(Above view of Portland Arena from Press Box and outside of Portland Memorial Colliseum)
The Hurricanes will play their first of this 4 game U.S. road swing tonight in Portland, Oregon.
This game will mark the return of Colton Sceviour to Portland since being dealt to the Canes' last season. I think he's looking forward to this game as are the rest of his teammates. Luca Sbisa arrived here in Portland late last night on a flight from Philadelphia. He spoke with head coach Michael Dyck before he took to the skies and from what I was told, he's very excited to be coming back to try and help the Hurricanes make a big push down the stretch and into the playoffs. I don't know how much we can expect from Luca in his first game back, given he travelled across the U.S. all day yesterday and he really hasn't played much for Philly in the last while as he has been a healthy scratch. It might take him a couple of games to get back into the swing of things in the WHL. One thing I do know is that he'll get a tonne of playing time with Lethbridge and will be relied upon to be a big piece of this team heading into playoff time. This is probably the best thing for Luca. For him to be a healthy scratch with the Flyers wasn't doing anything for his development as a player and having him back playing with the Canes' on a very regular basis will be a big benefit to both the Flyers and Lethbridge Hurricanes and will only make him a better player down the road.
Defenceman Eric Mestrey is very close to returning and could even be back tonight if all goes well. He's missed the last few weeks with a concussion. Dwight King and Kyle Beach are both back from suspension as well as Head Coach Michael Dyck. Carter Bancks will not play tonight as he's attending a family funeral. He'll be flown in before the Friday game and should be in the line-up when the Hurricanes play in Seattle. So for the first time in nearly 3 months, the Hurricanes have pretty much a healthy line-up! Let's hope for the Canes' sake it stays the way for the rest of this season.
Here in Portland, the Winterhawks play at 2 different arenas. The Rose Garden is where the NBA's Portland Trailblazers play and right next to it is the old Memorial Colliseum where tonight's game will be played. I'm sure if the walls could talk in the Colliseum, they would have many sports stories to tell from over the years. There's a lot of history in this old barn. The glass is very lively and shakes with every hit, while the neutral zone is quite small making for a lot more room for puck movement on the power play. The Canes' practiced there yesterday to get a feel for the ice and the very lively boards. It should be an interesting game.
After this game, the Hurricanes will hop the bus and head up to Everett where we'll set up shop until Saturday. Tomorrow Lethbridge has the day off and a little team building is planned. We'll be heading to the Boeing Assembly Plant in Seattle for a tour and to see how they build jets. I'm looking forward to that!
Tonight's game is an 8 o'clock start from Portland. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30.
This game will mark the return of Colton Sceviour to Portland since being dealt to the Canes' last season. I think he's looking forward to this game as are the rest of his teammates. Luca Sbisa arrived here in Portland late last night on a flight from Philadelphia. He spoke with head coach Michael Dyck before he took to the skies and from what I was told, he's very excited to be coming back to try and help the Hurricanes make a big push down the stretch and into the playoffs. I don't know how much we can expect from Luca in his first game back, given he travelled across the U.S. all day yesterday and he really hasn't played much for Philly in the last while as he has been a healthy scratch. It might take him a couple of games to get back into the swing of things in the WHL. One thing I do know is that he'll get a tonne of playing time with Lethbridge and will be relied upon to be a big piece of this team heading into playoff time. This is probably the best thing for Luca. For him to be a healthy scratch with the Flyers wasn't doing anything for his development as a player and having him back playing with the Canes' on a very regular basis will be a big benefit to both the Flyers and Lethbridge Hurricanes and will only make him a better player down the road.
Defenceman Eric Mestrey is very close to returning and could even be back tonight if all goes well. He's missed the last few weeks with a concussion. Dwight King and Kyle Beach are both back from suspension as well as Head Coach Michael Dyck. Carter Bancks will not play tonight as he's attending a family funeral. He'll be flown in before the Friday game and should be in the line-up when the Hurricanes play in Seattle. So for the first time in nearly 3 months, the Hurricanes have pretty much a healthy line-up! Let's hope for the Canes' sake it stays the way for the rest of this season.
Here in Portland, the Winterhawks play at 2 different arenas. The Rose Garden is where the NBA's Portland Trailblazers play and right next to it is the old Memorial Colliseum where tonight's game will be played. I'm sure if the walls could talk in the Colliseum, they would have many sports stories to tell from over the years. There's a lot of history in this old barn. The glass is very lively and shakes with every hit, while the neutral zone is quite small making for a lot more room for puck movement on the power play. The Canes' practiced there yesterday to get a feel for the ice and the very lively boards. It should be an interesting game.
After this game, the Hurricanes will hop the bus and head up to Everett where we'll set up shop until Saturday. Tomorrow Lethbridge has the day off and a little team building is planned. We'll be heading to the Boeing Assembly Plant in Seattle for a tour and to see how they build jets. I'm looking forward to that!
Tonight's game is an 8 o'clock start from Portland. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30.
We need more photos Pat, adds a new dimension to your blog ,keep them coming, to bad we dont have more pics in the hurricanes site so we are relying on you Pat to step it up to the next level. (were have we heard that before) ha ha ha
ReplyDeletego canes go