It is the eternal question in the Western Hockey League: How do the machine-like Portland Winterhawks consistently stay so good in the cyclical boom-and-bust nature of major-junior hockey?
Only two teams have made the playoffs every season since the Victoria Royals moved to the Island from Chilliwack in 2011-12 (there were no playoffs in 2020 and 2021). They are the Winterhawks and the Everett Silvertips. Perhaps oddly, the Royals were the third-to-last team on that list before dropping off it in 2021-22.
The last bad patch for the Winterhawks franchise was when it missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons from 2006-07 to 2008-09. Portland has since then managed to defy the usual three-years-strong followed by three-years-rebuilding cycle of major-junior hockey.
The Winterhawks are back at it, coming into the set Friday and Saturday night against the Royals at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with the best winning percentage in the Western Conference at .713, and second best in the WHL after the Saskatoon Blades, and are battling the Silvertips and Prince George Cougars atop the Western Conference standings.
“[Winterhawks] are one of the better teams in the league with some really good players and we need to keep a strong mindset and work really hard,” said Royals defenceman Justin Kipkie.
“They have some strong lines and we need to be able to play them hard. They are more of a skill team, so if we battle hard, we can take it to them.”
It will certainly be a challenge against the likes of Portland centre Nate Danielson, a Team Canada player at the 2024 world juniors who was selected ninth overall in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings, and acquired in a Janua ry trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for Portland’s first-round WHL prospects draft picks in 2025 and 2027 and two players.
The Winterhawks back end is also loaded with NHL-drafted defencemen Marek Alscher, Tyson Jugnauth, Carter Sotheran and Luca Cagnoni. The Winterhawks have three players ranked for the 2024 NHL draft, including Czech-import goaltender Jan Spunar.
The gap between the Winterhawks, Silvertips and Cougars big three of the Western Conference this season and the rest of the conference has been staggering. Next in line is fourth-place Victoria with a .544 winning percentage and 15 points behind the Winterhawks. With 11 games remaining, there is no chance for Victoria of catching the top three.
Yet the Royals are having their best season since 2019-20 and their current hold on fourth place in the Western Conference represents home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. But it is a very tentative hold with the fifth-place Wenatchee Wild and sixth-place Vancouver Giants close behind and also coveting that fourth slot, and holding games in hand on Victoria.
“We just want to keep pushing and put ourselves in the best spot for the playoffs,” said Kipkie, an NHL draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes.
“Home-ice advantage is huge in the playoffs. We definitely have the fans for it here. That would be amazing. But we’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep working towards that.”
The Royals continue to deal with injuries to several key players, especially on defence with blue-liners Austin Zemlak, Ryan Spizawka, Hudson Bjornson and 2024 NHL draft-ranked Nate Misskey all out. Missing up front long term has been Czech-import forward and two-time world junior medallist Robin Sapousek.
ICE CHIPS: Royals forward Alex Edwards, who was suspended a club-record 25 games by the WHL for a match-penalty Sept. 23 in Everett, was suspended again Thursday for eight games by the league “under supplemental discipline and repeat offender” because of a hit during Monday’s game in Kamloops against the Blazers.
