September 26, 2026 | Home | Winterhawks Record: 2-0-0-0
The Numbers
Goals: Winterhawks 5, Blazers 3
Shots: Winterhawks 35, Blazers 36
Power Play: Winterhawks 0/2, Blazers 1/3
Penalty Kill: Winterhawks 2/3, Blazers 2/2
Faceoffs: Winterhawks 30, Blazers 30
Three Stars: Reed Brown (POR) | David Hoy (POR) | Jordan Duguay (POR)
The Game
The Winterhawks won their home opener 5-3 over the Blazers, and they did it by taking advantage of a tired team. The Blazers were on the back half of a back-to-back after playing in Tri-City the night before. For two periods and a good chunk of the 3rd, Portland's forecheck made them look it. Reed Brown finishes the game with a hat trick. Will McLaughlin and Jake Gustafson were back in the lineup after NHL training camps and were still getting on the same page with the group.
After struggling through the neutral zone in Everett, Portland came out with a clear emphasis on short passes to gain the zone with control. It worked early. The Hawks had 13 shots with 9:56 left in the 1st, but Logan Edmonstone was swallowing everything and giving up almost no rebounds.
Kamloops scored first. Jordin St. Louis took a tripping penalty in the defensive zone at 2:18. On that kill, David Hoy blocked a shot at the point and took it the other way on a breakaway, but Edmonstone held. The diamond then got more aggressive: a point shot hit a Portland defenseman in front, and Ty Bonkowski buried it at 4:02.
Portland tied it at 8:41. Hoy threw the puck to the front from the corner, it pinballed around the net, and Brown put it five-hole, with Jordan Duguay picking up the secondary assist.
The 2nd started with the forecheck taking over. The Hawks were breaking up passes, forcing turnovers, and keeping the Blazers from setting up. Finn Spehar gave Portland the lead at 4:42 on a 3-on-2 entry: Stevie Grumley tried to pass through the middle, it trickled through, and Spehar buried it from a weird angle on a wide-open net. Twenty-three seconds later it was 3-1.
Vit Zahejsky got one back at 9:58. He snuck in behind Grumley at the back end of the neutral zone, took a stretch pass from Collin Kim, and slid it under Ondřej Štěbeták with Grumley draped all over him. Luke Wilfley drew a high stick on Jacob Dumansky with an individual effort into the zone, and Nathan Brown tipped one off the post on the power play. As it ended, McLaughlin took a tripping penalty at 13:20, but the kill handled it. Right after Štěbeták made a handful of good saves at one end, Nathan Brown came in on the left side off the rush and beat Edmonstone low glove side at 17:30 to make it 4-2.
It got chippy late in the 2nd, with cross-checks behind the play and a couple of scuffles. Gustafson took a roughing minor in the offensive zone at 19:15. A shot near the buzzer set off another scrum, and River Arnason took an unsportsmanlike.
The 3rd opened 4-on-4 with nothing coming of it, then turned into trading possessions. Kamloops would set up for a few chances, then Portland, back and forth. Around the halfway mark the Blazers started throwing everything at the net, outshooting Portland 18-8 in the period. The Hawks took their foot off the gas and spent long shifts pinned in their own end, wearing down the D. When they finally got it out for a shot, the puck came right back, and Kim toe-dragged around a Portland defenseman to get alone in front and go five-hole at 16:57.
Kamloops pulled Edmonstone with a minute left. Portland got a clear, the puck pinballed through the neutral zone, and the forecheck outnumbered a Blazer in his own end. Brown would finished the hat trick into an empty net at 19:53, with a pass from Duguay to ice the game.
The Turning Point:
Two goals in 23 seconds early in the 2nd. After Spehar made it 2-1 at 4:42, Duguay fed Hoy from the corner, and Hoy made a no-look pass to Brown alone in front at 5:05. Kamloops called timeout to stop the momentum, but a tie game had become a two-goal lead, and Portland was outshooting them 21-8.
What Worked and What Didn't
With the Puck
Kamloops ran a two-man forecheck. When the Hawks beat that first layer, they could usually go through the neutral zone easily and set up in the offensive zone. Once there, the cycle was a means to an end: they found someone with space and got the shot off early.
Getting out of their own end was the problem. Portland won pucks with good sticks and positioning, but the Kamloops forecheck made clean breakouts hard, and the forwards weren't moving into open space to support. The short neutral zone passes that worked early slipped by the end of the 1st, with forwards going back to individual entries, refusing the short pass, and sometimes going offside. Passing in general was sloppy.
The power play went 0-for-2, and Nathan Brown's tip off the post was the closest it came.
Without the Puck
The forecheck was the best part of Portland's night. They sent one forechecker in hard, who then slid back, while the other four held a solid neutral zone setup, forcing turnovers and jumping passing lanes. A lot of Portland's counters off the rush came from that.
The D had good gap control, pushing Kamloops to the outside and making them play along the boards instead of through the middle. The coverage behind the play needs work: the F3 kept going unnoticed, which is strange because the Hawks were backchecking really well. Kamloops players got behind the Portland D at random times.
The penalty kill went 2-for-3. The aggressive diamond on the first kill opened up the point shot that led to Bonkowski's goal. On McLaughlin's penalty they were even more aggressive, forcing Kamloops to move the puck along the boards and turning that pressure into clears.
Between the Pipes
Ondřej Štěbeták: 7/10
Štěbeták stopped 33 of 36. He didn't have to do anything crazy early, but he was steady with what came his way. When Kamloops pushed in the 3rd, he did whatever it took to keep the puck out of the net.
What stood out: His puck playing. He came out of his net a lot to play the puck behind it and stop Kamloops' dump and chase, and he was decent at it. The thing to clean up: he was swimming in his crease and committing to slides and sprawls too early.
The big save: River Arnason got around a Portland defenseman and crashed the net in the 3rd, and Štěbeták stretched out to make the stop.
The goals against: Bonkowski's power play goal came off a point shot that hit a Portland defenseman in front. Zahejsky got behind Grumley and slid it under him with Grumley draped on his back. Kim made a really nice play, toe-dragging around a Portland defenseman to get alone in front before going five-hole.
Across the ice, Logan Edmonstone (5/10) made 30 saves on 34 shots. He made really big saves early, had his feet set before shots, and kept pucks in front of him. By no means a bad performance, but a few of the goals were a little weak, and there were some he could have saved.
The Standouts
Reed Brown: A hat trick in the home opener, finishing plays from Hoy and Duguay, who had a hand in all three of his goals.
Max Pšenička: The only Portland defenseman putting himself in open space and making proper stretch passes to the forwards, on a night when the breakout was a problem.
What It Means
A 2-0 start, with a win in front of the home crowd, should help this group's confidence early.
The neutral zone is still an issue. After Everett, I wanted to see them use the short passes, and early on they did. By the end of the 1st, they were back to individual efforts. The rest advantage showed for most of the night, but once Kamloops started throwing everything on net in the 3rd, it was Štěbeták making the big saves.
Looking Ahead
Next: Spokane Chiefs
October 2, 2026 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum
I'll be watching the neutral zone again, since they still need to clean it up.
Final Thought
The Winterhawks started the game with some jump and relied on their heavy forecheck. Luckily, the Blazers' forecheck left a less cramped neutral zone, allowing for cleaner entries and sustained offensive zone pressure. The Blazers made a push late, but the Winterhawks' defense and goaltending were up to the task, shutting the door to start the season 2-0.
Be curious.
