Winterhawks Hall of Fame Quotables: Jim Benning and Braydon Coburn

The Portland Winterhawks are thrilled to induct Jim Benning and Braydon Coburn into the Winterhawks Hall of Fame this Sunday, March 9, at 4:00 p.m. PST at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Prior to the event, we sat down with Benning and Coburn to reflect on their time in Portland and hear what this Hall of Fame honor means to them.

 

First up, we met with Jim Benning.

How special of a night is this going to be for you and your family on Sunday?

Jim Benning: “It’s a great honor for me and my family. I was down at my grandson’s game in Medford and Mike (Johnston) gave me a call and told me I was selected to go into the Winterhawks Hall of Fame so it’s really exciting to be recognized for doing good work while I was here and for my whole family now.”

How did your time in Portland set you up for your career?

Benning: “I learned a lot. When I came down here it was the third and fourth years that the Portland Winterhawks had come down from Edmonton but they were run like a pro franchise. Brian Shaw, Ken Hodge, and Wayne Meier, they ran it like an NHL franchise and the fans were terrific. We sold out a lot of games, and we had a really good team, especially my second year. So it was a great experience at the time and then from what I took from playing here and going to the pros and playing in the NHL I already had been part of that environment and the culture of a pro team and so it was an easy adjustment to the pros. 

I took a lot of the lessons that I learned from those Winterhawks teams. Ken Hodge was a really good coach and he valued every player on the team whether you were a skilled player, whether you were a physical, stay at home defenseman, whether you were a penalty killer, and he made sure and understood what each player could do and the fourth line guy on the team felt as important as the best players on the team. To have a good team, everybody’s important and everybody needs to contribute to winning and the teams that win the Stanley Cup or win the WHL are usually the deepest teams. They have four good lines, good defense, and two good goalies.”

What would you say to the fans who are coming out to support you on the big night?

Benning: “Well, I thank them. They’ve obviously been fans for a long time and the Winterhawks fans are the greatest in the league. When I came into the league they were loud and like I said we sold out a lot of games and they give the team that extra energy they need to play and to do well at home and so the Winterhawks fans are the greatest. And that’s one of the best memories I have of playing with the team.”

 

Next, we spoke with Braydon Coburn.

How special of a moment is it for you to be inducted into the Winterhawks Hall of Fame?

Braydon Coburn: “Well, it’s special for a bunch of different reasons and the one reason especially is because the Portland Winterhawks are a historic junior hockey franchise. There have been so many unbelievable NHL players that have come through this organization so for me to be included and being mentioned with those guys is just a real honor and it’s something that was just so special for me.

Portland is where everything really changed for me. I went from just being a small town Saskatchewan kid to really growing up in Portland and learning so many valuable lessons and meeting so many unbelievable people that set the table for me in my professional career. And I really, really cherish those years that I had.”

If you were to have a moment to talk to the team, what would you say to the Winterhawks that are in there right now?

Coburn: “The thing I would say to those guys is cherish your teammates. This is an amazing time in your life. You’re playing hockey at this high level, this junior hockey level, and it’s an amazing thing, but the guys in the room, the brotherhood that you guys have, the relationships of the people and pulling towards a common goal it’s just the most amazing thing and something that for me I look back and I think about all the great things that happened to me but at the end of the day it was the fact that I got to share them with my teammates. I would say cherish your buddies and cherish your teammates and junior hockey is just a special time.”

What would you like to say to the Portland fans?

Coburn: “Well, thank you. They’re the reason we get to do this and it’s just an amazing community. The hockey community is one of those communities that people lean back on and they say those are just good people. They’re watching us do our thing, and they’re supporting us and at the end of the day everywhere I’ve been I’ve always seen that people who support hockey are good people and Portland is kind of, for me, the gold standard for what it means to support hockey fans and players and there’s a reason this has been one of the most successful junior franchises in the Canadian Hockey League and it’s because of fans like they have in Portland.”

 

Be sure to be in your seat by 3:55 p.m. PST on Sunday so you don’t miss any of the pregame ceremonies.

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