From the archives Monday, April 21, 2008

Carey Price follows the puck in goal for Tri-City as the Americans defeat the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 in a shoot-out at the Rose Garden on Mar. 10, 2006.

One of the disadvantages to living out here in Portland is that I don't get very many Montreal Canadiens games on television. So I had mixed feelings about the Habs going to seven games against Boston in their first-round series—as a longtime fan, obviously I want them to win. But since they lost on Saturday, tonight's game was on TV here. And we got the right result—Montreal beat the Bruins 5-0 to advance to the next round.

The NHL hardly gets a mention in the local sportscasts, but highlights from the game made the evening news here tonight. To tie it in to the northwest they reminded the viewers that just two years ago, Montreal's star goalie, Carey Price, was playing for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. (The Americans are based in Kennewick, Wash.)

That's funny, I thought—two years ago I shot the Americans playing against the Winter Hawks. So I looked in my files and, sure enough, there was a guy named Price between the pipes for Tri-City.

I'm happy to have CHL hockey here in Portland, but I haven't had the opportunity to shoot—or even see—the Winter Hawks since this game. I guess I'm not missing much, though: with a record of 11-58-2-1, they were easily the worst team in the league. Maybe next year they'll be worth watching.