Portland Winterhawks captain Kyle Chyzowski leaps in celebration with alternate captain Tyson Jugnauth following a shorthanded goal at Veterans Memorial Coliseum against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Nov. 22, 2024. Defenseman Kayd Ruedig (7) looks on with excitement.
Courtesy of Keith Dwiggins
The Portland Winterhawks junior ice hockey team is celebrating 50 years on the ice.
The Winterhawks play in the U.S. division of the Western Hockey League, which is one of the three leagues under the Canadian Hockey League. One of Portland’s oldest professional teams, the Winterhawks have won 15 divisional championships and 13 conference titles since their debut in 1975. More than 130 alumni have made the leap to play on teams in the National Hockey League, such as Mark Messier, Ray Ferraro and Marián Hossa.
Mike Johnston is the Winterhawks’ president and general manager, and he has also served as the team’s head coach, most recently from 2016 to 2024. He says unlike other sports, player recruitment starts at a much younger age.
“Basketball, football, they move up through high school then go on to college. We draft players at 14, turning 15,” he said. “They move away from home. They come to Portland. They live with a billet family.”
A billet family serves as a host for a player to stay with during the season. Winterhawk players also attend Sunset High School, juggling academic coursework with hockey practice and games.
Portland Winterhawks 2023 first-round selection Griffin Darby looks to collect a puck during the Nov. 29, 2024 game against the Kelowna Rockets.
Courtesy of Keith Dwiggins
Griffin Darby, who plays defense, is one of those players. He began skating at the age of three and is originally from Swift Current, Saskatchewan. His older brother, Hudson, was first drafted to the Winterhawks in 2021, two years before Griffin joined the team.
Darby says growing up watching the Broncos, their hometown team, inspired both him and his brother to become professional hockey players, even if that meant moving nearly a thousand miles away from home.
“It was something me and my brother have always wanted to do growing up,” he said. “I’m not really used to the big city, but I think having the support systems that Portland does, like the billet families, and being with the guys that are doing it for their first time too, it makes it a lot easier.”
Winterhawks captain Kyle Chyzowski celebrates a goal with his teammates after his second goal of the game, on Dec. 17 against the Spokane Chiefs.
Courtesy of Keith Dwiggins
Johnston has had a lengthy career in hockey coaching at the collegiate level as well as for the NHL, but says there’s nothing like working with players at the junior level.
“When you take young guys away from home at 16, and we see guys playing in the NHL … You see things like that and you’re just so proud of them. They’re like your kids,” he said.
The team was third in the division this season and playoffs began on Friday, marking Darby’s first experience in a Winterhawks Hockey League playoff game. He says skating on the rink at the Rose Quarter still feels like home, despite being a long way from Saskatchewan.
“The ice feels like it’s part of me, almost like something I know. So it’s really nice to come back to it every day.”
Johnston and Darby spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. You can listen to the full conversation here: