Things are Mucha better in Portland

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Like The Man With No Name, Kurtis Mucha has seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Having experienced some really bad and really, really ugly times the last couple of seasons with the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks, Mucha, a 19-year-old goaltender, just can’t believe how good the good really is.
“Everything is just more professional, right from the managers to the coaches, all the way down to the little things like meal and travel situations,” Mucha said prior to Wednesday’s game against the Kamloops Blazers at Interior Savings Centre. “And they treat us a lot better, so it’s good to see.”
Mucha, who is from Sherwood Park. Alta., was the 25th selection in the 2004 bantam draft and has been on the Winter Hawks’ roster since the fall of 2005.
Which means his sophomore season coincided with the first season under the ownership of three American businessmen — Jim Goldsmith of New York, John Bryant of Dallas and Jack Donovan of Tucson — who purchased the franchise on March 16, 2006.
In 2005-06, the Winter Hawks went 32-32-3-5 and then made a 12-game playoff run.
But under new ownership, the Winter Hawks quickly became an embarrassment, winning 17 games in 2006-07 and 11 all of last season.
By the start of this season, the team had no structure, no direction, no spirit.
And then, on Oct. 28, Calgary-based businessman Bill Gallacher completed his purchase of the franchise.
“As soon as all this happened,” Mucha said, “I said, ‘I wish I was 16 again because the players here are going to be treated pretty well as long as Mr. Gallacher is the owner.’ ”
As an example of how things have changed, consider the road trip the Winter Hawks are on right now.
It began Saturday with a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. Rather than bus back to Portland, the Winter Hawks spent the night in Spokane and left for Kelowna on Sunday.
“Before,” Mucha said, “we likely would have gone home that night then came up Tuesday to Kamloops.
“This makes it more relaxing. You’re not going back and forth and spending a million hours on the bus. We got to Kelowna and had a couple of days of good practise and a workout at a local gym. It’s good to see that they’re doing that for us.”
Oh, and have we mentioned meals on the road?
“In the past we’d show up and here’s our spaghetti and chicken all ready for us,” Mucha said with a smile. “Now we get to sit down and order drinks and meals . . . I don’t even think the Vancouver Giants do that — well, I’m sure they do to a certain extent — but so far this week pretty much every meal has been order on your own, so it’s pretty cool.”
The result has been that the Winter Hawks, under new GM/head coach Mike Johnston and assistant Travis Green, have won four of their last five games. The victory in Spokane was No. 12 this season, one more than all of last season. Suddenly, Portland is six points out of a playoff spot.
“The team is really rejuvenated, especially after the Christmas break,” said Mucha, who has a 3.51 GAA and a most-respectable .900 save percentage. He has nine victories, which is as many as he had all of last season. “We’re only six points out of a playoff spot and there are lots of games left.”
Mucha pointed out, too, that the Winter Hawks are 4-4 against the U.S. Division’s tops teams — Spokane and the Tri-City Americans.
That, he said, is “definitely an eyeopener for this team.”
With the trade deadline approaching Saturday, Mucha has heard the rumours. The Brandon Wheat Kings are interested in him; the Kelowna Rockets are talking with Johnston. And on and on . . .
Because Mucha has seen more rubber than roadkill over the last couple of seasons one might think he would be quick to play a Get Out Of Jail Free card were he given the opportunity.
That, however, isn’t the case.
“I would like to stay here,” he said. “We’re in a good position here. Everybody knows we’re not a contender or anything like that. But the goal is to get into the playoffs and I really would like to see this through and get that done.”
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Mucha, who is a free agent in terms of the NHL, went to camp with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes prior to this season. And it seems the Coyotoes still have some interest him.
While Mucha was at home in Sherwood Park, Alta., over Christmas, he got a call from Phoenix goaltending coach Grant Fuhr. The Coyotes were in Edmonton, and Fuhr invited Mucha down to the rink to watch the morning skate.
“I hung out with them for a bit,” said Mucha, who watched the game from the catwalk. “I’ve sent some video down there.”
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With the trade deadline on its way, Johnston said, yes, he has been doing a lot of talking, but, no, he doesn’t know if he is going to do anything.
Each WHL team is allowed to keep three 20-year-old players and two import players on its roster. The Winter Hawks don’t have any 20-year-olds; they have one import.
Johnston said he has spoken with a lot of hockey people, all of whom have told him how important it is to grow your own 20-year-olds because it is that group that has to provide leadership to the younger players.
And with eight 1989-born players on his roster now — including Czech F Radim Valchar — Johnston already is looking forward to next season when he gets to choose three from that group.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca