2025 State of the Organization with owner Michael Kramer

The 2024-25 season was an incredible campaign for the Portland Winterhawks as the team played in back-to-back Western Conference Championships. Entering the playoffs as the No. 5 seed, Portland defeated the No. 4 Seed Prince George Cougars and the Scotty Munro Champion Everett Silvertips, both by winning Game 7 on the road.

Captain Kyle Chyzowski was named a Western Conference Finalist for WHL Player of the Year, and Tyson Jugnauth, who just signed his entry-level contract with the Seattle Kraken, won the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as WHL Defenseman of the Year, and Kyle McDonough was recognized for his work in the community as the WHL Humanitarian of the Year.

Off the ice, Portland was named a Western Conference Finalist for the WHL Business Award for the second consecutive season.

Every year since Michael Kramer became the owner of the Portland Winterhawks he’s sat down for an annual “State of the Organization” conversation with Josh Critzer.

Critzer and Kramer met again this year and spent 50 minutes talking through a variety of relevant topics. A transcript of their conversation is below and is in a Q&A format so fans can read the full quotes from the owner.

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Overall, how would you describe the current state of the organization? 

Kramer – I’m really proud of where the organization has come. We break it up into a couple of different components, one of which is the on-ice performance, an incredible run by an incredible group of players this year. I think the character of those players, obviously tied with their skill, really took us into a deep run. A run, frankly, I don’t think a lot of people saw us doing. Coming in as the fifth seed to knock off two of the best teams in the league, I think that really does go to the character of those players. So my hat’s off to them. Obviously, I’m excited about that. 

What many people don’t recognize, though, is all the stuff that goes behind that, selecting those players, nurturing those players, and growing with them. I think one of the things that we’re really proud of, I don’t know the exact statistics, but the majority of the players on this year’s team were basically homegrown Winterhawks. We are an organization that invests a lot of time, effort, and intellectual capital into the scouting and development of our players. We grow as an organization as those players become the true definition of what a Winterhawks player is. Behind that is a support system that is incredible. I’m really, really proud of what Mike (Johnston), Head Coach Kyle Gustafson, Lisa (Hollenbeck), Greg (Sampson), and everybody else have done to get us there. It is something that we are constantly thinking about. At the core of this is that we are here to develop these players both on and off the ice. 

The other thing that I would mention on our state as an organization is the fan engagement component of it. I’m really excited about the increased attendance, we still have some room to grow on that and will based on some of the exciting things that we have coming, but we had our best year average attendance-wise (over 5,000 per game) since I’ve been the owner.

So what does all of that mean to me? That means that our business staff is doing an incredible job and connecting with the community. At the end of the day, and I’ve always said this, I have the honor of being called the owner, but this is really Portland’s team. I’m reminded of that every time I walk through the halls of the VMC. All the fans have different suggestions and ideas. I said it on Day One: we want to be viewed as Portland’s favorite team. In order to do that, we need to earn it. I feel like we’ve done a good job of earning that so far, but frankly, I feel like we have a lot more room to continue to earn and build. This will be a focus for us going forward.

So all in all, when I look at the state of the organization from the business, community, and on-ice players, I’m excited. I think we’re going to have an incredible NHL Draft this year. I’m excited about seeing some of our boys being able to hear their names called this year’s draft in June.

I’m excited, but I’m cautiously optimistic and probably more focused on the future and where we’re going. I do think the best is yet to come.

What can you tell fans about the upcoming Veterans Memorial Coliseum renovations? 

Kramer – I would say first and start with, the VMC or Glass Palace, whatever we’re going to call it, is probably one of the most iconic buildings in all of major junior hockey. I’ve had the opportunity to get around and see games in a lot of different arenas. It is a really, really special building. It does need a facelift, though. 

I think this is, since it was built, the first major facelift that it is getting. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the City of Portland and Rip City for the work they’ve done with us and their efforts to get us to this point. 

Last summer was a big deal when we kicked off the renovations. Unfortunately, most of the fans didn’t get to see all the work that went in. Maybe you saw a renovated bathroom here or there. We probably got to see a lot more because it was sort of infrastructure, below the bowl, and other not frequently seen areas. This summer, we’re moving out of our offices at the end of May, and the construction workers are going to move in and start to drive this through to get us to opening night, where it is going to be a completely different-looking bowl. 

There’s going to be new, but fewer seats. That’s just a function of wanting wider, more spacious seats. We will also have things like loge boxes and some other luxury offerings. We are working on trying to build on and improve some of the VIP experiences for those interested in that. We will continue to work on the concourse. We have some really exciting fan-type experiences coming in that space. We’ve also been working on something that will likely have us be the first major junior club to implement and connect with fans. It is too early to announce that, but hopefully, knock on wood, we are going to have some pretty exciting stuff to display for our 50th Anniversary.

As exciting as all that is, and tying into our 50-Year Anniversary, and all the positive changes, it isn’t going to be all the changes fans want. It isn’t going to include all the changes I wanted, but I do believe we are taking some major, major steps forward as an organization. We will continue to look to see what we can do, along with the City of Portland and Rip City, to enhance the fan experience and make it exciting for people to come out and watch our games. 

The food service contracts came up, and they got renewed, so we’ve got new contracts through the whole campus. Hopefully we’ll see some positive changes there. I will say, it’s a very unique situation where we have two stadiums on the same campus. It is a very unique way to operate. Frankly, it has taken us some time, and I think we are getting there, but we feel like we have a really positive relationship with the city now. We also feel like we have a positive relationship with the Rip City, and I think they really do believe and are seeing the value of having the Winterhawks as their anchor tenant in the VMC. I repeatedly hear from them about how excited they get when there are big crowds, what those crowds sound like, and how those crowds get to come in and see this incredible building. 

Another thing we are doing with the building is inviting schools and young kids to come out and take them through the memorial components of the building. We want them to interact with the players and maybe let them get on the ice. We have classrooms that our players use, where we bring the kids in and use that as time to connect and have programming for them.

A lot is going on with the building, that is for sure.

How about the community side outside of Portland? I know you have Beaverton and Sherwood rinks under the umbrella as well. How is all of that going? 

Kramer – I think we are moving forward, and in a positive way. However, there are some ups and downs like there is with everything.

On that, the unfortunate part last year is we took over Sherwood probably at an inopportune time in the sense that we didn’t have the opportunity to sort of plan out the seasons. We are excited this year that we’ve had some runway to be able to make sure that it is smoother. 

It is really hard to please everybody in those facilities, but we’re trying. We are continuing to make a major push to sort of integrate all the positive things that we have at the Hawks with the community rinks so that we can get those coaches to have an impact in terms of the younger kids as they’re coming up. We’ve brought in new staff who are going to focus on the programming at the community rinks. We have a tendency to talk a lot about the hockey component of it, but it’s about all ice sports. It’s about the figure skating, it’s about the ice dancing, and hockey. What we want to do is expose more and more people to the benefits and excitement of ice sports.

I ask you every year about the league’s streaming service, and this year there was a major change with Victory+ coming on board at the start of the playoffs. How do you feel about Victory+ and the shift from CHL TV? 

Kramer – First, I’ll say I’ve got to give Commissioner Dan Near a big shout-out here. When he came in this year, he had a lot of goals, and one of those was to increase our media exposure and frankly, increase the accessibility of our games to fans. Dan and the league office spent an enormous amount of time hunting down and figuring out which way to go. They landed on Victory+, and brought them on right at the start of playoffs. That was a risky move, and we’re still getting feedback on it, but I feel it was a major success. 

I think the viewership this year on Victory+ versus last year on CHL TV was something like four or five times higher for our games. To me, that’s really exciting because not a lot of people sort of even knew what Victory+ was before our transition to them. We haven’t really had the opportunity to help fans, or even potential new fans, understand it.

I really do think that this is going to be an exciting step forward for us. The free-to-all is a really interesting model. Hopefully, fans will appreciate that watching our games online is now something they don’t have to pay for anymore. 

When you get onto the Victory+ app, one of the things that I found was how easy it was to navigate. It is probably much easier to navigate than some of the other services that are out there. I also think the quality of the production of our games was really good and a step up from before. 

I think you’re only going to see it get better, too. At the league level, there’s a couple of things that are happening. First, there is a push to get the bigger, broader audiences, because why not? We have one of the best forms of entertainment out there, watch our games and our players. Then I think there is also a big focus on making sure that every arena, and I know we’re focused on it, has the proper equipment to upgrade the picture quality and sound quality. 

We won’t be stagnant with it.

Can you elaborate on how you feel it will evolve? 

Kramer – Victory+ is a little bit in its infancy at this point. I think you’re going to see a much more professionalized product. There are conversations about what’s going to happen in intermissions. How do you use that time to provide valuable entertainment and insight to the fans to keep them engaged? 

Look at some of the other teams and leagues on the Victory+ platform. To put it in context, yes, we will be evolving, but this is the same platform that the Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, and Texas Rangers are using for their games and other content. Our goal is to drive in that direction.

What is your viewpoint on the WHL’s expansion to Penticton and likely Chilliwack in 2026? 

Kramer – We are excited and were in favor of the expansion. I’ve never been to Penticton, but I’m going there for the first time next month. I’m excited to see what the town is like and to meet the new owner there. He seems incredibly passionate and focused on making it as successful as possible there, which is great. 

I continue to believe we have an incredible product. The stories to which these kids bring to the table and their journey is like no other sport or league. I think with the expansion, more and more people will get to hear, experience, and get to see that. 

I was sad to see Marek (Schlenker) go in the WHL Expansion Draft. I wish him nothing but the best and thank him for the time here. It is sort of a natural byproduct, and we are going to experience it again if Chilliwack goes forward. 

One of the things that allowed for the league expansion is the expanding player pool. I think without the changes to the NCAA rulings where our players don’t lose their eligibility, people may have viewed expansion slightly differently. We do have a bigger player pool to pull from now. As good as the league has been in terms of high-quality players, I would expect that would only continue to grow here in the next several years. 

Speaking of the NCAA changes, how do you view the shift in the landscape? We may no longer see five-year players in Portland like we had with Kyle Chyzowski and Ryder Thompson. What about early departures before they are overagers? Do you see the league getting younger?  

Kramer – One of the things I’ll say is we were very, very fortunate this year in that Mike Johnston chose to step down from the bench and hand the head coaching job to Kyle Gustafson. When he chose to do that, besides taking on the role as president of the organization, one of the things that Mike and I talked about was that, besides being GM, he’s really going to focus on developing players.

We had, fortuitously, one of the best player development people out there this year in the form of Mike Johnston being able to go out and help us navigate this transition from last year to this year in terms of the NCAA.

That said, I think we’re still sort of trying to figure it all out, but I think we have a good handle on it.

From my standpoint, and you alluded to this, I believe the best of the best 16- to 18-year-olds are absolutely going to be coming to this league. I think you will see some of the players who were shying away from our league actually come now. I will tell you, just from a Portland standpoint, we have seen a really, really positive response from that age group. The real question then becomes, where do they go from there? 

I’ll speak from my perspective and from the Portland perspective, we believe that we are one of the best development teams in the world. We’re going to continue to be that, so we’re going to continue to evolve and get better and better every year. If we are going to get the best of the best players from 16 to 18, I think it really becomes incumbent upon me, our organization, to provide an environment that the 19 and 20-year-olds believe this is the right place for them to develop both as a player and as a person. However, there’s going to be departures; no question about it. Sometimes it’s the right thing for the kid, and we support that. Mike and I have spent a lot of time talking about these situations. 

What we’re going to do is try to develop the best organization we can and inform both the hockey side, the off-ice side, the educational side, working with the kids, working with their parents, and working with their agents to help them develop in all their different areas. Then, if it’s the right thing for a kid to move on, we’re going to be supportive of them.

What matters most to us first and foremost is what’s right by the kid and the player. We believe the offering we have, is to help these young guys learn how to be professional hockey players. We don’t think they’re coming here to use us as a stepping stone to the NCAA. We are going to develop these kids and help them achieve their hockey dreams.

How do you feel about expanding the number of import spots from two to three? 

Kramer – My view has always been that if we are the best development league in the world, we have to make ourselves available to the best players in the world. The European countries and federations have done a really good job of developing players, and you look at what percentage of NHL players drafted each year are coming from the various European countries, and it’s going up and up every year. 

I always viewed the two players as a restriction and a bit of a ceiling. Expanding to three will allow us to bring in another very high-quality player and develop him alongside our player pool. I feel this allows us to make sure that the best players are coming to our league. I’ve said several times that I don’t see why a really high percentage of all NHL draft picks in the top three or four rounds aren’t coming from the CHL. That is our goal, to be the best league in the world. In order to do that, we have to get the best players.

What do you view as the biggest strengths for the organization right now, and what is a potential headwind you’re facing? 

Kramer – I think the strengths continue to be the same strengths we’ve had before. It is the people within our organization and the passion within our organization. Everyone here has the desire to do what’s right by the players and help them develop as hockey players and young men. We also strive to continue to be viewed as a community jewel. We have to reach out to the community. I am so proud of what we do in terms of education, and that we provide these boys with the life skills. I’m so proud of the way we play, how hard we are to play on the ice, but then the characteristics that make them quality young men off the ice. I like to think we have the right environment here, and parents respect that we develop our players over time. 

Look at our captain this year with Kyle Chyzowski. What a character player that guy is. Obviously, he’s very skilled on the ice, and we couldn’t have asked for more out of him in terms of his on-ice behavior, but what fans don’t get to see is all the off-ice stuff he brings. He is the perfect example of what it means to be a Winterhawk. I think we can stand up and be really proud of who Kyle Chyzowski is and how he grew up as a young man.

What are our challenges? There are challenges everywhere we go! I think the challenge is how to build on what we already have. How do we build on the strengths that we have and make them bigger strengths? How do we sort of continue to innovate and provide more value, a better experience for fans and our community? I talk with Jeff McGillis (Winterhawks Chief Operating Officer) on a regular basis, and I probably drive him absolutely nuts because we are always talking about what if we try this or what if we try that? If he took everything that we’ve talked about, he’d have 18 pages of to-do lists. 

The challenge is to continue to just get better, and we have to do that. We will be enhancing the facility and will have to enhance the way we recruit and retain players. We are working to evolve the game experience so that our fans are excited to come to our games. We are working on ways to make Victory+ even better so fans who can’t come to the arena still have a positive experience with our games. 

With the 50-Year Anniversary, there are going to be a lot of other fun opportunities. Stuff will start to leak out, but there’s gonna be new looks, celebrations, honoring our history, announcing the top 50 Winterhawks of all time, and so much more. We have a great history in this organization. 

Is there anything else we didn’t cover that you’d like to share with fans about the state of the organization? 

Kramer – I’ll say again, a big thank you to all the fans. We can’t do it without you, and we wouldn’t do it without you. We are hugely appreciative of all the emotions, excitement, energy, time, and effort fans put into the organization supporting our players.

I know when talking to the players the fan engagement is a huge motivator to them. When I’m in town, the boys will ask me how many fans are coming to the game. They love playing in front of big crowds. When you speak to them, they can hear the energy on the ice, and it helps them play better. The fans are hugely important to what we’re doing. I also hear from a lot of other teams about our fans, which is great in two ways. One, we hear about how passionate they are, but we also hear about how compassionate they are.

I have to give our fans credit, when you go to some other areas, it can be a little hostile. I don’t think our fans are hostile. I think they’re incredibly passionate about our team and our players, but at the same time, are also respectful of the game and that the visiting fans are just doing the same for their team. It feels like our fans treat visiting fans with respect, which I feel sends a great message about who we are in Portland.

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