Inside the CHL – WHL Schedule Kicks off on Friday
Wednesday September 17, 2014
By Aaron Bell
There’s a changing of the guard with the Portland Winterhawks, but most observers don’t expect that will have much of an impact on the ground-breaking success the team has enjoyed over the past four years.
The Winterhawks have played in the Western Hockey League final in four straight seasons and there’s every reason to believe that they will challenge to be there again this year.
But they’ll have to do it with a new man at the helm.
Jamie Kompon takes the reins as the Winterhawks new general manager and coach and knows that he has big shoes to fill. Former GM/coach Mike Johnston was hired to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins in the off-season after his incredible success with the Winterhawks.
“I’m not coming in here to make wholesale changes,” Kompon told The Oregonian. “You can’t argue with the success. I’ll tweak things, but I’ll let it evolve.”
The Winterhawks open the new season with another Western Conference banner raising ceremony on Friday at the MODA Center against the Seattle Thunderbirds. It’s one of seven games on the schedule as the WHL kicks off the 2014-15 season.
Kompon may be cut from the same cloth as Johnston. They coached together with the Los Angeles Kings from 2006-2008 and drove to the rink together every day.
There’s no doubt that Kompon is intending to pick up right where Johnston left off with the Winterhawks.
“Mike has put the blueprint in and the recipe for success,” said Kompon, who helped the Kings and Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. “I’m coming along to help foster that and continue to develop our program and continue to be a perennial powerhouse in the Western Hockey League.”
Kompon spent 17 seasons in the National Hockey League, most of them as an assistant coach, and understands what it takes for players to get to that level.
“My preparation and work ethic is going to help our players get ready for the next level and continue to foster and grow them,” Kompon said.
So far, his new players are responding to Kompon.
Oliver Bjorkstrand returns after a 50-goal, 109-point season and hopes to challenge for the WHL scoring title this year. He said that he expects things to be business as usual with the Winterhawks under Kompon.
“He seems like a similar coach (to Johnston),” Bjorkstrand said. “He has good experience. I’m sure there will be adjustments, but I think everyone is prepared for it.”
The rest of the WHL is getting prepared for it as well.
Every division in the WHL is competitive but the U.S. Division may be the strongest in the entire Canadian Hockey League. Last season, the Spokane Chiefs won 40 games and piled up 86 points and finished fourth out of five teams in the U.S. Division.
It’s likely to be just as competitive this season.
“I don’t think there’s going to be easy nights in the U.S. Division or, for that matter, the Western Conference,” Chiefs’ coach Don Nachbaur told the Spokesman-Review.
“I think the Portland Winterhawks are going to be strong. I think Everett’s improved. I like Seattle’s team. Tri(-City) is going to have most of their lineup back from last year.”
And every one of them will bring their A-Game every time they meet up against the Winterhawks. There are nine teams in the Western Conference that will do anything they can to keep the Winterhawks from becoming the first team in WHL history to play in five straight championship series.
By all accounts, the Winterhawks are ready for the challenge.
“Getting back to the final again would be almost unheard of,” veteran forward Dominic Turgeon said. “We really want to get there.”