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Tri-City’s humble Holland hoping to spur comeback from 2-0 deficit

PORTLAND, Ore. — After two wrenching overtime losses at home to the Portland Winterhawks last weekend, Patrick Holland and his Tri-City Americans teammates took two days off to clear their heads and recharge their bodies.

With temperatures soaring above above 30 degrees Celsius in the arid region of southeast Washington, it was a pretty easy thing to do.

"It hasn't really been hockey weather," Holland said Tuesday upon his team's arrival to Portland for Games 3 and 4 of the WHL's Western Conference final.

"It's nice to get a break, and crucial for our bodies to able to relax at this time of year," Holland said. "These games have been close, we know they could've gone either way."

A 20-year-old (hockey age 19) right winger from Lethbridge, Holland has been a bright spot against the Winterhawks, scoring three power-play goals in the first two games of the series.

Holland has six goals and 17 points in 12 playoff games, after setting career highs with 25 goals and 109 points in the regular season.

The Americans are 5-for-12 with the man advantage during the series, with Holland teaming with fellow forward Justin Feser to run the point on a first unit that features five forwards.

It's an arrangement that allows all of the Americans' most dynamic offensive players -- including Brendan Shinnimin and Adam Hughesman -- to be on the ice together.

"I played a decent amount of defense in minor hockey, so it's not foreign to me," Holland noted. "It works well, and we have a lot of skill. But sometimes, we can get a little careless."

In overtime of Game 2, Portland's Ty Rattie poked the puck around a pinching Feser and went Sven Bärtschi on a 2-on-1 Holland was forced to defend.

"Those are two guys you don't want coming at you 2-on-1," said Holland. "I might have played it wrong, actually I'm sure I did."

Holland went into a slide to try to cut off the passing lane to Bärtschi, but Rattie waited and pulled the puck around Holland, then fired a wrist shot past Tri-City goalie Ty Rimmer for the game-winner.

It extended a unlucky overtime losing streak for the Americans. Tri-City is 7-0 in the postseason in regulation, but just 1-5 in overtime games. The Ams beat Everett in an OT game in the first round, but have lost five straight -- three in a seven-game series win over Spokane and the first two games against Portland.

"I don't feel like we've played bad in any overtime," Holland said. "That first game we outshoot Portland 7-1 and they score on the one shot. There's not anything you have to change or too many ways to analyze it."

Holland describes himself as a late bloomer, and feels fortunate to have been drafted in the seventh round of the 2010 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames. In the two seasons since, he's progressed from a fringe prospect to a player who's projected to be a solid two-way player at the pro level, if not a top-line scorer.

Holland earned what he calls his "15 minutes of fame" when his NHL rights were traded by Calgary to the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 12 as part of the deal that involved Mike Cammalleri and Rene Bourque.

Holland, however, was far from a throw-in on the deal, as the Canadiens had been following him at Americans games for some time. Despite never having been in camp with the team, Holland singed a three-year contract with the Habs in early March.

"I've never been traded in the WHL, so it was a big surprise for me when it happened," Holland said. "It caught me off guard, but it didn't really change anything for me in the short term."

Holland says he focused on the positive side of the trade, taking pride in the fact that Montreal wanted to acquire him.

"Montreal is a really cool place, so I was happy about it," he said, adding that "It's nothing against Calgary."

Holland admits that he grew up rooting for the Edmonton Oilers, but maintains he never actively disliked any NHL teams -- even Edmonton's chief rival in Calgary.

The spotlight in Montreal will be much more focused than it is in the WHL's U.S. Division, where hockey isn't necessarily the biggest game in town. But despite the sport's secondary role in places like Tri-City and Portland, Holland says it's the American arenas that provide the best atmospheres in the league.

"You might have fewer fans who know hockey down here, but the fans you do have are so passionate," Holland said. "The rinks are a bit noisier than in some of the Canadian towns, and it makes it fun to play in the U.S. Division.

Up in Canada, you get more fans of the sport at the games, but down here they come to cheer their team and boo the other team."

In what he expects to be his final season with Tri-City, Holland is pushing to bring an elusive first WHL title to an Americans franchise that has been close several times.

"I can notice the sport growing here," he said. "It's tough for me to compare because I haven't been on any other teams, but as far as I can tell we some of the best management and coaching in the league. It's been really good for my development."

Scott Sepich is a WHL correspondent for Buzzing the Net. Follow him on Twitter @SSepichWHL. (Photo: John Allen, Tri-City Americans)