Well, it begins with a 3 hour bus ride from our home this week in Kent, Washington to Portland, Oregon to take on the Winterhawks at the Memorial Coliseum, with a quick stop in Olympia, Washington for pre-game meal.

Lets talk about Memorial Coliseum...it's an old building that many in the Portland area want to tear down, but I think it's fantastice, with tons of character. With just a little polish, it can be a great place to watch hockey.

The ice surface would be the first thing to change..the ice is 185x85, which is 15 feet shorter than every other ice surface in the WHL. The boards are very soft with funny hops everywhere and the benches are awful.

The way the stadium looks, it just drips with the history of the Winterhawks...and the Portland Trail Blazers, I was half expecting Bill Walton and Cam Neely to walk out of the dressing rooms.

Look at how small the neutral zone is!

The scoreboard that doesn't work.

The boys looking over the place before hitting the ice for warmups. There's a look at a spot with so much potential, and a Winterhawk team that has even more. Too bad nobody was there to see the game tonight, an announced attendence of...1900!

Here's a shot of Brandon Davidson getting his third star award from my camera phone...pardon the quality.

Tomorrow, I'll change things up a little, since we have already taken a pictoral look at the Sho-War Center, we'll take a video look. See you tomorrow.

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