The Memorial Cup is the ultimate prize in Major Junior Hockey and one of the most difficult to win once, let alone repeat. As the players are only able to be part of a Junior Club from 16-20 years of age, time is short for them to have a chance at the cup. Sixty teams comprise the Canadian Hockey League  and of that, only 7 are based in the US (5 in the Western Hockey League [WHL]) and 2 in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).The Memorial Cup is held in a "host city" each year, which rotates between the three leagues. Saskatoon is the host city this season.

There are four teams who will compete in the tournament and here is a breakdown on them and how they got there.

In 1974, Burton Cummings from Guess Who sang a song titled, “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon”. The song was about small prairie communities and their blue collar workers. The similarities of that song and the Portland Winterhawks this season are striking. Many of the Portland Winterhawks players hail from such small communities that most people couldn't find on a map and all are players who work in the trenches and rarely look to accolades for themselves personally.

It's all about the team and what a team this has become. Fresh off a 6-game performance that took the Ed Chynoweth WHL trophy over the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Hawks now set their sights on the ultimate Junior Hockey prize, the Memorial Cup. 

The on ice presentation of the cup to the Winterhawks was short, as Troy Rutkowski literally ripped the trophy from the hands of WHL Commissioner Ron Robison to present to the team, thus limiting Robison's on air appearance to mere seconds.

In writing this article, I distance myself from the Winterhawks Booster Club that I am President of and take the role of a fan, a lover of the game of junior hockey and an angry one at that. 

As a lead up to the WHL Finals in Portland, WHL Commissioner Rob Robison appeared before the local Portland media. The talk wasn't going to be focused on the two teams playing for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the chance to play in the Memorial Cup. Instead, the focus was on the heavy sanctions handed to Portland which resulted in the loss of GM and Coach Mike Johnston from November through the end of the playoffs this season, plus a multitude of other hardships. The press conference was relatively short and limited with actual information that hadn't already been churned out and can be seen all over the internet. Had people thought there was some sort of chicanery going on, they weren't having their minds put at ease with this conference. The Winterhawks are still without Mike Johnston, they are only able to draft from rounds 6-9 this year in the Bantam Draft, and they are still on course to win the WHL Finals. 

It probably shouldn't be a surprise that last year's battle in the WHL Finals is getting an encore. With the Edmonton winning game seven by a 2-0 score on Tuesday, it setup a return match with the Oil Kings vs. the Portland Winterhawks. This time, Portland has home ice advantage and a whole lot more to redeem for.  The Hawks were able to shut down Kamloops 4-1 last Friday, turning back Chase Souto's rather tactless rant, but it's not a fight they haven't faced before. 

The Portland Winterhawks have a great deal to fight for. Since losing GM and Coach Mike Johnston for the balance of the 2012-13 season and playoffs, the situation has become a battle in adversity. Johnston won't be able to attend the WHL Finals when Portland hosts Edmonton and won't be behind the bench if the Hawks represent the WHL in the Memorial Cup. His teachings, though, have been well promoted by Assistant GM & Coach Travis Green, who finished leading the team to a 57-12-1-2 record and impressive series wins over Everett, Spokane and Kamloops. The Hawks players have had a few extra days for rest, video reviews and practices to prepare for this round.

Chase Souto of the Kamloops Blazers isn't a household name in Portland. He will be enemy number one come Friday night. After another Winterhawks win (3-0 in Kamloops, BC), Souto was quoted by Marty Hastings in Kamloops This Week. "We did it last year. I think we're going to go in their barn, cause a ruck and shut their fans up," he said. "Bunch of losers down there. Just gonna give it our all."

That prompted the Winterhawks, who lead the Western Conference Finals 3-1, to order an all fan "White Out" for Friday night's game at the Rose Garden. All day Thursday, the Hawks players were all abuzz on Twitter and Facebook pushing the all-white look. 

The Winterhawks seemed to have embraced the wrath of Darth Vader as they are looked upon from fans outside of Portland as cheaters and other names that can't be printed. The Hawks players have instead taken to Twitter with #adversityhawks and #formikej as the main hashtags. The Star Wars theme started following the last regular season game in Seattle, where the Hawks were ushered off the ice to the theme and have since taken it as their own.

After taking the first 2 games at home by a combined 8-1 score, there were many who thought the Winterhawks would actually sweep the series vs. Kamloops Blazers. They should have asked Tim Bozun, Colin Smith and JC Lipon in Game 3 about that. 

When the Western Conference Finals matchup was set, fans felt that the series would be tough, hard-fought and go the distance. What they didn't see coming was a Portland Winterhawks team that would literally own the Kamloops Blazers in the first two games. With over 7,000 fans the first night and over 9,000 for game two at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Hawks showed why they had won the season points race and the Scotty Munro trophy.

Kamloops was unable to register a single power play goal in the first two games and even gave up one shorthanded game one. The Hawks went 3 for 11on the power play in the two games, as Kamloops seemed to use desperation moves and instead, found themselves taking more penalties. To watch the stick work and after the whistle shenanigans of the Blazers, you've be hard-pressed to believe they had the fourth best WHL record this season.  The scoring lines for the Hawks were in full force and Kamloops tried to reply with its top line, only to see it shut down and held off the score sheet completely. 

Who needs the NHL when you have this type of intense hockey? The Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers meet Friday in a best-of-7 Western Conference Finals. The winner goes to the Ed Chynoweth Cup Finals. The Winterhawks will try to take advantage of home ice in the 2-2-1-1-1 postseason series. Based on four regular season games, Portland has Kamloops number. The Winterhawks won three of those games, each by at least two goals. 

Both goalies have played well this season, but Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth shut down the Kamloops' shooters in three of those games. 

The Blazers' Kale Kessy, who had a good series against the Rockets, is playing his best hockey of the 2012-13 season. Meanwhile, center Colin Smith should certainly improve -- he hasn't performed in the postseason like he did in the regular season, and many pundits don't expect the slump to last. Hopefully, if you're in the Blazers dressing room, Tim Bozon will be ready to put up some points -- his team will need him. 

Heading into their third round matchup with the Kamloops Blazers, the Portland Winterhawks will be ready for a battle. The Hawks may have taken their first round opponent, the Everett Silvertips, a bit lightly but given their track record with the Blazers, they won't make that mistake again.

In the first round, it took the Hawks six games to close out a team that had 32 fewer wins during the regular season. It was very apparent that Portland knew they were the superior team as they clearly lacked a sense of urgency throughout the lopsided matchup.

In the second round, the Hawks came to play. A 7-2 victory in game one set the tone for the series; a series in which the Spokane Chiefs never even sniffed at a victory. In game two the Hawks continued to show their supremacy as their goaltender, Mac Carruth, set the all-time WHL playoff wins record after he recorded a 3-0 shutout for his 39th career playoff victory.

When you outscore your opponents 18-3, chances are you'll win a seven game series in 4.  The Portland Winterhawks did just that, setting and breaking yet more team and WHL records along the way. Now, they wait for just over a week before they play their first game for the Western Conference Championship. They will play the Kamloops Blazers who, similar to the Hawks, won their series in 4 straight by defeating the Kelowna Rockets. 

Continue Reading