OREGON’S HOCKEY HISTORY

When you play the game, play to win.

Every business, institution, and individual have one thing in common: If you’ve heard of them, they’re doing something right. They matter.

To what degree they matter is the next question, which often depends on branding.

Consider sports branding as a current model for success.

Not everyone understands, or enjoys, a rabid fan base but the numbers don’t lie. Effective branding fills stadiums, keeps televisions turned to game channels.

Teams take on the identity community. For some, wearing team gear reconnects emotions impossible to explain. There’s a power at work here, an undercurrent found in few regions.

Portland is one of them.

For example, if you’re a sports fan in Portland then you’ve heard of the Portland Winterhawks. You go to games. You read about your favorite National Hockey League team.

If you’re not a sports fan, you’ve still probably heard of them. Now you’ve got the Portland Rosebuds, the first American team to play for the Stanley Cup.

This is the team that branded big time hockey in America. And you thought the Blazers were the only Major-major league team here.

The Oregon Historical Society opens a new exhibit Saturday, a sports show in a hockey uniform with a feeling of true grit. Call it the OHS brand.

Quality brands define their era. You’ll find names from this era after you click here and scroll down. Go ahead and hit it, I’ll wait. This makes it easier to spot:

The line-up reads like end credits of a good movie about a team who built ‘Rose City Champions: 100 Years Of Hockey’ in the heart of the city.

And it’s not the first time Portland’s A-Team showed up. How does this happen?

Call it good coaching.

Since Kerry Tymchuk began directing OHS, sports have played an exciting role in exhibit scheduling from racing to rock and roll, the soundtrack of our times.

Sporting artifacts populate the walls of the transition areas in the museum. A soap box derby racer and Terry Porter’s Blazer warm ups are both there.

Is it safe to say Mr. Tymchuk likes sports? Or is it more?

Visit the gallery staging ‘Rose City Champions’ and you’d find a whole new team.

This is where the hands on work happens. How do you best show a Winterhawk championship ring?

Is the goalie uniform standing on it’s own?

These are the people tasked with executing the exhibit game plan, where curator Lori Erickson, exhibit production manager Franc Gigante, and specialist Drew McGrath, with others, do the museum magic you can’t ignore.

This is no spoiler alert, but looking over the collected artifacts, the loaned sports treasures, reveals the taproot hockey has sunk into Portland and SW Washington.

And it’s growing bigger each year. Portland competed for a Stanley Cup, won Memorial Cups, and continues tearing up the league this year.

Be a part of it on Saturday.

Their team brand combined with the OHS brand promises a great match.

That’s how you win Oregon’s history competition.

Be good at the top, good behind the scenes, and you’ll be great in the community.

Now who’s ready for hockey? Find the show at 1200 SW Park Ave., Portland, OR.

This is where the show used to be:

The next time you’re in NW Portland, take a walk down 20th from Marshall to Northrup.

You’ll see the Marshall Manor. What you won’t see is the largest ice skating arena in the world.

But it was there.

To baby boomers trying to get their curmudgeon on, commit these facts to memory and lament the changes you seen or heard about.

You’ll win some history, too.