The winds of change are blowing through the Portland Winter Hawks’ organization. . . . Dean (Scooter) Vrooman, who left the Winter Hawks more than a year ago after a lengthy stint as the team’s much-loved play-by-play voice, remembers the legendary Brian Shaw in a story that was prepared a couple of years ago as part of a book project that never got off the ground . . .
PART 2:
Besides starting a franchise in Portland, Brian Shaw had a lot to do behind the scenes when it came to garnering support for Ed Chynoweth as the league’s president in the mid-1970s. Shaw saw Chynoweth as a man who was strong enough to keep a volatile group of WHL owners in line, something that was necessary in order to solidify the financial stability of existing franchises while, at the same time, exploring expansion. The league had gone through some tough times under some ill-prepared owners in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, but, under Chynoweth, the WHL started to stabilize into a solid 12-team league.
Shaw’s move to Portland opened up Seattle the next year, but that franchise would go through rocky times for years, often kept in business, at least in part, by investments from Shaw and other league owners. There were unsuccessful ventures in other American markets, including Spokane in 1981-82, as well as the Montana cities of Billings and Great Falls in other seasons.
But the current successful legacy of the U.S. Division of the WHL, with five franchises, may never have happened if not for Shaw’s bold move to try it first in Portland. And, it was no accident that the Hawks started their history with seven straight winning seasons.
“Brian was a skilled negotiator and as part of the move to Portland, he was able to secure a territorial area around Edmonton where we had first shot at recruiting hockey players,” Ken Hodge says. “The Edmonton area was one of the best for producing quality hockey players in Western Canada. We also had the only full-time scout in the league and we did make some very significant trades as well. Bringing in players like Larry Playfair, Perry Turnbull, Jim Dobson, Florent Robidoux, Mike Toal and Alfie Turcotte made a big impact in Portland and helped establish junior hockey in a city where we had to compete with a professional franchise in the NBA Portland Trailblazers.”
Shaw was elected chairman of the WHL’s executive board in 1978 and served in that capacity until 1987. He was Chynoweth’s right-hand man during an era in which the WHL expanded and also worked hard at enhancing its reputation. The two worked together to develop the current WHL education plan and to force all teams to toe the line in providing secondary education assistance for all WHL players, should they choose not to sign professional contracts. They also spearheaded an effort to clean up the league’s reputation. Up to that point, the WHL was reputed to feature brawl-filled games -- it was seen as the wild west of hockey, if you will. Under Chynoweth and Shaw, the WHL worked hard at emphasizing speed, skill and scoring.
“With Ed as league president and Brian as chairman of the board, the league enjoyed its most pronounced growth period,” Hodge says. “Brian was asked to carry the mail on numerous occasions when there were new ideas to be brought up and sold to the board of governors as a whole, and to teams individually. He was a very skilled politician and he made sure he had the votes and the support for his position before the topic ever came to the table. They made some great changes in the league and built the foundation that is still in place today.”
Shaw became involved with and concerned about each and every franchise in the league. He knew their problem areas and made suggestions on what needed to be done to solve them. He regularly made recommendations on personnel on behalf of other teams. He spent a lot of his day in consultation with other franchises.
“He kept saying the better they are, the better we are,” Hodge says. “Sometimes I did not feel as comfortable about that as he did. When you are coaching, as I was, my only concern was winning the next hockey game for the Portland Winter Hawks. Brian was very generous with his time and his thoughts with our competition.”
“When Kamloops was in trouble, he got involved financially,” Hodge adds. “When Spokane was in trouble, he got involved financially. When Seattle was in trouble, he helped them financially. When we were in trouble in the early years, Ernie McLean (the controversial general manager/coach of a hated rival, the New Westminster Bruins) was very generous with the Portland Winter Hawks.
“It was a special time in our league back then. Many of these gestures were substantial financial commitments. They were often zero interest loans with no promise of return.”
(Part 2 of 7)
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