For Winterhawks’ Johnston and Gustafson, ‘It is going to be a change’

Mike Johnston retires from coaching duties after 43 years to move full-time into administrative duties with the Winterhawks (courtesy Portland Winterhawks)

Updated 8/1/2024 6:52 PM

It has been a long time since Mike Johnston hasn’t made at least a good part of his living in the coaching box.

Forty-three years, in fact.

Johnston began his coaching career at Augustana College in Camrose, Alta., at age 24 in 1981. In 2008, he added the title “general manager” to his resume when he was hired to coach the Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

Now Johnston, 67, is stepping aside to devote himself full-time to president and GM duties with the Hawks.

“I have always been a coach, and in recent years, I have divided time between coaching and management,” Johnston said in a phone interview Tuesday from Windsor, Ontario, where he is helping coach the Canadian national junior team in a training camp in preparation for the IIHF World Junior Championships in Ottawa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. “So it is going to be a change.”

Johnston, who signed a four-year extension with the Hawks that runs through 2028, has been Portland’s head coach for 14 of the 16 seasons since taking over in 2008. In 2014, the Nova Scotia native left to assume the head coaching job with the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. Johnston was fired midway through his second season despite a career regular-season record of 58-37-15, then returned to become president, GM and head coach of the Hawks in 2016. Now for the first time, he will devote himself full time to front-office responsibilities.

“I love coaching but thought it was a time to have a different focus for what I am going to do while building the team for the future,” Johnston said. “With everything we have going on, including renovations at Memorial Coliseum, it is an important time to take a good look at the big picture.

“Over the last few years, as I took on more (front-office) duties, I got locked into the coaching part and found it hard to have an organizational focus. I am looking forward to (devoting 100 percent to) that part of it. It will be a different world for me. I will miss coaching, but I will have a good relationship with coaches and a different one with the players.”

Johnston’s replacement at head coach is a familiar name — Kyle Gustafson, who has been a Hawks assistant for almost forever. The Centennial High grad began as a video guy and part-time assistant coach under Mike Williamson in 2003. Gustafson, 43, became a full-time assistant the following season and, except for one season as an assistant with the NHL Vancouver Canucks, has been a fixture on the Portland coaching staff ever since.

Long-time assistant Kyle Gustafson takes over the coaching reins from Mike Johnston for the 2024-25 season (courtesy Portland Winterhawks)

“That is a big part of why I am able to make this decision,” Johnston says. “Kyle provides good continuity in the coaching staff. He has been with myself and Travis (Green, a former assistant and interim head coach) for a long time. He is a young guy, a Portland guy, and that is important.

“I wouldn’t have felt comfortable in making this decision if it were turned over to a new coach. Kyle is definitely ready to be a head coach. He knows how we do things, and he will add his own flavor to everything.”

Johnston never won a WHL title or got to the Memorial Cup with the Hawks, but he accomplished everything else. Johnston came closest in 2012-13, when he was suspended for the remainder of the season after a 20-4-1 start for improper player benefits and recruiting violations. Under assistant coach Green, the Hawks went 37-8-1 the rest of the regular season, won the WHL title and reached the Memorial Cup finale before losing 6-4 to Halifax.

Heavy-handed penalties levied by the league included the loss of their first five picks in the 2013 Bantam draft and their first pick each year through 2017. Despite the setbacks, Portland carved out 40-victory regular seasons under Johnston every year since then except for the abbreviated pandemic campaign of 2020-21.

The 2012-13 club might have been Johnston’s most talented, with eight players graduating to the NHL ranks — forwards Brendan Leipsic, Nicolas Pecan, Ty Rattie, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Taylor Leier, Chase De Leo and defensemen Seth Jones and Derrick Pouliot. The 2019-20 Hawks had championship potential, too, mounting a league-best 45-11-7 mark before the season was shut down due to the Covid pandemic.

Johnston’s Portland teams reached the WHL finals five times — four seasons in a row from 2010-14 and then again last season, when they were swept by Moose Jaw in the championship series.

Johnston ranks ninth on the all-time WHL regular-season list for coaching victories, but a case can be made for him being the greatest coach in league history. His teams went 544-249-64 (.677). For men who coached at least 300 games in the WHL, Johnston owns by far the best winning percentage ever.

For perspective, Portland’s Ken Hodge is No. 2 on the career wins list with a record of 742-595-74 (.552) over 22 seasons. Don Hay — who assisted Johnston in Portland for three seasons — is No. 1 with a mark of 750-507-110 (.590) over 21 campaigns as a WHL head coach. Mike Williamson, the Hawks’ head man for 7 1/2 seasons, is No. 6 at 572-518-66 over 17 1/2 seasons. And in Brent Peterson’s six years at the Hawks’ helm, he was 198-136 (.588), taking them to a Memorial Cup crown his last season in 1998.

Johnston had a better playoff record than his Portland brethren, too, going 82-56 (.594). Hay was 108-77 (.568), Hodge 101-94 (.517), Williamson 64-63 (.504) and Peterson 26-21 (.553).

There is little doubt Gustafson has paid his dues. He played for the Portland Junior Hawks and at the Junior “B” level for the Eugene Thunder before spending a season as head coach with the latter team at age 21. The next year, Gustafson joined the Hawks organization and became a full-time assistant coach in 2003.

In 2016 his title was elevated to (associate coach) and he added an assistant GM title in 2018. He served under head coaches Williams, Richard Fromm, Green, Jamie Kompon and Johnston during his tenure in Portland.

(Gustafson becomes the eighth head coach in Hawks history if you count Green’s partial season on an interim basis. The other three were Hodge, Peterson and Harold Snepsts.)

Gustafson grew up with Winterhawks hockey. His father, Tom Gustafson, was influential in Portland youth hockey. He was coach and founder of the Junior Hawks.The Gustafsons owned season tickets for the Hawks games for many years. Tom died at age 64 in 2016; Kyle has started a foundation called “Tom’s Tykes” in his father’s memory.

“As a youth, we would play our game at Valley Ice Arena and then head to the Winterhawks game,” Kyle says. “My dad was close with Mr. Hodge. I remember going to practices and games and being around Mr. Hodge and Brent Peterson. Our vacations were hockey trips and to hockey schools, often with Bradley Peterson (Brent’s son) and his son.”

Kyle’s older brother, Derek, was a goaltender who helped the Vernon Vipers to a BCHL championship and St. Lawrence to the College Frozen Four. He played five games in the NHL and spent 10 years playing at the pro level.

Kyle wasn’t as skilled as his brother, so he altered his career goals.

“I always wanted to be a player for the Winterhawks,” he said. “When it became apparent that wouldn’t happen, I decided I wanted to stay in the game.

“I was always fascinated with the coaching side of things. I wasn’t the fastest, biggest or toughest guy as a player, but I was a leader on my teams and a smart player. When I realized that playing wasn’t an option, I dove into coaching. I got a foot in the door at a young age and that spiraled to where I’m at today.”

Though the move to the head coaching position has been in the works for a while, Kyle still went through a “pinch me” moment when it was announced. It is an exciting time, too, for wife Tonya and their seven-year-old twins, Callum and Charlotte.

“It is really cool,” he said. “I am honored. Being a Portland guy, I know the ins and outs of Winterhawk hockey. I have worn many hats in this organization. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be the coach of the Winterhawks.”

Johnston said Gustafson was “a strong candidate in a lot of ways” to become his successor.

“Kyle is very smart from a technical point of view,” Johnston said. “He will be willing to try things, to think out of the box a bit. He has a good personality. He has good conversations with the players. He is the overall total package.”

In 2021, Gustafson left Portland for the Canucks and a different, bigger experience. He joined Green, whom he had worked alongside during the Hawks’ 2013 Memorial Cup campaign.

“It was a chance to work with the best players in the world first-hand,” he said. “That is what I needed in my career. I had worked with junior kids for 18 years and felt like I needed to go get my Masters degree in hockey. That is how I viewed it. I wanted to see what it takes for them to be great.”

But 25 games into the season, Green was fired and replaced by veteran Bruce Boudreau, a former Jack Adams Award winner who has served as head coach for four teams in 15 NHL seasons.

“We went through a lot of ups and downs that season,” Gustafson said. “But working with Bruce on a daily basis, I grew to respect him and learned a lot about the motivation side of coaching, how to treat the players. I experienced the grind of a season — 82 games, flying through different time zones — how you prepare and the work ethic involved.”

After the season, Gustafson returned to Portland and assumed his previous roles. Now he is replacing one of his biggest influences.

“Mike is not just a mentor, but also like a father figure to me,” Gustafson said. “I wouldn’t be here without him. He has passed along his wealth of knowledge. Travis and I were fortunate to work under him, learning the ins and outs of coaching but also the teaching part of the profession.”

Gustafson has had many other major influences in his coaching career. He has a particularly close relationship with Green, now head coach of the NHL Ottawa Senators.

“I was lucky to have the chance to work with him in Vancouver and learn the pro game,” Kyle says. “Mike Williamson was huge for me, too. As a young coach, I didn’t know what to do. He had the patience and groomed me for this career. I learned so much from ‘Willie.’ ”

Three assistant coaches with whom Gustafson worked in Portland stand out — Hay, Danny Flynn (now a scout for the Columbus Blue Jackets) and Karl Taylor (head coach for the AHL Milwaukee Admirals). Kyle also mentioned Matt Bardsley and Josh Dye, both former members of the Hawks organization. Bardsley is now GM of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs; Dye is a scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning and a two-time Stanley Cup champion.

“I have been surrounded by some great people who have helped me along the way,” he said.

Another is Tommy McVie, like Gustafson a Camas, Wash., resident and a career hockey guy who served all or parts of eight seasons as an NHL head coach.

McVie, who said Gustafson turned down a couple of opportunities to serve as an assistant for NHL clubs to stay with the Hawks, believes Kyle is “overqualified” to take the team’s head job.

“Kyle is an outstanding young man and has been a patient man,” said McVie, 89. “He had to wait quite a long time for this, and he is ready to take the job he has always wanted.

“I have talked a lot of hockey with him. He knows where he is going and what he wants to do. He is not intimidated. This is not his first rodeo. He knows the game. I am very interested to see how his team comes out of the chute next season.”

It won’t be easy for Gustafson in his maiden campaign. The Hawks suffered major losses from their outstanding 2023-24 club, including forwards Gabe Klassen, James Stefan, Nate Danielson and Jack O’Brien.

“It is going to be like it was three years ago for us, when we brought in four young defensemen and built things up from the ground floor,” Johnston said. “Two years ago, we were good, and last year we were really good. This year’s team will be young, but there is still a lot of talent there. And we have a core that went through four rounds of playoff action, which will be beneficial to the whole group.”

Gustafson is excited about the return of overage center Kyle Chyzowski and defensemen Ryder Thompson and Carter Sotheran, among others. Sotheran is currently in training camp with the Canadian junior team. Veteran Jan Spunar could return in goal to join 17-year-old prospect Andre Stebetak, who will play for the Czech Republic in the U-18 World Championships in Edmonton.

The Hawks begin training camp on Aug. 28, with an exhibition opener scheduled for Sept. 6. They open the regular season at Kamloops on Sept. 20 and have a home opener set for Oct. 4 vs. Victoria at the MC.

“Last year we were so veteran-heavy,” Gustafson said. “The upcoming season will be more about skill development and getting our players ready not just for the season but for the remainder of their careers.

“It is going to be exciting for me, and I think our fans will like this team. No question, the group is real hungry.”

► ◄

Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.

Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).

Like me on Facebook.

Find me on Instagram.

Be sure to sign up for my emails.