The Portland Winterhawks are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL), one of three leagues making up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The Winterhawks split their home games between the Moda Center (most games) and the Memorial Coliseum. They are one of the most successful teams in terms of producing National Hockey League (NHL) alumni, a list that includes Sven Baertschi, Joe Morrow, Ryan Johansen, Braydon Coburn, Adam Deadmarsh, Rob Klinkhammer, Brandon Dubinsky, Tyler Wotherspoon, Andrew Ference, Paul Gaustad, Jannik Hansen, Marian Hossa, Seth Jones, Brenden Morrow, Nino Niederreiter, Mike Vernon, Glen Wesley and Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Cam Neely.
The Winterhawks have won the Ed Chynoweth Cup three times and the Memorial Cup twice in five appearances (1982, 1983, 1986, 1998, 2013). The team has been in Portland since 1976â€"77. The team won the Memorial Cup twice.
History
Previous owner Brian Shaw was a pioneer in many aspects of junior hockey, moving a team to the United States and championing the host team format of the Memorial Cup.
The Winterhawks were also pioneers of promotion and are credited with the invention of the "Dash for Cash," in which contestants are picked to run onto the ice and try to scoop up as many silver dollars in two minutes as they can. This popular promotion has been running for many years. Moreover, in late November/early December, they hold their annual teddy bear toss, in which fans throw teddy bears on the ice at the first Portland goal, which are then donated to local children's charities. On December 6, 2008, fans threw out 22,392 teddy bears after Luke Walker scored Portland's first goal against the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Winterhawks wear jerseys similar to those of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL, causing some to erroneously assume that the Winterhawks are a minor league farm team of the Blackhawks. In actuality, the jerseys originally worn by the first Winterhawks team were a used set of Chicago jerseys obtained through connections between the owners of the two teams. In early photos, the old Chicago jerseys are identifiable by the letter "C" with crossed tomahawks on the shoulder crest. The Winterhawks eventually changed the "C" to a "P".
The Portland-Chicago connection runs deeper, as the Blackhawks were founded in 1926 by Frederic McLaughlin, who simply bought the contracts of most of the members of the Portland Rosebuds and brought them to Chicago.
In the 2009â€"10 season, the Winterhawks introduced an alternate "Hawk Eyes" logo as part of a new advertising campaign that featured lightning flashes on a mottled black background and the SMS-style words, "LOC8, NTMD8, DVST8" (read: "locate, intimidate, devastate"). In 2010â€"11, an alternate Hawk Head logo was added, with a similar design as the Blackhawks logo, but featuring only the three team colors: red, white and black. A new third jersey was also created with the Hawk Eyes on the front over stylized, mottled black fabric throughout; player names, numbers and accents are in gunmetal gray, and the new tri-color Hawk Head is featured as the shoulder patch.
On November 28, 2012, the WHL announced sanctions against the Winterhawks for a series of player benefits violations over the four previous seasons. As punishment for the violations WHL Commissioner Ron Robison suspended the team from participation in the first five rounds of the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft and forfeiture of their first round picks from the 2014 to 2017 WHL Bantam Drafts and were fined $200,000. The WHL also suspended General Manager and Head Coach Mike Johnston for the remainder of the 2012â€"13 season, including the 2013 WHL playoffs.
On May 12, 2013, the Winterhawks defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5â€"1 in Game 6 to become the 2012â€"13 WHL champions.
On April 25, 2014, the Winterhawks defeated the Kelowna Rockets 7â€"3 to win their fourth-consecutive Western Conference Championship.
Mascot
The team mascot of the Winterhawks is a white bird with multicolored tail and wing feathers, named Tom-A-Hawk. Tom-A-Hawk was introduced in 1999â€"2000. He wears jersey number 00. Tom-A-Hawk's main rival is Cool Bird of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Name change
The team was known as the Winter Hawks until May 2009, when it issued a press release that "the space...announced its retirement" and that the team was renaming itself the Winterhawks.
Current ownership
Bill Gallacher, a Calgary businessman, purchased the team in October 2008.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Current roster
Updated Jan. 12, 2017
Championships
- Memorial Cup (2): 1982â€"83, 1997â€"98
- President's Cup (3): 1981â€"82, 1997â€"98, 2012-13
- Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (3): 1979â€"80, 1997â€"98, 2012â€"13
- Conference Champions (6): 1997â€"98, 2000â€"01, 2010â€"11, 2011-12, 2012â€"13, 2013-14
- Division Playoff Champions (6): 1978â€"79, 1981â€"82, 1982â€"83, 1986-87, 1988â€"89, 1992â€"93
- Regular Season Division Champions (13): 1977â€"78, 1978â€"79, 1979â€"80, 1981â€"82, 1982â€"83, 1988â€"89, 1992â€"93, 1996â€"97, 1997â€"98, 2001â€"02, 2010â€"11, 2012â€"13, 2013-14
WHL Championship history
- 1978â€"79: Loss, 2-4 vs Brandon
- 1981â€"82: Win, 4-1 vs Regina
- 1982-83: Loss, 1-4 vs Lethbridge
- 1986-87: Loss, 3-4 vs Medicine Hat
- 1988â€"89: Loss, 0-4 vs Swift Current
- 1992â€"93: Loss, 3-4 vs Swift Current
- 1997â€"98: Win, 4-0 vs Brandon
- 2000â€"01: Loss, 1-4 vs Red Deer
- 2010â€"11: Loss, 1-4 vs Kootenay
- 2011â€"12: Loss, 3-4 vs Edmonton
- 2012â€"13: Win, 4-2 vs Edmonton
- 2013â€"14: Loss, 3-4 vs Edmonton
Memorial cup finals history
- 1983: Win, 8-3 vs Oshawa
- 1998: Win, 4-3 OT vs Guelph
- 2013: loss, 4-6 vs Halifax
Team records
During the 2012â€"13 season, Winterhawks captain Troy Rutkowski established the new team record for most regular games played as a Winterhawk. His career total of 351 games surpassed the previous mark of 328 games set by Kevin Haupt in the 1998â€"99 season.
NHL alumni
List of Portland Winterhawks alumni who have graduated to play in the National Hockey League.
bold = member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
First round draft picks
Players chosen in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft:
References
External links
Media related to Portland Winterhawks at Wikimedia Commons
- Portland Winterhawks official homepage