Portland Winterhawks facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Portland Winterhawks
City	Portland, Oregon
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	U.S.
Founded	1950
Home arena	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Colors	Biscuit black, buzzer red, squall gray, celly gold, ice white
General manager	Mike Johnston
Head coach	Mike Johnston
Franchise history
1950–1976	Edmonton Oil Kings
1976–2009	Portland Winter Hawks
2009–present	Portland Winterhawks
Championships
Regular season titles	4 (1979–80, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2019–20)
Playoff championships	Ed Chynoweth Cup 3 (1982, 1998, 2013) Conference Championships 4 (2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14) Memorial Cup 2 (1983, 1998)

The Portland Winterhawks are a 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). Prior to the 2021–22 season, the Winterhawks split their home games between the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Moda Center, which they shared with the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Winterhawks have won the Ed Chynoweth Cup three times and the Memorial Cup twice in five appearances. The team has been in Portland since 1976–77.

History

The Winterhawks logo from 1976 to 2021

The Winterhawks were founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings. The franchise moved to Portland on June 11, 1976. The team, owned by Brian C. Shaw, made the move citing a much cheaper stadium deal in Portland along with low attendance due to the presence of a professional team in Edmonton. In their first season in Portland, the club would lose 7–2 to a travelling Russian club in an exhibition match watched by more than 5,000.

Sven Baertschi previously played for the Winterhawks.

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 2012–13 season, including the 2013 WHL playoffs.

On May 12, 2013, the Winterhawks defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5–1 in Game 6 to become the 2012–13 WHL champions. On April 25, 2014, the Winterhawks defeated the Kelowna Rockets 7–3 to win their fourth-consecutive Western Conference Championship.

The franchise filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon. The Winterhawks were financially stable, but owner Bill Gallacher had to sell the franchise in order to repay other debts.

The WHL Board of Governors has approved Winterhawks Sports Group (WSG) as the new owners of the Portland Winterhawks franchise, effective January 1, 2021. WSG is led by Michael Kramer and Kerry Preete, who will also be the managing partners. Along with the Winterhawks franchise, WSG has also acquired the operations of the Winterhawks Skating Center in Beaverton, OR and all Winterhawks Junior Hockey programs.

Prior to the start of the 2021-22 WHL season, the Winterhawks ownership announced the team would be returning to the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum full-time.

Uniforms, logos and mascot

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.

Portland Winterhawks vs. Tri-City Americans, January 24, 2016

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. Tom-A-Hawk announced in January 2019 that he would retire from injuries.

On July 14, 2021, the Winterhawks announced their new identity and that they would be moving from the similar looking Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL logo, to a "Winterhawk". The Winterhawks organization partnered with local apparel company Portland Gear on the rebranding to help create the new primary logos, secondary logos, as well as the word marks.

Championships

• Memorial Cup (2): 1982–83, 1997–98
• President's Cup (3): 1981–82, 1997–98, 2012–13
• Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (4): 1979–80, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2019–20
• Conference Champions (6): 1997–98, 2000–01, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
• Division Playoff Champions (6): 1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1992–93
• Regular Season Division Champions (15): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2019–20, 2023–24

WHL Championship history

• 1978–79: Loss, 2–4 vs Brandon
• 1981–82: Win, 4–1 vs Regina
• 1982-83: Loss, 1–4 vs Lethbridge
• 1986-87: Loss, 3–4 vs Medicine Hat
• 1988–89: Loss, 0–4 vs Swift Current
• 1992–93: Loss, 3–4 vs Swift Current
• 1997–98: Win, 4–0 vs Brandon
• 2000–01: Loss, 1–4 vs Red Deer
• 2010–11: Loss, 1–4 vs Kootenay
• 2011–12: Loss, 3–4 vs Edmonton
• 2012–13: Win, 4–2 vs Edmonton
• 2013–14: 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

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

Players

Current roster

Updated March 30, 2024.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Drafted
26	Czech Republic	Alscher, MarekMarek Alscher	2.0 D	R	20	2021	Kladno, Czech Republic	2022, 93rd Overall, FLA
90	Canada	Buttazzoni, DiegoDiego Buttazzoni	4.0 C	L	18	2022	Langley, British Columbia	Eligible 2024
73	Canada	Cagnoni, LucaLuca Cagnoni	2.0 D	L	19	2020	Burnaby, British Columbia	2023, 123rd Overall, SJS
19	Canada	Chyzowski, KyleKyle Chyzowski (A)	4.0 C	L	20	2019	Surrey, British Columbia	Undrafted
89	Canada	Danielson, NateNate Danielson	4.0 C	R	20	2024	Red Deer, Alberta	2023, 9th Overall, DET
29	Canada	Darby, HudsonHudson Darby	7.0 RW	R	17	2021	Swift Current, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2025
71	Canada	Davies, JoshuaJoshua Davies	4.0 C	L	20	2023	Airdrie, Alberta	2022, 186th Overall, FLA
8	Canada	Jockims, BraedenBraeden Jockims	7.0 RW	R	19	2023	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
27	Canada	Jugnauth, TysonTyson Jugnauth	2.0 D	L	20	2023	Toronto, Ontario	2022, 100th Overall, SEA
16	Canada	Klassen, GabeGabe Klassen (C)	6.0 LW	L	21	2018	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
34	Canada	Maric, JustenJusten Maric	1.0 G	L	20	2023	Edmonton, Alberta	Undrafted
4	Canada	Massey, CohenCohen Massey	2.0 D	L	18	2021	Cloverdale, British Columbia	Eligible 2024
18	Canada	McDonough, KyleKyle McDonough	4.0 C	L	17	2022	Langdon, Alberta	Eligible 2025
23	Canada	Miller, RyanRyan Miller	7.0 RW	L	17	2022	Medicine Hat, Alberta	Eligible 2025
2	Canada	Mori, JoshJosh Mori	2.0 D	L	20	2019	Richmond, British Columbia	Undrafted
72	Canada	Nguyen, MarcusMarcus Nguyen	7.0 RW	R	20	2019	Calgary, Alberta	Undrafted
92	United States	O'Brien, JackJack O'Brien (A)	4.0 C	L	21	2018	Denver, Colorado	Undrafted
59	Canada	Sotheran, CarterCarter Sotheran	2.0 D	R	19	2020	Sanford, Manitoba	2023, 135th Overall, PHI
31	Czechia	Špunar, JanJan Špunar	1.0 G	L	20	2022	Olomouc, Czech Republic	Undrafted
13	United States	Stefan, JamesJames Stefan	7.0 RW	R	21	2018	Laguna Beach, California	2024, FA, EDM
91	Canada	Thompson, AlexAlex Thompson	2.0 D	R	18	2021	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Eligible 2024
43	Canada	Thompson, RyderRyder Thompson (A)	2.0 D	L	20	2019	Russell, Manitoba	Undrafted
39	Canada	Yaremko, TysonTyson Yaremko	7.0 RW	L	19	2023	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Undrafted
28	Canada	Zakreski, JoshJosh Zakreski	6.0 LW	R	18	2020	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Eligible 2024

Hall of Famers

Four former Portland Winter Hawks alumni are inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame (Mark Messier, Cam Neely, Marian Hossa, Mike Vernon).

This is a list of former players inducted into the Portland Winter Hawks franchise Hall of Fame.

Retired numbers

NHL alumni

List of Portland Winterhawks alumni who have graduated to play in the National Hockey League.

First round draft picks

Players chosen in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft:

Team records

During the 2012–13 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 1998–99 season.