PDA

View Full Version : Hawks Clinch 3rd



Tipped Off
03-19-2006, 12:47 PM
It Will be Portland vs. Seattle in the Playoffs
Dean Vrooman - March 18, 2006


15-year-old affiliate player Thomas Frazee (FRAY-zee) scored his first career Western Hockey League goal in the third period as the Portland Winter Hawks won another one-goal game, 3-2, over the Seattle Thunderbirds in front of 9,148 Saturday in the Rose Garden.

The win clinched third place in the US Division for Portland and means the Hawks and Seattle will face each other in a first round best-of-7 playoff series starting Friday and Saturday at Key Arena. Games 3 and 4 will be in Portland, in the Rose Garden, on Tuesday March 28 and Friday March 31, both games starting at 7:00 p.m., if the WHL approves the proposed schedule.

The two teams geared up for the upcoming festivities with a third period line brawl. Portland ended up shorthanded for four minutes as Seattle cut a 3-1 deficit to 3-2 on Robert Klinkhammer’s deflection, power play goal. But, Portland shut Seattle down after that as the Thunderbirds could only generate 4 shots on goal in the third period and a total of only 14 in the game.

Jon Bubnick and Kyle Bailey scored power play goals for Portland and goaltender Kurtis Mucha (MOO-kuh) was called upon to make only 12 saves.

Portland’s magic in winning close games continues. The Hawks are (9-0-0-3) in one-goal games since February 12th and 11 of the Hawks’ last 12 wins have been by one goal.

On the winning goal, Frazee took a pass at center ice from Sasha Golin, faked a Seattle defender to the ice on right wing, and ripped a hard shot, low glove, just inside the goal post beating former Portland goalie Kevin Opsahl (OPP-sull).

Portland, (31-32-3-5), finishes the regular season Sunday at 5:00 in the Rose Garden against Tri-Cities.

The best-of-7 playoff matchup with Seattle will start with Games 1 & 2 next Friday and Saturday at Key Arena in Seattle (Radio Airtime on AM-970 is 6:35 p.m. both nights – Game Time is 7:05). Portland fans interested in riding a fan bus to Seattle should e-mail info@columbia-crossroads.com Fans attending the games in Seattle will be able access the Portland radio broadcast in Key Arena with commentary by Dean Vrooman, Andy Kemper and John Kirby on the FM dial, somewhere between 88 and 91.

Game 5, if necessary, will be Saturday April 1 in Seattle; Game 6, if necessary, would be Tuesday April 4 in the Rose Garden; Game 7, if necessary, is Wednesday, April 5, in Key Arena.

Fans can purchase playoff packages and save up to $6.75 per ticket, per game, through Monday March 27, the day before the first home playoff game, by calling (503) 236-HAWK (4295).

Seattle, (34-31-1-5), clinched home ice advantage in the first round by beating Portland 4-1 in Key Arena Friday.

Portland scratched Jordie Fike (strained knee), Stan Balan (illness), Nick Hotson (possible broken wrist), and goaltender Dustin Butler (knee). Defenseman Cameron Cepek, who had not played since November 19th due to a wrist injury, returned to the lineup Saturday, so Libor Gazdik was scratched due to numbers. Seattle decided to rest veteran forward Tyler Johnson and veteran defensemen Clayton Barthel and Scott Jackson.

Portland came out with quite a bit of energy in the first period, getting the lion’s share of the scoring chances, but Seattle took a 1-0 lead. Defenseman Thomas Hickey, one of the league’s premier 16-year-olds, sent fellow 16-year-old rookie Lindsay Neilsen in on right wing off the rush. Neilson had time to wait as two Winter Hawk defenders both went to the same attacker in the low slot, leaving Kyle Pess open in the mid-slot. Pess beat Hawks’ goalie Kurtis Mucha clean on the blocker side just 3:56 into the game. Portland made life interesting for former Winter Hawk goalie Kevin Opsahl. Kyle Bailey had a couple of good chances in the low slot. Defenseman Lenny Thunderchild was particularly effective at getting low entry shots through, one initiated a flurry of chances for the line of Jannik Hansen, Colton Sceviour and Brandon Dubinsky. Another Thunderchild entry gave Bailey and Frazer McLaren good looks. And, Dubinsky put on an incredible exhibition of stickhandling, weaving around and through Seattle’s defense with wily wizardry, before finally being turned aside by Opsahl when he shot from the low slot. Shots were 12-5, Portland.

The Hawks started the second period with an odd-man rush into the Seattle zone, Sceviour setting up Hansen at the left face-off dot, but Hansen elected to pass and the play was broken up. After a terrific penalty kill that never allowed Seattle to get set up, Seattle defenseman Benn Olson, who was a continual irritant throughout the evening, went off twice for roughing. Olson’s second penalty was a particularly sinister-looking hit on Dubinsky, separating him from his helmet in front of the Seattle net. Referee Derek Herman assessed Olson only two minutes for roughing, but the Hawks scored twice in the period with Olson watching from the penalty box. The first power play goal was set up by some very good work in front of the net by McLaren. He was a distraction the entire power play, nearly tipping in shots on two different occasions. Then, he planted himself in front of Opsahl while Bubnick wound up from the left point for a blast to tie it 1-1. On the next power play, it was Bailey and Woolger working a nifty give-and-go. Bailey passed to Woolger at the goal line, drove the net and took a return pass, and beat Opsahl clean. Shots were 9-5 for Portland in the period and the Hawks took a 2-1 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes.

The Hawks spent more time in their own end in the third period than they probably wanted to, but, for the most part, did a decent job of defensive zone coverage, keeping Seattle to the outside. Portland did not generate much offense until Frazee’s eventual winner made it 3-1. Then, the brouhaha that seemed to be brewing all night finally broke out. Seattle’s James McEwan got tied up with Portland’s Michael Sauer in front of the Hawks’ bench and things escalated from there. At first, there was a lot of milling around and no real fights until Olson, who leads Seattle in penalty minutes, was paired off with Funk, obviously a key part of Portland’s skill. Olson threw a couple of jabs – nothing really serious – and the two began to grapple. Bubnick, seeing Funk face to face with a reputable WHL fighter, stepped in and tied Olson up. Funk got a couple of freebies in and Bubnick saw a chance to land a flurry too. Olson wound up bloodied in the fray and Bubnick received and extra 4 minutes for roughing to go with a five-minute fighting major and game misconduct. It took Herman about 15 minutes to sort it all out and by that time, the Hawks momentum from Frazee’s goal had dissipated and Seattle got back into the game on the Klinkhammer power play deflection.

The game may have turned in Portland’s favor when team captain Brian Woolger threw a thunderous hit on Hickey, who was dangerous on every shift. A few smart plays by Frazee, Sceviour and Dubinsky to get the puck deep in the Seattle end, and two key blocked shots by Cepek, helped make life a lot easier for Mucha down the stretch.