A highly anticipated matchup between two teams separated by a single point in the WHL regular season has a clash of the titans’ type feel to it.
The Prince George Cougars welcome the Portland Winterhawks to CN Centre for Games One and Two of their Western Conference Final, which officially lifts the curtain tomorrow (Friday).
Both teams are on a collision course for conference supremacy after a pair of series wins in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Prince George dispatched the Spokane Chiefs in a four-game sweep before gobbling up the Kelowna Rockets in five.
The Winterhawks have had a similar path, sweeping the Victoria Royals and Everett Silvertips.
Both teams split the four-game series in the regular season winning twice each.
Cougars captain Hudson Thornton believes their respective organizations are mirror images of each other, playing a high up-tempo game with an emphasis on the transition game.
“It complements our group well. We are never out of a game no matter what the score is – we can always come back, put the puck in the net and, find a way to create offense but we are also a team that defends really well so that is going to be something that will be important in this series too.”
Portland has 10 players remaining from its 2022 playoff roster that swept the Cougars in four games.
The returning faces include scoring duo Gabe Klassen and James Stefan along with veteran forwards Marcus Nyguen, Jack O’Brien, Kyle Zakreski, and Kyle Chyzowski.
On the blueline, the Winterhawks still have Josh Mori, Ryder Thompson along with Florida Panthers draft pick Marek Alscher and San Jose Sharks prospect Luca Cagnoni.
PG has eight returning faces from that series including Thornton, Koehn Ziemmer, Riley Heidt, Carlin Dezainde, Bauer Dumanski, Viliam Kmec, Keaton Dowhaniuk and, Ty Young.
After a 5-2 Winterhawks win in Game One of that series, all of their remaining victories were by two goals or fewer.
Thornton says that the initial playoff experience was a crucial moment in the team’s sudden ascension to WHL prominence.
“You learn a lot from something like that – especially the guys that were a part of it. When you look at it obviously, we got swept but when you look at the games, we weren’t that far away from them – two of them were one-goal games and we gave it our best effort and it’s going to be important for us to spread the message. It is in the back of our heads that we want to get a little bit of revenge on them.”
With three games in four nights to begin the series with a 15-hour bus ride sandwiched in between, Thornton is confident in the team’s ability to handle the early grind.
“If we can walk away winning two games heading into there that is ideal but we will take it one day at a time. I think that is a bit of an advantage for us where we are used to travelling with long bus rides and playing the next day – when it comes down to that there are no excuses. If we were playing a three-in-three you have to be ready to play so we will be ready to go.”
Going into the best-of-seven, Prince George also has a more compatible roster to match the high-scoring Winterhawks.
67-goal scorer Zac Funk has seven goals and eight assists so far this postseason while Heidt, who has 16 points continues to be the primary set-up man with 13 helpers.
Terik Parascak and Ondrej Becher have tallied 12 points each up to this point while is over a point-per-game pace on the back end with 10 points in nine games.
Koehn Ziemmer, who is still fresh off a major injury, has five points in nine contests while blueliners Kmec and Dowhaniuk have lit the lamp three times each.
Trade deadline acquisition Borya Valis is tied for second on the Cats in playoff goals with five.
For the Winterhawks, Cagnoni, Carter Southeran and, Tyson Jugnauth are all point-per-game performers on the backend.
Detroit Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson, who was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings has quietly amassed 10 points in eight games.
For as much individual talent as the series possesses, it will likely come down to goaltending.
Cougars rookie netminder Josh Ravensbergen continues to be stellar in between the pipes supporting a 7-0-0 record with 1.85 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.
Vancouver Canucks signed prospect Ty Young is 1-1 with a 2.02 GAA and a .934 save percentage.
Portland will counter with Jan Spunar who has a sparkling 8-0-0 mark with 1.94 goals against average and .931 save percentage.
Puck drop for Game One on Friday is at 7pm while Saturday is a 6pm start.
The series will then shift to Portland for Games Three through Five starting on Monday.