1960-61 Portland Buckaroos

The Portland Buckaroos were the first tenant of the Memorial Coliseum beginning with their inaugural season in the Western Hockey League in 1960-61, which ended with a league title.

Brought to Portland from New Westminster, Canada, through the efforts of sports marketer Harry Glickman, the team featured many players from the New Westminster Royals, including coach Hal Laycoe., team captain Gordie Fashoway and center Art Jones. Fashoway led the team with 42 goals in its 70 regular-season games, while Jones had 36 goals and 64 assists to lead the team in scoring at 100 points. When combined with goaltender Don Head, the league’s Rookie of the Year, the Buckaroos finished second in the regular season. Fashoway and Jones combined for 14 goals and 20 assists in 14 playoff games as the team beat Spokane, Vancouver and then Seattle for the league title.

Beyond success on the ice, the team established a league record for attendance with an average of more than 7,000 fans per game, breaking the previous record by nearly 2,000 fans per game.