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Trouble in Portland?


Kevin-B

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this is insane could you imagine the nhl doing this to a team there has to be more to it because paying for some flights to have parents watch their kids some cellphones and some training but like most people have said there probably is way more there not telling us to hinder a team like this

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Wow - every team goes through a period of a few years as a good team and a few years as a bad rebuilding team. Portland is probably going to have to go through two periods consecutively of having a poor team. Of course they can improve with trades and what not but pretty harsh penalties imo.

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  • 4 weeks later...

While i still feel this was pretty harsh,

It nice to see the dust start to settle...

Turnout to games hasnt been affected and were on an 8 game winning streak so I personally think

It would be best to move forward. In a few years everyone will forget about it (until were a measuring stick for the next team fined), and we can put some long term plans in place to continue to siphon from the NCAA (they made us do it!)

Im proud of the kids. they play hard and theyre upstanding citizens who give a lot to our local community.

I Will stand behind my team any day (just like i do for the nucks when they get bad mouthed).

Now im off to see how Rattie, Wotherspoon, and Jones are holding up in the IIHF.

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  • 2 weeks later...

While i still feel this was pretty harsh,

Im proud of the kids. they play hard and theyre upstanding citizens who give a lot to our local community.

I Will stand behind my team any day (just like i do for the nucks when they get bad mouthed).

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  • 3 months later...

Just an update for those who are interested:

its a long read but i tried to keep it from being a wall of text

(from Portland Tribune May 5th)

WHL Commissioner Ron Robison

refuses to explain unprecedented

penalties to Winterhawks

Taking in WHL commissioner Ron Robison's response Friday night to reporters'

questions about the ruthless sanctions imposed on the Winterhawks early this

season brought to mind the famous line of distempered tennis legend John McEnroe:

"You can't be serious!"

The commissioner's annual press conference prior to the opener of the WHL

finals was the Portland media's first crack at Robison since he laid down by

far the stiffest penalties in the league's 47-year history back in November.

To his credit, I guess, Robison accepted each and every query, virtually

all in reference to the sanctions.

Didn't really answer hardly a one.

His lips moved, but I kept hearing programmed sound bites

that never took care of the multitude of mysteries that remain

unanswered in the Great Scalping of the Hawks.

Remember, Portland was fined $200,000, general manager/coach

Mike Johnston was suspended for the rest of the season and the

club was relieved of nine future draft picks -- the first five this year,

the No. 1 selection in each of the next four seasons --

for player-benefit violations.

Most of them were for paying for flights for family members to and

from Portland. There were some illegal payments for offseason

training sessions. Portland was also docked for paying for a cell

phone of its team captain for three straight years.

These are infractions that deserve to be penalized. I could see a

$20,000 fine (which, even at that, would be four times the highest

previous fine in league history), a five-game suspension for

Johnston and loss of a first-round pick.

Instead, the Hawks sustained as close to the death penalty

as a major junior hockey club can get.

Asked first about the extent of the penalties, Robison began with this:

"I'm hoping we don't have to get into a lot of details. We've

indicated that matter is really internal. The regulations are very

clear on what the sanctions are for violations of player benefits.

The violations were extensive. The sanctions were extensive as

a result. In the WHL, we want to maintain a level playing field. We

want to make sure all franchises have equal access to the talent

pool. We want to protect our business model. All that was taken into account."

There's so much to attack there.

Let's begin with, what do you mean, you hope you don't have

to get into details? At some point, isn't transparency the best policy?

It's internal? When you levy penalties so harsh there is nothing

even close in precedent in WHL history, shouldn't there be some

extended explanation? What do you have to hide?

The regulations are absolutely not clear. I looked through the WHL

rulebook, which prohibits teams from paying for flights for family

members during a team's annual "Parents Weekend." There is nothing,

however, that specifically addresses any other time of year.

The Hawks' contention was, "We didn't know flying in family

members at other times wasn't legal." The league's contention was,

"You should have known. It was understood by everyone in the league."

When asked a second time about the specific rules violations,

Robison answered, "The regulations are internal. The information

has been made very clear. There were violations. They're written

down in the regulations, absolutely. The information was provided

to the club, but for internal purposes only."

Wait a minute. They are written into the regulations, but kept secret

from the general public? For what reason? It's like NBA Commissioner

David Stern saying the Trail Blazers broke a rule for tampering with a

player, and it's in the rulebook, but we're not going to let the public

see it. You just have to take our word for it.

Robison's stipulation is not only nonsensical, but untrue.

What became clear during Robison's remarks was a contempt for

what the league feels is dishonesty on the Winterhawks' part during

the initial investigation. That, Robison said, led to more serious sanctions.

"It was the lack of disclosure that was forthcoming from the

franchise when questioned previously and a lot of other factors …

including the number of violations overall," Robison said.

"What was the issue initially is there was a separate agreement

entered in with another player, unknown by the league, and the

club did not provide full disclosure initially on that agreement."

Robison's reference, evidently, is to Seth Swenson, who after being

traded in January 2012 to Seattle, revealed an agreement to fly in

family members by the Winterhawks. Hawks management contends

they didn't know such a deal was illegal. They also believe they

were totally upfront as the organization underwent the most thorough

independent audit in league history. Robison conceded the Hawks

disputed the WHL's interpretation of the rules.

"But ultimately, the league determines what those rules are,

and they were broken in our minds," he said. "That's provided

internally, and everyone in the Western Hockey League is satisfied with that."

I can offer one team that isn't.

Asked why he ducked interview requests from Portland media

after the ruling, Robison said, "We issued two separate releases on

the matter. That was the fairest way to do it. We didn't feel there

was any need for any further comment."

I'll let you decide if Robison's reasoning has merit.

The most egregious part of the WHL sanctions is that there is

-- I kid you not -- no appeals process. Unless they were willing

to go to court, the Hawks pretty much had to like or lump it.

"In our league, we feel any issue of concern to a franchise can

be raised with the Board of Governors," Robison said.

"The matter was discussed at the February meeting.

(Portland owner) Bill Gallacher and (president) Doug Piper have

every right to bring that up again at any Board of Governors meeting."

Each WHL club has a representative -- either an owner or

team president -- on the Board of Governors. Any appeal of a

league sanction should not go there but to an independent

arbiter, who has no vested interest in any team.

Robison did little Friday night to dispel the notion that the league

engaged in a witch hunt of a franchise that rose from the dregs

before Gallacher took over in 2008 to the top of the food

chain in four short years.

The investigation found infractions, but nothing major.

The sanctions sure were, though.

And we really don't know any more about them after Robison's

little talk with the Fourth Estate than we did back in November,

when the wrath of Robison rained down on our local hockey club.

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Cant wait until Friday and that little S**t has to hand us the Ed Chynoweth cup in front of 10,947 fans who all want his head. Especially since he has more or less ruined our name and reputation and will make it hard for us to compete in a few seasons. His lack of answers to questions makes it seem personal and I hope it bites him in the rear.

You going to be at the game Canucky?

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Nice! Ill be in section 201 in the club level 4 rows down from the suites. They are right on center ice. Ill be with a whole crew of people. If EDM scores we are the group that yells "who cares!" when they announce the EDM/opposition goal if you've ever heard them. I know others from the past do it too but not to many anymore.

I cant wait for the game.

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