Jim Powers skated on Seattle's first two Western Hockey League championship teams, then built a second local career around motorcycles. Powers, the longtime Totems forward known as "Jumbo," died on August 13, 2026. He was 89.

The nickname fit a physical winger listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds, but Powers' game flourished through partnership. He played beside center Guyle Fielder and winger Tommy McVie when Seattle captured the 1959 WHL title. In the early 1960s, Bob Barlow joined Fielder and Powers on a line that lasted three seasons. “Jimmy was very quiet, he didn’t talk much,” Barlow told the Seattle Kraken. “But when he talked, we listened.”

Powers came from Claresholm, Alberta, and reached Seattle during an era when the six-team NHL left many accomplished professionals playing in strong minor leagues. From 1957 through 1970, he played in the WHL for the Seattle Totems, pre-NHL Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Blades. Most of that career came with the Totems. A season with the American Hockey League's Providence Reds added 18 games to his record.

His sharpest scoring season came in 1962-63. Powers put in 36 goals during the regular schedule, then scored 12 more across 17 playoff games. Four years later, he helped deliver Seattle's second championship. In Game 4 of the semifinal against the California Seals, his tying goal opened the way to an overtime victory and a 3-1 series lead. Seattle closed the series in six games and went on to win the 1967 WHL crown.

The rink also led Powers toward the work that would occupy the rest of his life. During his final playing years, he earned extra money by signing autographs at a Lynnwood motorcycle store, then sold bikes there in the offseason. After retiring in 1970, he opened a shop of his own. The Lynnwood Motoplex company history records how the original 3,500-square-foot store doubled in size within six months and later grew into a 32,000-square-foot powersports and marine business.

For a time, the operation was as compact as a one-man shift. Powers recalled leaving a "back in 15 minutes" sign on the door whenever he needed to visit the bank or step away. His wife and children gradually joined him, and sons Garret and Jim Jr. took over in 2008. The dealership's growth kept the family rooted around Lynnwood and Mill Creek long after his last game.

Powers remained connected to local hockey as well. When a grandson played in the Seattle area, he visited teams to offer encouragement and pointers and supported youth programs around Everett, Sno-King, and the Seattle Jr. Totems. He also kept close ties with his old linemates. In 2019, he stood with Fielder at an NHL Seattle presentation devoted to the city's hockey past, an appearance documented by Sportsnet and The Associated Press.

That bond with Fielder stretched across decades, from title runs to book events and later Kraken gatherings. Powers attended Fielder's memorial in March 2026. The two had also shared a final recognition from Powers' other world: the Seattle Kraken reported that Fielder was present when Powers was honored as a 2025 inductee into the Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Powers' wife of 62 years, Marie, died in 2020. His family included sons Garret and Jim Jr., daughters Penny Cannon and Janice Weber, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

The durable parts of Jim Powers' life remain visible across the Seattle region: the two Totems championship seasons, his name in the motorcycle hall, the family-run Motoplex, and the young players who encountered an old professional still willing to help at the rink. Together they trace one continuous local story, carried from the ice into a shop and onward through his family and community.