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Anatomy of a Dynasty: The Portland Winterhawks

In PWH, Special Features on April 20, 2011 at 9:34 am

Somewhere along the way the Portland Winterhawks went from champions to unstoppable juggernaut. Somewhere along the way they became a dynasty.

They won the Gump Cup in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. And during those four best-of-seven championship series, they’ve lost exactly two games. They’ve dominated the GWMHL for nearly half a decade.

And it happened almost overnight.

So what turned a sub-.500 team into a league-leading force?

The answer, more or less, is trades. Trades, a little luck, and cojones the size of the state of Oregon.

Our analysis after the jump.

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2011 Mid-Season Free Agent Draft Results

In News, Transactions on March 6, 2011 at 5:02 pm

A handful of teams made use of the 2011 Mid-Season Free Agent draft to shore up their lineups – but the results will likely have no bearing on this year’s playoffs. Oregon got things started by adding solid defender Colin White, Altoona opted for vet presence with Owen Nolan, and Nashville took a flyer on minor leaguer Mike Santorelli.

Read on for the complete round-by-round results.

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2010-11 Season Hits Halfway Mark

In News on February 20, 2011 at 12:15 pm

The GWMHL has reached the midway point of its 2010-11 season, and although most of the top teams from last year are still competing for divisional crowns, including league-leading Salem (26-11-3), South Carolina, West Virginia, and Portland, some dark horses have emerged. Among them: the Baltimore Crab, with a strong 23-13-4 record and a real shot at a decent playoff position, and the St. Louis Blues, looking for revenge after last year’s first-round disappointment.

There’s no secret to Salem’s record: offense, offense, offense. They have the top powerplay in the league (28.9%, nearly 6% better than the next-closest team) and are being led by Patrick Marleau, who has already reached the 40-goal plateau.

South Carolina’s Evgeni Nabokov leads all the major goaltending categories as he looks to lead the Fire Ants into the post-season. See some of the key statistical leaders after the jump!

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Night Train Deal Niittymaki

In NAS, News, Transactions, VAN on January 17, 2011 at 10:22 am

The Vancouver Night Train have dealt goaltender Antero Niittymaki to the Nashville Knights. In exchange, the Night Train get Nashville’s third round rookie pick in 2011.

It was no surprise the Train shipped Niittymaki out, as he’d fallen to third on the depth chart behind the younger Pekka Rinne and Ondrej Pavelec. In fact, the only surprise is that Vancouver would trade him to a division rival in Nashville. But both teams are faltering this season, so it’s a low-risk move all around.

Marleau Breaks Single-Game Goal Record

In News, SAL on January 13, 2011 at 5:10 pm

Salem Wannabees forward Patrick Marleau etched his name in the GWMHL record books in a big way to open the season – scoring 8 goals in a single game. Marleau led the way in a 12-6 rout of El Dorado in a first-quarter matchup with a herculean performance that broke the long-standing GWMHL record of 7 once held by Eric Lindros. Marleau now leads the league in scoring with 21 goals and 36 points in 20 games.

St. Louis Leading The Way After First Quarter

In News, STL on January 10, 2011 at 10:59 am

With 20 games in the books, the St. Louis Blues lead the league with a 14-6-0 record. But a number of teams are close behind, including the surprising Baltimore Crab (12-5-3) and the less-surprising West Virginia River Rats (11-4-5).

Thanks to a single record-breaking game, Patrick Marleau of the Salem Wannabees leads the league in points (36 points, including 21 goals) but he’s followed closely by a couple of familiar faces, the Portland Winterhawks‘ Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk. Surprises so far? Oregon‘s Wojtek Wolski (32 points), St. Louis’ Jussi Jokinen (28 points), and Vancouver‘s Rene Bourque (18 goals).

Sterling‘s Tim Thomas is off to a red-hot start between the pipes, boasting a 1.79 GAA and .945 save percentage in 10 games. More impressive might be South Carolina netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who’s started all 20 games for the Fire Ants and already has 5 shutouts.

Depth But No Big Names in 2010 Free Agent Draft

In News, Transactions on November 8, 2010 at 10:55 am

Lots of depth players but no big names found new teams in the 2010 pre-season Free Agent Draft. Baltimore kicked things off by taking a flyer on winger PA Parenteau, but the rest of the draft was dominated by teams picking up backup and third-string goaltenders, including Mathieu Garon (Ice Harbor), Chris Osgood (Altoona), Michael Leighton (Nashville), Jason Labarbera (Boston), Johan Hedberg (Sterling), and Andrew Raycroft (St. Louis).

Round 1
1. BAL F PA Parenteau
2. IHS G Mathieu Garon
3. FFS F Rostislav Olesz
4. ALT G Chris Osgood
5. SAN F Scott Nichol
6. DEL F Tomas Kopecky
7. ORE F Brad Richardson
8. NAS G Michael Leighton
9. BOS G Jason Labarbera
10. EDH F Jesse Winchester
12. STE G Johan Hedberg
14. STL G Andrew Raycroft
15. SOU D Mike Mottau
19. DEL (from VAN) F Jeff Halpern
20. MID F Eric Nystrom

Round 2
23. FFS F Blair Betts
25. SAN F Adam Burish
28. NAS F Andreas Nodl
34. STL D Matt Carkner
35. SOU D Theo Peckham
40. MID F Chris Thorburn

Round 3
43. FFS D Brent Sopel
48. NAS D John Erskine

Round 4
68. NAS F Ryan Johnson

Round 5
88. NAS G Brian Boucher

Charleston and Vancouver Deal Vets

In CHA, News, Transactions, VAN on October 17, 2010 at 10:47 am

The day after the traditional flurry of Rookie Draft trades, the Charleston Chiefs and Vancouver Night Train have made a swap. With a serious injury to Andrei Markov, Vancouver acquired veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen from Charleston in exchange for enigmatic forward Alexander Frolov and Vancouver’s third round Rookie Draft pick in 2011.

Draft Day Transactions: Malkin in Blockbuster Swap

In BAL, DEL, DEN, News, Transactions, VAN, WVR on October 16, 2010 at 4:38 pm

It wasn’t as busy as some GWMHL draft days, but today’s Rookie Draft was punctuated with one of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory.

No sooner had the Baltimore Crab picked Matt Duchene second overall did they flip him, along with blueliner Kyle Quincey, to the Midland Bulldogs for Evgeni Malkin and Jamie Langenbrunner. Malkin gives the Crab some top-end talent they’d been sorely lacking.

Baltimore made another trade a round later, picking up young Michael Grabner, who’d just been drafted by the Vancouver Night Train, for a 2nd round pick in 2011.

Vancouver also shored up their defense by dealing a 1st round Free Agent pick to Delta for Adam Foote. And Delta continued their rebuild by sending Brian Rafalski to West Virginia in exchange for Andrew Ladd and a 2nd rounder this year, who turned into Jason Demers.

2010 Draft Results: Myers Goes First Overall

In BAL, IHS, News, SFS, Transactions on October 16, 2010 at 2:31 pm

The draft lottery was kind to the Ice Harbor Storm, who moved up to the first overall slot. Today, they used the pick on defenseman Tyler Myers, giving the rebuilding squad a stellar 1-2 punch on the blueline along with Kris Letang.

Matt Duchene went second to Baltimore – though he was later traded. The Oregon Rugrats, who had moved up four spots, took center John Tavares third.

2010 Draft Results

Pick	Curr Team	Player
1	IHS	D Tyler Myers
2	BAL	F Matt Duchene
3	ORE	F John Tavares
4	FFS	D John Carlson
5	ALT	F Jamie Benn
6	SAN	D Victor Hedman
7	DEL	F Evander Kane
8	NAS	D PK Subban
9	BOS	D Erik Karlsson
10	EDH	F James Van Riemsdyk
11	CHA	D Michael Del Zotto
12	STE	F Ryan O'Reilly
13	SCA	F Tyler Ennis
14	STL	F Brayden Schenn
15	SOU	F Colin Wilson
16	WVR	F Eric Tangradi
17	SAL	F Logan Couture
18	PWH	D Jamie McBain
19	VAN	D Dmitry Kulikov
20	MID	F Brandon Yip
21	BAL	F Andrei Loktionov
22	IHS	F Nazem Kadri
23	FFS	F Tyler Bozak
24	ALT	F Lars Eller
25	SAN	G Jonas Gustavsson
26	DEL	F Tim Kennedy
27	ORE	D Cody Franson
28	NAS	F Dan Sexton
29	BOS	D Carl Gunnarsson
30	EDH	F Drayson Bowman
31	CHA	F Matt Beleskey
32	STE	F Ryan Stoa
33	SCA	D Jared Cowen
34	STL	D Jakub Kindl
35	SOU	F Viktor Stalberg
36	DEL	D Jason Demers
37	SAL	F Mark Letestu
38	PWH	D Alex Plante
39	VAN	F Michael Grabner
40	MID	G Thomas Greiss
41	BAL	D Matt Gilroy
42	BAL	F Bryan Bickell
43	FFS	G Corey Crawford
44	ALT	F Zach Hamill
45	SAN	D Ryan Wilson
46	DEL	D Derek Joslin
47	ORE	F Mathieu Perreault
48	NAS	D Keaton Ellerby
49	BOS	F James Wright
50	EDH	D Andrew MacDonald
51	CHA	D Oskars Bartulis
52	STE	F Zack Smith
53	SCA	D Mathieu Carle
54	STL	D Clayton Stoner
55	SOU	F Scott Parse
56	WVR	D Jonas Junland
57	SAL	D Arturs Kulda
58	PWH	D Matthew Corrente
59	VAN	F Vladimir Zharkov
60	MID	F Frazer McLaren
61	BAL	F Sergei Shirokov
62	SCA	D Vladimir Mihalik
63	FFS	F Nick Bonino
64	ALT	G Dustin Tokarski
65	SAN	F Ben Maxwell
66	DEL	D Paul Bissonette
67	ORE	F Bobby Butler
68	NAS	F Kenndal McArdle
69	BOS	F Maksim Mayorov
70	EDH	D Adam McQuaid
71	CHA	G Jhonas Enroth
72	STE	F Jesse Joensuu
73	SCA	F Cody Almond
74	STL	G Devan Dubnyk
75	SOU	F Robbie Earl
76	WVR	PASS
77	SAL	D Justin Falk
78	PWH	F Brad Marchand
79	VAN	D Philip Larsen
80	MID	G Justin Peters

Team by Team Results

Altoona: F Jamie Benn (5), F Lars Eller (24), F Zach Hamill (44), G Dustin Tokarski (64)

Baltimore: F Matt Duchene (2)*, F Andrei Loktionov (21), D Matt Gilroy (41), F Bryan Bickell (42), F Sergei Shirokov (61)

Boston: D Erik Karlsson (9), D Carl Gunnarsson (29), F James Wright (49), F Maksim Mayorov (69)

Charleston: D Michael Del Zotto (11), F Matt Beleskey (31), D Oskars Bartulis (51), G Jhonas Enroth (71)

Delta: F Evander Kane (7), F Tim Kennedy (26), D Jason Demers (36), D Derek Joslin (46), D Paul Bissonette (66)

El Dorado: F James Van Riemsdyk (10), F Drayson Bowman (30), D Andrew MacDonald (50), D Adam McQuaid (70)

Farmington: D John Carlson (4), F Tyler Bozak (23), G Corey Crawford (43), F Nick Bonino (63)

Ice Harbor: D Tyler Myers (1), F Nazem Kadri (22)

Midland: F Brandon Yip (20), G Thomas Greiss (40), F Frazer McLaren (60), G Justin Peters (80)

Nashville: D PK Subban (8), F Dan Sexton (28), D Keaton Ellerby (48), F Kenndal McArdle (68)

Oregon: F John Tavares (3), D Cody Franson (27), F Mathieu Perreault (47), F Bobby Butler (67)

Portland: D Jamie McBain (18), D Alex Plante (38), D Matthew Corrente (58), F Brad Marchand (78)

Salem: F Logan Couture (17), F Mark Letestu (37), D Arturs Kulda (57), D Justin Falk (77)

San Diego: D Victor Hedman (6), G Jonas Gustavsson (25), D Ryan Wilson (45), F Ben Maxwell (65)

South Carolina: F Tyler Ennis (13), D Jared Cowen (33), D Mathieu Carle (53), D Vladimir Mihalik (62), F Cody Almond (73)

South Park: F Colin Wilson (15), F Viktor Stalberg (35), F Scott Parse (55), F Robbie Earl (75)

Sterling: F Ryan O’Reilly (12), F Ryan Stoa (32), F Zack Smith (52), F Jesse Joensuu (72)

St. Louis: F Brayden Schenn (14), D Jakub Kindl (34), D Clayton Stoner (54), G Devan Dubnyk (74)

Vancouver: D Dmitry Kulikov (19), F Michael Grabner (39)*, F Vladimir Zharkov (59), D Philip Larsen (79)

West Virginia: F Eric Tangradi (16), D Jonas Junland (56)

* – later traded