Another Western Hockey League postseason, another deep run for the Portland Winterhawks, who include over-age defenseman Josh Hanson of Eagle River.
All the Winterhawks have done in Hanson's four previous seasons is go the Finals in all four seasons, winning the title in 2013. And now the Winterhawks are about to begin the Western Conference Finals against the Kelowna Rockets after beating the Seattle Thunderbirds in six games and the Everett Silvertips in five games.
Hanson, 21, a stay-at-home blueliner, has played in all 11 playoff games this spring. That gives the 6-foot-3, 209-pounder, who began his WHL career at 16 in the 2010-11 season, 69 career playoff games under his belt. He's also played 317 WHL regular-season games and has been very durable, playing 274 of a possible 288 regular-season games the last four seasons.
Hanson is +62 in his regular-season career and +8 in his playoff career. This past regular season, he went 1-9--10 and +8 in 62 games.
All that's a pretty nice run for a kid who was an eighth-round pick in the league's midget draft in 2009.