Under Bill Hunter's leadership, the Oil Kings were a founding franchise of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1966.

[2] Despite winning two league titles in the early 1970s, the arrival of Hunter's Edmonton Oilers in the World Hockey Association precipitated the relocation of the franchise.

[7] In 1983, despite losing the WHL championship series, the Winterhawks participated in the Memorial Cup by virtue of hosting the tournament—the first American team to do so.

[10] On November 28, 2012, the WHL announced sanctions against the Winterhawks for a series of player benefits violations over the four previous seasons.

[12] The WHL Board of Governors approved Winterhawks Sports Group (WSG) as the new owners of the franchise, effective January 1, 2021.

[18] Amid pressure for sports teams to abandon Native American caricatures, new ownership opted to rebrand the Winterhawks in 2021.

[6] Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Four former Portland Winter Hawks alumni are inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame: Mark Messier, Cam Neely, Marian Hossa, and Mike Vernon.

[citation needed] This is a list of former players inducted into the Portland Winter Hawks franchise Hall of Fame.