Ty Rattieís 10 goals and three assists not only led his team to a first-round sweep, but also put him atop the WHL playoff scoring table and earned him the leagueís player of the week award.
The former Airdrie Xtreme hockey star led his Portland Winterhawks to a sweep of the Kelowna Rockets in the opening round of the WHL post-season, scoring three goals in game one on March 26 and four goals in a 5-3 series-clinching road win on March 29.
ìIíd like to think of myself as a big game kind of player, and come playoff time, I try to lift my game up even higher; I thought I did that,î Rattie said. ìI was happy with my performance. I want to keep it going into this next series.î
Portland will open round two at home against the Kamloops Blazers on April 6. The teams split the season series 2-2, and Rattie anticipates the series could go the distance.
ìI think itís going to be a battle and wonít be a four-game sweep for either team,î he said. ìIt will be a six or seven game series. Kamloops is a really good team.î
Having linemate Sven Bartschi back on the Winterhawksí roster, after a brief stint with the Calgary Flames, has also helped, Rattie said.
ìItís really nice to have him back. A lot of the teamís success, and my success, relies a lot on him. Our chemistry is at all-time high right now. Weíve got a lot of confidence going into round two,î he said.
ìBut we didnít take the first round too lightly either. I just think our team came out with a lot of jump. We scored a lot of goals and our defence kept the puck out of the net. It was a good first series and weíre looking forward to the next one.
ìWe canít be happy with just one series. Weíre a team that is expected to go far, and we know we should go far. If we play the same way we did against Kelowna, we should be fine. Weíre a confident group and looking forward to game one.î
