Portland Winterhawks’ Matt Dumba sets sights on championship ending

The first half of Mathew Dumba’s 19-year-old season didn't turn out the way envisioned it in the offseason.

The 6-foot, 173-pound blueliner did accomplish his goal of cracking the Minnesota Wild out of training camp; however, his time with the club was more of a learning process than he expected as he was frequently a healthy scratch, only suiting up in 13 games in three months. Moreover, he wasn’t seeing the ice that much when he was in the lineup, only averaging 12:26 minutes of action.

“It was frustrating at times, but it’s part of the process,” says Dumba, whom the Wild selected seventh overall in 2012. “It was a good experience because I learned a lot, but I did hope it would have went differently. I wanted to make an impact with the team and stay there the whole year.”

Largely because Dumba was playing sparingly, Minnesota loaned him to Team Canada for the world junior championship. Albeit the Calgary, Alta., native wanted to stick in The Show, he saw a lot of upside in representing his country in Sweden. It was a major goal of his that he couldn’t accomplish the previous two years because he was cut in back-to-back tryout camps.

“I was excited to get that opportunity,” says Dumba. “It was disappointing to get cut the past two years, so it was something that I was happy to get to do. And when they (the Wild) talked to me and told me they thought it was for the best, I thought it was just a good opportunity for me.”

Dumba’s world junior experience didn't entail a storybook ending, though. Canada failed to break their four-year gold medal drought as they fell to Russia in the bronze medal game. Not to mention, Dumba couldn’t give his best effort because he was under the weather for the whole tournament.

“It was disappointing for all of us,” says the 19-year-old. “And it was tough to battle through being sick. I was really sick in the first game and had to work to get my weight back to normal.”

Following returning to North America from the world junior tourney, Dumba learned that he wouldn’t be heading back Minnesota. Instead, he would join the WHL's Portland Winterhawks, who acquired his rights from the Red Deer Rebels in December.

“You want to stay in the NHL, but I was excited when I found out I’d get the opportunity to play for Portland,” says Dumba. “(Rebels GM-coach) Brent Sutter phoned me when he made the trade with Portland. I thought it was pretty cool that if I went back I’d get the chance to play for a contender.”

In a way, Dumba’s opportunity with the Winterhawks is his second chance to redeem his season. It seems he could overshadow his shortcomings with the Wild and Team Canada by helping lead Portland to their second Ed Chynoweth Cup in as many years.

“That’s my goal,” says Dumba on winning a championship with the second-place Winterhawks. “This is a great team with a lot of talented players. I think they’re a good enough team to win a title. It would be a great way to end my year and junior career.”

Dumba felt right at home when he walked into the Winterhawks' dressing room for the first time. He came into the organization knowing several players, including former Team Canada teammates Derrick Pouliot, Nicolas Petan and Taylor Leier.

“It was easy to join this team,” says Dumba. “I knew a lot of guys before I came here by playing against them and just knowing them from camps and stuff. It's always fun being around guys your own age in junior hockey, so I was excited to come here."

The acquisition of Dumba was an obvious fit for the Winterhawks because they needed to replace Nashville Predators star Seth Jones and Calgary Flames prospect Tyler Wotherspoon, whom they lost to the pros in the offseason. But the perfect match goes beyond filling a back-end void because of how smoothly his high-energy style of play meshes with the Winterhawks.

“They play a fast-pace style like I do,” he says. “I think it’s a great fit and it will be fun for me to get to play my style.”

Dumba has never really been a part of a lengthy playoff run in the Dub. In his first three years in the league in Red Deer, the Rebels never advanced past the second round. This lack of post-season success bothered him at the end of last year when the Rebels fell to the Calgary Hitmen in the Eastern Conference semi-final because he thought that might have been his last crack at a major junior title.

“We had a good team last year and I thought it might end differently,” he says. “It was definitely disappointing to think I might not get another chance (at a championship). That’s what made it easier to come back to the WHL. I wanted to win a championship and this is a second chance at that.”

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen