The Hawks’ Nest

Top Wins of 2009-10: #3

We’re taking one last look at the 2009-10 season before next week’s bantam draft serves as the unofficial start to the 2010-11 season (at least for most of the WHL, as the playoffs are ongoing). To put a bow on the season I’m looking back at the team’s top-five wins of the season. Today I look at #3. For #4 and #5 click here, and for the honorable mentions, follow this link.

#3: December 4: 5-3 win vs. Everett. There were a lot outstanding individual performances by Winterhawks players this season, but there was likely no greater game by an entire line than the virtuoso performance put on by the Ryan Johansen-Nino Niederreiter-Brad Ross trio in the third period of Portland’s 5-3 win over Everett on December 4.

The Winterhawks scored four third period goals to get the win, with the scoring lines on the goals looking like this:

Niederreiter-Ross-Johansen

Ross-Niederreiter-Johansen

Eric Doyle-Ross-Johansen

Johansen-Niederreiter-Mac Carruth

That line was in on every goal in the final frame, and totaled 10 points. Again, this was in just the third period. It also bears mentioning that as Portland was scoring four goals in the third period, Everett managed just five shots. Oh, and the Hawks didn’t take a single penalty while the Silvertips took three.

But getting back to the Johansen-Nino-Ross line, their third period heroics were a salvo to the rest of the league, and kickstarted an incredible run for all three players: Ross had 20 points in December and was named the league’s Player of the Month, while Johansen was right behind him with 18 points. Nino, meanwhile, had 11 points in seven games before taking off to represent Switzerland at the world juniors, and we all know how he did there.

All three players had been having good seasons to that point, but that night they elevated their game to a new level.

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