About Flat Tail Hockey

Hello, I’m Colton, and I’m from Northern California. I grew up as a Sharks fan, and I was a goaltender for travel and recreational teams for more than 10 years. Making my passion into a career, I worked my way up coaching goaltenders, refereeing games, and managing leagues in youth and adult hockey in San Jose, until I became the Director of Rinks in 2023. When my wife and I moved to Salem, Oregon in 2024, I thought my hockey days were behind me. But we went to our first Winterhawks game at the end of the 24-25 season, and I realized just how much fun these games are and how much the Portland community supported the team.

I enjoyed following the Winterhawks through the 25-26 season, but I noticed there were no creators covering the team. Unless they were willing to dig through Reddit discussion boards and scattered blog posts, fans like me had no way to engage with each other and discuss the team. So, I’m hopeful to launch a platform where I can bring my hockey expertise to the Winterhawks community and create content that is exciting for fans to consume and engage with.

Drawing inspiration from the beautiful Beaver State, Flat Tail Hockey looks to cover all of Oregon hockey in one place. We will discuss Winterhawks games, goalie scouting reports, and fun articles about rinks throughout the state. You can join our post-game reaction livestreams where we’ll talk through the Winterhawks performance or check out the recording anytime on our YouTube channel. The goal of our content is honest and constructive conversation focused on how these young players are developing in their hockey careers. We’re a success-in-progress, so we kindly ask for your support as we find our footing in written sports journalism and digital content creation.

I am not affiliated with the WHL or the Portland Winterhawks. This is an independent blog, though in the future, I hope to earn the ability to go to the games as a member of the media, so I can properly cover the team in the arena.

You can reach me by following the inquiry on the contact page, tagging us on Twitter/X @FlatTailHockey, and joining us live at our YouTube channel after every Winterhawks game.

Thank you for reading, and please, be curious.