Two good coaches will match their considerable hockey acumens tonight to open the 2015-16 Western Hockey League season at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Dave Lowry of the Victoria Royals will coach Canada this winter at the 2016 world junior championship in Helsinki, while Jamie Kompon of the Portland Winterhawks lifted the Stanley Cup above his head in both 2012 and 2013 as assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks.
“I have a great deal of respect for Dave Lowry. You always know his teams are going to be hard to play against. Add in that it’s their home opener,” said second-year Portland head coach/GM Kompon, who inherited a Winterhawks program last season that was the Western Conference champion in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and guided it to the 2015 conference final.
Portland must replace talented forwards Nic Petan, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Chase De Leo and Miles Koules, who have moved up to the pros. Not that Kompon rolls onto Blanshard Street still without considerable options.
Minnesota-born forwards Paul Bittner, under contract to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and third-round New York Rangers draft-pick Keegan Iverson have returned from their NHL training camps. Also featured are two more American forwards Alex Schoenborn and Dominic Turgeon, third-round NHL draft picks of the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, respectively.
“Everybody is back from NHL camps and that’s a huge difference from last year, when we had eight guys away to start the season,” said Kompon.
On the back side, the Winterhawks have some size with six-foot-five blue-liner Brendan De Jong from Victoria.
“It revolves around the team, not individuals,” said Kompon.
“Everyone knows the [Portland] style.”
The former ECHL pro player coached eight seasons as an assistant in the NHL.
“It’s peat and repeat,” he quipped, about the difference in junior.
“In the pros, you tell them once and you don’t have to say it again.”
The pre-season WHL Western Conference form chart has Kelowna in a class by itself, Portland dropping off a bit but still an elite team, and Seattle and Prince George the trendy picks to rise starkly. Victoria is seen as very young and in a rebuilding phase after two decent seasons.
“I think there’s more parity than people realize,” countered Kompon.
“You’re going to see a conference where anyone can beat anyone on a given night.”
It’s a sentiment shared in Royals camp.
“Some are counting us out,” acknowledged rookie defenceman Scott Walford.
“We have to prove a lot of people wrong. We’re OK with that.”
Also dismissing the form chart is Victoria defenceman Chaz Reddekopp.
“I don’t buy that at all. We’re working on being what we always have been in the past, which is a hard team to play against,” he said.
The last of the five Royals in NHL camps returned late this week and are ready for tonight — Reddekopp from the Kings, forward Jack Walker from the Wild, and goaltender Evan Smith from the Predators. Royals captain and blue-liner Joe Hicketts returned earlier in the week from the Detroit Red Wings and forward Tyler Soy last week from the Edmonton Oilers.
“It’s a whole different world up there. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about the little details,” said Walker.
Those telling veteran details could prove handy this season on an otherwise youthful Royals squad.
ICE CHIPS: Each WHL city will honour a former star player who went pro, and a non-pro who took advantage of the scholarship program, as part of the league’s 50th anniversary celebrations. The Royals announced their event will take place Nov. 14 during a game against Seattle. The pro great honoured will be five-time Stanley Cup champion and Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Grant Fuhr from the 1980 and 1981 Victoria Cougars. The scholarship alumni on hand will be former Royals captain Tyler Stahl, who became a certified agricultural heavy equipment technician, and is currently studying for a bachelor of business management degree at Athabasca University.
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