Winterhawks flex their muscles

The Portland Winterhawks, who had the best record in the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference this season, rolled past Everett 11-4 Friday night in Game 4 of their best-of-seven, opening-round playoff series. Eighth-seeded Everett caught Portland by surprise by winning Game 1, but the series has belonged to Portland since. All four Western Conference series stand at 3-1 and could end Saturday. Seventh-seeded Seattle leads second-seeded Kelowna; third-seeded Kamloops leads sixth-seeded Victoria; and fourth-seeded Spokane leads fifth-seeded Tri-City. Unless one of the teams trailing 3-1 makes a big rally in the coming days, the second round of the playoffs would be Spokane against Kamloops and Portland against Seattle. Read story