What: In Western Hockey League play, the Seattle Thunderbirds (18-28-2-1) will play the Portland Winterhawks (28-18-2-1).

When: February 8, Saturday, 6 p.m. PST.

Memorial Coliseum is the location.

Watch: Portland’s CW, a local broadcast station. Another option is to watch the game on the CHL TV pay-per-view service, which costs roughly US$7.50 each game.

Listen to the audio of Winterhawks and Thunderbirds.

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Portland Winterhawks

Without captain Kyle Chyzowski due to suspension, the Portland Winterhawks dominated the Vancouver Giants for the first half of Friday’s game, taking a 4-0 lead and a 25-5 shot edge. They were saving energy for this game because they knew they would be making a lengthy overnight travel, therefore they didn’t play well after that. They were not in any real danger, though, and won 5-2 despite giving up two late goals. Tyson Jugnauth and Ryan Miller were particularly impressive, and Ondrej T. Bet K. stopped 25 of 27 shots.

As they attempt to hold onto fifth place in the Western Conference, the Giants were the team closest to them. Portland’s lead grew to five points, whilst a defeat would have reduced it to one. As they attempt to close the gap and gain home-ice advantage in a first-round playoff series, they are still five points behind the Prince George Cougars.

They now play the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first of seven games remaining in the regular season, which has 19 games remaining. What appeared to be a simple 12–14 point victory a few weeks ago now appears to be somewhat more difficult. They have only played the Thunderbirds four times since the Seattle-Portland games were moved to the back end of the calendar, and this is their first appearance against them since December 14.

[Later revisions may be made to the statistics]

The revelation that Diego Buttazzoni has committed to UMass-Lowell, where his brother Mirko plays, may have come as a surprise to some who watched the Vancouver broadcast on Friday night.And it was more than two weeks ago. [I apologize if I’m following rumors about this.] Additionally, according to websites (see here), this pledge is for the upcoming season, which means he would forfeit his 19-year-old season with the Winterhawks and this year would be it. If it’s true, Portland would suffer a serious setback. Since the WHL-to-NCAA relationship is still relatively new, we don’t know how much of it is based on assumptions about the upcoming season and how much is based on factual information. Though the team and league have praised past NCAA pledges made by Winterhawks players, the fact that it hasn’t been discussed in Portland raises the possibility that the worst-case scenario is at play. And perhaps the team isn’t all that excited. In any case, if this is it, the past three years have been prosperous.

Buttazzoni’s goal on Friday gave him a five-game point streak. Zakreski’s streak now stands at six with an assist.

Naturally, Chyzowski returns to the Winterhawks following a one-game ban. Being able to win without him and now have him fresh while those around him could be a little worn out gave them the best of all worlds.

On Friday, Portland’s defensemen performed admirably. Sotheran was dependable in the defense, and Jugnauth was excellent, making long passes with Thompson and Ruedig that resulted in goals.

Goalies have been switched about for some time. Since K has been playing a bit better lately than Schlenker, you couldn’t blame them if they wanted to break that, but they’ll most likely stick with the rotation.T

Seattle Thunderbirds

Spokane defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 9-1 at home on Friday. In a way, it’s unfortunate that Spokane has been doing that to many teams lately since it skews the numbers of a Seattle club that has been playing quite well lately. They defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers in a shootout last night after winning six of their previous eight games. They have now defeated both of the league’s top-ranked teams, including the Everett Silvertips.

They are still one point away from the last playoff berth. Their seven encounters with the Winterhawks will have a significant impact.

In exchange for a huge harvest of draft picks, they primarily sold at the deadline by trading Sawyer Mynio and Jordan Gustafson. However, by keeping goalie Scott Ratzlaff and selling some middle picks for Brayden Schuurman, who scored game-winning goals for Moose Jaw against the Winterhawks in the previous season’s league finals, they managed to make a slight push for the playoffs. Their actions have been justified thus far. Even though they are a huge underdog, a local series against the Everett Silvertips in the first round would be lucrative and appealing.

As the teams balanced their 20-year-olds, Pakkala, who has a 3-game point streak, was the player who came from Lethbridge in exchange for Gustafson.

With Central Scouting ranking him 21st, Cootes could be selected in the first round of the NHL draft. He was -4 versus Spokane and has gone scoreless in consecutive games. According to the standings, the 6-foot-4 Mayes is 144th.

Lovsin, who has played well against the Winterhawks, was likely suspended after receiving a serious penalty for charging on Friday.

Mrtka is most certainly a first-round pick, since he is ranked sixth by Central Scouting. Despite going scoreless on Friday, he had been playing really well in the Thunderbirds’ recent run.

For his second WHL game, they had to bring up 15-year-old Tash, a third-round pick, because Davidson and Pawlenchuk are both out week-to-week. Against Spokane, he was -5.

The Sabres’ fifth-round pick, Ratzlaff, was fired Friday after two periods after allowing six goals. In order for him to start this one, they were most likely letting him get some rest.

Tale of the tape

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