Despite a turbulent week in Portland, there was good news for Derrick Pouliot. He, along with teammates Tyler Wotherspoon and Ty Rattie were invited to the Team Canada selection camp for the World Junior Championship. The camp will begin on Dec. 10.
Despite a turbulent week in Portland, there was good news for Derrick Pouliot.
He, along with teammates Tyler Wotherspoon and Ty Rattie were invited to the Team Canada selection camp for the World Junior Championship. The camp will begin on Dec. 10. The trio will face stiff competition against 34 other players to make the 21-man roster.
The big news, bigger than the Winterhawks (22-4-1) six-game winning streak, was the turmoil surrounding the head coach and general manager, Mike Johnson.
On Wednesday the Western Hockey League suspended Portland Winterhawks coach and general manager Mike Johnston for the rest of the season, fined the team $200,000 and took away several draft picks because of player-benefit violations over the past four seasons.
The WHL said the Winterhawks will be stripped of draft picks for the first five rounds of the 2013 WHL bantam draft and will give up their first-round selections in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Should the first-round selection in 2014 not be available because of a trade, Portland will surrender its second- and third-round picks.
"All WHL clubs understand they are required to fully comply and respect our league regulations or they will face significant consequences," WHL Commissioner Ron Robison said. "WHL clubs are required to fully disclose all commitments they make to a player in the WHL Standard Player Agreement. Our independent investigation in this case revealed there were multiple violations over an extended period for player benefits that are not permitted under WHL regulations and were not disclosed to the WHL."
The Winterhawks issued a statement with a summary of the league's findings, saying the team was found to have committed the following violations:
A player contract signed in 2009, involved flights for the player's family and a summer training program.
Over the last five years, seven families were provided flights two to four times per season based on financial need and their distance from Portland.
Twice in the last five years the team paid for two players to each have a one-week summer training regimen.
The Winterhawks provided a cellphone for their team captain for a period of three seasons.
The WHL's audit found no violations involving monetary payments made to players, their families or agents, or any violations related to the league's educational packages, the team said.
"After fully co-operating with the league's investigation, we were extremely surprised at the excessive nature of the sanctions, and we don't feel they are in line with the scope of the violations we were found to have committed," Johnston said. "We believe that apart from recruiting trips and parents' weekend, there is no prohibition in the rules governing flights for players' parents, which were the majority of the infractions. We are currently exploring our options on how we will proceed."
Despite the biggest distraction, perhaps in team history, the Hawks continued to dominate under assistant-coach Travis Green - who will now act in the position of head coach and general manager.
On Friday the Hawks took down Seattle (14-13-1), 5-2, on home-ice, receiving scoring from five different players in the victory.
On Saturday, it was more of the same, as the Hawks received goals from four different players, including a tally from Pouliot in a 4-1 triumph over the Everett Silvertips (11-18)
With the pair of victories, the Winterhawks sit tied on top of the WHL standings with the Kamloops Blazers (21-7-1), with 45 points. However, the Hawks have four games in-hand and are likely to pass the Blazers soon.
It has been quite the run for the Hawks for the past two months. The Winterhawks have only lost once since Oct. 10, when they were in Regina and lost 3-2 to the Pats. The Hawks are 18-1 since that road game, with their only loss coming to the Blazers on Nov. 16.
The Hawks will try to catch the Blazers this week, with home games against Everett last night and Tri-City on Friday. They will then travel to Seattle and Tri-City on Saturday and Sunday.
