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Tipped Off
02-22-2008, 10:12 AM
As financial troubles mount, the league commissioner orders the Portland franchise to shake up the front office

Friday, February 22, 2008

BOAZ HERZOG

The Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/

Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison said this week that he has ordered the Portland Winter Hawks to shake up their front office. Robison also said the junior hockey franchise probably needs to restructure its Memorial Coliseum lease to avoid further financial losses and possible relocation.

"We want to make sure this franchise is turned around immediately," Robison said.

His comments coincided with league investigations into allegations that the organization isn't paying enough of its bills on time or providing adequate care for its injured players. Team owners have denied the claims.

On the ice, the Hawks (9-50-1-1) will try to snap a team-record 16-game losing streak at Vancouver tonight. With 11 games left, it will be difficult for Portland to avoid finishing with the league's worst record for the second consecutive season.

Ten days after the Hawks wrapped up the 2006-07 season 11 months ago, majority owner Jim Goldsmith appointed himself director of hockey operations, proclaiming: "We have no intention of staying in last place." The move gave Goldsmith the final say on decisions involving drafts, recruiting and player trades.

Goldsmith, however, needs to find a replacement, Robison said. The sooner, the better, he said, but definitely by the start of next season.

"We don't believe he's experienced or qualified for that position," said Robison, who initially approved the move on a temporary basis.

Goldsmith of New York, in his second year as principal owner of the Hawks, could not be reached for comment.

Robison said Goldsmith has assured him he will relinquish his role as hockey operations overseer in the offseason. The two are compiling a list of replacement candidates, Robison said.

The league also is mandating that the Hawks restructure their Memorial Coliseum lease to stabilize the team's finances. Robison described the current arrangement, a 20-year lease that expires in June 2013, as "not acceptable" and "extremely difficult to operate within."

"We have to find a way to make it a more equitable and fair arrangement," Robison said.

He singled out the amount the Hawks pay to rent the Coliseum -- at least 10 percent of ticket sales -- as much too high, compared with other WHL teams in similar markets. Within the next two weeks, Robison said, the WHL plans to complete an analysis of all lease agreements among the league's 22-teams, then present it as evidence that proves his contention.

If a new deal cannot be struck, he said, the team might need to find a new home, in Portland, or elsewhere.

The group that controls the Winter Hawks' lease with the Rose Quarter argues that the Hawks' owners should focus on improving game attendance rather than squabble over lease terms.

"If they had the kind of attendance they had five years ago, they wouldn't be complaining about the lease," said Mike Golub, chief operating officer of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Billionaire Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. controls the Trail Blazers as well as Winter Hawks' lease.

The Hawks averaged 6,277 spectators a game five seasons ago. Average attendance dropped to 5,194 last season. It has fallen to about 4,000 this season.

"Our intent is to honor the lease, and we hope the Winter Hawks do the same," Golub said.

Falling attendance has set the franchise back financially, said Jack Donovan, the team's president and a minority owner. The Hawks franchise has lost money for several years. The Hawks ownership group, which also includes Dallas lawyer John Bryant, projected reaching profitability within three years when they bought the team in March 2006, Donovan said.

"That was all based on us having an average team," he said. "Nobody anticipated we were only going to win 26 games in two years."

As a result, the group has had to add on at least another six months to that three-year window to profitability, Donovan said.

Tough financial times have meant falling behind on bills and skimping on medical care for injured players, according to allegations the league is investigating.

The league has received assurances from team owners that they are violating no policies, Robison said, "But we're in the process of ensuring that's accurate and followed through."

A livid Donovan called the allegations unfounded, blaming them on restless fans.

"We're an easy target now, because we're in last place," he said. "We do not let any kid go by without getting medical treatment."

One of the allegations centered on the team telling Kevin Undershute, a 20-year-old forward who has missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, to get surgery in Canada, rather than the United States, where it is more expensive. Reached at his home in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Undershute, who will not undergo surgery after all, denied the claims.

"They never said that at all," Undershute said. "They totally left it up to me."

Donovan said the team is willing to go above and beyond its obligations to players. For example, the franchise paid $20,000 for 17-year-old forward Riley Boychuk to undergo hip surgery this week in Vancouver, B.C. Boychuk's injuries were caused by a birth defect, not hockey, Donovan said.

As for the team's outstanding bills, Donovan described them as a "normal course of business."

"Do we have some bills out? Sure," he said. "Do we have bills owed? Yeah. Right now, we've got more accounts receivable than accounts payable."

The franchise has lost one sponsor in the past two years and expects to add a couple of more next year, he said. To boost attendance, the team plans on offering more game promotions -- such as free hats and T-shirts -- next season.

But, of course, the best way to increase the team's fan base, Donovan said, is by putting out a winning team. To that end, he said, the front office has orchestrated a series of trades the past two years, that, combined with draft picks, has loaded the team with a group of, albeit young, hard-nosed players.

"I feel bad for our fans, but the heavy lifting has been done," Donovan said. "We're a year away from having a five-year run that will have us knocking on the door the whole way."

Boaz Herzog: 503-412-7072; boherzog@gmail.com

Tipped Off
02-22-2008, 10:14 AM
Hard times derail Hawk hopes

• As losses pile up, team owners deal with off-ice issues and struggle to pay bills

By jason vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Feb 22, 2008 http://www.portlandtribune.com/

The Portland Winter Hawks are languishing in their worst season in team history.

Their on-ice performance has been epically bad, as well.

The Hawks are on a team-record 16-game losing streak, and the front office has drawn a rebuke from the Western Hockey League for not paying its bills, including those for sticks.

Attendance hasn’t stocked the coffers, forcing the team to rely on sponsorship money, President Jack Donovan says. Cash from principal owner Jim Goldsmith, who lives in New York, has stemmed some of the tide, but the Hawks have about $250,000 in accounts receivable, Donovan says.

WHL Commissioner Ron Robison says team owners have “given assurances” that creditors will be paid. “We’re aware of certain accounts, national suppliers,” he says.

“Everyone gets paid,” Goldsmith says. “We’re just slow.”

The overall turmoil has led to speculation that Goldsmith might bail out after only two seasons. He says the “team’s not for sale.” At the same time, he says he will listen to offers. Five groups have approached Goldsmith and Donovan, with one making an offer. The Hawks said no.

“Our intention is to build, and I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Goldsmith says.

Robison insists the Hawks won’t move, although Victoria and Nanaimo in British Columbia have lined up as possible suitors for a WHL team.

“In the U.S., the Portland market is our anchor location. We need Portland to work,” he says. “We don’t have any interest in leaving Portland.”

Robison says the WHL will be “patient” as the owners attempt to improve both the win-loss record and their lease with the Trail Blazers.

“It’s the No. 1 priority in the league,” Robison says, of the Winter Hawks’ fortunes. He calls the team’s lease the worst of the WHL’s 22 clubs.

Donovan, who runs the team, doubts that the owners can make a go of it here, given the lease and poor attendance.

“After two years operating, I will say emphatically, ‘No,’ ” he says about being successful under the current arrangements. “Even with increased attendance, no.

“We’re the new fools. But we’re moving in a direction now. Before (the ownership change), there wasn’t much of a future.”

Teams not ‘a happy family’
Donovan points to lack of revenue from Memorial Coliseum advertising, on the concourse and big screen, and from food concessions as the main reasons for his dour outlook. He says the owners have given up on the idea of managing the city-owned coliseum, so they face a future of operating at the whim of the Trail Blazers, with whom the Hawks signed a lease in 1993.

Just as the Blazers and owner Paul Allen once cried about their arena situation, Donovan calls it a broken economic model.

“Our relation with the Blazers is strained, to be brutally honest,” Goldsmith says. “We certainly talk and try. I wouldn’t call it a happy family. And our relationship with the city is through the Blazers, so it’s extremely difficult. Everything travels through the Blazers.

“Are they willing to make it palatable for us to succeed, or do they need to eat every dollar? They have a very powerful lease agreement. Do I blame them? No. But the question is, can we find an arrangement that allows all of us to be successful?”

Mike Golub, the Blazers’ chief operating officer, says the basketball team wants the hockey team to succeed.

“Because they struggle, we struggle,” Golub says. “We make more money off a concert than the whole Winter Hawk season.”

But the Blazers, who are talking with the Hawks about splitting home hockey games between the Rose Garden and coliseum again, say the Hawks’ problems don’t stem from the lease.

Golub says the Blazers use Coliseum revenue to cover costs and protect the city from losses.

“This is where Jim and I differ,” Golub says. “We believe if they get their attendance back to where it was, they’re going to make money. … It’s not how you carve up the pie, it’s how you grow the pie.”

Surgery done in Canada
The Hawks also have drawn criticism for the team’s handling of players. One player was released after requesting to take a different college course, but Donovan says the player had lost ice time, anyway, and showed inappropriate behavior when consulting with the team’s education administrator.

Several players have been sent back to Canada for surgeries — common practice in the WHL, because Canadians players have insurance policies through Hockey Canada.

Kevin Undershute, 20 and in his last season of WHL play, wanted an operation on his injured shoulder quickly, and he weighed whether to have surgery and/or rehab here (right away, and at team cost) or in Alberta (with the potential of a long wait). He tried to return to play without surgery, to no avail.

Citing the Hockey Canada policy, Donovan says the team wanted him to have the surgery in Canada, rather than pay for the surgery here. (American players are covered for surgeries through a USA Hockey policy). “I don’t think we’re being unfair,” Donovan says.

“I just wanted to get healthy,” Undershute says. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. They’re in a tough spot, I understand, with health care costs and everything.”

Turns out, Undershute adds, he won’t have surgery, choosing rehab instead after consulting with a surgeon in Alberta. Undershute plans to play college hockey.

Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice president of operations, says Canadian players almost always return to Canada for surgeries. He met with the Undershute family this week. “They’re quite satisfied with how things turned out,” he says.

Donovan says Goldsmith is ponying up $20,000 for Riley Boychuk’s hip surgeries through a noncovered doctor in Canada. The team has to be smart about spending medical dollars, Donovan says. Boychuk, 16, still has four years of eligibility left. Another player, Ryan Kerr, 18, will have surgery on both shoulders in Canada; Brock Cornish and Lee Morrow also have had shoulder surgeries there.

“If we had all the surgeries done here, we’d be spending a quarter-million dollars,” Donovan says.

Sources say families and agents have bought sticks for some players, since the team owes money to national stick supplier Bauer. Undershute says the players have been treated fine. Chris Francis, 18, says the same thing.

The team has been cutting costs and streamlining, Donovan says. The marketing and promotion budget is smaller, which helps explain why the Hawks have lost some of their fan following.

Owners put faith in youth
Goldsmith says he doesn’t regret approving the trades made this season and last, including deals that saw players Rob Klinkhammer, Kyle Bailey, Michael Sauer, Frazer McLaren and Colton Sceviour leave town in a full-fledged youth movement.

“When you start to lose, it becomes a way of life,” Goldsmith says. “The only way you can change that is change the culture and fabric of the team. We had no choice.”

The Winter Hawks have been grossly outscored for the second consecutive year. But Goldsmith points to the 2007 bantam draft, and the signings of nearly all of the players selected by Portland, as a step that will bolster the team’s 50-player list. In two years, coach Rich Kromm expects the list to be solid, the team to be good and the Winter Hawks to be in the WHL playoffs.

But, with the Hawks’ reputation sullied, will this spring’s bantam picks shy away from committing to the team? Is recruiting adversely affected by the way the owners have been handling the business? Does the team need better hockey people or public relations, or different owners? Rumors persist that some former Hawks are interested in buying the team.

Donovan says Kromm will be retained as coach, and Kromm wants to stick it out. He replaced Mike Williamson shortly before this season.

“As much negativity as there is out there, with the organization and the team, we’re all committed to the same thing,” Kromm says. “We’re looking to build and put a team together in two years that can compete and go for the Memorial Cup. But that’s lost in everything else.”

Francis says players are aware that the organization is attempting to completely rebuild its 50-player list.

“You have to take the ups and downs as they come,” he says. “We’re going to stick together and not bash on anybody.”

None of the team’s No. 1 bantam picks of the past five seasons are playing on the team (although Boychuk had a season-ending injury). Players have come and gone; only Brett Ponich, Colin Reddin and Kurtis Mucha are former bantam picks currently playing on the team, from the 2002-06 drafts; Goldsmith recently paid $25,000 to free Reddin from his USA Hockey commitment.

The team parted with head of scouting Gord Loiselle and put GM Ken Hodge and new director of player personnel Matt Bardsley in charge. Hodge’s role has been more about scouting since Goldsmith took on the title of director of hockey operations.

“Should all the blame be placed on the scouting department? No,” Donovan says. “But something happened over the past six years. It was a long-term deterioration.

“But we’re so organized now.”

Donovan promises that when the young players mature, “in two years, we’re going to make a run that you won’t believe. And everybody tells us, if you win, fans will come back.”

He bristles at the notion that owners have “taken a dynasty and destroyed it.” Putting a better team on the ice will be a solution.

Goldsmith says: “Winning cures a lot of things. It certainly is a good tonic for a healthier club. I believe we’ll get there.”

jasonvondersmith@portlandtribune.com

Ams4life
02-22-2008, 11:30 AM
Wow I really hope for the best for that team! I can remember a few years back when Tri was going through all kind of problems and it looked like we were going to lose the team but the Dub said no to the move and now look at us. We have a lot of fans in the building every night and the team is playing amazing! Soon the winterhawks will be back on their feet I hope! GOOD LUCK!

dubnut
02-24-2008, 02:39 PM
A lot of **** happens behind the scenes in every organization and sometimes it is hard to beleive that anything can be successful if you look at all the bad stuff. But usually enough of the good stuff comes together to make things work out if there is a commitment to make it work. I think that is going to be key here. All the parties involved are going to have to be committed to make this team work. From the leasors, the owners, the management, the kids, their parents, agents, scouts, sponsors, fans. I've been in the Memorial Gardens arena, it leaves things to be desired. It just felt like someone needed to pull up their socks. Not that it was a hopeless case. If there is an owner out there who is willing to sink his own hard earned money into a struggling franchise, it says something for commitment although it sounds like he's having a bit of a hard time parting with money he can't see coming back anytime soon. The worst is for the kids who get caught in this melee. Kids who are there because they love to play and want to make it to the next level and they must feel like the forgotten race. Who would feel like trying when you are breaking club records in the loss column? When I see teams beating Portland by astronomical scores I wonder about their greed too. When you play a young team like the Hawks and they are struggling to survive why are you playing your top lines? Does it feel good to be 6'4" and beating up someone who is 4'6"? Why not use this opportunity to play kids who sit on the bench alot? Think about the morale on the other team if they could lose by a 1 or 2 or even 3 goal spread instead of a double digit loss that seems hopeless before the game even begins. And it gives your own less played kids a chance to develop and play more. It won't hurt your rankings to win a 4-2 game rather than a 11-0 game. And who knows, Portland might come out and have some gas left of their own if they could see some success in their efforts. If winning or losing was up to the owners and sponsors we could go after them but we are talking mostly 15-18 year old kids who haven't ever before and shouldn't have had their teeth kicked in at this age.

I am cheering for you kids! Hang in there. This adversity if you meet it like the men you are will make you fighting strong and you can take that with you anywhere. The lessons learned in adversity are never lost but the defeat in giving up will never take you to the next level anywhere in life. So keep fighting. You only fail the last time you don't get up. Nothing else is failure, because as long as you get up again you have a chance to win. Staying down is kissing your last chance good bye.

Tipped Off
02-24-2008, 02:46 PM
wel,, unless Portland is going to GUARANTEE a team will get a 4-2 win, the team has to go out guns a blazing and put them away early. Only then can you play the 3rd and 4th lines like they are 1 and 2. You can't risk missing your 2 points. If you think this is purely developmental and the teams don't care about winning, that's a mistake.

Sure maybe you can rest an injured player who might otherwise play ad bring in a younger one...or start the #2 goalie, but oyu've got to get the points. Portland played Vancouver tough and almost stole one the other night. Vancouver is one point ahead of TC and Spoke for the #1 seed. Those 2 points are important no matter who the opponent is. I'm sure Vancouver would have much rather jumped out to a 5-0 lead than battled to a 3-2 win.