On the Babych brothers and Ukraine, my Heisman vote, Chuck Solberg’s 90th birthday and more …
Wayne Babych (second from left) and Dave Babych (third from right) participate in ceremonial puck drop on Ukraine Hockey Night at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (courtesy Wayne Babych)
Catching up on some housekeeping before Christmas …
• It is the 50th season of Winterhawks hockey, and I am working on a piece with players and staff members of the first three teams in Portland from 1976-79. Through interviews, I caught up with two of the franchise’s all-time greats, future NHL stars and brothers Wayne and Dave Babych.
Wayne was a high-scoring winger and an All-Star during an eight-year NHL career that was shortened by injuries. He was inducted this year into the St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame. He lives in Winnipeg.
Dave was a burly defenseman who played 20 NHL seasons, among only 73 players whose career lasted two decades or longer. He lives in North Vancouver, B.C.
The Babyches, who grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, have Ukrainian roots.
“Our paternal great grandparents and maternal grandparents were born in Ukraine,” says Wayne, 66. “Our paternal great-grandparents were homesteaders outside of Edmonton. Our paternal grandfather was born on the homestead. Dad was born on the homestead.”
Both families emigrated to Alberta during the Ukrainian-Soviet War in the early 1920s.
“The Germans gave them 24 hours to be on the train, or they couldn’t guarantee they could protect them,” Wayne says.
Many of them settled in Alberta.
“Throughout the prairies in western Canada, most of the major cities have a huge Ukrainian population,” says Dave, 64. “The terrain there is similar to the prairies in Ukraine.”
The Babych parents lived in Edmonton and farmed outside the city.
The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.
“We could speak Ukrainian when we were kids,” Dave says. “We can’t speak it now, but we can understand a bit of it. That’s what my parents spoke when we were at home. When we started school, things changed and they started speaking English. The only time we would hear Ukrainian after that was at family get-togethers.”
Wayne Babych (in black, left) and Dave Babych (in black, right) with a Ukraine junior hockey club they conducted a clinic for on a visit to the country in 2019 (courtesy Wayne Babych)
In 2018, Wayne joined a group called “Canadian friends of hockey in Ukraine.” In ’18 and ’19, the Babych brothers headed a set of clinics for youth hockey players in Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian-Canadians wanted to give something back to the home country,” Wayne says, “and we got on board to help the kids. That’s where our hearts are.”
“Plus, we had never been to Ukraine,” Dave says. “We were thinking it would be great to see the country where our ancestors were from.”
The Alberta entourage conducted a week-long series of clinics and also provided hockey gear for the Ukrainian youths.
“The Canadian military hauled our equipment over there,” Wayne says. “We were treated like royalty once we got there. They rolled out the red carpet for us. We met top dignitaries from the (Ukraine) government. We got to tour several parts of the country. In a museum, they showed us where 80-some Ukrainians signed a document to come to the Edmonton area (in the 1920s). Everybody was given plots of land to farm.”
“We were there to help the (Ukraine) coaches and show them some things that Canada Hockey does that might be different than their game,” says Dave, who was working as a player development coach for the Vancouver Canucks at the time. “As we worked with their youths, we realized it doesn’t matter where you are, there are the same characters on every team. There are the quiet ones, the superstars, the workhorses, the funny ones. Most of the kids could understand a little bit of English, but there were four or five in every group who could speak English fluently. When we were explaining something, they would interpret for the others. It was terrific.
“We moved around to different cities. It was so enjoyable to see the places where our ancestors were from. It was almost eerie. The family farm in Ukraine our great-grandfather came from looks almost exactly like the farm we had in Alberta.”
Covid shut down the clinics in 2020 and ’21. Plans were to ramp back up in 2022.
“We were going to arrive there on Jan. 22 that year,” Wayne says. “We were going to snow ski the first weekend, do clinics all week and then end up on a beach to enjoy where we came from.”
Local hockey officials called in early January to warn them not to come. The Russia-Ukraine War started on Jan. 24.
The Babyches haven’t stopped contributing. In each of the four years since, they have headlined an annual auction/dinner that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to send hockey equipment to Ukraine youth hockey.
“We have sent over 500 sets of equipment,” Wayne says. “The NHL has donated 25 sets three times. Also, children from Ukraine have come to live in Canada, and we are helping them with equipment and registration across Canada.”
Over the last two years, requests for help from Ukraine have changed.
Says Wayne: “We got a note from the president of sports in Ukraine that asked, ‘Can you send us sledge-hockey equipment? Many of the kids who play hockey have lost limbs in the war.’ ”
Those youths are now playing “sledge hockey,” an adaptive game for athletes with lower-body physical disabilities the has become a staple in the Winter Paralympics.
“Those kids need to be able to look forward to something,” Dave says. “It costs $1,500 a sled, but we are going to send as many as possible. Unfortunately, there are enough players to fill several (sledge) teams, which is sad.”
The Babyches are sick about what has happened to the people and the country of Ukraine. They intend to go back once the war ends.
“I know those people are really appreciative of what we have done, but I feel like we got even more out of it than they did,” Dave says. “It was an honor to go over there to help them.”
• My vote for the Heisman Trophy began with about eight candidates at midseason, and came down to three in the final couple of weeks — quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, Julian Sayin of Ohio State and Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt.
Among the criteria I considered were statistics, team success and the players’ impact on that success.
Sayin’s stats have been the most impressive. The 6-1, 210-pound sophomore leads the FBS in pass completion percentage at an outrageous 78.4 percent, throwing for 3,323 yards and 31 touchdowns with six interceptions for the 12-1 Buckeyes, who are ranked No. 2 nationally. His quarterback rating is 182.1.
Mendoza isn’t far behind. The 6-5, 225-pound junior transfer from Cal has completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,980 yards and 33 TDs with six picks for the Hoosiers, 13-0 and ranked No. 1. His passer rating is 181.4.
Pavia’s numbers are splendid, too. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior — who played his first two seasons at New Mexico State — has completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 3,192 yards and 27 TDs with eight interceptions for a Vanderbilt team that is 10-2 and ranked 14th. His passer rating is 171.5. Pavia also contributed heavily with his feet, rushing for 826 yards and nine scores.
All had something going for them. Sayin has been the most accurate of the three, but also plays on what is probably the most talented overall college team in the country. Pavia may have had the most to do with his team’s success. Without a quarterback of his caliber, the Commodores might not have been a top-25 team.
Mendoza’s numbers could have been even more impressive had he not been pulled early in routs of five outmanned opponents. In a 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game, Mendoza was 15 for 23 passing for 222 yards and a TD with one pick. Sayin’s numbers in that game were similar — 21 of 29 for 258 yards and a TD with a pick — but Indiana won. Pavia struggled some in Vanderbilt’s 30-14 loss to Alabama, hitting 21 of 35 passes for 198 yards and a TD with one interception. He was brilliant in the Commodores’ other loss, 34-31 to Texas, connecting on 27 of 38 aerials for 365 yards and three scores with no picks.
There are reasonable arguments for all three. In a really tight race, I went with Mendoza, Pavia and Sayin in that order. I have no quarrels if you disagree.
Prep football coaching legend Chuck Solberg, with wife Lynann and dog Chili, celebrates birthday No. 90 on Saturday (courtesy Chuck Solberg)
• On Saturday, Chuck Solberg will celebrate his 90th birthday. He was Corvallis High’s football coach for a decade, from 1969-78, winning two state 3A (large-school) championships and reaching the finals four times. I was a member of Solberg’s first two teams. He arrived in 1969 and took a team that was 3-6 the previous season to the state championship game, losing to Medford in the finale. The next season, the Spartans went 11-1 and gained revenge by beating the Black Tornado for the title.
Solberg coached football for more than 40 years, including stints as an assistant coach at Oregon State and as head coach at Lewis & Clark. He was excellent at X’s and O’s, but more important to him were his relationships with players and his coaching staff. Solberg — now retired and living in Welches on Mount Hood — was a master motivator. His pre-game talks were legendary. His players both liked and respected him. A group of us convene every summer on the mountain to get together with Chuck and reminisce about old times. He can still converse with the best of them.
Happy birthday, Coach. A hearty Spartan salute to you on your big day.
• I understood Kallen Gutridge’s decision to leave Oregon State football for the transfer portal. The redshirt freshman quarterback never saw the field in two seasons with Beaver football. He likely wasn’t in the plans of new coach JaMarcus Shephard, either.
What I would have liked to have seen is the 6-3, 210-pound left-hander turn out for the Beavers’ basketball team. An outstanding athlete who led Wilsonville to the state 5A hoops title in 2024, I have little doubt he could have helped Wayne Tinkle’s squad this season.
I am sure Gutridge has a football itch that he still wants to scratch, along with three seasons of eligibility. I would love to see him catch on with new Portland State coach Chris Fisk. My hunch is he could be a major plus for the Vikings.
• It has been a bumper crop of rookies in the NBA this season, led by Dallas’ Cooper Flagg and Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel. Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, is the likely Rookie of the Year. Knueppel, a 6-6 small forward who played last season at Duke and was taken with the fourth pick, is averaging 19.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists for Charlotte.
Guard V.J. Edgecomb, the third selection, has been coming on of late for Philadelphia, scoring 20 or more points in each of his last four games and averaging 16 points, 5.5 boards and 4.0 assists.
There has been some strong production farther down the draft list, too. Washington State swing man Cedric Coward, who went at No. 11, is averaging 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting .463 from the field for Memphis. Then there is 6-9 forward Derik Queen, averaging 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting .514 for New Orleans.
Coward and Queen both would have been available to the Trail Blazers had they retained the No. 11 pick in the draft. Instead they traded down and ended up with Yang Hansen, the 7-2 project out of China who has mostly sat the bench for Tiago Splitter this season. Hansen, 20, has averaged 16.2 points and 9.4 rebounds in five games with the G-League Rip City Remix, but seems light years from being ready for NBA competition.
Portland GM Joe Cronin is pleading patience, and maybe Hansen will develop into a solid NBA player. For now, though, Coward in particular would have been a useful addition in the backcourt to a Blazer team that is young but also built to make a playoff run now, not just in the future.
David Adelman, shown celebrating his first head coaching victory with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, had his first career ejection last Saturday in a loss to Houston
• David Adelman’s ejection after a pair of technical fouls in Denver’s 115-101 loss to Houston on Saturday was shocking only in that he is as mild-mannered as NBA head coaches come. It was the first career ejection for the Nuggets’ second-year coach, who probably hasn’t been booted from a game since his days patrolling the sidelines for the Lincoln High Cardinals in the PIL. (Probably not even then, really.)
Mount Adelman blew when officials let the Rockets bang on Denver star Nikola Jokic too often for his liking. On Sunday, the NBA fined him $35,000 for “inappropriate language toward game officials and failing to leave the court in a timely manner” following his ejection.
Adelman, son of former Blazer coach Rick Adelman, has done an outstanding job guiding the Nuggets to a 20-7 record, third-best in the West, despite missing starters Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun for major portions of the early season. Yes, Jokic can carry a team, but Adelman has navigated the ship well as the Nuggets have already compiled winning streaks of seven and six games.
• The biggest dual meet of the season for Chris Pendleton’s Oregon State wrestlers is Jan. 4, when the 24th-ranked Beavers host No. 2-ranked Ohio State at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers are much improved from a year ago, led by redshirt sophomore Justin Rademacher, ranked No. 4 at 197, and senior Maximo Renteria, No. 10 at 125.
Oregon State’s top wrestler from a year ago, Ethan Stiles, is now competing for the other OSU. The redshirt sophomore, who transferred to Columbus after last season, is 8-2 and ranked No. 4 at 149 for the Buckeyes.
• Finally, ponder these figures;
Each Los Angeles Dodgers player received a playoffs share of more than $484,000 after winning the 2025 World Series.
Each New York Knicks player received nearly $531,000 for winning the 2025 NBA Cup.
If that doesn’t seem out of whack, my jump reach following hip surgery is 46 inches.
• Happy holidays to all!
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