Breaking New Ground: A History of the Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup
By: Todd Vrooman
With the MasterCard Memorial Cup in full swing currently in Red Deer, we thought we’d take this opportunity to look back on the Winterhawks’ five appearances in the prestigious tournament, including the Hawks being a catalyst for the format that the tournament takes today.
1982
The Portland Winterhawks were the first American based team to ever compete for the Memorial Cup, having defeated the Kamloops Blazers, Seattle Breakers, and the Regina Pats en-route to the first WHL Championship in team history in 1982.
The Hawks were the top team in the West Division that season, recording 46 wins led by 17 year-old Ken Yaremchuk’s 58 goals and 157 points. Yaremchuk also led the team in scoring in the postseason, recording 31 points in 15 games. Brian “Bunny” Shaw was one of three 50 goal scorers that season for the Hawks, joining Yaremchuk and rookie Randy Heath. Shaw led the way in the postseason for the Hawks with 18 goals in 15 games.
The Hawks arrived at the then 3-team tournament with 9 rookies on their squad, and battled it out with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec League Champion Sherbrooke Castors. The three teams would play each other twice, with the top two teams meeting each other in the final. Each team beat each other once to finish the round robin with records of 2-2, but Portland were eliminated based off having the worst goal differential of the three teams. Kitchener would go on to defeat Sherbrooke in the final 7-4, led by that summer’s first overall NHL Draft selection Brian Bellows.
1983
The 1982-83 Hawks were led in scoring again by the dangerous tandem of Ken Yaremchuk and Randy Heath, who combined for 133 goals and 311 points that season. But, Portland added even more offense to the team that had won the WHL Championship the year before. Rookie and future Hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely fired home 56 goals that season, one of 6 Hawks to register 100 or more points that year.
The Hawks won the West Division for the second consecutive year, knocking off Seattle and the Victoria Cougars on their way. But the Hawks fell at the hands of the Lethbridge Broncos in the WHL final 4 games to 1. Portland, thanks to the host team format, were still entered into the Memorial Cup, a change that then-Winterhawks owner Brian Shaw was able to implement. Portland became the first American team to host a Memorial Cup.
There was controversy entering the tournament, as in those days the rules allowed each team in the Memorial Cup to use a goaltender from any team within their league. The WHL Champion Lethbridge had future NHLer Ken Wregget on their team but he was injured. Lethbridge wanted to bring fellow future NHLer Mike Vernon into the fold to replace Wregget, but Vernon chose to join the Winterhawks for the tournament, enraging Broncos coach John Chapman.
The new format saw each team play each other once in a round robin, with the top team earning a bye into the final while the 2nd and 3rd place teams would enter the semi-final. Lethbridge were eliminated in the round-robin, while the Hawks beat both the OHL champion Oshawa Generals and the QMJHL Champion Verdun Juniors en-route to a bye to the final.
Portland faced the OHL champion Oshawa Generals in the final, and in front of a sellout crowd on home-ice it would quickly turn into a rout. Cam Neely led the charge in the final with a hat-trick in an 8-3 win to earn the Hawks their first Memorial Cup title.
The Hawks were led in the tournament by Tournament MVP Alfie Turcotte, whileKen Yaremchuk and Randy Heath continued their strong seasons by being named to the tournament’s All-star team. The acquisition of Vernon proved pivotal as well, as he was named the Top Goaltender of the tournament.
1986
The Winterhawks once again hosted the Memorial Cup tournament in 1986, taking part in their third tournament in five seasons. The tournament was originally awarded to the New Westminster Bruins, however, with the 1986 World’s Fair also occurring in the Vancouver, BC area, it was determined there was no way logistically for New Westminster to host the event.
The WHL determined that the first place team on December 15th of teams with an arena large enough to host the tournament would host the event. That team turned out to be the Hawks, and the tournament came to the Rose City just three years after the Hawks had won it at the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum in 1983.
It was a star-studded affair when the tournament occurred, with Luc Robitaille of the QMJHL champion Hull Olympiques the headliner. The Hawks again had an offensive-minded team, led by 50+ goal men Ray Podloski and Dave Waldie, as well as future NHL star defenseman Glen Wesley on the blueline. The Hawks finished just two wins behind the Kamloops Blazers for tops in the West Division that season, and they were again bested by Kamloops in the WHL Playoffs.
So, when Portland faced Kamloops in the 1986 tie-breaker game, they had one last chance to defeat their biggest foe that season, led by Ken Hitchcock behind the bench. It was Kamloops however who would best the Hawks once again, led by Rob Brown they ended the Hawks’ season 8-1. Kamloops would lose to Robitaille’s Hull in the Semi-final, but none could beat the OHL champion Guelph Platers, who dumped Hull 6-2 in the final.
1998
The Winterhawks made their fourth appearance at the Memorial Cup tournament in 1998, their third time playing the tournament on American soil. This time, however, it was the Spokane Chiefs doing the hosting. The Hawks and Chiefs had been the fiercest of rivals all season, playing an epic 7 game series in the Western Conference Final. The Hawks prevailed in the classic series thanks to an Andrei Podkonicky goal early in the third, and would go on to sweep the Brandon Wheat Kings in the league championship series.
The Hawks entered the Memorial Cup with a roster full of talent. Future NHL stars Brendan Morrow, Marian Hossa, and Andrew Ference led the team to a then-franchise record 53 wins. Portland blitzed their way through the round-robin tournament with a perfect 3-0 record, earning a bye into the final.
The Hawks took on the Guelph Storm in the championship game, which became an instant classic. The Hawks lost their talisman Hossa to a knee injury in the third, and the game went to overtime tied at three. In the extra frame, Bobby Russell scored the championship-winning goal in one of the greatest finishes in Memorial Cup history to give the Winterhawks their second title in franchise history.
2013
The 2012-13 WHL Champion Winterhawks set a new franchise record with 57 wins in the regular season. With a potent offensive attack which boasted the league’s top-3 point producers in Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan, and Ty Rattie, the Hawks stormed through the WHL playoffs with a 16-5 record, earning the team’s third WHL championship in franchise history.
Portland was more than a potent offensive team, with a top-4 defense that featured Captain Troy Rutkowski alongside future NHLers Tyler Wotherspoon, Derrick Pouliot, and Seth Jones. 20 year-old Mac Carruth posted a sterling 2.06 GAA and .929 Save Percentage between the pipes.
The Hawks again played in a Memorial Cup hosted by the WHL as they headed to Saskatoon for the tournament. Portland played the QMJHL Champion Halifax Mooseheads first, with an epic back-and-forth affair going to the Mooseheads 7-4.
Portand rebounded with a win over the OHL Champion London Knights 6-3 in their second game, setting up a showdown with the host Saskatoon Blades in the final round robin game. The Hawks needed a win to guarantee a trip to the semifinal, and they earned a big 4-2 win to finish second in the round-robin.
The Hawks played the London Knights in the semifinal, and showed their gritty defensive ability with a 2-1 win. Ty Rattie, who set an all-time WHL record with 50 career WHL playoff goals, scored the winner in the third period and Carruth and the defense kept the OHL champion out.
The Hawks faced the Halifax Mooseheads again in the final, with the Mooseheads jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the first. Goals from Nic Petan and Seth Jones had the Hawks within one in the second, when Oliver Bjorkstrand rang a puck off the crossbar which would have tied the game headed into the third. Halifax extended their lead again in the third, before Brendan Leipsic and Ty Rattie scored to get the Hawks within one. But, Tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon capped off his hat-trick into the empty net to give the Mooseheads the victory 6-4.