WINTERHAWKS HOST ICE FOR GAME ONE ON SHAW
WINTERHAWKS HOST ICE FOR GAME ONE – Ryan Johansen and the Portland Winterhawks host Cody Eakin and the Kootenay Ice for Game 1 of the 2011 WHL Championship series on Friday night in Portland, OR.
Friday’s WHL Championship series contest between the Ice and Winterhawks can be seen live throughout western Canada on SHAW and SHAW Direct Channel 299 (7:30pm PST).
The Winterhawks captured the 2011 Kal Tire WHL Western Conference Championship by defeating the Spokane Chiefs in six games after knocking off the Everett Silvertips and the Kelowna Rockets in the first and second rounds, respectively. The Winterhawks are 5-3 on home ice in the post-season. Johansen, the Kal Tire WHL Western Conference Championship series MVP, leads the Hawks with 11 goals in the 2011 WHL playoffs.
The Ice advanced to the WHL Championship series after defeating Moose Jaw in six games in the first round followed by sweeps of both the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers in the second round and the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, respectively. The Ice take an 11-game winning streak into Friday’s series opener in Portland. Cody Eakin was named the MVP of the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship series after scoring five goals and nine points in four games versus the Tigers.
The Hawks are making their first appearance in the WHL Championship series since the 2001 playoffs, when they fell to the eventual Memorial Cup Champion Red Deer Rebels. The Ice are in the WHL final for the first time since the 2002 season when they won the WHL and Memorial Cup titles.
The Hawks and Ice only met up once during the 2010-11 WHL regular season, with the Ice claiming a 5-3 win in Portland on December 1, 2010.
