The Portland Winterhawks乌鸦传媒� offense can run-and-gun with the best in the Western Hockey League.
The are also well-known for their proclivity to light up opposing team乌鸦传媒檚 netminders.
On Friday night, the top two scoring teams in the Western Conference will go head to head to open up the second round of the WHL post season.
Led by the likes of Cody Glass, Skyler McKenzie and Keegan Iverson, (278) were second only to Kelowna (283) for goals scored during the regular season.
While the Rockets are well-equipped to trade offensive blows with pretty much any opponent, captain Rodney Southam said his club has no intention of allowing the series to become a track meet.
乌鸦传媒淚t won乌鸦传媒檛 be easy, they乌鸦传媒檙e fast, high powered offensively and they like to run-and-gun,乌鸦传媒� Southam said of the Winterhawks. 乌鸦传媒淲e need to stay away from that and play our game, make sure we乌鸦传媒檙e responsible two ways.
乌鸦传媒淲e like our depth and we feel our top lines match pretty well against theirs. We feel like when we乌鸦传媒檙e on our game and playing our systems, we can play with any team in the league.乌鸦传媒�
The Winterhawks, who upset the Prince George Cougars in six games in the opening round, come in as the underdogs and fully expect to have their plate full with the surging Rockets.
Kelowna won nine of its last 10 regular season games, then took out the Kamloops Blazers in six games in the first round of the postseason.
乌鸦传媒楬awks head coach and GM Mike Johnston said while the Rockets乌鸦传媒� flaws are few, his team will needs to find those weaknesses and do its utmost to expose them.
乌鸦传媒淲e recognize that they have high-end players, they have good speed, they乌鸦传媒檙e well-balanced and are very good defensively,乌鸦传媒� said Johnston, who returned to the Winterhawks乌鸦传媒� helm this season after two years in the NHL.
乌鸦传媒淭heir top three or four players are as dangerous as any in the league, they don乌鸦传媒檛 have many holes, so our job is to find those holes and take advantage of those the best we can.乌鸦传媒�
The clubs met four times during the regular season乌鸦传媒攖he last coming back on Jan. 28 in Kelowna乌鸦传媒攚ith the Rockets winning three of those.
Both teams have made considerable strides since that last encounter, so Johnston isn乌鸦传媒檛 putting too much stock into regular season outcomes.
乌鸦传媒淭he key thing for us in this series is to establish our game right way,乌鸦传媒� said Johnston. 乌鸦传媒淲e played them pretty well the last two games there (in January) and won one of them, so that乌鸦传媒檚 positive for us.
乌鸦传媒淎t the same time, both teams were missing players, both teams have made progress since then, so I don乌鸦传媒檛 think the season series shows us much.乌鸦传媒�
Had the Winterhawks not upset Prince George in first round, the Rockets would have been on the road to start the best-of-seven conference semifinal.
Forward Dillon Dube said kicking off round two at Prospera Place presents a big opportunity to the Rockets.
乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 huge for us, nice to start the series at home and get a chance to put them on their heels,乌鸦传媒� said Dube. 乌鸦传媒淲e know it乌鸦传媒檚 a tough place to play down there (in Portland), so it乌鸦传媒檚 important for us to get off to a good start and get the jump on them.乌鸦传媒�
The Rockets and Winterhawks are meeting in the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The last time the clubs met, in 2015, the Rockets won in six games on the way to capturing the WHL title.
have a renewed playoff battle with the Portland Winterhawks for round 2! Read about it here: 馃殌馃悏
乌鸦传媒� Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets)
WHL Western Conference semifinal
Kelowna Rockets vs Portland Winterhawks
Friday, April 7 乌鸦传媒擯ortland @ Kelowna 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 8乌鸦传媒擯ortland @ Kelowna 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11乌鸦传媒擪elowna @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12乌鸦传媒擪elowna @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 14乌鸦传媒擯ortland @ Kelowna 7:05 p.m. *
Sunday, April 16乌鸦传媒擪elowna @ Portland 7:00 p.m. *
Tuesday, April 18乌鸦传媒擯ortland @ Kelowna 7:05 p.m. *
* If necessary
