WHL Portland Winterhawks

WHL Community Collective: Portland Winterhawks

July 13, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Western Hockey League strives to promote and foster a welcoming community across our 22 clubs scattered throughout Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Every team is given the creative freedom to allow their players and staff to work with the organizations and groups that they are most passionate towards. The end goal is to create and maintain long-lasting relationships and ongoing partnerships within their community.

Through the WHL Community Collective we aim to highlight these outstanding initiatives done by each club over the course of the year.

This is what the Portland Winterhawks' #WHLCommunity looked like this season:

The Portland Winterhawks were all about empowering and inspiring local youth when they hosted - for the first time in franchise history - a Kid's Day event during a home game in January.

With the help of their partners, First Tee, a youth development organization that teaches kids how to build and maintain a strong sense of character through sports, the Winterhawks were able to give attending youth a fun and educational day inside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (VMC).

Along with an entertaining hockey game, which saw the Winterhawks defeat their U.S. Division rivals, the Spokane Chiefs, 6-1, the young spectators and their families were able to check out several hands-on, educational booths that were propped up throughout the concourse.

The Oregon Zoo, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, First Tee, and Skyhawks Sports Academy all made appearances during the event.

In the intermissions and between stoppages in play, kids were also treated to trivia games and other in-game activities.

It wasn't only the seats at the VMC that were overrun by the next gen, either. The Winterhawks' gameday staff for the matinee match also looked a little fresh faced.

As a part of the Winterhawks' Kid's Day event, the Club's social media logos and graphics were changed to art designed by kids while the public address announcer was assisted by a local student for the entirety of the game.

But, it would be Brittney from First Tee who stole the show in January.

The First Tee representative fired up the Winterhawks players by reading out their starting lineup prior to puck drop against the Chiefs - and did superbly.

So much so, that following the big win at home, Winterhawks' captain Gabe Klassen gifted Brittany with the game puck while lauding her talent for hyping the team up.

"The guys just wanted to say thank you for your inspiring words to start the game and how you pumped them up," Mike Johnston, senior vice president, general manager, and head coach for the Winterhawks, said to Brittney after the game.

Capping off a memorable afternoon in the same way it started, Brittney left the team with a final message.

"Good game. I think it was really fun!"

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from July 13, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central