I'd like to see the Portland Winterhawks win the Memorial Cup.
First, because Prince George's Trevor Sprague -- a local hockey coach and a guy I consider a good friend -- is a scout for the Winterhawks.
The second reason, I trace back to my childhood.
When I was a kid, I would often spend my summer holidays in the Kootenays -- specifically in Nelson and Castlegar. My grandma lived in Nelson and I had aunts, uncles and cousins who resided in Castlegar.
When in Castlegar, I'd hang out with cousins Mark and Bryan. Across the street from Mark's house lived a guy named Travis. The four of us were close in age and would play together while our parents were doing parent things.
One of our pastimes was backyard soccer -- two-on-two, with jackets or shoes as goal-posts. I'm sure many of you, based on your own childhood experiences, can paint the picture in your minds.
One particular day, Mark, Bryan, Travis and I kicked the ball around for hours in Travis's backyard. How our legs didn't fall off, I don't know. I guess we had the boundless energy of youth. Even the oppressive heat didn't slow us down much. We started our game in the afternoon and kept playing late into the evening. I'm not sure if we even took a break for supper.
Other times, we'd all gather at Bryan's house, which had an outdoor pool. Talk about a little slice of heaven, especially on those days when the temperature soared to 35C or higher.
No matter what we were doing, Travis always had a certain grace about him. His movements were quick and fluid -- almost effortless. He was the true athlete among us, and, though I didn't really know it at the time, he was especially-talented with a hockey stick.
In the winter months, Travis played at the rep level in Castlegar. As he got older, he got better and better, to the point where he made it to the Western Hockey League in 1986 as a member of the Spokane Chiefs. In his final WHL season, split between the Chiefs and Medicine Hat Tigers, he scored 60 goals and 128 points.
During his time in the WHL, Travis was drafted by the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who selected him in the second round, (23rd overall) in 1989. Early in his third year of seasoning in the American Hockey League, 1992-93, he jumped to the NHL and stayed there for 14 seasons. Travis played for the Islanders, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. In 970 regular-season games, he scored 193 goals and added 262 assists for a total of 455 points. He also played for Team Canada at the 2007 Spengler Cup.
Travis's NHL days ended in 2006-07 after a 24-game stint with the Maple Leafs. The next season, he skated in 29 games for Zug of the Swiss Elite League and then called it quits.
Pretty nice career for that Castlegar kid.
As a hockey fan, I kept tabs on him over the years and always thought it was cool that I knew a guy who had made it to the NHL.
I still follow him these days. Currently, he's at the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon.
If you haven't connected the dots yet, the Travis I've been talking about is Travis Green. He's now assistant general manager of the Winterhawks and became acting head coach this season when the WHL suspended GM and head coach Mike Johnston as one of many sanctions for what the league deemed a violation of rules regarding player benefits.
Tonight, Travis's Winterhawks will skate in a Memorial Cup semifinal game against the London Knights. If the Hawks win, they'll face the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday for junior hockey's ultimate prize.
Travis will be parked behind the Portland bench tonight and Trevor -- remember him from the top of this story? -- will be keeping an eye on the proceedings from afar. He had been in Saskatoon for the tournament but returned home on Thursday.
Hopefully, Travis will be at centre ice sometime Sunday night, posing for a victory photo, and he sends Trevor a copy of the picture.
