Portland once again find themselves looking up at most of the teams in the ultra-competitive "Canada West" Division, with Vancouver poised to run away and hide the Division Title before the All Star Break. Portland, with 27 points, would find themselves in first place in either of the Canada East or America West Divisions and a solid second in the America East, but here in Canada West, they sit in 4th as of this writing. They are still awaiting a League ruling on the appeal regarding the re-alignment that moved them to The North.
Unlike prior years, Portland have some legitimate scoring threats with the likes of Guentzel, Boeser, Ehlers and B. Tkachuk up front, to say nothing of the stellar contribution of recently acquired set up man, David Kreji. That being said, the defensive play and goaltending have been average, at best.
Without a cornerstone goaltender that can literally "steal" games for the Platoon, they will contunue to be a middling franchise. GM Morrison says the hunt is on for a legitimate Number One goaltender.
Injuries have not yet played a factor in the Platoon's plight. Goals for are respectable at 3.79 GPG average, but lagging not far behind is a 3.65 GAA! Both goaltenders are floundering along with sub .900 Save Percentages, Markstrom at .896 and Nilsson at .895.
Could this be the year that ownership loosens up the purse strings and tries to buy their way to the top? After spending considerably in the pre-season in order to avoid the frenzy of Free Agency, the Platoon find themselves in familiar territory. Don't expect GM Morrison to stand pat with this line up as rumour has it his patience is wearing thin.
There are only a few untouchables on the team, with talented wingers Boeser and Guentzel heading that list. Stay tuned.
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