Portland Winterhawks Busy In The Offseason

Following their early exit in round one of the WHL Playoffs, the Portland Winterhawks hockey club made some big changes including the abrupt dismissal of head coach and GM Jamie Kompon. Kompon took over for Mike Johnston when he left the team to try his hand at the NHL level for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Johnston lasted just over a season in Steeltown before he was dismissed from the Penguins complete with a contract that would run until the summer of 2016.

This led to a ton of speculation that Johnston, who had handpicked Kompon as his replacement, would make the return back to the Rose City once it had been revealed that Kompon had indeed been let go. To add fuel to the fire, Bill Gallacher, who is the Winterhawks owner, would make a rare public appearance in Portland to announce the new hire. The Winterhawks had acknowledged that the successor would be handling both the coaching and general manager duties. A recent letter mailed out to season ticketholders stated that the Hawks were in the midst of a search that would take them to all levels of hockey and a decision would be made after all ends were exhausted.

Obviously, that search ended up being shorter than some may have thought. A press conference attended by owner Bill Gallacher and President Doug Piper confirmed what had been the world’s worst secret. Mike Johnston would be back in Portland as coach and GM, but would also add a third title, that of vice president to the club.

With the hockey schedule set to be released in some form in the next month and the recent WHL Bantam Draft having just taken place, the need to ensure a stable environment for both prospective and returning players is of utmost importance.

The Hawks aren’t the only team in a search for a new coach. Brad Ralph lasted just one season behind the Kelowna Rockets bench after taking over for Dan Lambert who headed to the pros following Ryan Huska getting the prompt from the Calgary Flames organization the year prior. It will be Kelowna’s fourth coach in succession as all since Huska have lasted just a season with the organization. Ralph had led the team to a matchup with Seattle Thunderbirds for the Western Conference title, but bowed out in a sweep. To the Rockets credit, injuries that haunted them for the season including leading scorer Nick Merkley and goaltender Jackson Whistle along with a suspension at the start of the series with Seattle of captain Rodney Southam for two games which didn’t help the situation for the Rockets.

Back to the Winterhawks, the WHL Draft afforded the Hawks ten new prospects for the following season. Though the team is still under the sanctions handed down in 2012 which took first round picks for five seasons and a second rounder that had been traded to Red Deer in the Matt Dumba trade a couple seasons back, the Hawks still had picks from the third round on and used them to select eight Canadian players and two US players. Chosen players were: Reece Newkirk, Jason Chu, Kade Nolan, Evan Fradette, Connor Bowie, Callan Sandquist, Jayden Dureau, Kishaun Gervais, Judd Caulfield and Holden Kodak. Two of the players, Fradette and Sandquist, are goaltenders. Players will be evaluated at camp which should be toward the end of August and between now and then, there will be hopes of signing several to standard WHL Educational contracts.

While all this has been going on, the Western Hockey League has been running the playoffs as teams gear up for a shot in the Memorial Cup tournament. After Portland was eliminated by Everett, Seattle beat them to get a shot at Kelowna, who had beaten Victoria. Red Deer, who hosts the tournament this season, was ousted by Brandon in the Eastern Conference which put them up against Seattle for the WHL Championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup Tournament. Not since 1992 has Seattle been involved in the Memorial Cup and that time was as a host team. The Thunderbirds have never advanced this far in the playoffs since their inception in 1985, the closest being the third round in 2002-03.

Unlike the ease at which the Thunderbirds have had with their opponents thus far in the playoffs, they have struggled against the Brandon Wheat Kings. Brandon took the first two games at home by 3-2 overtime scores and followed it up with the same 3-2 overtime score in Kent, Washington to take a commanding lead in the series. However, Seattle wasn’t about to allow a sweep of the series especially at their home barn as they wiped out Brandon in a followup game 5-0 to give them a glimmer of hope as the series shifts back to Brandon for game 5.

Ice Chips: Former Hawks making the news include Brendan Burke, who was unable to finish his career in the WHL after being traded by Portland to Calgary who then dropped him from their team the following season. Making his way through the waiver wire, Burke ended up in London, Ontario where he joined the London Knights of the OHL. His success there this season culminated in the team capturing the OHL Championship and for Burke, his chance to be a part of the Memorial Cup.