PORTLAND — Bill Gallacher has made no secret of his interest in owning a National Hockey League team. The owner of the Portland Winterhawks has also consistently praised the Portland hockey fans as knowledgeable and passionate.
But when asked on Monday if he sees a National Hockey League team in Portland’s future, Gallacher’s answer was a question: “Who knows?”
The Calgary businessman was in Portland on Monday, and visited with local media before watching his Winterhawks beat the Victoria Royals 2-1 on an overtime goal from Caleb Jones.
Gallacher, who bought the Western Hockey League franchise in October of 2008, said he is pleased with the competitiveness of this season’s team. He said scouting and player development has allowed the team to remain competitive despite sanctions handed down in 2012 that included forfeiture of first-round bantam draft picks through 2017.
The Winterhawks continue to use both the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum for home games — Monday’s was one of several daylight games played with the Coliseum curtains open. Gallacher said he would still be open to being involved with the City of Portland in upgrading the Coliseum.
“The Moda Center’s a fun place to watch hockey. This place is as well,” Gallacher said. “And if we can upgrade (the Coliseum) and it works for everybody, then we’d certainly like to be a part of that.”
One way Gallacher has improved the Winterhawks infrastructure is by investing in more scouts than most NHL teams employ. Portland has had success signing players in the United States, which Gallacher said was a natural way to go to help make up for lost bantam draft picks.
“But don’t lose sight for a second — we look at every player that we can in every jurisdiction that we can,” Gallacher said. “We’ve got a lot of eyes on the ground that help us sort of point the right direction.”
Ultimately, Gallacher said, players want to come to Portland because the Winterhawks have a track record of developing young players for the National Hockey League.
“Players want to come here because we’re successful, because of the things we’ve already put in place: the coaching, the training the physiotherapy,” Gallacher said. “All of those things that they think can take them to the next level.”
As for whether the Portland market might someday make the jump to the NHL, Gallacher said: “I hate to be evasive, but we’ll wait and see.”
Winterhawks 2, Victoria 1 — Caleb Jones scored on a two-on-one rush with Dominic Turgeon as the Winterhawks won in overtime Monday in front of 6,723 at the Coliseum. Turgeon scored the other goal for Portland and Adin Hill made 29 saves as against the team with the second best record in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks (29-25-3-0) play their next six games on the road.
