Patrick Khodorenko verbals to Michigan State and Jamie Kompon fired in Portland

Published 1:08 pm Friday, April 1, 2016

There were a couple of interesting developments last night and today that are worth mentioning. First, Silvertips prospect Patrick Khodorenko announced via Twitter Thursday than he has committed to play collegiate hockey at Michigan State.

Khodorenko, a Walnut Creek, Calif., native, was the Tips’ second-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft and played with the U.S. National Team Development Program the past two seasons. He had 13 points, including seven goals, in 43 games with the U.S. National U-18 team this season.

It’s not without precedent that a player can go the college route and later end up in major junior hockey. Jack Dougherty played at Wisconsin before signing an entry-level deal with Nashville and was sent to Portland where he played this season.

But the failure to land Khodorenko (at least for now) continues a troubling trend of high level draft picks (Auston Matthews, Tyson Jost) choosing different routes.

Down south Everett’s first-round sweep had swift consequences for Portland Winterhawks head coach and general manager Jamie Kompon, who was relieved of both duties Friday (assuming it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke). Kompon compiled a 77-54-8-5 record in two seasons and reached the Western Conference finals last season.

However, the four straight conference titles won by his predecessor, Mike Johnston, set expectations very high. Johnston, of course, was fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season and has been spotted at Portland Winterhawks games periodically since. Johnston has also been linked to the open head coach/GM positions with the Vancouver Giants.

Lastly the Medicine Hat Tigers are in a dispute with the city of Medicine Hat over their arena lease deal. We will continue to monitor that situation to see how it plays out.