Neal: As much fun as I’ve had on this little journey, I’m sure one day I’ll look back on it and laugh.
Del: [giggles] Are you sure?
Neal: [starts chuckling] Oh God. I’m laughing already.
-Planes, Trains & Automobiles
The Winterhawks released their 2009-10 tentative schedule yesterday, and the opening month might resemble the epic adventure undertaken by Steve Martin and John Candy in their comedy classic.
Twelve of the team’s first 16 games will come on the road, including a seven-game trip that includes a swing through the Central Division. The good news is they get the big trip out of the way early. The bad news is, they’ll exhaust their DVD collections in the process. By December, their only remaining options might be Dane Cook’s movies, a fate no one should have to endure, no matter how long the bus ride.
Of course, if the team can make it through that stretch intact, it sets them up well for the remainder of the season. Six of their next seven after the Central swing come at home, as do three of their final four before the Christmas break.
Portland also has only four stretches of three games in three nights, compared to six last season. Just as importantly, they don’t have any after Jan.31, which will hopefully keep the team fresh during the stretch run, whereas last year they ended the season with three in a row.
All in all, the team is set up nicely for a playoff push with a home-heavy schedule after October and no three-games-in-three-nights after January.
Keep an eye on winterhawks.com this afternoon, as we’ll have the tentative 2009-10 schedule up soon…
Filed under: Winterhawks
My apologies for the unexpected hiatus. I was hit with a flu bug Thursday that knocked me out for two days, and I’ve been playing catch-up since.
Not much of substance to report on today, but there are a few things coming up. We’ve added some big names to the golf tournament, and you’ll be seeing the Hawks in the media a few times over the next week or so. I can’t get in much detail yet, but will keep you updated as things get solidified.
Keep an eye on winterhawks.com and this space for all the latest.
After a few weeks of putting it off, yesterday I spent some time organizing my e-mail folders. I know, it’s always a party.
I noticed that I was transferring a lot of entries into my press release folder, so I decided to count it up. In the last four weeks, beginning with the June 23 announcement of our home opener and preseason schedule, we’ve sent out 11 press releases and three media advisories.
What’s insane is that in the last month the 14 press releases/advisories are more than any month during the season (since I started in late November). There were eight apiece in December and January, seven in February and 12 in March.
Let it never be said there’s an off-season for the Winterhawks.
And while the flow of press releases will slow down a bit, we’ll still be in the news over the next few weeks. Today at 3:45, Head Coach/GM Mike Johnston will be live with John Strong on 95.5 The Game talking about the team’s offseason moves. We’re also working on booking some other appearances and interviews, and will keep you posted as those get confirmed.
On another note, spots are filling up fast in our inaugural golf tournament on August 10 (and that’s not an empty sales pitch, we really are close to capacity). Adding to the excitement is we’re very close to getting confirmation from a prominent ex-Hawk. I can’t name names yet, but he’d be a big addition. To sign up, call Andrea at 503-238-6366, ext. 10, or send her an e-mail at andreab@winterhawks.com.
Lastly, two weeks after buying it, I finally got around to listening to Pete Yorn’s new album last night (a broken CD player in the car and an open work area don’t allow for much CD time these days). I suppose my question is, would it kill him to throw in a few fast songs? I mean, it’s good, but come on Pete, kick it up a notch. We know you have it in you.
As you’ve no doubt seen by now, earlier today the Hawks announced that we have a new voice on the broadcast team: Todd Vrooman will be behind the mic (mike?) as radio analyst, taking over for new WAHA executive director Mark Ertle.
The Tribune wrote about the hire in today’s edition, while Andy has a nice welcome for Todd over at his blog.
Everyone at the Hawks is real excited about the hire, and we know Todd will do great. It’s one of many changes that have taken place this summer that should give fans reason to be excited for the 09-10 season.
-This week Jerry Moss and his floor hockey crew have been on a magical mystery tour through southern Oregon taking floor hockey to the communities of Coos Bay and Klamath Falls. You can see footage of yesterday’s stop in Coos Bay in this television report courtesy of KCBY.
-The NHL announced its 2009-10 schedule yesterday, and highlighting this year’s slate of games is the annual New Year’s Day Winter Classic. It’s set for Fenway Park this year with the Bruins and Flyers going head-to-head on the infield.
Former Hawk Braydon Coburn was in Boston for yesterday’s announcement, and nhl.com has an interview as well as a photo gallery from yesterday’s press conference.
Another former Winterhawk is on the move. Scott Nichol has signed with San Jose after spending the last four seasons with Nashville.
For those keeping score at home, the list of Hawks alumni moving to new NHL homes looks like this (old team in parenthesis):
-Marian Hossa, Chicago (Detroit)
-Jason LaBarbera, Phoenix (Vancouver)
-Michael Funk, Vancouver (Buffalo)
-Scott Nichol, San Jose (Nashville)
-Matt Walker, Tampa Bay (Chicago)
If you check out today’s KATU and KPTV newscasts, or listen to KEX you’ll see/hear coverage of the skating lesson the Winterhawks were running out at Valley Ice Arena today. We had over a dozen kids from Somalia out on the ice today, in some cases, the first time those kids had ever seen ice or been on skates. Make sure you check those out today.
Jerry Moss and his crew now hit the road to head to Coos Bay for a floor hockey clinic there tomorrow, followed by Klamath Falls on Thursday. They’ll also be heading to Salem next month. So far this summer the WAHA floor/ice hockey camps have been a huge success, having reached thousands of kids all around the region.
Meanwhile, there’s some discussion over on the message boards about the possibility of the team changing its logo and look for the upcoming season, and in the interest of clearing some things up, I can offer some insight.
Obviously, having dropped the space in Winterhawks and making it one word, it means updated wordmarks. We’ve also been using new fonts that you can see on the splash page at winterhawks.com.
The splash page also includes a photo of the new hat we’re giving away with group ticket sales. But that logo is not an “official” second logo, and won’t be appearing on any jerseys this season.
As for the website, there’s talk that the bronze look we’ve used on splash pages and in some sales and marketing collateral is a preview of what the new site will look like. To that I say: not necessarily.
The bronze is a look we’ve been experimenting with in a variety of ways, but given that we plan on having the new website for years to come, we decided not to tie ourselves to a look that could change next summer. The new site could end up incorporating some of those elements, but we’re creating a site with a look that we plan on having last for several seasons.
What is that look? You’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out.
Plenty of links to catch up with today, mostly centering around Brett Ponich. With the Blues’ prospect camp having wrapped up, Ponich seems to have made quite an impression on the staff in St. Louis.
In addition to the links we posted last week, there are plenty more today.
In this interview, Blues President John Davidson talks about Ponich at the 3:15 mark. In addition to Davidson, in this one, their Director of Scouting, Jarmo Kekalainan, gives Ponich rave reviews beginning at the 0:28 mark.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also has a few notes on Ponich here and here.
Meanwhile, the Winterhawks Amateur Hockey Association will be hitting the road this week for camps in Coos Bay and Klamath Falls. The World Newspaper in Coos Bay has a writeup here about the upcoming camp.
And while I didn’t have a chance to post about the three big signings we had last week, Andy Kemper posted his thoughts right here.
In alumni news, former Winterhawks defenseman Michael Funk is beginning to shake off the debilitating effects of post-concussion syndrome and has signed a contract with his hometown Vancouver Canucks.
**Entourage spoiler alert – if you didn’t watch the season premiere last night, don’t read any further**
Meanwhile, not sure if there are any Entourage fans out there, but interesting angle they took in the final scene when Vince came home to an empty house while the guys were all off doing their own thing. (Special props for using the Verve’s terrific song Lucky Man in the background during the scene.)
It will be interesting to see if they explore this dynamic, where the guys go from relying on Vince to bankroll their lifestyle to striking out on their own, and what that does to Vince.
Of course, knowing Entourage, they won’t bother taking it anywhere, and will settle instead on having nothing change. And yes, I’m still bitter about them not pursuing the Ari-as-studio-head storyline.
Filed under: NHL, Winterhawks | Tags: Brett Ponich, NHL, Riley Boychuk, Travis Ehrhardt, Winterhawks
When most 18 year-olds draw rave reviews from their boss during their first week on the job, it’s usually because they learned the proper amount of salt to put on the fries, or the right way to pump gas to avoid spillage.
Brett Ponich, on the other had, has the team president of the Blues rhapsodizing about him.
Blues president John Davidson was interviewed today following today’s prospects camp and when asked about Ponich, delivered a ringing endorsement of both his ability and character (that part starts at the 1:30 mark).
Along with Davidson, Ponich himself is also quoted in a notebook piece on the web site of stltoday.com, the daily St. Louis newspaper’s site.
It’s clearly been a great start for Ponich in his Blues debut at their prospects camp this week. If any more news on Ponich comes out of St. Louis, we’ll link to it here and on winterhawks.com.
Meanwhile, speaking of the main site, we have an interview today with one of Ponich’s off-season power skating partners, Riley Boychuk.
Boychuk will be a very interesting player to watch next season. The former first round pick’s WHL career didn’t start off as he would have hoped when double hip surgery essentially sunk his 2007-08 season. He wasn’t even able to start training last year until August, which is when camp started. As such, it took him longer than he would have liked to get a feel for the league last year.
But with health no longer a concern and a summer of intense power skating sessions under his belt, Boychuk’s combination of size, speed and skill could make him a breakout player this season.
We’ll have plenty of other interviews with Winterhawks players over the course of the summer.
**Update: Mlive.com has an interview with Travis Ehrhardt from the Red Wings’ prospect camp at the bottom of this blog entry.
Filed under: NHL, Winterhawks | Tags: NHL, Ryan Kerr, Travis Ehrhardt, Winterhawks
Just a few hours after I teased some changes on and off the ice, the afternoon exploded on us with two announcements about Winterhawks defensemen.
First, it was announced that the Detroit Red Wings had signed Travis Ehrhardt to a three-year entry level contract. What this means for Travis is a little unclear; he could end up with their AHL team in Grand Rapids, their ECHL team in Toledo, or possibly even back with the Winterhawks. Regardless, it’s a tremendous opportunity for him. To go undrafted and then land a contract with an elite organization like the Red Wings is no small achievement.
Meanwhile, another defenseman is on the move as Ryan Kerr has been dealt to Calgary for conditional draft pick.
So let’s assume for a second Ehrhardt isn’t back. These two moves open things up for a variety of people.
First, on the back end, it will afford some of the younger defensemen an opportunity at playing major roles next season. As of right now, five defensemen are slated to return: Troy Rutkowski, Joe Morrow, Brett Ponich, Daniel Johnston and Travis Bobbee, with Tyler Wotherspoon having a good chance at making the team. Had Ehrhardt and Kerr returned, two of those players would have likely been squeezed out, but now they’ll all be in a position to control their own destinies as far a playing time.
It also affects overages. With Kerr gone, Cornish likely not returning due to injuries and Ehrhardt possibly in Detroit’s system, all of a sudden the overage situation becomes much less murky. It will leave just Chris Francis, Radim Valchar, Stefan Schneider and Kurtis Mucha vying for three spots, pending other opportunities that arise for them or possible deals.
All told, it’s been an interesting day here, and will only become more intriguing when camp opens up next month.
The Hawks' Nest 