Hodge to return as Portland's GM?

The Calgary Herald reports that Ken Hodge, the long-time owner, general manager and head coach of the Portland Winter Hawks, will be taking a more active role with the struggling WHL franchise. Herald writer John Down reports that Hodge is returning as general manager "at the insistence of the Western Hockey League." . . . "The announcement," Down writes, "was made Wednesday afternoon, a day after the league wrapped up its annual general meetings in Calgary." . . . Down quotes WHL commissioner Ron Robison: "We have been conducting a complete review of the franchise, both from a hockey and business standpoint, to get that franchise back to competitive levels they were in the past.Although teams go through cycles, we were concerned that trend was going to continue and wanted to make sure we had a plan in place that would turn around the franchise. We were able to reach an agreement with the Winter Hawks ownership to move forward in a little different manner and one of the first things was to bring back Ken Hodge as GM."