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Portland Winterhawks
Portland Winterhawks logo 2021.svg
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 Kyle Gustafson
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)
Memorial Cup
2 (1983, 1998)
Conference Championships
5 (2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2023–24)
Current uniform
WHL-Uniform-POR.png

The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team from Portland, Oregon. Junior hockey teams are for talented young players who hope to play professionally one day. The team started in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings. They moved to Portland in 1976 and were called the Winter Hawks until 2009.

The Winterhawks play in the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL). This league is part of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The team has played in the WHL championship series 13 times. They won the Ed Chynoweth Cup three times and the Memorial Cup twice. The Winterhawks were the first American team to play in and win either of these championships. Their home games are played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Team History

The team began in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings. In 1966, they were one of the first teams in the Western Canada Junior Hockey League. In 1976, the team moved to Portland, Oregon. This made them the first American team in the league. Because of this, the league changed its name to the Western Hockey League. The Winterhawks' success helped other teams start in the Northwest United States.

In their first season in Portland, the team played an exhibition game against a Russian club. Over 5,000 fans watched the game. The Winterhawks continued their winning ways from their time in Edmonton. In their first eleven seasons in Portland, they only missed the playoffs once. They reached the league final five times.

Winning Championships

The Winterhawks won their first Ed Chynoweth Cup in 1982. They became the first American team to win the WHL championship. In 1983, they won the Memorial Cup. This was also a first for an American team. Even though they lost the WHL championship that year, they hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. This was a new idea at the time. The Winterhawks, with star players like Cam Neely and Mike Vernon, won the tournament. After their win, the league decided to keep the new tournament format.

The Winterhawks hosted the Memorial Cup again in 1986. In 1998, they won both the Ed Chynoweth Cup and their second Memorial Cup. Key players like Brenden Morrow and Marián Hossa helped them win. They beat the Guelph Storm 4–3 in overtime in the final game.

From 2011 to 2014, the Winterhawks played in four WHL championship series in a row. This was a rare achievement. They met the Edmonton Oil Kings in the league final three times during these years. The Winterhawks won one of these finals in 2013. This win sent them to their fifth Memorial Cup tournament, where they lost in the final.

Recent Years

In 2012, the WHL announced some penalties for the Winterhawks. The team had broken certain rules about player benefits. This meant they lost some draft picks and had to pay a fine. Their General Manager and Head Coach, Mike Johnston, was also suspended for the rest of the 2012–13 season.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team's owner had to sell the franchise due to financial reasons. New owners, Winterhawks Sports Group (WSG), took over in January 2021. WSG also bought the Winterhawks Skating Center and their junior hockey programs. Before the 2021–22 season, the team announced they would play all their home games at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They had previously split games between the Coliseum and the Moda Center since 1995.

In the 2023–24 season, the Winterhawks reached the championship final for the first time in ten years. They were defeated by the Moose Jaw Warriors in four games.

Team Look: Uniforms, Logos, and Mascot

Portland Winterhawks Logo
The Winterhawks logo from 1976 to 2021, which was similar to the Chicago Blackhawks' logo.

The team was known as the Winter Hawks until May 2009. Then, they announced they were removing the space in their name, becoming the Winterhawks.

When the team moved to Portland in 1976, they received old jerseys from the National Hockey League's Chicago Black Hawks. The Winterhawks used a similar design for almost 50 years. In 2021, with new owners, the team decided to change its look. This was partly due to discussions about sports teams using Native American images. On July 14, 2021, the team showed off their new colors and a new hawk logo.

The Winterhawks also retired their old bird mascot, Tom-A-Hawk, in 2019.

Championship Wins

Winterhawks 01-24-16 01
The Winterhawks playing against the Tri-City Americans in 2016.

The Portland Winterhawks have won several championships:

  • Memorial Cup (2): 1983, 1998
  • Ed Chynoweth Cup (3): 1982, 1998, 2013
  • Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (4): 1979–80, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2019–20 (This trophy is for the team with the best regular season record.)
  • Conference Champions (5): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2023–24
  • Division Playoff Champions (8): 1979, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2001
  • Regular Season Division Champions (15): 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2024

Memorial Cup Finals

The Winterhawks have played in three Memorial Cup finals:

  • 1983: Won, 8–3 against Oshawa Generals
  • 1998: Won, 4–3 (in overtime) against Guelph Storm
  • 2013: Lost, 4–6 against Halifax Mooseheads

WHL Championship Finals

The Winterhawks have played in the WHL Championship finals many times:

Season Records

This table shows the Winterhawks' performance each season. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Sven Bärtschi
Sven Baertschi played for the Winterhawks from 2010 to 2012.
Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1976–77 72 36 29 7 - 359 294 79 3rd West Lost semifinal
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 semifinal
1985–86 72 47 24 1 - 438 348 95 2nd West Lost West Division final
1986–87 72 47 23 2 - 439 355 96 2nd West Lost final
1987–88 72 24 45 3 - 328 449 51 6th West Did not qualify
1988–89 72 40 28 4 - 408 395 84 1st West Lost final
1989–90 72 24 45 3 - 322 426 51 5th West Did not qualify
1990–91 72 17 53 2 - 298 450 36 5th West Did not qualify
1991–92 72 31 37 4 - 314 342 66 5th West Lost West Division quarterfinal
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 semifinal
1995–96 72 30 39 3 - 283 301 63 6th West Lost West Division quarterfinal
1996–97 72 46 21 5 - 300 196 97 1st West Lost West Division quarterfinal
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 quarterfinal
1999–00 72 16 49 7 0 173 296 39 7th West Did not qualify
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 quarterfinal
2002–03 72 19 40 8 5 192 243 51 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2003–04 72 34 29 6 3 199 206 77 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2004–05 72 35 27 5 5 204 198 80 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2005–06 72 32 32 3 5 204 258 72 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2006–07 72 17 52 1 2 146 316 37 5th U.S. Did not qualify
2007–08 72 11 58 2 1 132 318 25 5th U.S. Did not qualify
2008–09 72 19 48 3 2 176 288 43 5th U.S. Did not qualify
Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
2009–10 72 44 25 2 1 266 241 91 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2010–11 72 50 19 0 3 303 227 103 1st U.S. Lost final
2011–12 72 49 19 3 1 328 229 102 2nd U.S. Lost final
2012–13 72 57 12 1 2 334 169 117 1st U.S. Won Championship; Lost Memorial Cup final
2013–14 72 54 13 2 3 338 207 113 1st U.S. Lost final
2014–15 72 43 23 2 4 287 237 92 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference final
2015–16 72 34 31 6 1 228 227 75 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2016–17 72 40 28 1 3 278 256 84 4th U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2017–18 72 44 22 1 5 274 214 94 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2018–19 68 40 22 3 3 258 210 86 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference quarterfinal
2019–20 63 45 11 3 4 270 164 97 1st U.S. Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 24 13 8 3 0 96 72 29 2nd U.S. No playoffs held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22 68 47 16 3 2 298 192 99 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2022–23 68 40 20 5 3 244 218 88 2nd U.S. Lost Western Conference semifinal
2023–24 68 48 15 4 1 330 204 101 1st U.S. Lost final
2024–25 68 36 28 3 1 261 269 76 3rd U.S. Lost Western Conference final

Players

Many talented players have been part of the Portland Winterhawks.

Hockey Hall of Fame Players

Four former Winterhawks players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. They are Mark Messier, Cam Neely, Marian Hossa, and Mike Vernon.

The Portland Winterhawks also have their own Hall of Fame for former players:

Portland Winter Hawks franchise Hall of Fame inductees
Hall of Fame players
Ken Hodge
Todd Robinson
Jim Benning
Dennis Holland
Cam Neely
Braydon Coburn
Brent Peterson
Glen Wesley
Andrew Ference
Grant Sasser
Marian Hossa
Randy Heath
Brenden Morrow
Ken Yaremchuk

Retired Jersey Numbers

The Winterhawks honor special players by retiring their jersey numbers. This means no other player on the team will wear that number again.

Portland Winterhawks retired numbers
No. Player Position Years Played Number Retired
21 Cam Neely RW 1982–1984 March 18, 2023

Players Who Played in the NHL

Many Portland Winterhawks players have gone on to play in the National Hockey League (NHL), the top professional hockey league.

  • Rodrigo Abols
  • Jim Agnew
  • Dave Archibald
  • Dave Babych
  • Wayne Babych
  • Sven Baertschi
  • Jozef Balej
  • Jeff Bandura
  • Dave Barr
  • Ryan Bast
  • Kieffer Bellows
  • Brian Benning
  • Jim Benning
  • Oliver Bjorkstrand
  • James Black
  • Joachim Blichfeld
  • Lonny Bohonos
  • Keith Brown
  • Luca Cagnoni
  • Dennis Cholowski
  • Nick Cicek
  • Braydon Coburn
  • Ed Cooper
  • Craig Cunningham
  • Brian Curran
  • Tony Currie
  • Byron Dafoe
  • Matt Davidson
  • Adam Deadmarsh
  • Chase De Leo
  • Jim Dobson
  • Brandon Dubinsky
  • Matt Dumba
  • Brent Fedyk
  • Andrew Ference
  • Ray Ferraro
  • Jeff Finley
  • Colin Forbes
  • Michael Funk
  • Joaquin Gage
  • Paul Gaustad
  • Rob Geale
  • Cody Glass
  • Josh Green
  • Jannik Hansen
  • Randy Heath
  • Adin Hill
  • Joel Hofer
  • Marcel Hossa
  • Marian Hossa
  • Dave Hoyda
  • Cale Hulse
  • Jamie Huscroft
  • Randy Ireland
  • Brad Isbister
  • Seth Jarvis
  • Ryan Johansen
  • Henri Jokiharju
  • Caleb Jones
  • Seth Jones
  • Jakub Klepis
  • Rob Klinkhammer
  • Steve Konowalchuk
  • John Kordic
  • Tyson Kozak
  • Richard Kromm
  • Jason LaBarbera
  • Scott Langkow
  • James Latos
  • Derek Laxdal
  • Doug Lecuyer
  • Taylor Leier
  • Brendan Leipsic
  • Jamie Linden
  • John Ludvig
  • David Mackey
  • Clint Malarchuk
  • Darrell May
  • Jason McBain
  • Frazer McLaren
  • Cody McLeod
  • Mark Messier
  • Brendan Mikkelson
  • Roy Mitchell
  • Brenden Morrow
  • Joe Morrow
  • Paul Mulvey
  • Brantt Myhres
  • Cam Neely
  • Scott Nichol
  • Nino Niederreiter
  • Gary Nylund
  • Josh Olson
  • Perry Pelensky
  • Nic Petan
  • Brent Peterson
  • Jim Playfair
  • Larry Playfair
  • Andrej Podkonicky
  • Ray Podloski
  • Derrick Pouliot
  • Nolan Pratt
  • Ty Rattie
  • Richie Regehr
  • Florent Robidoux
  • Jeff Rohlicek
  • Grant Sasser
  • Michael Sauer
  • Luca Sbisa
  • Dave Scatchard
  • Colton Sceviour
  • Jeff Sharples
  • Brandon Smith
  • Ryan Stewart
  • Joey Tetarenko
  • Mike Toal
  • Tim Tookey
  • Alfie Turcotte
  • Dominic Turgeon
  • Perry Turnbull
  • Randy Turnbull
  • Nick Vachon
  • Mike Vernon
  • Terry Virtue
  • Mickey Volcan
  • Gord Walker
  • Matt Walker
  • Blake Wesley
  • Glen Wesley
  • Jason Wiemer
  • Dan Woodley
  • Tyler Wotherspoon
  • Gary Yaremchuk
  • Ken Yaremchuk
  • Brad Zavisha
  • Richard Zednik

First Round NHL Draft Picks

These Winterhawks players were chosen in the first round of the NHL entry draft:

Team Records

During the 2012–13 season, Winterhawks captain Troy Rutkowski set a new team record. He played 351 regular games for the Winterhawks. This broke the old record of 328 games.

Career records
Statistic Player Total Years Played
Most goals Dennis Holland 179 1985–1989
Most assists Todd Robinson 325 1994–1999
Most points Todd Robinson 470 1994–1999
Most points, defenceman Brandon Smith 232 1989–1994
Most games played Troy Rutkowski 351 2008–2013
Most wins (goalie) Mac Carruth 117 2009–2013
Most shutouts (goalie) Mac Carruth 11 2009–2013
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