| Portland Winterhawks | |
|---|---|
| City | Portland, Oregon |
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | U.S. |
| Founded | 1976–77 |
| Home arena | Memorial Coliseum Rose Garden |
| Colours | red, black and white |
| General manager | Mike Johnston |
| Head coach | Mike Johnston |
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Website www.winterhawks.com |
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| Franchise history | |
| 1951–1976 | Edmonton Oil Kings |
| 1976–2009 | Portland Winter Hawks |
| 2009–present | Portland Winterhawks |
The Portland Winterhawks are a major junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon, playing in the Western Hockey League, a member league in the Canadian Hockey League. They play their home games at the Memorial Coliseum, though typically a few games each season are also played in the neighboring Rose Garden. They are one of the most successful teams in terms of NHL alumni with Braydon Coburn, Adam Deadmarsh, Brandon Dubinsky, Andrew Ference, Paul Gaustad, Jannik Hansen, Marian Hossa, Brenden Morrow, Mike Vernon, Glen Wesley and Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Cam Neely among its 101 NHL alumni.
The Winterhawks have won the President's Cup twice, and the Memorial Cup twice in four appearances. The team has been in Portland since 1976–77 when the team moved from Edmonton, Alberta. While known as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team won the Memorial Cup twice and was runner-up seven times.
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Previous owner Brian Shaw was a pioneer in many aspects of Junior Hockey, not only moving a team to the United States for the first time, but also is credited with designing the current CHL championship format of the champion from each of the three leagues (WHL, OHL, and QMJHL) as well as a host-city team competing for the Memorial Cup. Portland won the Memorial Cup in 1983 and 1998.
The Winterhawks were also pioneers of promotion and are credited with the invention of the "Dash for Cash" where contestants are picked to run onto the ice and try to scoop up as many silver dollars in 2 minutes as they could. This popular promotion has been running for many years. Also, in late November/early December, they hold their annual teddy bear toss, 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 Seattle.
The Winterhawks wear jerseys similar to those of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, 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 even 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.
Over the past two decades, the Winterhawks have worn several unique alternate jerseys, one of which is black with a red and white Portland skyline and the word PORTLAND around the bottom hem. In recent years, they wore a white alternate jersey loosely based on a Montreal Canadiens jersey. Instead of the Canadiens' 'CH' logo, the jersey had the word PORTLAND in outlined letters across the front stripe, and the Canadiens' blue accents were replaced with black. Other special alternate jerseys have included annual tributes to the Portland Buckaroos, and jerseys with pink ribbons on the shoulders for breast cancer awareness.
In 2009-10, the Winterhawks introduced an alternate "Hawk Eyes" logo as part of a new, ultra-modern advertising campaign that featured lightning flashes on a mottled black background and the SMS-style words, "LOC8, NTMD8, DVST8" (read: "locate, intimidate, devastate"). In 2010-11, 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.
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 1999–2000. He wears jersey number 00. Tom-A-Hawk's main rival is Cool Bird of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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.[1][2]
Bill Gallacher, a Calgary businessman, purchased the team in October 2008.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Points | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1976–77 | 72 | 36 | 29 | 7 | - | 359 | 294 | 79 | 3rd West | Lost semi-final |
| 1977–78 | 72 | 41 | 20 | 11 | - | 361 | 296 | 93 | 1st West | Eliminated in West Division round robin |
| 1978–79 | 72 | 49 | 10 | 13 | - | 432 | 265 | 111 | 1st West | Lost final |
| 1979–80 | 72 | 53 | 18 | 1 | - | 398 | 293 | 107 | 1st West | Eliminated in West Division round robin |
| 1980–81 | 72 | 56 | 15 | 1 | - | 443 | 266 | 113 | 2nd West | Lost West Division final |
| 1981–82 | 72 | 46 | 24 | 2 | - | 380 | 323 | 94 | 1st West | Won championship |
| 1982–83 | 72 | 50 | 22 | 0 | - | 495 | 387 | 100 | 1st West | Lost final; Won Memorial Cup |
| 1983–84 | 72 | 33 | 39 | 0 | - | 430 | 449 | 66 | 3rd West | Lost West Division final |
| 1984–85 | 72 | 27 | 44 | 1 | - | 365 | 442 | 55 | 4th West | Lost West Division semi-final |
| 1985–86 | 72 | 47 | 24 | 1 | - | 438 | 348 | 95 | 2nd West | Lost West Division final; Memorial Cup host |
| 1986–87 | 72 | 47 | 23 | 2 | - | 439 | 355 | 96 | 2nd West | Lost final |
| 1987–88 | 72 | 24 | 45 | 3 | - | 328 | 449 | 51 | 6th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1988–89 | 72 | 40 | 28 | 4 | - | 408 | 395 | 84 | 1st West | Lost final |
| 1989–90 | 72 | 24 | 45 | 3 | - | 322 | 426 | 51 | 5th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1990–91 | 72 | 17 | 53 | 2 | - | 298 | 450 | 36 | 5th West | Out of playoffs |
| 1991–92 | 72 | 31 | 37 | 4 | - | 314 | 342 | 66 | 5th West | Lost West Division quarter-final |
| 1992–93 | 72 | 45 | 24 | 3 | - | 343 | 275 | 93 | 1st West | Lost final |
| 1993–94 | 72 | 49 | 22 | 1 | - | 392 | 260 | 99 | 2nd West | Lost West Division final |
| 1994–95 | 72 | 23 | 43 | 6 | - | 240 | 308 | 52 | 6th West | Lost West Division semi-final |
| 1995–96 | 72 | 30 | 39 | 3 | - | 283 | 301 | 63 | 6th West | Lost West Division quarter-final |
| 1996–97 | 72 | 46 | 21 | 5 | - | 300 | 196 | 97 | 1st West | Lost West Division quarter-final |
| 1997–98 | 72 | 53 | 14 | 5 | - | 342 | 203 | 111 | 1st West | Won championship and Memorial Cup |
| 1998–99 | 72 | 23 | 36 | 13 | - | 215 | 278 | 59 | 5th West | Lost West Division quarter-final |
| 1999–00 | 72 | 16 | 49 | 7 | 0 | 173 | 296 | 39 | 7th West | Out of playoffs |
| 2000–01 | 72 | 37 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 254 | 237 | 82 | 2nd West | Lost final |
| 2001–02 | 72 | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 269 | 243 | 83 | 1st U.S. | Lost Western Conference quarter-final |
| 2002–03 | 72 | 19 | 40 | 8 | 5 | 192 | 243 | 51 | 3rd U.S. | Lost Western Conference quarter-final |
| 2003–04 | 72 | 34 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 199 | 206 | 77 | 2nd U.S. | Lost Western Conference quarter-final |
| 2004–05 | 72 | 35 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 204 | 198 | 80 | 2nd U.S. | Lost Western Conference quarter-final |
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GF | GA | Points | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2005–06 | 72 | 32 | 32 | 3 | 5 | 204 | 258 | 72 | 3rd U.S. | Lost Western Conference semi-final |
| 2006–07 | 72 | 17 | 52 | 1 | 2 | 146 | 316 | 37 | 5th U.S. | Out of playoffs |
| 2007–08 | 72 | 11 | 58 | 2 | 1 | 132 | 318 | 25 | 5th U.S. | Out of playoffs |
| 2008–09 | 72 | 19 | 48 | 3 | 2 | 176 | 288 | 43 | 5th U.S. | Out of playoffs |
| 2009–10 | 72 | 44 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 266 | 241 | 91 | 4th U.S. | Lost Western Conference semi-final |
| 2010–11 | 72 | 50 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 303 | 227 | 103 | 1st U.S. | Lost final |
| Team records for a single season | ||
| Statistic | Total | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Most points | 113 | 1980–81 |
| Most wins | 56 | 1980–81 |
| Most goals for | 495 | 1982–83 |
| Least goals for | 146 | 2006–07 |
| Least goals against | 196 | 1996–97 |
| Most goals against | 450 | 1990–91 |
| Individual player records for a single season | |||
| Statistic | Player | Total | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most goals | Randy Heath; Dennis Holland | 82 | 1982–83; 1988–89 |
| Most assists | Jim Benning | 111 | 1980–81 |
| Most points | Dennis Holland | 167 | 1988–89 |
| Most points, rookie | Cam Neely | 120 | 1982–83 |
| Most points, defenceman | Jim Benning | 139 | 1980–81 |
| Best GAA (Goalie) | Blake Grenier | 2.06 | 2004–05 |
| Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played | |||
List of Portland Winterhawks alumni who have graduated to play in the National Hockey League.
bold = member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
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| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| East Division | Brandon Wheat Kings · Moose Jaw Warriors · Prince Albert Raiders · Regina Pats · Saskatoon Blades · Swift Current Broncos | B.C. Division | Kamloops Blazers · Kelowna Rockets · Prince George Cougars · Vancouver Giants · Victoria Royals |
| Central Division | Calgary Hitmen · Edmonton Oil Kings · Kootenay Ice · Lethbridge Hurricanes · Medicine Hat Tigers · Red Deer Rebels | U.S. Division | Everett Silvertips · Portland Winterhawks · Seattle Thunderbirds · Spokane Chiefs · Tri-City Americans |
| CHL: Memorial Cup · Ed Chynoweth Cup · History · Seasons · Awards · OHL · QMJHL | |||
| Category · Portal · Project | |||
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