The Blazers host the Portland Winterhawks tomorrow night for the first time this season. The defending Western Conference Champions are currently on a 9-game, 17-day road trip that started on October 21st in Edmonton. The Winterhawks toured the Central Division with a 2-3-1-0 record and finish up their road trip this Friday and Saturday in Kelowna.
In the first meeting of the season on October 14th in Portland, the Blazers scored a 5-4 overtime victory. Brendan Ranford led the Blazers with four goals and an assist and Chase Schaber had a goal and three assists. There were a lot of shots in the game as the Winterhawks outshot the Blazers 41-37.
The Winterhawks were dealt a blow to their roster today as the Columbus Blue Jackets announced that 19-year-old forward Ryan Johansen will stay in the NHL for the time being. The ‘Hawks are also without 19-year-old forward Nino Niederreiter who is still with the New York Islanders. He has yet to see game action due to injury, so isn’t expected back any time soon if at all by the Winterhawks.
There is still a ton of talent on this ‘Hawks team with eight players drafted to NHL teams. This includes 19-year-old Sven Bartschi who hasn’t played a game on the ‘Hawks current road trip.
On the Blazers front, they hope to continue their strong play and success into the month of November. The Blazers have had a terrific start to the season with an 11-3-0-0 record and were 10-2-0-0 in the month of October. So far, the hockey club is 3-0-0-0 against U.S. Division teams with wins over Everett, Spokane and Portland.
Cole Cheveldave gets the start tomorrow night as the Blazers continue to rotate Cheveldave and Cam Lanigan.
Chase Souto is expected to return to the line up tomorrow night after missing the last six games with an upper body injury. The Blazers will be without 16-year-old forward Cole Ully for the week after he suffered an upper body injury in a game this past weekend.
The Blazers hit the road on Thursday to prepare for two games in Prince George this weekend. Get ready for some pictures and thoughts from Prince George later this week.
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