The sporting week started out well for Jake Virtanen.
“I grew up a Seahawks fan,” said the Abbotsford-raised budding Western Hockey League star.
Virtanen hopes that winning vibe continues into this week as he returns to his home province as the Calgary Hitmen take on the Victoria Royals tonight and Wednesday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in an inter-conference matchup of two teams given honourable mention in the last CHL national top-10 poll.
As the ninth-rated North American skater in Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings for the 2014 NHL draft, Virtanen has a lot on his mind as the WHL season hurtles into the home stretch. But he said personal and team success are inter-locked.
“The farther you go as a team, the better it is for your individual status,” said Virtanen, who leads Calgary with 32 goals.
“So the focus for me is on Hitmen hockey. That’s the biggest thing.”
The individual glory flows from that.
“I try not to worry about it [draft] too much,” said the six-foot-one Virtanen.
“There’s still a lot of stuff I need to improve on to become an all-around player. It’s the little details.”
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Calgary is 32-14-6 but six of its defeats have come in the last 10 games, including a 5-2 loss Saturday against the Kootenay Ice. That put a damper on Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger being awarded a goal in that game.
“He had to celebrate quietly,” quipped Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson, whose squad tumbled from No. 5 in the CHL top-10 the week before to honourable mention last week.
Even good teams go through trying stretches.
“We have a deep team but have had a lot of guys in and out of the line-up in the last month and have been finding our way of late,” said Williamson, whose GM Mike Moore was highly active in making four deals by the January trade deadline to grab three new forwards and a blueliner for the Hitmen roster.
“It takes awhile to get that chemistry.”
The biggest moves involved acquiring Dallas Stars second-round draft pick Mike Winther from the Prince Albert Raiders and the rights to Adam Tambellini from the Portland Winterhawks. The latter move, in exchange for a first-round bantam draft pick, cleared the way for the son of former NHLer Steve Tambellini to join the Hitmen from North Dakota of the NCAA.
Adam Tambellini — the former BCHL Vernon Vipers forward drafted in the third round last year by the New York Rangers when he was with the Surrey Eagles — has responded with four goals and 13 points in 11 games for Calgary.
“Adam has a big body [six-foot-two] combined with skill,” said Williamson.
Tambellini should benefit from the far greater number of games played per season in major-junior than in the U.S. collegiate NCAA.
“The WHL schedule is more hectic [than NCAA] and more similar to a pro schedule,” said Williamson.
A constant through all the Hitmen changes this season has been Virtanen.
“Jake is a dynamic player, but as with any 17-year-old player, he still needs to learn some things about the game,” said Williamson.
Victoria (34-16-3) is undefeated in five games and 7-2-1 in the last 10. The next victory will tie the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise record of 35 wins set last season.
ICE CHIPS: While B.C. is the northern outpost of Seahawks Nation, Williamson also knows it well after 15 years in the southern outpost as player (three seasons), assistant coach (five seasons) and head coach (seven seasons) of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. “It’s nice to see the Seahawks finally win the Super Bowl,” said Williamson, in his fifth season as Hitmen bench boss after guiding Portland to the 2001 WHL final and Calgary to the 2010 WHL title and third place in the Memorial Cup … Royals captain Jordan Fransoo, who was day-to-day, skated in practice Monday … Victoria forward Ben Walker, who had to be helped off the ice in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory against Vancouver, did not skate in practice.
