The Portland Winterhawks have come through Blanshard Street during two Western Hockey League eras over 45 years, first at the old Memorial Arena against the Victoria Cougars, and since 2011-12 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre against the Victoria Royals.
The Winterhawks have sported a famous, but derivative, look in all those meetings through the years. But something will be different when Victoria plays the Winterhawks on Oct. 27 and Dec. 4 in Portland, and when the Winterhawks visit the Memorial Centre to meet the Royals on March 8-9. The Winterhawks will not be sporting their old Chicago Blackhawks-themed logo, in use since 1976, but instead their new emblem featuring a right-facing hawk’s head.
The former team colours of red and black will be retained with “celly gold” and also “squall grey” added. The bottom of the hawk’s head features Mount Hood.
The Winterhawks are the latest North American sports team to shed references to First Nations. Its former emblem was a replica of the Blackhawks’ NHL logo, something that really made no sense since there is no allusion to First Nations in the name Winterhawks, and certainly not to the great Sauk leader Chief Black Hawk from what is now Illinois. The story goes that the Winterhawks, upon entering the WHL during the disco era, got a good deal on used jerseys from the Chicago NHL club and the imagery stuck for four and a half decades.
“We are so proud to finally have our own identity,” said Winterhawks team owner and managing-partner Michael Kramer, in a statement.
“We feel our new look is fresh and unique.”
It is a change in keeping with the times for a franchise that has won three WHL championships and two Memorial Cups while producing the likes of Cam Neely, Seth Jones and Wayne and Dave Babych.
“Under a new ownership group led by Michael Kramer and Kerry Preete, the Portland Winterhawks are embarking on a new chapter in franchise history, so it is only fitting they do so with a new primary logo design that truly represents Portland, the Pacific Northwest,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison.
“The Winterhawks have a long history of success in the Portland market and I am confident their passionate fans will embrace this fresh approach when the WHL regular season opens in October.”
Locally, the Saanich franchise in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League switched its nickname from Braves to Predators last year. The team had carried the Braves name, and a First Nations logo, since 1967. Belmont Secondary School, among the first entities to respond to the issue in sports, changed its teams’ nickname from Braves to Bulldogs several years ago.
