WHL HEADLINES

Mighty Ducks Sign Brett Festerling – The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed defenseman Brett Festerling to a three-year entry-level contract. Per club policy, no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
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rFesterling, 19, split the 2004-05 season between Tri-City and Vancouver of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Beginning the season in Tri-City, he posted 3 goals and 14 points in 33 games, and added 2 goals and 6 points in 32 regular season games with Vancouver. The 6’0, 180-pound blueliner also appeared in five postseason games with Vancouver, going scoreless.
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rA native of Quesnel, British Columbia, Festerling has appeared in four WHL seasons, earning 9 goals and 41 points in 177 games.
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rWinter Hawks Hire Local Training Company
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rPortland, OR – The Portland Winter Hawks have hired Going Vertical, a Beaverton-based training firm, to conduct a comprehensive training program of all of its players.
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r“This is something we have always wanted to do, but we have never found the right situation until we were approached by Going Vertical,â€? said Winter Hawks’ assistant coach Brian Pellerin. “When the owner, Doug Fah (FAY) made his presentation for an overall training program for our players, it was exactly what we had been looking for. When he listed the other athletes his company has trained, we quickly became very interested and decided to make this happen. We are very impressed that they can identify each player’s individual needs and develop a special program to address those needs.â€?
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rGoing Vertical trains athletes of all sports and abilities to improve overall athleticism using state-of-the-art equipment and drills at its facility located at 6240 SW Arctic Drive in Beaverton. Other athletes that have been trained by Going Vertical include Paul Gaustad of the NHL Buffalo Sabres, Earl Cochran, a former NFL player with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, and Scott Benedetti and Fadi Afash of the Portland Timbers. Going Vertical has trained numerous Division I soccer, football, basketball and lacrosse athletes at Stanford, University of Oregon, the University of Notre Dame and other schools. Going Vertical trains a large umber of all-league and all-state high school athletes, including some teams such as the 2004 Lakeridge Pacer Boys 4A Soccer State Champions, Going Vertical’s head trainer, Kyle Lunde, will be personally training the Hawks. Kyle’s specific training for the Hawks will concentrate on multi-directional quickness and explosiveness along with overall strength and core strength.
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r“Although our main focus is the junior high through college athlete, the fact that elite athletes appreciate and utilize our facility and procedures gives added creditability to our training methods,â€? said Fah. “We are very excited to have been selected by the Portland Winter Hawks as their speed, agility and power trainers.â€?
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