Hawks’ Johnston on Game 6: ‘The guys will be ready to go’
Center Nate Danielson, a first-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2023 NHL draft, has been a leader for the Hawks since a midseason trade from Brandon (courtesy Winterhawks)
Updated 5/4/2024 12:55 PM
I have never been to Prince George, but I have heard it’s nice. The city of about 80,000 is located in the far upper regions of British Columbia. If you are looking for outdoor adventures and scenic landscapes, it’s for you.
I can tell you, though, that the Winterhawks wanted anything but to make another trip to B.C.’s “northern capital.”
The Hawks were there a week ago, splitting the first two games of the best-of-seven Western Hockey League West Conference finals with the Cougars. Portland returned home to win the next two games at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and had a chance to wrap up the series and clinch its first spot in the WHL finals in a decade with a victory at home Thursday night.
Didn’t happen. Prince George won 6-1 in front of a Coliseum crowd of 6,138, mostly partisans who wanted nothing more than to celebrate a major accomplishment by the local major junior hockey club.
Now the Hawks get to load up the bus Sunday morning and make the 13-hour drive north to prepare for Monday night’s Game 6. For perspective, it’s 12 hours from Portland to San Francisco. And if you make that trip south, chances are you don’t have to play a hockey game less than 24 hours after arrival.
But that’s junior hockey, and that’s sports in general. Things don’t always happen as planned.
“It would have been great for our fans, but we have won big games on the road before,” said Mike Johnston, the Hawks’ president/general manager/coach/tour guide. “We’ll be fine.”
Winterhawks coach Mike Johnson expects a bounce-back game from his team in Monday’s Game 6 of the WHL Western Conference finals at Prince George (courtesy Winterhawks)
And maybe they will. They have certainly shown their mettle in the playoffs, sweeping four games from first Victoria, then Everett leading into the West finals. After losing its opener at Prince George 5-0, Portland won three in a row to put itself at the precipice of its first WHL Finals appearance since 2014.
So what happened Thursday night? The term “sense of urgency” comes to mind. Facing elimination, the Cougars had it.
“They are a good team, and they were a desperate team tonight,” Portland center Nate Danielson said. “Their season was on the line. They had more ‘compete.’ We just didn’t match it. They played a hell of a game. We’ll regroup.”
The teams are about as evenly matched as possible. Prince George (49-15-1-2) won the West’s regular-season title with 102 points, one ahead of No. 2 Portland (48-15-3-1). They split their four head-to-head matchups.
“You are not going to win every game in the playoffs,” Johnston said. “You know it’s going to be a tight series. (The Cougars) have good players. They played well tonight. But our guys have rebounded every single time when there has been some adversity this season. They have handled it really well.”
Thursday’s outcome could have been different. The Hawks scored first and controlled the early going.
“I liked our start,” Johnston said. “We generated some chances. We had a good jump going early.”
Prince George evened it at 1-1 on the first of two Koehn Ziemmer’s goals midway through the first period, and from there, the Cougars were the better team.
The visitors led 2-1 in the second period when, with Prince George on the power play, Danielson wound up in front of the Cougars’ net with the puck. His shot hit the crossbar.
“It would have been nice for that to go in,” he said. “That was the kind of night it was for us — crossbar out instead of crossbar in.”
Prince George converted a second-period power-play opportunity and took a 3-1 lead into the final stanza. After the Cougars scored to make it 4-1, the writing was on the wall. It was on to Game 6.
“How we played tonight doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Prince George coach Mark Lamb said. “When that ball gets rolling, we get going.
“Now we are going back home. This team has grown together. We have had a great season. We have had good playoffs. You put that all together and add the pride factor, we really wanted to get back there and play in front of our fans again.”
Adrenaline helped the Cougars, while fatigue set in for the Hawks. The teams were playing their fifth game in seven days. Portland would have preferred to have played a couple of weekend games at home, but the Coliseum was booked.
“We would have liked to have had the series spread out more,” Johnston said. “We don’t ever play five in seven nights in the regular season, or even in the playoffs. It made for probably the most difficult travel in the league.”
Both teams have the same schedule, of course. The Cougars were the more lively team Thursday night. With four days between games, both will be plenty rested for Game 6.
Danielson went scoreless on Thursday, but he has been a force through the playoffs. The 6-2, 190-pound native of Red Deer, Alberta, came into the game ranked third in the WHL in playoff scoring with four goals and 16 assists in the first 12 games. Portland acquired Danielson — the ninth pick (by Detroit) in the first round of last year’s NHL draft — in a January trade with Brandon. He has joined with Marcus Nguyen and Jack O’Brien to form a potent line for the Hawks.
“Every game, Nate has played well,” Johnston said. “He has been great in the dressing room, too. He has been a real leader for us. Though he hasn’t been with our program that long, he takes charge on the bench, takes charge in the room. I like his presence.”
Danielson — who represented Canada in the World Junior Championships in Sweden over the Christmas break — said his time with the Hawks has been “awesome.”
“The transition from Brandon to here has been beneficial to me,” said Danielson, who had 12 goals and 29 assists in 28 regular-season games with Portland. “Mike, the coaching staff — they have all been amazing. I have learned a lot from them. And the players, we push each other well in practice. I am super grateful to have the opportunity to play here.”
Danielson’s billets live in Beaverton.
“It’s a longer drive to the rink than in Brandon — 25 minutes, and in traffic it might be 45,” he said. “But Portland is a nice city. I didn’t realize how foresty and hilly the area is. It has been nice to be here.”
After the first-round sweep of Victoria, Danielson and three teammates drove to Chambers Bay Golf Course near Tacoma for a round on the course that staged the 2015 U.S. Open. Danielson, a 3-handicapper, shot a 10-over-par 82 playing “one up from the tips.”
“The course is so hard, but to get to play it was pretty cool,” he said. “It was a good re-set to get away from the rink for a day.”
Soon it will be back on the ice for the Hawks, who have a big-time goaltender in Jan Spunar. The 6-3, 200-pound native of the Czech Republic, who turns 20 on May 30, entered Thursday play with 2.21 goals-against average and .924 save percentage through the playoffs. Game 5 wasn’t his best, but he still made 31 saves and was victimized on a penalty shot, the result of a play that should have been a two-minute minor.
“ ‘Spoons’ was really good tonight,” Johnston said. “The second goal handcuffed him a bit, but I really like his game right now.”
Spunar is matched with Prince George goalie Joshua Ravensbergen, who yielded the one goal and had 25 saves. Ravensbergen, 17, has split time with veteran Ty Young. Ravensbergen came up big on Thursday. I think Portland has the edge with Spunar, but he has to get good support from teammates in front of him.
Portland is a bit shorthanded. Forward Josh Davies, the team’s No. 4 scorer in the regular season with 36 goals and 25 assists, and defenseman Luka Cagnoni, the No. 3 scorer with 18 goals and 72 assists, are both missing due to undisclosed injuries. Cagnoni played only in Game 3, and Johnston indicated he isn’t sure if he will be available again this season.
“I think he is the best defenseman in the league,” the veteran coach said. “Our defense has had an exceptional series, but with five defensemen playing heavy minutes five games in seven days, that was a little challenging. Give those guys credit. They battled hard. Tonight, they looked a bit off.”
The forwards must do their work on the defensive end, too.
“We gave (the Cougars) a little too much open ice tonight, and that starts with the forechecking,” Johnston said. “We need to take care of that moving forward.”
The Hawks have two tries to move forward to the WHL Finals, where they would face either Saskatoon or Moose Jaw. Win Monday night and they are in. Lose and go on to a Game 7 on Wednesday. Johnston sounds as if he believes that won’t be necessary.
During Thursday’s post-game talk, Johnston delivered this message to his players:
“Think about this game for 10 minutes. Then get rid of it. Tear it up, throw it in a garbage can. Get your rest. Get ready, it’s a playoff series. We’ll go from there.”
“Our players have shown a lot of poise, a lot of confidence this year,” Johnston said. “If they don’t like their game one night, they have come the next night with a great game. We have no issue playing in a visiting rink in front of their crowd. I like our veteran group. They’re mature. They’ll be ready to go.”
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Ex-Winterhawks in NHL in 2023-24 still alive in playoffs
Seth Jarvis 2018-21, F, 33 goals, 34 assists in 81 games with Carolina Hurricanes. (3 goals, 4 assists in 5 playoff games)
Caleb Jones 2015-17, D, 23 games with Colorado Avalanche
Adin Hill 2014-16, G, 2.62 GAA in 32 games with Vegas Golden Knights
Others
Oliver Bjorkstrand 2012-15, F, 19 goals, 31 assists in 71 games with Seattle Kraken
Ryan Johansen 2009-11, F, 13 goals, 10 assists in 63 games with Colorado Avalanche (now with Philadelphia)
Nino Neiderreiter 2009-11, 18 goals, 15 assists in 72 games with Winnipeg Jets
Cody Glass 2015-19, F, 5 goals in 36 games with Nashville Predators
Henri Jokiharju 2016-18, D, 3 goals in 64 games with Buffalo Sabres
Seth Jones 2012-13, D, 7 goals in 57 games with Chicago Blackhawks
Matt Dumba 2013-14, D, 3 goals in 65 games with Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning
John Ludvig 2017-20, D, 3 goals in 32 games with Pittsburgh Penguins
Nic Petan 2010-15, F, played five games with Minnesota Wild
Derrick Pouliot 2009-13, D, played five games with Dallas Stars
Joel Hofer 2019-20. G, 2.73 GAA in 26 games with St. Louis Blues
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