The Portland Winterhawks will be searching for two new scouts after they both were picked up in the NHL.
Josh Dye, who was the US Director of Scouting and Player Development, was picked up by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Josh will be headed to Minnesota after ten years with the Winterhawks from 2006-13 and again from 20016-19 where he assisted in landing players both in the US and Europe teams. Dye was one of the most approachable people on the scouting staff and his loss will be huge for the Hawks.
Erik Fink is the other scout who will move on to the NHL, joining the Carolina Hurricanes. Fink was able to work his magic with many Minnesota players like Kieffer Bellows, Keegan Iverson, Paul Bittner, Jack Dougherty and Clay Hanus. Erik was based in Minnesota, had access to a multitude of great players who had a huge impact on the Winterhawks.
Since the new ownership of Bill Gallacher in 2009, the Winterhawks have seen many of their staff move into bigger roles in both the National Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. Mike Johnston is the Coach, General Manager and Vice President of the Winterhawks and was the coach of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins; Travis Green was picked up by the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League and is now the Head Coach of the NHL Vancouver Canucks; Karl Taylor was a scout for the Winterhawks and is now the Head Coach for the American Hockey League Milwaukee Admirals.
Further, Danny Flynn, who was an assistant coach with the Winterhawks after spending time in all three Canadian Hockey Leagues, is now a scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets; Eric Doyle, who had played for the Winterhawks, moved into scouting with the Hawks when his playing career ended and now scouts for the New York Rangers; Bobby Strumm, who had been with the Hawks for many years, landed a spot as a scout for the Ottawa Senators.
Three employees of the Portland Winterhawks—Matt Bardsley (Kamloops) Grant Armstrong (Brandon) and Gary Davidson—have all become General Managers in the WHL.
The Winterhawks continue to lead all teams in creating top-notch talent in every capacity from players to coaches. While no dates or times have been set yet, training camp looks to be the week of August 19 through 25, at which time the team will divest itself of almost all of the 15-year-old players except a couple who will play in the Tri-City Tournament and may play in the Everett tournament, though probably would be doing so sparingly.
