Almost located at the geographical
centre of North America, the city of Winnipeg feels like it’s the centre of the universe these days. The
return of the NHL has that effect, so forgive them for being giddy.
Remember, it wasn't that long ago their professional hockey franchise was exiled to the Sun Belt south of the
border, so Winnipeggers are enjoying basking in the sunshine.
Hockey fever runs high in some
really good places, and the people who like hockey in those places like it more than anything else. There is
a real commitment from the city and from the people who believe in the game. Winnipeg is one of those
places.
As far as the NHL goes, the game is still strongest where it has
cultural roots, and while the case could be made for many cities across Canada, it is only fitting the city
of Winnipeg welcomes the first NHL team to relocate since the Hartford Whalers moved
to North Carolina in 1997. That’s because Winnipeg has been here before... with mixed
results.
Almost four decades ago,
Winnipeg was granted one of the founding franchises in the World Hockey Association, the Winnipeg Jets. Instead of sitting back and playing the part,
then owner Ben Hatskin threw seven figures at Bobby Hull (an unprecedented amount of money at the time) and
the Hall-of-Fame left winger obliged. Hull, along with Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, went on to form the
league’s most successful line, “the Hot Line.” Those Jets went on to become the most successful team in WHA
history, including induction into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of
Fame.
By 1979 the league was weeded
out by the NHL, which absorbed some WHA franchises, including
the Jets, Quebec Nordiques and Edmonton Oilers, also some of the strongest. These were the
NHL’s strongest roots and the game was being showcased across the country that invented it. While most
Americans know “Wite-Out” to be something that covers over grammatical errors, Winnipeggers and most Canadian
hockey fans know a “White-Out” to be 15,000 screaming fans inside Winnipeg Arena all dressed in white. This
tradition of course began in response to Calgary’s “C of Red.” In the Prairies, hockey is a part of the DNA
and the ’Peg has always been a hockey town.
Not many NHL fans spend short
days and long winters going to hockey shivering in the –25 C to –35 C wind chill, but in Winnipeg it’s
customary. There’s something nostalgic about cold weather and hockey in this country. Walking the streets of
Toronto in balmy March to go watch the Maple Leafs wasn’t the same as putting on the parka and
walking north of Polo Park.
While the Oilers had the benefit of entering the league with some
guy named Wayne Gretzky, the Jets struggled in the first two seasons, before landing Dale Hawerchuk with the
first overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. Hawerchuk propelled the franchise through the ’80s, garnering
numerous individual achievements, and the NHL/Winnipeg partnership was proving to be a good fit.
Unfortunately, as the game grew, business began to change. Market forces dictated that the league needed to
jump to bigger places and with Wayne Gretzky in Los Angeles as proof, teams like Winnipeg began to get
squeezed out. There was a greater vision, or a brighter vision, in the Sun Belt of
America.
A city that had sustained a
professional hockey team for 24 years was all of a sudden without one. A city, remember, whose cultural roots
were almost dependent on this team. There is a heartfelt sense of community in Winnipeg and Manitoba so there
was no feeling sorry for each other. No less than 12 months later they rallied together in support of the
1997 floods that ravaged the city.
So they waited. And waited. And
waited. Winter, after winter, after winter. With no Dale or Keith or Teemu. It’s sort of funny how good
things come to those who wait. After 15 years of waiting for their team to come home, Manitoba’s capital
finally has an NHL franchise again.
Now is different though. The
NHL is a changed game both on and off the ice. The
partnership the league has with the union and the bargaining agreements that are in place will allow the
franchise to compete at a level similar to many other clubs. The economic climate in the country is much
better than it was in the mid-1990s and businessmen such as billionaire David Thomson and True North Sports and
Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman have worked for years on bringing a team back to the city.
When the circumstances finally presented themselves, Chipman and True North turned on the jets and pounced. Finances won’t be
a problem for the new ownership team and while 15,000 seats seems small in today’s beefed-up world, early
signs point to 41 sellouts this coming season.
In what is a momentous occasion
for the city of Winnipeg and province of Manitoba, elation can be heard all across the Prairies. For many
people who thought they’d go the rest of their lifetime without another “White-Out,” there will be another
opportunity to do so inside the MTS Centre. Fans were quick to ease the minds of Gary Bettman
and his Board of Governors, as the 13,000 season-ticket target was met in 17 minutes. So now fans in Winnipeg
get to worry about other things, like buying a new 42-inch flat screen TV with the sports package. Or
cancelling that volleyball league that runs every Tuesday night through the winter.
Some fans may have forgotten
about the team and some still feel betrayed, but they will get over it. For now, ecstasy is the latest
emotion hockey fans have shown. The city is inheriting a roster full of youthful talent with bright futures,
somewhat symbolic given that those bright futures will go down in Winnipeg and not the Sun
Belt.
Now there is reason to celebrate
in the centre of North America, and while it’s just hockey, it has always meant something more than that to
Winnipeg. •
Photo Courtesy: True North Sports and
Entertainment
