2025 WHL Playoffs Preview: 4) Prince George Cougars Versus 5) Portland Winterhawks
Prince George Cougars vs Portland Winterhawks (Photo Credit: Keith Dwiggins/Portland Winterhawks/WHL)The four versus five matchup will be a rematch of last year's West Final as the Prince George Cougars and Portland Winterhawks once again do battle. In 2024, Portland picked up a 4-2 series win, punching their ticket to the WHL Final. The question is, will history repeat itself, or will Prince George be able to get some revenge in 2025?
Like the 2024 West Final, the Winterhawks won the season series this year. Portland went 4-0, which included two victories in extra time. Overall, the Winterhawks have won five straight against the Cougars and eight of their last nine games dating back to last year.
Starting with Prince George, Joshua Ravensbergen will be a big storyline throughout the series. He has a .901 save percentage on the season but a .871 this year against Portland. If Ravensbergen can have a strong series, not only will it benefit the Cougars, but it could also give him a final boost ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.
As for Portland, they need their top line to keep scoring. Kyle Chyzowski, Diego Buttazzoni and Joshua Zakreski all surpassed the 35-goal mark this season, while Tyson Jugnauth put up 76 assists in 65 games. If the Winterhawks can get nighlty multi-point effort for their top players, they will have a good chance at replicating last year's performance.
Overall, this series should be very close. These two teams are built very similarly and could go the distance in the first round. As mentioned, this series will also have some emotion to it as Prince George looks to get their revenge on Portland finally.
Prediction:
Portland in 6
Season Series:
Portland Wins 4-0-0-0
Scoring Leaders During Season Series:
Prince George:
Koehn Ziemmer: 3 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 P
Borya Valis: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 P
Riley Heidt: 3 GP. 0 G, 3 A, 3 P
Terik Parascak: 4 GP, 2 G, 0 A, 2 P
Viliam Kmec: 4 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2P
Portland:
Josh Zakreski: 4 GP, 5 G, 0 A, 5 P
Tyson Jugnauth: 4 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 P
Diego Buttazzoni: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 P
Hudson Darby: 3 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 P
Tyson Yaremko: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 P
Schedule:
Game 1: @ Prince George, Friday, March 28, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 2: @ Prince George, Saturday, March 29, 6:00 p.m. PT
Game 3: @ Portland, Tuesday, April 1, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 4: @ Portland, Wednesday, April 2, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 5: @ Portland, Friday, April 4, 7:00 p.m. PT
Game 6: @ Prince George, Sunday, April 6, 6:00 p.m. PT
Game 7: @ Prince George, Monday, April 7, 7:00 p.m. PT
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