Commish wants more support for Ice, new rink in P.A. . . . or else!

Nice to welcome @Kelowna_Rockets to Brandon to play our @bdnwheatkings Two great teams! And thanks for flying #YBR 😉 pic.twitter.com/JgW33wUCxy

— shannon (@ShannonMannall) May 6, 2015

WEDNESDAY’S GAME:

No Game Scheduled.

———


The WHL’s championship final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, begins Friday in Brandon with the Wheat Kings meeting the Kelowna Rockets. . . .
Each team is 12-3 in these playoffs. . . . Brandon has won each of its series in five games; Kelowna has won in four, five and six games, which, if you are into omens, might indicate the Rockets will win the final in seven. . . . The Wheat Kings have scored 65 goals in their 15 games; the Rockets have scored 65. . . . Brandon has surrendered 34 goals; Kelowna 39. . . . Kelowna fell behind in five of the six games in its 4-2 Western Conference final victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . As for injuries, Brandon F Reid Duke, F Tanner Kaspick and D Kale Clague have been practising this week. Duke was injured in Game 5 of a second-round series. Kaspick and Clague went down in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. . . . The Rockets will be without F Tyrell Goulbourne, who underwent surgery last week to repair a skate cut to his left calf. F Rourke Chartier, a 48-goal scorer in the regular season, is day-to-day after missing the last three games against Portland. . . . Here’s an interesting tidbit from Brandon Sun sports editor Rob Henderson: “The combined 226 points that Brandon and Kelowna racked up this season are more than any other pair of finalists except 1979 when the Wheat Kings (with a league-record 125 points) topped the Portland Winterhawks (111) for the WHL title.”
——
Last week, you will recall, Avenir Sports & Entertainment, purchased majority ownership of the Kloten Flyers, a team that players in the Switzerland’s NL A. Avenir is owned by Bill Gallacher, who also owns the Portland Winterhawks. Perhaps you are wondering that the move might mean to the Winterhawks. If so, here’s what Winterhawks president Doug Piper told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune:
"When Bill bought the Winterhawks (in 2008), his intention was to also buy an NHL franchise. Those opportunities have come and gone, so we started thinking about the European market. We've always loved Swiss players — the three who have played for us have been fantastic. Switzerland is a great hockey market, almost Canadian-like in its appreciation with the game.
"The WHL allows each team only two imports, but the ones we've had have been impactful. Switzerland has a sophisticated youth program. We've always been tuned into Europe, but we feel this helps us get even more eyes over there and be in line to find more Niederreiter-like talent. The more we understand the world as a whole and start looking at it that way, we felt it was a wise thing to do for the future.”
The three Swiss players to have been with the Winterhawks are Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi and Luca Sbisa.
——
Ron Robison, the commissioner of the WHL, was in Lethbridge on Monday, where he met with shareholders of the Hurricanes and urged them to sell the franchise to private owners. . . . On Tuesday, he told Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Saskatoon Blades, that the Kootenay Ice and Prince Albert Raiders need help if they are to remain where they are in the long term.
Robison, on the Ice: “The attendance in (Cranbrook) is not where we need it to be. We're addressing that and hopeful that we can get some solution in place here very soon. But, the reality is that in order to continue to operate in markets such as Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice have to draw more people . . . have to get better support in that community. Otherwise, we may have no alternative but to relocate the franchise.”
Robison, on the Raiders: “There's no question that in order for the Prince Albert Raiders to be viable long term, a new facility is required. I think the city acknowledges that. The Raiders certainly understand that moving forward and I think it would be a major asset to the community. They want to preserve their franchise and, certainly, discussions are underway in that regard.”
Lazaruk’s story is right here.
Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald followed up on that story by talking with Raiders officials. That story is right here.
——
The WHL bantam draft is scheduled to be held today in Calgary. When it comes to coverage, the day belongs to Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts at Large. So check out his blog for all the happenings. . . . If you click right here, you will find his spreadsheet that features all of the WHL trades that involved draft picks.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that Pats F Braden Christoffer, 20, has signed with the Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. According to Harder, Christoffer, the Pats’ captain, isn’t expected to join the Barons now; rather, he will report next season when the franchise has moved to Bakersfield, Calif. He also will play for the Oilers in a prospects tournament in Penticton, B.C., in September.
——
The WHL held its awards luncheon in Calgary on Wednesday. For a look at all the winners, click right here.
——
During the WHL’s awards luncheon, former Regina Pats owner Russ Parker was honoured with the 2014-15 Governors Award. Parker and his wife, Diane, purchased the Pats from the WHL in 1995. They sold the franchise prior to this season.
———

THE COACHING GAME:

Moe Mantha, a former NHL defenceman, has signed on as the first GM/head coach of the French River Rapids, who will begin play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League next season. The 54-year-old Mantha is a native of Sturgeon Falls, Ont., which is a short drive from Noelville, the home of the Rapids. Mantha had been working as the head coach of the NAHL’s Michigan Warriors. . . . Randy Russon of Sault This Week has more right here.
——
Ryan Donald has signed on as assistant GM and assistant coach with the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. He had been the head coach and assistant GM of the Woodstock Slammers of the junior A Maritime Hockey League. He is a graduate of Yale who captain the Bulldogs. He also played in the AJHL with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders and Camrose Kodiaks. In Trail, he will be working with GM/head coach Nick Deschenes and assistant coaches Craig Clare and Barry Zanier.
———

Some 5'9" dude from Spokane is leading the #NHLPlayoffs in goals. Didn't see that coming when he was a @chiefshockey player

— Chad Balcom (@hawkeyblog) May 7, 2015

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Winterhawks' owner buys Swiss pro team . . . What does it mean to 'Hawks?

Avenir Sports and Entertainment has purchased majority ownership in the Kloten Flyers, a professional hockey team that plays in Switzerland’s National League A.
ASE also owns the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.
Bill Gallacher, the chairman of Avenir Consolidated Corporation, owns ASE.
ASE purchased majority ownership in the Flyers from Philippe Gaydoul, who had bought in more than two years ago when the Flyers were experiencing some difficulties. Gaydoul will remain on the team’s board of directors.
“The Avenir Sports and Entertainment group wants to ensure the Kloten Flyers continue to develop at a high level,” Gaydoul said in a news release from the Flyers. “Back when I launched my rescue mission, my goal . . . was to help ensure this historic ice hockey club could continue to play the key role in our society that it has performed for more than 80 years.
“But I always saw my involvement as a transitional solution, so I am now very happy that an experienced group like ASE wants to commit to the Kloten Flyers.”
ASE, which is based in Calgary, purchased the Winterhawks in 2008 when Portland was the WHL’s poorest franchise, both on and off the ice. Today, it is hoping to play in its fifth straight WHL championship final.
The Winterhawks hold a 2-1 lead on the Kelowna Rockets going into Game 4 of the Western Conference final tonight in Portland.
But what does all of this mean to the Winterhawks?
Here is a key sentence in a news release issued by the Winterhawks: “The Flyers also boast one of the leading youth development programs in Europe, with a pipeline of young talent that has produced many professional players.”
The Winterhawks are no strangers to Swiss players. In past seasons, their roster has included the likes of D Luca Sbisa, F Nino Niederreiter and F Sven Baertschi, all of whom were terrific WHLers and went on to become first-round NHL draft selections.
It sounds as though the pipeline to Portland has just had another tap installed.
When I suggested to someone with knowledge of the situation that it would be interesting to watch Portland’s involvement in the CHL import draft a couple of years from now, the response was: “No need to wait.”
The CHL’s 2015 import draft is scheduled for June 30.
Meanwhile, ASE has set up a management team to oversee the Flyers. This team features Doug Piper, who is the Winterhawks’ president, Ken Stickney, the president of ASE and Gallacher’s right-hand man in this area, and Bob Strumm, who works for ASE out of Las Vegas.
Strumm is no stranger to the WHL, having worked in the league office as well as with the Regina Pats and Spokane Chiefs.
The Flyers are expected to retain Sean Simpson as head coach.


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Johnston leaves Portland for Pittsburgh . . . WHL's regular-season schedule is released

F Kenndal McArdle (Moose Jaw, Vancouver, 2002-07) has signed a one-year-plus-option contract with Malmö (Sweden, Allsvenskan). Last season, with Västerås (Sweden, Allsvenskan), he had 24 points, including 11 goals, in 45 games. . . .
F Jordan Draper (Red Deer, 2007-08) signed a one-year contract with Mont-Blanc Megève (France, Division 1). Last season, with the Columbus Cottonmouths (SPHL), he had 53 points, 20 of them goals, in 56 games.
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When the week began, there was one WHL team, the Vancouver Giants, without a head coach.
Today, there are three.
The Regina Pats joined the list on Tuesday when the franchise’s new ownership group chose to fire Malcolm Cameron.
On Wednesday, Mike Johnston, the highly successful general manager and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, was introduced as the head coach of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. He signed a three-year contract.
Johnston began working for Bill Gallacher, the man who would officially purchase the Winterhawks in October 2008, prior to the 2007-08 season. Johnston took over as GM/head coach in October, once the deal closed.
He leaves the Winterhawks having led them to four consecutive WHL championship finals. They won the 2012-13 title, but Johnston sat out most of the regular season, all of the playoffs and the Memorial Cup with a WHL-mandated suspension.
The WHL ruled that the Winterhawks had been guilty of various player benefit violations under Johnston’s watch, thus he was suspended. The franchise was fined $200,000 and lost a number of bantam draft picks.
Johnston has 231 regular-season victories, second in franchise history to Ken Hodge, who holds the WHL career record of 742. Johnston’s .660 winning percentage is a franchise record for coaches with at least 100 appearances.
From a Winterhawks’ news release:
“The Winterhawks had 20 players selected in the NHL draft during Johnston’s tenure, including six in the first round. Already, six of those players have seen NHL action: Ryan Johansen, Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi, Tyler Wotherspoon, Ty Rattie and Seth Jones.
“Under Johnston the Winterhawks also became a leader in the players’ educational efforts, with all players, including college players, taking courses to further their education. Those efforts led to the Hawks being named the 2012-13 WHL Scholastic Team of the Year.”
Despite the success, Johnston was never honoured as the WHL’s executive or coach of the year.
While signing Johnston, the Penguins also gave assistant coach Rick Tocchet a three-year contract, and also announced that they will keep Jacques Martin, who had been an assistant under Dan Bylsma, albeit in a different role. Pittsburgh also has kept goaltender coach Mike Bales and video co-ordinator Andy Saucier.
On Wednesday, the Penguins fired assistant coaches Todd Reirden and Tony Granato, with Reirden signing later in the day with the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins are going to hire another assistant coach, and you are free to wonder if that spot may end up being filled by Travis Green, Johnston’s long-time assistant in Portland who just finished his first season as head coach of the Utica Comets, the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate.
“I’m looking to maybe bring Travis in here as an assistant,” Johnston told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune.
Johnston and Rutherford talked during the weekend in Pittsburgh, then met in Philadelphia, site of this weekend’s NHL draft, on Tuesday. Johnston was introduced as head coach during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
To show you how crazy things can get when the coaching carousel starts turning, consider all of this . . . Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford originally wanted Willie Desjardins as his head coach. Instead, Desjardins signed a four-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks. . . . Johnston, who wasn’t one of the first eight men to be interviewed by Rutherford, actually interviewed with the Canucks last week. . . . Johnston last worked in the NHL since 2007-08 when he was an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings under head coach Marc Crawford. Johnston also worked under Johnston with the Canucks. . . . Crawford was one of the eight men interviewed by Rutherford
Winterhawks owner Bill Gallacher and president Doug Piper are in Philadelphia for the NHL draft. The search to replace Johnston will begin there, with them hoping to find someone who, like Johnston, is capable of wearing both hats.
"We like that formula, if there is a person with the skill set to do both," Piper told Eggers, adding that there is no rush to sign someone.
"I'd rather find the right person than be in a hurry," Piper said. "It's important to have someone in place, settled and ready for the start of training camp on Aug. 20.
"There are a lot of good candidates, which is really gratifying to us. Portland and the Winterhawks are attractive (to candidates). We're at the top of the game at this level. Bill Gallacher is an owner who provides the resources to be successful. And Portland is a great city. People want to live here."
---
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has a comprehensive Johnston story right here.
www.pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/225378-87733-whirlwind-leads-to-almost-a-dream-job-for-mike-johnston-new-penguins-coach
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The WHL released its regular-season schedule on Wednesday. Some tidbits . . .
1. While the Portland Winterhawks have a schedule, they don’t know in which building each game will be played. That will be finalized after the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers complete their schedule.
2. The WHL finalists from each of the last three seasons meet in Portland on Nov. 2 when the Winterhawks play host to the Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings. Will they be part way to a fourth straight meeting for the Ed Chynoweth Cup?
3. The Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans will begin their seasons in Kennewick, Wash., on Sept. 20. It will be the 23rd time in the past 25 seasons that these two teams have played each other in a season opener. . . . The Americans will visit Spokane for the Chiefs’ home-opener on Sept. 27.
4. The Chiefs open the season by playing nine of their first 14 games at home.
5. For the first time in more than 30 years, the Brandon Wheat Kings won’t be at home on Remembrance Day (Nov. 11). Instead, Westman Place will be home to Game 2 of the Subway Super Series between Team WHL and touring Russian side.
6. The Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors complete their schedules by going home-and-home on March 20 and 21, starting in Moose Jaw. . . . Brandon’s 880 CKLQ Sportsman’s Dinner is scheduled for Jan. 29, with the Warriors in Brandon the next night. The dinner, normally held in early in February, has been moved so as not to clash with the Manitoba men’s curling championship.
7. The Wheat Kings will play three games in three nights on two occasions, both on the road.
8. With the Tim Hortons Brier (the Canadian men’s curling championship) in Calgary in 2015, the Hitmen will be out of the Saddledome from Feb. 17 to March 15.
9. Don Hay, who returns as the Kamloops Blazers’ head coach for the first time since winning the 1995 Memorial Cup, will make his home debut on Sept. 19 against the Victoria Royals. . . . Hay spent the last 10 seasons as Vancouver’s head coach; the will make his first appearance in Vancouver with the Blazers on Oct. 17. . . . The Blazers, coming off the poorest season in franchise history, will play six of their first eight games on the road.
10. Kamloops will conclude its regular-season schedule by playing four of its last six games against the Prince George Cougars.
11. The Prince George Cougars, in their first season without Rick Brodsky as the owner, will give the new ownership group a real baptism by fire. They open in Portland against the four-time defending Western Conference-champion Winterhawks on Sept. 20, then meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Sept. 21. The Cougars open at home against the Kelowna Rockets, who had the WHL’s best regular-season record last season, on Sept. 26.
12. In past seasons, the Swift Current Broncos rarely have made their western road swing in the early portions of the season. This time around, the Broncos will open their western trip in Prince George on Sept. 30. “With farming being at a busy time in September and October we felt that was the best time to be on the road,” Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ GM/head coach, explained in a news release. “That will give our fans the opportunity to attend more games at home.”
13. The WHL playoffs are scheduled to open on Friday, March 27.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will hold their annual general meeting on July 17 in the Heritage Inn. The fun begins at 7 p.m. . . . The Southern Professional Hockey League’s Augusta franchise, the RiverHawks, has moved to Macon, Ga., where it will be known as the Mayhem. A lot of folks were hoping for a reincarnation of the Whoopee. . . . D Garrett Haar, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Portland Winterhawks, has signed with the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. He was selected by Washington in the seventh round of the 2011 NHL draft while he was still with the Western Michigan Broncos. . . . According to Over The Boards (@OTBPuckWatch), the Portland Winterhawks have listed F Ryan Poehling, a 15-year-old from Lakeville, Minn., who has committed to St. Cloud State U. He played last season with the Lakeville North High Panthers, spending at least part of his freshman season on a line with his brothers Jack and Nick, who are twins and were juniors. . . . Over the Boards also reports that the Medicine Hat Tigers have listed Ben Copeland, a 1999-born forward from Edina, Minn.
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Not sure about rest of WHL, but Kelowna Rockets won't play 3 games in 3 nights. Not even once. The 2014/15 schedule looks player friendly.
— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) June 25, 2014

All that glitters is not gold though. Kelowna Rockets play three games in four nights a staggering 12 times. #wetgear
— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) June 25, 2014

 There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

A sporting success story . . .

Travis Green (left) and Mike Johnston have helped turn the Portland Winerhawks
into a tremendous sports success story.
(Photo by Bryan Heim/Portland Winterhawks)

So . . . you’re thinking about purchasing a hockey team . . . perhaps a WHL franchise.
You could do worse to take a look at what has happened in Portland where the Winterhawks went from hockey’s hinterlands to near the top of the heap in less time than it takes for the WHL website to load on a good night.
There really aren’t words to describe what went on with the Winterhawks in the two or three seasons prior to the sale of the franchise to Calgary oilman Bill Gallacher.
The fact that the Winterhawks won 28 games over the last two seasons before the Gallacher Gang took over doesn’t tell nearly the whole story but it does speak volumes.
But the franchise that changed hands over the summer of 2008 has turned into one of the top clubs in the 60-team Canadian Hockey League.
The Winterhawks continue to work to solidify their spot on Portland’s sporting scene, but there can be no debating what has happened on the ice.
While the Winterhawks were stumbling through 17- and 11-victory seasons in 2006-07 and 2007-08, Gallacher, who owns a piece of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, was looking to expand his hockey holdings.
With his sights set on the Winterhawks, Gallacher hooked up with a couple of hockey people and searched out potential employees.
The plan was to get a front-office team, including hockey staff, in place and, should a sale happen, move it in when the deal closed.
By now it was early August 2008.
The priorities were a strength/conditioning coach and trainer, a head coach (possibly a general manager/head coach) and an equipment manager.
Mike Johnston had spent 2007-08 as an assistant coach under Marc Crawford with the Los Angeles Kings. The two also had been together with the Vancouver Canucks. However, the Kings had made a change and Crawford was gone, which meant there most certainly would be more changes coming to L.A.
Gallacher’s people sounded out Johnston, who had interviewed for the Kings’ head-coaching job, to see if he would be interested in a move should things not work out in L.A.
Terry Murray ended up with the Kings’ head-coaching job. Johnston started making plans to work as the general manager and head coach of a WHL team that hadn’t yet been sold.
“There were times we didn’t know it would happen,” Johnston admits.
By now, former WHL/NHL player Travis Green had signed on as assistant GM/assistant coach. And the Winterhawks had landed Rich Campbell as trainer and strength and conditioning guru. In terms of credibility, the Campbell signing was huge as he had experience with U.S. Olympians at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games. He also had worked as head trainer with the NHL’s New York Islanders (1997-2006).
Johnston then took a look at the scouting staff.
He had played hockey for the Brandon University Bobcats, a program that includes Andy Murray among its alumni. Murray, a veteran of the coaching wars, both in North America and Europe, mentioned Garry Davidson, another former BU athlete who had been a fixture with BCHL franchises in Penticton, Nanaimo, Victoria, Trail and Salmon Arm.
Johnston knew Davidson and was able to bring him on board as director of player personnel. In fact, Johnston said when he first contacted Davidson “he was really excited.”
The Winterhawks also added Grant Armstrong, a veteran of Lower Mainland arenas in B.C., as head scout, and moved Matt Bardsley from director of player personnel to advance scout. Bardsley’s title has since been changed to director of hockey operations.
Remember that through a lot of this, there was no guarantee the sale would go through.
Johnston remembers attending the Winterhawks’ 2008 training camp and watching from the stands, wondering if he was looking at his future.
Along the way, Johnston, who has a long history with Hockey Canada, checked in with friends like Danny Flynn, the vice-president of hockey operations and head coach of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay, and Willie Desjardins, then the GM and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The more Johnston talked to them the more he was certain he was in the process of doing the right thing.
And then, In September, word came that it was a done deal. When the deal closed and the WHL board of governors gave unanimous approval in mid-October, the change took place.
Johnston, who last had coached junior players at the World Junior Championship in 1994 and ’95, took over as GM from Ken Hodge, who had been the face of the franchise for a long time. Of the coaching staff, only Kyle Gustafson was retained. Among Gustafson’s responsibilities was education and billets, and Johnston felt he wanted to maintain continuity in those areas.
Besides, he said, “Gustafson is excellent.”
That first season was no hell, as the Winterhawks finished 19-48-5.
But, when he was sitting in the stands observing training camp, Johnston had noticed what he felt was an abundance of potential.
As he said, Hodge and Bardsley “get credit for the 1992s and 1993s.”
That includes forwards Ryan Johansen, Ty Rattie and Brad Ross, and defencemen Joe Morrow and Tyler Wotherspoon, and goaltender Keith Hamilton. They also took forward Riley Boychuk and defenceman Brett Ponich in the 2006 draft.
In the new group’s first bantam draft, the selections included defenceman Derrick Pouliot and forward Brandon Leipsic.
And, of course, Johnston has used his international contacts to land impact forwards Nino Niederreiter and Sven Bartschi, both of whom are from Switzerland.
Which brings us to last season, when the Winterhawks took the CHL by storm. They went 44-23-5, their 93 points an increase of 48 points from the previous season. They finished fourth in the ultra-competitive U.S. Divsion, before going 6-7 in the playoffs where they lost out in a second-round series with Hay’s Giants.
By the time this season got here, the Portland roster included 11 players who had either been drafted or signed by NHL teams. Johansen was the fourth pick in the NHL’s 2010 draft; Niederreiter was taken with the very next pick. Six more Winterhawks were selected by draft’s end.
This season, no longer a novelty item able to sneak up on teams, the Winterhawks have been atop their division — and the Western Conference — for most of the season.
While all of this was going on, Gallacher brought in Doug Piper as president. He and his front-office staff are slowly making inroads. The team that once was the talk of the town certainly has become more than the whisper it was four or five years ago.
The Winterhawks’ payroll now includes 40 full-time employees -- more than triple the staff under the previous ownership. That includes the hockey staff, but also includes a sale department that features about a dozen employees.
The team they are selling to the people of Portland and area should finish this regular season having drawn more than 175,000 fans to their games. They will average about 5,000 fans per game. It ain’t the glory days, but things definitely are on the upswing.
As the regular-season schedule heads into its last two weeks, the Winterhawks have drawn back-to-back crowds of more than 10,000, and the average attendance since Feb. 1 is 7,922.
They are well on the way to turning their games into events, with marketing and promotions.
"If you put it in one word, this team had lost all relevance in the marketplace,” Piper told writer Jim Beseda earlier this year for a story that appeared in The Oregonian. “What we were just trying to do is find different avenues by which we could slowly rebuild that relevance so that people would pay attention to us again."
The Winterhawks also have plans for Memorial Coliseum.
As Beseda wrote: “Piper said the Winterhawks also are in talks with city officials, the Trail Blazers and the Portland Development Commission about renovating Memorial Coliseum. Improvements could include a high-definition video scoreboard, as well as replacing all the seats and reducing the building's capacity for hockey from 10,407 to about 7,500.”
Piper also told Beseda that the Winterhaws, with a lease that will expire in two years, are in negotiations for a new agreement.
Yes, it’s fair to say that the Winterhawks are back, in no small part thanks to what obviously was a great plan.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of the Portland Winterhawks are greatly exaggerated.