight reel action every game.  However, he keeps burying them - which makes it a trend, rather than a set of occurrences.  We've been pretty fortunate to watch him knock out the Chiefs in Game 7 OT in their barn, and never look back.

If they can find a way to beat Saskatoon, then they are in fat city.  I feel pretty good about those prospects:  The 'Hawks are better than the Blades.  With a little help from the other game, they could be looking at an automatic finals appearance.  Worst case, they get in the hard way.

Paying the cost to be the boss

Traditionally contending teams will load up at the trade deadline hoping to make a run at a championship.  Generally, if your run is successful, then it doesn't matter what you gave up, right?  In the NHL, I think that people hold the Ray Bourque trade, as well as the Joe Nieuwendyk/Jarome Iginla trade in these regards.  They both resulted in Stanley Cup championships, so what assests you spent are inconsequential.

In the last few seasons here in 'Dub country, we've seen some blockbusters as well.  A few that stick out are:

Brayden Schenn & a 3rd - for two 1sts, a 2nd, a 1st round import pick, and two prospects. The Blades were swept in the 2nd round that year.

Carter Ashton & and a 3rd - for two players, a 1st, a 2nd, and a 5th.  They won a round that spring.

Cody Eakin - for a roster player, 4 prospects, a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd.  That 8 assets for one guy, although he helped power the Ice past the 'Hawks in the 2011 WHL Final.

We've seen some risky trades here locally over the last few years as well - folks have mixed emotions about the Marcel Noebels trade: those 1st's could be really valuable, but the league may have taken them away anyway.  Is making Game 7 of the league finals success? 

See also:  The Cam Reid trade.

This season, you had trades like the Oil Kings giving up a 2nd for half a season of (local product) Trevor Cheek, as well as a good D man + a 1st for David Musil.  

Kamloops gave up a 3rd & a 5th for Sam Grist, as well as picking up Joel Edmundson & a 4th -  for a roster player, a 1st, and a guy taken in the 1st round last year.  

Spokane gave up a 3rd, a 5th, and two players for Alessio Bertaggia.  

There's a pattern here:  none of these teams had the horses to run with Portland.

This brings us to the WHL Champion Portland Winterhawks.  They made no trades all season, aside from finding a home for Cam Lanigan.  Obviously the big trade was the Seth Jones deal:  two 16's that have shined for the 'Tips, an 18 D man who they are happy with, and a NCAA player that neither team was likely to sign.

Referring to the above discussion, it may not matter what the 'Hawks gave up - as they have now won the franchises 3rd WHL championship - and are in the hunt for the Memorial Cup.  That being said, Jones looks like a steal compared to the Shenn or Eakin trades, doesn't it?  

I was concerned at the time, as they gave up quite a bit in the Noebels & Reid deals.  However, if you look at the players in that deal: Betker wasn't going to make this team as a defenseman - we have good D men who can't crack the lineup as is.  Same story with Sandhu & Skapski:  the last thing the Winterhawks need is more promising 16's up front that you can't find ice time for.  Remember, the rotation they ran all year trying to get these guys shifts?  We saw a 16 year old forward score game winners in 4 straight games, only to be healthy scratched the next game.  There was no room at the inn for the guys that were sent to Everett.

Just for fun, lets assign the picks lost in the sanctions to the Jones trade.  One could look at it like they gave up those 4 assets, in addition to five 1st rounders.  

(Once upon a time the St Louis Blues thought it was worth five 1sts for Scott Stevens, but that's a different story)

Upping that to 9 assets, is the Jones trade that much more costly than the Shenn or Eakin deals?  Are they in the same ballpark?  I would argue they gave up quality assets, but ones that they could not use - so what the 'Hawks gave up had very little value to Portland.  Throw in the sanction picks, and you may have a price closer to what Jones was worth.

Especially if they go out and bring home the Memorial Cup.

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