The Portland Winterhawks break camp with a runaway team winning the Neely Cup. At 6-2-1, team Babych dominated the field at the Neely Cup, an intersquad matchup of all players divided into four teams as equally as possible. With no goaltenders that had WHL experience and limited players of experience sprinkled into the four teams, the field was wide open and a chance for players to shine.
Babych roared out to a 3-0 start in their series with Team Ireland, who were relegated to fourth in the Cup, and from there, they coasted the rest of the way.
The Cup itself is more of a pride thing than anything else, but offers a tool for line pairings, strengths and weaknesses of players, and the ability to focus on players signed and drafted to see their progress.
With many players either drafted or invited, the roster was very thin, with most players being 15-17 years old, so it is likely to be a very young team again. While there will be cuts and reassignments, the vast majority are too young to play full-time with the team anyway, at most five games during the regular season, and have the potential to be on the bench during playoffs should the team get that far.
Next up are the “tournaments” Put in quotations as there is no actual tournament as all teams won’t face each other for an overall winner, but this is a great product to assess players, line combinations and goaltender progress. The Hawks will play two games in Everett, a single game in Spokane, and two more in Kennewick, leading up to the regular season, which begins in Prince George for the Hawks on September 19 and 20. In fact, the Hawks won’t call home base as such until nearly the end of October, with the renovations in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in full swing. Meanwhile, fans can watch the games via the VICTORY app.
The wrinkle, if there is one, is the recent purchase of the Portland Trail Blazers. The new owner has, among other teams in the fold, the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL.
Currently, the ice plant at the Rose Garden is not functioning, and it hasn’t been for several years. This is why all ice-related programs, such as Disney on Ice, are held at the Coliseum. With the renovations, the programs may remain there. The wrinkle would be if the new owner of the Blazers looks at a new building in the Rose Quarter and whether an ice plant would be part of it, in an attempt to lure an NHL franchise there. The significant cost to attend, plus whether Portland can support ice hockey franchises, is unknown.
Though soccer is succeeding, it did so at the removal of baseball, and is a success story with the Hillsboro Hops. The idea of Major League Baseball now being floated raises a big question mark about whether the city can support all these big-ticket items. The Portland Fire WNBA franchise appears to have strong support with deposits currently, but has also had a storied past, having been extinguished after a short run. Coupled with Arena Football a couple of times, roller hockey and other sports that had short lifespans, the guessing game as to whether all of these can survive and what effect it will have on existing groups.
Back to the Hawks, who made a trade coming out of camp. Eighteen-year-old forward Hudson Darby, who was thrilled to have his brother Griffin alongside the team, is going home as a member of the Swift Current Broncos. Coming Portland’s way is the rights to fifteen-year-old defenceman Easton Dorzak from the Broncos. Selected 13th overall in the US Priority Draft of 2025,, the already 6’1″ forward tallied 69 points almost equally balanced from goals to assists last season History has been on the Hawks side in gaining rights through trades and then signing them to their program.
The Hawks have listed 31 players, including four goaltenders, as their preseason roster. Three listed as twenty-year-old players are defenceman Carter Southern and forwards Tyson Yaremko and Alex Weiermair. The roster usually holds 23-24 players and sometimes as few as 22, so there will be attrition again, with at least two goaltenders on the block.
With the regular season just around the corner, excitement is in the air as hockey starts to take center stage with a pair of games this weekend in Everett.
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