Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Recruitment Stage - 14 - 15 Years Old
My first inkling that Scouts were watching me was when I was 14 years old playing second year bantam for the Juan De Fuca Gulls (as they were called at the time). After one game my dad showed me a business card from a scout for the Victoria Cougars of the WHL, George Sigurson. My dad said the main thing that George asked him was "How Hungry am I". That question stuck in my head and when I watch athletes today in any sport, hunger seems to be the most important factor to success. When a hockey player loses his hunger, he loses his competitiveness as well. I do remember meeting George and he seemed like a really nice man. On my 15th Birthday, I received a letter from the honorable Mr. Ed Chynoweth (RIP), the Chariman of the Western Hockey League at the time. The letter stated that 4 WHL teams wanted to put me on their protected list. The way the recruitment system worked at the time there was no WHL draft. When you turned 15, if more than one team wanted you, then you had the opportunity to choose one of them.
Living in Victoria, BC at the time, I had been to a handful of WHL Victoria Cougar hockey games with my friends. Most of my friends hated the Portland Winterhawks because they were a fierce rival with the Cougars. I had to now make a decision of which team to pick. The Victoria Cougars seemed to be the obvious choice as they were local, but Portland had called me, met with me and their Director of Player Personnel Wayne Meier and their scout Ron Roman really had a great way of selling the organization. I liked both Wayne and Ron, they both made me feel important and made me feel that Portland 'wanted me'. I didn't get that from Victoria, Kamloops or Seattle. It was a tough decision at the time. I had spoken with the head coach of the Victoria Cougars, Dave Andrews (Now the president of the American Hockey League and a phenomenal hockey man) Bottom line is I chose Portland over my hometown team. There was something about watching them play when they were in town against the Cougars. They used the old Chicago Black Hawk uniforms and they had a c not a p on the side of their jerseys.
Sasser's 5-goal explosion propels Hawks to first win - THE OREGONIAN
By RON OLSON
of The Oregonian staff
KELOWNA, British Columbia - Winger Grant Sasser, softspoken off the ice made a lot of noise on the ice Wednesday night with five goals to propel the Portland Winter Hawks to a 7-5 victory over the Kelowna Wings. The win was Portland's first in three games in the young Western Hockey League season and kept the Hawks from slipping into the West Division cellar, a position thy have not seen for seven seasons.
Wednesday's game was Sasser's show from the outset. He collected one goal in the first period, then netted two each in the last two. "Grant Sasser has been our hockey player, our on ice inspirational leader since the day he returned from Pittsburgh's National Hockey League camp." said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. "It's kind of ironic that the one player we have who is playing hurt did the job for us tonight. He's playing with a positive attitude and with lots of confidence."
Portland opted to go with 16 year old back up goalie Peter Fry and the youngster overcame first period jitters with several clutch saves early in the second period when Kelowna had momentum on its side.
of The Oregonian staff
KELOWNA, British Columbia - Winger Grant Sasser, softspoken off the ice made a lot of noise on the ice Wednesday night with five goals to propel the Portland Winter Hawks to a 7-5 victory over the Kelowna Wings. The win was Portland's first in three games in the young Western Hockey League season and kept the Hawks from slipping into the West Division cellar, a position thy have not seen for seven seasons.
Wednesday's game was Sasser's show from the outset. He collected one goal in the first period, then netted two each in the last two. "Grant Sasser has been our hockey player, our on ice inspirational leader since the day he returned from Pittsburgh's National Hockey League camp." said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. "It's kind of ironic that the one player we have who is playing hurt did the job for us tonight. He's playing with a positive attitude and with lots of confidence."
Portland opted to go with 16 year old back up goalie Peter Fry and the youngster overcame first period jitters with several clutch saves early in the second period when Kelowna had momentum on its side.
Monday, April 9, 2012
145-foor goal spices Winter Hawks' win THE OREGONIAN, SATURDAY OCTOBER 1983 1983
By RON OLSON
of The Oregonian staff
Richard Kromm admits he's been getting a few "easy goals" thus far in the young Western Hockey League season, but none of his previous shots come close to the one he nailed home Saturday night. Kromm brought the Memorial Coliseum crowd of 7,162 to its feet midway through the third period when h scored a goal from 145 feet away-the other end of the ice-as the Portland Winter Hawks humbled the defending Lethbridge Broncos 8-4 for their fourth straight victory.
"I'm very pleased," said Hawk Coach Ken Hodge. "We had the week off, we were playing one of the best defensive clubs-if not the best defensive club-in the league and we were playing one of the better goaltenders in the league. We get eight goals and the strong, physical play we showed was pretty exciting."
This season's version of the Broncos somewhat resembles the champions of a year ago. They play the bump and grind style' dump the puck and chase it. But Lethbridge goalie Ken Wreggett was nowhere in the form Saturday that he was in last spring when Lethbridge defeated the Hawks in five games for the title. This one was billed as Lethbridge's tenacious defense against Portland's explosive offense. Wreggett didn't get a lot of help from his five veteran defensemen while the Hawks peppered him with 48 shots. Portland's offense won this one handily, and the line of Alfie Turcotte-Kromm-Grant Sasser continued to cook. Kromm had a pair, while Turcotte and Sasser added singles giving the trio 21 of Portland's 39 goals this season.
"Richard Kromm is just playing standout hockey for us" said Hodge. "He's showing a lot of quickness, playing a physical game and showing a lot of quickness in his forechecking. He's also finishing his plays like we thought he could."
Even from 145 feet.
A picture goal by Turcotte early in the third period staked the Hawks to a 7-4 advantage. Turcotte stole the puck at the Bronco blueline, eluded Lethbridge defenseman Grant Couture and beat Wregget from 30 feet. However, it was Kromm's desperation clearing shot from deep in the Portland zone that rained on Lethbridge's parade. The Hawks were having a little difficulty killing off a penalty to Hawk winger Terry Perkins when Kromm lofted a clearing shot out of the zone. The puck bounced in front of Wreggett, hit the inside of his right skate and trickled into the net. "Here's how it went," said Kromm with a smile. "I scooped the puck out of the corner, saw that the goalie was asleep and picked a corner. And it went in. "Actually, I got hit as soon as I let it go and never saw it. I heard the people screaming and I thought somebody had made a good check."
The Broncos could muster little after that and Hawk goalie Peter Fry denied any threat. Fry finished with 43 saves in another good showing, despite the Broncos' four goals in the second period. The Hawks were able to get a quick jump once again with Ray Podloski and Jeff Rohlicek scoring in the first period to give Portland a 2-0 lead. "We wanted to go out strong," said Podloski. "We wanted to bump them right from the beginning and try to get them off their game."
In the first period, Lethbridge was content to dump the puck and try to win the wars in the corners. It didn't work, the Broncos adjusted in the second period and they managed to penetrate the Hawk defense by setting up plays. "It worked for them for awhile until we adapted," said Podloski.
The teams each scored four goals in the middle 20 minutes and Portland had a 6-4 spread to start the final period. Included in Portland's second-period burst were goals by Randy Heath and defenseman Bryan Walker, their first of the season. "Terry Perkins had a few golden scoring opportunities for us tonight," said Hodge, "but Wregget always seemed to save his best saves for Terry's shots. I also thought Jamie Huscroft and Rick Davidson showed continued improvement on defense and getting Tim Lorenz back in our lineup gave some added muscle up front."
SCORE BY PERIODS
Lethbridge.........................................................0 4 0 - 4
Portland...........................................................2 4 2 - 8
FIRST PERIOD 1. Portland - Podloski (Heath, Perkins) 2:14 2. Portland - Rohlicek (Sasser, Jones) 19:10 Penalties
of The Oregonian staff
Richard Kromm admits he's been getting a few "easy goals" thus far in the young Western Hockey League season, but none of his previous shots come close to the one he nailed home Saturday night. Kromm brought the Memorial Coliseum crowd of 7,162 to its feet midway through the third period when h scored a goal from 145 feet away-the other end of the ice-as the Portland Winter Hawks humbled the defending Lethbridge Broncos 8-4 for their fourth straight victory.
"I'm very pleased," said Hawk Coach Ken Hodge. "We had the week off, we were playing one of the best defensive clubs-if not the best defensive club-in the league and we were playing one of the better goaltenders in the league. We get eight goals and the strong, physical play we showed was pretty exciting."
This season's version of the Broncos somewhat resembles the champions of a year ago. They play the bump and grind style' dump the puck and chase it. But Lethbridge goalie Ken Wreggett was nowhere in the form Saturday that he was in last spring when Lethbridge defeated the Hawks in five games for the title. This one was billed as Lethbridge's tenacious defense against Portland's explosive offense. Wreggett didn't get a lot of help from his five veteran defensemen while the Hawks peppered him with 48 shots. Portland's offense won this one handily, and the line of Alfie Turcotte-Kromm-Grant Sasser continued to cook. Kromm had a pair, while Turcotte and Sasser added singles giving the trio 21 of Portland's 39 goals this season.
"Richard Kromm is just playing standout hockey for us" said Hodge. "He's showing a lot of quickness, playing a physical game and showing a lot of quickness in his forechecking. He's also finishing his plays like we thought he could."
Even from 145 feet.
A picture goal by Turcotte early in the third period staked the Hawks to a 7-4 advantage. Turcotte stole the puck at the Bronco blueline, eluded Lethbridge defenseman Grant Couture and beat Wregget from 30 feet. However, it was Kromm's desperation clearing shot from deep in the Portland zone that rained on Lethbridge's parade. The Hawks were having a little difficulty killing off a penalty to Hawk winger Terry Perkins when Kromm lofted a clearing shot out of the zone. The puck bounced in front of Wreggett, hit the inside of his right skate and trickled into the net. "Here's how it went," said Kromm with a smile. "I scooped the puck out of the corner, saw that the goalie was asleep and picked a corner. And it went in. "Actually, I got hit as soon as I let it go and never saw it. I heard the people screaming and I thought somebody had made a good check."
The Broncos could muster little after that and Hawk goalie Peter Fry denied any threat. Fry finished with 43 saves in another good showing, despite the Broncos' four goals in the second period. The Hawks were able to get a quick jump once again with Ray Podloski and Jeff Rohlicek scoring in the first period to give Portland a 2-0 lead. "We wanted to go out strong," said Podloski. "We wanted to bump them right from the beginning and try to get them off their game."
In the first period, Lethbridge was content to dump the puck and try to win the wars in the corners. It didn't work, the Broncos adjusted in the second period and they managed to penetrate the Hawk defense by setting up plays. "It worked for them for awhile until we adapted," said Podloski.
The teams each scored four goals in the middle 20 minutes and Portland had a 6-4 spread to start the final period. Included in Portland's second-period burst were goals by Randy Heath and defenseman Bryan Walker, their first of the season. "Terry Perkins had a few golden scoring opportunities for us tonight," said Hodge, "but Wregget always seemed to save his best saves for Terry's shots. I also thought Jamie Huscroft and Rick Davidson showed continued improvement on defense and getting Tim Lorenz back in our lineup gave some added muscle up front."
SCORE BY PERIODS
Lethbridge.........................................................0 4 0 - 4
Portland...........................................................2 4 2 - 8
FIRST PERIOD 1. Portland - Podloski (Heath, Perkins) 2:14 2. Portland - Rohlicek (Sasser, Jones) 19:10 Penalties
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Hawks find defense in 3-1 Victory - THE OREGONIAN, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1983
By RON OLSON
of the Oregonian staff
KELOWNA, British Columbia - "Defense" hasn't exactly been Portland's slogan this season but the WinterHawks and goalie Peter Fry turned in a defensive gem here Thursday night and recorded a 3-1 Western Hockey League win over the Kelowna Wings.
It may have been out of shock or desperation too. The Hawks learned after their 7-6 loss to New Westminister Wednesday night in Portland that General Manager Brian Shaw had traded rookies Trevor Hendry and Jamie Huscroft to the Seattle Breakers for veteran forward-defenseman Sean Harder.
The Hawks, 12-7, have been plagued recently by poor defensive play, ranking No. 11 out of 14 teams in the WHL. The recent moves to acquire Craig Butz and Harder have been necessitated by that statistic.
"Tonight we didn't want to hurry our attack," said defenseman John Kordic. "If we were in trouble, we wanted to ice the puck or freeze it along the boards so that we could re-organize." The strategy paid off as the Hawks held the Wings to 29 shots on goal. They did sacrifice their league-leading offense somewhat, firing only 28 shots on Kelowna goalie Bruno Campese, but second period goals by Alfie Turcotte and newcomer Dan Woodley enabled Portland to break a 1-1 tie.
"I thought we showed a lot of discipline and our forwards were superlative in their checking assignments," said Coach Ken Hodge. "And, Peter was just outstanding."
Both clubs appeared at the outset to be trying to find themselves. The Hawks have been hampered by a porous defense of late and entered the contest with five losses in their last six games. Kelowna, on the other hand, had lost its last eight. Goals by Portland's Grant Sasser and Kelowna's RJ dundas gave the teams a 1-1 standoff after the opening 20 minutes, a period that featured excellent goaltending by both Campese and Fry.
Sasser, who midway through the second period went down with a strained knee on a check by Dave McLay and was lost for the rest of the game, gave the Winter Hawks a 1-0 lead with the 19th goal of the season at the 7:25 mark, taking a pass from Turcotte to score off a 2 on 1 break. That advantage, though lasted less than two minutes when the wings working on a power play with Portland's Rick Davidson in the box, used a pass from the right point by Dave McDonald to Dundas in the crease to pick up the equalizer.
Fry came up with big saves on Mcdonald twice and once each on Darren Cota and Jeff Fenton when the Hawk defense broke down a bit, leaving Fry to fend for himself. At the other end, Campese stopped one serious flurry by Turcotte, Tim Lorenz and Kordic.
Fry continued his strong play in the second period. The Wings managed just 11 shots, but as in the opening period, a few of them came from close range. Dundas had two clear shots from inside 10 feet and Cam Lazoruk directed a point shot that caught Fry by surprise. The young goalie, though was able to get a pad on the shot before the defense cleared it out of the way. Turcotte gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead early in the second period when, using Sasser as a screen at the blueline, he broke behind the Wing defense, pulled Campese out and put in a sharp angled shot for a short handed tally.
WINTER HAWK NOTES - Defenseman Bryan Walker and winger Randy Heath stayed home for this short trip that will conclude Friday when the Hawks meet the Junior Oilers at Kamloops before returning home for a Sunday game against Regina in Memorial coliseum. Walker has developed a case of mononucleosis to go along with tonsillitis, while Heath played sparingly against Seattle Wednesday and is diagnosed to have a bruised liver. Walker is out indefinitely, but the Hawks expect Heath back in the lineup Sunday. Defenseman Craig Butz returned to face his former team Thursday after having asked Wings coach Mark Pezzin to be traded. Butz was dealt to Portland for defenseman Jim Playfair, who remains with the National Hockey League Edmonton Oilers.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Portland...............................................................1 2 0-3
Kelowna......................................................................1 0 0-1
FIRST PERIOD
1. Portland - Sasser (Turcotte, Benning) 7:25
2. Kelowna - RJ Dundas (Mcdonald, Zaporzan) 9:01
Penalties - Davidson (P) 8:42; McDonald (K) 12:52 Davidson (P) 16:06.
SECOND PERIOD
3. Portland - Turcotte (unassisted) 3:31
4. Portlaand - Woodley (Rohlicek, G. Walker) 16:29
Penalties - Benning (P) 2:42; Wenaas (K) 5:59; Lorenz (P) 17:28
Scoring - none
Penalties - Butz (P) :44; /cota (K) Butz (P) 7:46
SHOTS ON GOAL - Portland 10-11-7-28; Kelowna 7-11-11-29
GOALTENDERS - Portland: Fry; Kelowna: Campese.
REFEREE - Forbes
of the Oregonian staff
KELOWNA, British Columbia - "Defense" hasn't exactly been Portland's slogan this season but the WinterHawks and goalie Peter Fry turned in a defensive gem here Thursday night and recorded a 3-1 Western Hockey League win over the Kelowna Wings.
It may have been out of shock or desperation too. The Hawks learned after their 7-6 loss to New Westminister Wednesday night in Portland that General Manager Brian Shaw had traded rookies Trevor Hendry and Jamie Huscroft to the Seattle Breakers for veteran forward-defenseman Sean Harder.
The Hawks, 12-7, have been plagued recently by poor defensive play, ranking No. 11 out of 14 teams in the WHL. The recent moves to acquire Craig Butz and Harder have been necessitated by that statistic.
"Tonight we didn't want to hurry our attack," said defenseman John Kordic. "If we were in trouble, we wanted to ice the puck or freeze it along the boards so that we could re-organize." The strategy paid off as the Hawks held the Wings to 29 shots on goal. They did sacrifice their league-leading offense somewhat, firing only 28 shots on Kelowna goalie Bruno Campese, but second period goals by Alfie Turcotte and newcomer Dan Woodley enabled Portland to break a 1-1 tie.
"I thought we showed a lot of discipline and our forwards were superlative in their checking assignments," said Coach Ken Hodge. "And, Peter was just outstanding."
Both clubs appeared at the outset to be trying to find themselves. The Hawks have been hampered by a porous defense of late and entered the contest with five losses in their last six games. Kelowna, on the other hand, had lost its last eight. Goals by Portland's Grant Sasser and Kelowna's RJ dundas gave the teams a 1-1 standoff after the opening 20 minutes, a period that featured excellent goaltending by both Campese and Fry.
Sasser, who midway through the second period went down with a strained knee on a check by Dave McLay and was lost for the rest of the game, gave the Winter Hawks a 1-0 lead with the 19th goal of the season at the 7:25 mark, taking a pass from Turcotte to score off a 2 on 1 break. That advantage, though lasted less than two minutes when the wings working on a power play with Portland's Rick Davidson in the box, used a pass from the right point by Dave McDonald to Dundas in the crease to pick up the equalizer.
Fry came up with big saves on Mcdonald twice and once each on Darren Cota and Jeff Fenton when the Hawk defense broke down a bit, leaving Fry to fend for himself. At the other end, Campese stopped one serious flurry by Turcotte, Tim Lorenz and Kordic.
Fry continued his strong play in the second period. The Wings managed just 11 shots, but as in the opening period, a few of them came from close range. Dundas had two clear shots from inside 10 feet and Cam Lazoruk directed a point shot that caught Fry by surprise. The young goalie, though was able to get a pad on the shot before the defense cleared it out of the way. Turcotte gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead early in the second period when, using Sasser as a screen at the blueline, he broke behind the Wing defense, pulled Campese out and put in a sharp angled shot for a short handed tally.
WINTER HAWK NOTES - Defenseman Bryan Walker and winger Randy Heath stayed home for this short trip that will conclude Friday when the Hawks meet the Junior Oilers at Kamloops before returning home for a Sunday game against Regina in Memorial coliseum. Walker has developed a case of mononucleosis to go along with tonsillitis, while Heath played sparingly against Seattle Wednesday and is diagnosed to have a bruised liver. Walker is out indefinitely, but the Hawks expect Heath back in the lineup Sunday. Defenseman Craig Butz returned to face his former team Thursday after having asked Wings coach Mark Pezzin to be traded. Butz was dealt to Portland for defenseman Jim Playfair, who remains with the National Hockey League Edmonton Oilers.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Portland...............................................................1 2 0-3
Kelowna......................................................................1 0 0-1
FIRST PERIOD
1. Portland - Sasser (Turcotte, Benning) 7:25
2. Kelowna - RJ Dundas (Mcdonald, Zaporzan) 9:01
Penalties - Davidson (P) 8:42; McDonald (K) 12:52 Davidson (P) 16:06.
SECOND PERIOD
3. Portland - Turcotte (unassisted) 3:31
4. Portlaand - Woodley (Rohlicek, G. Walker) 16:29
Penalties - Benning (P) 2:42; Wenaas (K) 5:59; Lorenz (P) 17:28
Scoring - none
Penalties - Butz (P) :44; /cota (K) Butz (P) 7:46
SHOTS ON GOAL - Portland 10-11-7-28; Kelowna 7-11-11-29
GOALTENDERS - Portland: Fry; Kelowna: Campese.
REFEREE - Forbes
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Hawks' goalie turns back 53 shots in a 7-3 triumph - THE OREGONIAN JANUARY 8, 1984
The Sunday Oregonian January 8,1984
By RON OLSON of The Oregonian staff
Peter Fry must have felt at times that his teammates had deserted him but the 16year old goaltender's remarkable performance helped carry the Portland Winter Hawks to a 7-3 Western Hockey League win over the Seattle Breakers Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum.
Fry received little help in Portland's defensive zone partly due to Seattle's aggressive fore checking and partly due to the Hawks reluctance to move the puck out of the zone with any authority. "We certainly didn't play well in front of Peter" said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. "Our defense got rattled a bit (Friday) at New Westminister and we were too careful, too cautious in moving the puck out of our zone. Sometimes we don't give our defensive partner an outlet pass quick enough; we're hesitant to use it. That's a loss of confidence." While the Hawks struggled in front of Fry, quite the opposite was true at Seattle's end of the rink. The Hawks displayed sharp passing and strong fore checking but more importantly finished strongly around the net. It was another strong night for 15 year old Jamie Nicolls, who scored his second and third goals of the season. David Archibald, a 14 year old forward who has been splitting time between Portlaned amnd his Chilliwack, British Columbia midget team, saw limited duty but set up Curt Brandolini with a picture pass from behind the net for a second period goal. It was Archibald's first point of the season, the youngest in WHL history to score a point. Randy Heath also made his return to the Portland lineup after missing six games because of the World Junior Tournament a successful one with a goal and two assists.
Portland's offensive showing was not lost on Breaker Coach Marc Boileau either. "We had scored 28 goals in four games prior to tonight, but that's not the problem," he said. "We'd given up 29." "We all take a vacation once they get the puck in our end. It's a game of mistakes, but we make the same mistakes game after game." Seattle defensive mistakes paved the way for three first period goals for Portland, an advantage the Hawks would never relinquish.
Grant Sasser got it going with his 27th goal of the season blasting a shot from the slot after a centering pass from Ray Podloski. Nicolls then got into the act with a nifty solo rush around Alan Kerr and Tim Ziola before putting a back handed shot into a wide open net. Podloski made it 3-0 late in the period, again getting around Ziola to go one on one with Breaker goalie Dwayne Murray.
Gary Stewart's first of two goals, a riser from the slot, eluded Fry at 7:28 of the second period, but the Hawks tacked on goals by Brandolini and Nicolls for a 5-1 spread. The Breakers countered with power play goals by Kerr late in the second and Stewart early in the third to close within 5-3. but the rally was stifled when Jeff Rohlicek and Heath pounced on rebounds to pad Portland's lead. "Seattle pressured us the whole game; they were shooting the puck a lot rather than working for the one good shot," said Fry. Most of the shots weren't as tough as they seemed. They came at us in spurts and we had a lot of giveaways." "We made him (Fry) look very good," said Boileau. "All we were doing was shooting the puck at the net, not trying to score. There were rebounds 10-15 feet in front of the net and nobody was there for them. How many times did he save three or four straight shots? He didn't have to."
The Winter Hawks played minus two of their defensemen. Brian Benning still is nursing an injured tailbone and Craig Butz will be sidelined indefinitely with strained ligaments in his right knee. That leaves Portland with 13 skaters, including young Archibald and Nicolls. But, the Hawks will have three days off before meeting Kamloops Wednesday night in the coliseum. Time, maybe, to find additional help for Fry.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Seattle.........................................................0 2 1-3
Portland........................................................2 2 2-7 FIRST PERIOD
1. Portland - Sasser (Podloski, Kordic) 1:10
2. Portland - Nicolls (Heath, B. Walker) 13:29
3. Portland - Podloski (Heath) 16:43
Pentlties - Huscroft (5, major) 2:53 B. Walker (P, minor, major) 2:53 Bechtold (5) 6:38 Stewart (5, misconduct) 6:38, Kerr (5) 11:07, Ruppel (5) 11:07, B. Walker (P) 11:07 Shaw (5) 16:00, Lorenz (P) 18:12
SECOND PERIOD
4. Seattle - Stewart (Ginnetti, Sargent) 7:28
5. Portland - Brandolini (Arthibald, Rohlicek) 10:20
6. Portland - Nicolls (B Walker, Harder) 14:56
7. Seattle - Kerr (Ruppel) 17:32
Penalties - Shaw (5) 2:25, Ziola (5) 7:44, B. Walker (P) 16:23, Davidson (P) 17:32
THIRD PERIOD
8. Seattle - Stewart (Ruppel) 4:52
9. Portland - Rohlicek (Harder) 12:06
10. Portland - Heath (unassisted) 14:41
Penalties - Ruppel (5) 1:10, Lortnz (P) 1:57, B. Walker (P) 4:52 Kordic (P, double minor) 19:34
SHOTS ON GOAL - Seattle 18-17-21-56; Prtland 15-12-16-43
GOALTENDERS - Seattle: Murray, Portland: Fry
REFEREE - Lorass
ATTENDANCE - 8,188
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Rookie goalie stars, but Hawks lose THE OREGONIAN, JANUARY 1, 1984
Aside from Fry, Hodge was pleased with his "extras" - 15 year olds Dan Woodley, Jamie Nicolls and Jeff Finley, plus 14 year old David Archibald who were called up from the Hawks affiliate teams for this holiday weekend. "They played relatively well: they certainly didn't hurt us," Hodge said. What hurt Portland was an overall lethargic effort, very little team play and virtually no puck movement. The result was only 24 shots on Cougar goalie Darren Moren, who had an easy time of it after the opening two minutes. The Hawks got on the board first when Terry Perkins notched his 16th goal of the season off a scramble at the 1:30 mark. But, that was the extent of Portland's offense, which entered the contest with a 6.36 goals per game average and wound up with a season low for offensive production.
It was much like the outcome early in December at Brandon when Wood had his finest hour with 55 saves in a 5-2 loss, Portland's previous low for goals this season. Perkins' goal gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead but it wasn't long after that when the Cougars took the upper hand. Adam Morrison beat Wood from the left circle at 4:47, Wheeldon collected his first goal of the night at 7:11 on a breakaway and Richard Hajdu scored on a deflection four seconds into a Cougar powerplay at 8:58.
On came Fry, but it was too late for the Hawks' offense. Fry made 17 of his saves in the second period, beaten only by Wheeldon, who teamed with Jack Mackeigan on a picture passing play with the man advantage at 6:27. Moren had a strong cast in front of him, led by the Cougars defensive corps of Dean Drozdiak, Rob Kivell, Brenn Leach and Misko Antisin. The quartet combined to deny the Hawks inside and received strong support from the Cougar forwards, who helped out with tenacious back checking.
The Victoria victory did a lot to jam up the WHL West standings. Kamloops remains on top and Portland, 19-15, in second. Victoria, 18-15, pulled into a third place tie with New Westminister, 17-17-2 each with 36 points, two behind Portland. The Hawks extended their losing streak to three games while Victoria won for only the ninth time in 20 decisions on its home rink. It was Portland's eighth straight regular season loss in Memorial Arena and the Hawks have lost four of five games against the Cougars this season. Defenseman Brian Benning was missing from the Portland lineup for the second straight game, nursing a strained back.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Portland..................................................................1 0 0-1
Victoria..................................................................3 1 0-4
FIRST PERIOD
1. Portland-Perkins (Podloski, G. Walker) 1:30.
2. Victoria-Morrison (Mackey,Bayliss) 4:47
3. Victoria-Wheeldon (Martin) 7:11
4. Victoria - Haidu (Kivell, Martin) 8:58
Penalties - G. Walker (P) 6:59; Mackeigan (V) 6:59; B. Kivell (V) 15:35; Butz (P minor,major) 18:18 Davies (V minor,major) 18:18; B. Walker (P minor,major) 19:42 Hervey (V minor,major) 19:42
SECOND PERIOD
5. Victoria - Wheeldon (Mackeigan, Morrison) 6:27
Penalties - Davidson (P) 4:37; Antisin (V) 6:51; Kordic (P) 8:54; B. Walker (P) 9:44 Martin (V) 9:44; B. Walker (P, misconduct) 12:14; Martin (V, misconduct) 12:14; Kordic (P, minor, misconduct) 14:23; Sasser (P) 18:49
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring - None
Penalties - Kivell (V) 1:00; Archibald (P) 4:34; Davidson (P, double minor) 9:03; Mackeigan (V) 9:03; Kordic (P, misconduct) 10:47; Antisin (V, major) 10:47; Butz (P) 12:48; Kivell (V) 12:48, Moren (V, served by Priestly) 12:48; Fry (P, major, served by Sasser) 19:22)
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hawks win as Fry denies Victoria - THE OREGONIAN OCTOBER 9, 1983
By RON OLSON
of The Oregonian staff
Saturday night turned out to be "Fry-day" in Memorial Coliseum when Portland Winter Hawk rookie goaltender Peter Fry turned aside 45 Victoria shots as the Hawks skated to a 7-3 victory before 6,197 fans. "That was exciting," said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. Exciting because Hodge hasn't seen goaltending like the exhibition Fry put on for quite some time.
"Peter kept his feet and he was always in position to make the second save," Hodge continued. "He did get a little lucky, too." More often than not, however, it was the 16 year-old Fry, playing in only his second WHL game, who frustrated the fast-moving Cougars, especially in the third period when he stopped 17 of 18 shots to record his second win of the young season. Credit the Portland defense, plus the special teams, too. The defensemen were able to stand up the Cougar forwards at the blueline and the penalty-killing units managed to clear out the slot, giving Fry a good view at the shots.
"We wanted to work hard for Peter." said defenseman Brian Benning who contributed a goal and two assists. "It was his first time in net here in front of all these people. "A lot of teams can score goals, but defense is important. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come."
While Fry did the job in the nets, it was again the line of Alfie Turcotte, Grant Sasser and Richard Kromm who supplied the offense when needed. Turcotte fired in three power-play goals - in a span of 1:11 late in the second period - and also added an assist for a four-point night. The Cougars then found themselves in penalty trouble and Turcotte took full advantage of the situation. His first two goals came with Portland skating with a two man advantage. On the first, he waited for Victoria defenseman Rob Kivell and goalie Darren Moren to commit themselves, skated to the slot and fired into an empty net at 17:46. His second - at 18:35 - was a rebound of a Jim Playfair shot and he netted the third 22 seconds later, backhanding a shot past Moren for a 6-2 Hawk lead after 40 minutes. "The power-play was a key for us tonight," said Turcotte. "A minute and 11 seconds was all I wanted to play tonight," he added with a smile. "I thought we did a very good job in the man-advantage and man-short situation," said Hodge. "We're going to see some of the explosiveness we had last year, but right now we're not getting the production from three lines that we should be getting. We haven't seen the Blaine Chrest line operating to its potential and we haven't seen the explosiveness of Randy Heath. That will come." The four-goal lead appeared in jeopardy in the final period when referee Jim Fisher started handing out penalties like free tickets. Early in the period, the Hawks skated the first 5:28 shorthanded - two men for 1:54 and remaining 3:34 one man down.
Cougar Russ Courtnall, Victoria's only offensive threat with three goals, had a good shot from the right point and Kivell had a golden opportunity from the slot. Fry beat Courtnall again from point-blank range and rookie Adam Morrison hit the post. "We didn't penetrate very well on the power-play," said cougar coach Dave Andrews. "Most of our shots were from the point ans we weren't getting inside." The Hawks, winners of three straight, have six days off before returning to action next Saturday in the coliseum against the defending league champion Lethbridge Broncos, who eliminated the Hawks in five games for the title last spring.
WINTER HAWK NOTES - Heath has informed Canadian Olympic team officials, his agent Alan Eagleson and his parent club the New York Rangers, that he wants to remain in Portland to play for the Hawks this season.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Victoria...........................................................................0 2 1 - 3
Portland...........................................................................1 5 1 - 7
FIRST PERIOD
1, Portland - Jones (Benning, B. Walker) 10:19
Penalties - Mackeigan (V) 6:53; Ledlin (P) 10:48; Chrest (P)16:46; Haidu (V) 19:27.
SECOND PERIOD
2, Victoria - Courtnall (Thurston, Joseph) 8:37
3, Portland - G. Walker (Jones) 10:31
4, Victoria - Courtnall (Martin) 11:27
5, Portland - Benning (Turcotte, Sasser) 12:22
6, Portland - Turcotte (Sasser, Benning) 17:46
7, Portland - Turcotte (Playfair, Sasser) 18:35
8, Portland - Turcotte (Fry) 18:57
Penalties - Heath (P) :54; Benning (P) 7:13; Martin (V)16:35; Wheeldon (V) 17:32; Kivell (V) 17:46; Kordic (P)19:16 B. Walker (P) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
9, Portland - G. Walker (Jones, Ledlin) 7:33.
10, Victoria - Courtnall (unassisted) 13:30.
Penalties - Kordic (P) 2:05; Playfair (P) 3:27; Benning (P) 9:29; Kromm (P)9:29 Hendry (P) 16:50
SHOTS ON GOAL - Victoria: 14 - 16 - 18 - 48. Portland 15 - 13 - 8 - 36.
GOALTENDERS - Victoria: Moren, Portland: Fry
REFEREE - Fisher
ATTENDANCE - 6,179.
Saturday night turned out to be "Fry-day" in Memorial Coliseum when Portland Winter Hawk rookie goaltender Peter Fry turned aside 45 Victoria shots as the Hawks skated to a 7-3 victory before 6,197 fans. "That was exciting," said Portland Coach Ken Hodge. Exciting because Hodge hasn't seen goaltending like the exhibition Fry put on for quite some time.
"Peter kept his feet and he was always in position to make the second save," Hodge continued. "He did get a little lucky, too." More often than not, however, it was the 16 year-old Fry, playing in only his second WHL game, who frustrated the fast-moving Cougars, especially in the third period when he stopped 17 of 18 shots to record his second win of the young season. Credit the Portland defense, plus the special teams, too. The defensemen were able to stand up the Cougar forwards at the blueline and the penalty-killing units managed to clear out the slot, giving Fry a good view at the shots.
"We wanted to work hard for Peter." said defenseman Brian Benning who contributed a goal and two assists. "It was his first time in net here in front of all these people. "A lot of teams can score goals, but defense is important. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come."
While Fry did the job in the nets, it was again the line of Alfie Turcotte, Grant Sasser and Richard Kromm who supplied the offense when needed. Turcotte fired in three power-play goals - in a span of 1:11 late in the second period - and also added an assist for a four-point night. The Cougars then found themselves in penalty trouble and Turcotte took full advantage of the situation. His first two goals came with Portland skating with a two man advantage. On the first, he waited for Victoria defenseman Rob Kivell and goalie Darren Moren to commit themselves, skated to the slot and fired into an empty net at 17:46. His second - at 18:35 - was a rebound of a Jim Playfair shot and he netted the third 22 seconds later, backhanding a shot past Moren for a 6-2 Hawk lead after 40 minutes. "The power-play was a key for us tonight," said Turcotte. "A minute and 11 seconds was all I wanted to play tonight," he added with a smile. "I thought we did a very good job in the man-advantage and man-short situation," said Hodge. "We're going to see some of the explosiveness we had last year, but right now we're not getting the production from three lines that we should be getting. We haven't seen the Blaine Chrest line operating to its potential and we haven't seen the explosiveness of Randy Heath. That will come." The four-goal lead appeared in jeopardy in the final period when referee Jim Fisher started handing out penalties like free tickets. Early in the period, the Hawks skated the first 5:28 shorthanded - two men for 1:54 and remaining 3:34 one man down.
Cougar Russ Courtnall, Victoria's only offensive threat with three goals, had a good shot from the right point and Kivell had a golden opportunity from the slot. Fry beat Courtnall again from point-blank range and rookie Adam Morrison hit the post. "We didn't penetrate very well on the power-play," said cougar coach Dave Andrews. "Most of our shots were from the point ans we weren't getting inside." The Hawks, winners of three straight, have six days off before returning to action next Saturday in the coliseum against the defending league champion Lethbridge Broncos, who eliminated the Hawks in five games for the title last spring.
WINTER HAWK NOTES - Heath has informed Canadian Olympic team officials, his agent Alan Eagleson and his parent club the New York Rangers, that he wants to remain in Portland to play for the Hawks this season.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Victoria...........................................................................0 2 1 - 3
Portland...........................................................................1 5 1 - 7
FIRST PERIOD
1, Portland - Jones (Benning, B. Walker) 10:19
Penalties - Mackeigan (V) 6:53; Ledlin (P) 10:48; Chrest (P)16:46; Haidu (V) 19:27.
SECOND PERIOD
2, Victoria - Courtnall (Thurston, Joseph) 8:37
3, Portland - G. Walker (Jones) 10:31
4, Victoria - Courtnall (Martin) 11:27
5, Portland - Benning (Turcotte, Sasser) 12:22
6, Portland - Turcotte (Sasser, Benning) 17:46
7, Portland - Turcotte (Playfair, Sasser) 18:35
8, Portland - Turcotte (Fry) 18:57
Penalties - Heath (P) :54; Benning (P) 7:13; Martin (V)16:35; Wheeldon (V) 17:32; Kivell (V) 17:46; Kordic (P)19:16 B. Walker (P) 20:00.
THIRD PERIOD
9, Portland - G. Walker (Jones, Ledlin) 7:33.
10, Victoria - Courtnall (unassisted) 13:30.
Penalties - Kordic (P) 2:05; Playfair (P) 3:27; Benning (P) 9:29; Kromm (P)9:29 Hendry (P) 16:50
SHOTS ON GOAL - Victoria: 14 - 16 - 18 - 48. Portland 15 - 13 - 8 - 36.
GOALTENDERS - Victoria: Moren, Portland: Fry
REFEREE - Fisher
ATTENDANCE - 6,179.
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