Jets celebrate history with class Tribute to Ducky hit all the right notes in bridging gap between eras By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 Last Modified: 10:10 AM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022 Updates

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/10/2022 (767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the National Hockey League returned to Winnipeg in 2011, it’s no secret the new owners wanted to try and distance themselves from the past. Serious consideration was given to a new nickname such as Falcons or Polar Bears. Fortunately, common sense prevailed, a grave mistake was avoided and Jets 2.0 took flight.

In those early years, the focus was primarily on the present. History was essentially put on hold. A new generation of fans were gobbling up tickets like crazy and turning Canada Life Centre into one of the liveliest buildings in the league, so True North’s strategy seemed bulletproof.

Slowly but surely, that began to change. Whether by design or out of sheer necessity as the novelty began to wear off, the organization started to turn back the clock. Alumni became more involved. Banners started to go up in the rink. A pair of Heritage games were played in which the old logo was brought back to life.

And now comes the most recent example in the form of a moving public memorial to the late, great Dale Hawerchuk. Saturday’s emotional ceremony hit all the right notes, providing a masterclass in how to bridge the gap between eras in a rich hockey community such as this.

Don’t just take my word for it.

“The Winnipeg Jets, better than any other team, do things right,” Kris King told a jam-packed True North Square. Sure, he spent four years of his 15-year, six-team NHL career here. But King works for the league as the senior vice-president of hockey operations, so he’s not the kind to go around playing favourites. That packs some added punch to his praise.

Serge Savard, the Montreal Canadiens Hall of Famer who is now a senior vice-president with that organization, told me as much during a brief chat I had with him at the event, while also raving about the downtown rink and what has been done to the area around it. So, too, did the Hawerchuk family.

“From the moment we’ve stepped off the plane, they’ve treated us like gold. It’s been amazing,” said Hawerchuk’s oldest son, Eric. “To come here and see all this is amazing.”

“From the moment we’ve stepped off the plane, they’ve treated us like gold. It’s been amazing. To come here and see all this is amazing.”–Eric Hawerchuk

It seems no detail was missed, including the presence of Jets 1.0 owner Barry Shenkarow and his wife, Rena, and a great slate of speakers including King, Paul Coffey, Scott Arniel and Hawerchuk’s widow, Crystal, who brought many in attendance to tears. Having so many former Jets players, including more than a dozen of Hawerchuk’s ex-teammates who were brought up to take the cover off the “Ducky” statue, was a perfect touch.

After the unveiling I happened to be in a small group that was having an informal chat with Jets centre Mark Scheifele. The 29-year-old brought up how he’d attended a formal meet-and-greet the previous night, when most of the dignitaries had arrived in town.

“I went there, expecting to maybe stay half an hour. I ended up staying four hours,” Scheifele said. He explained how he spent the majority of time just soaking up the stories like a wide-eyed sponge, which no doubt was quite the treat for a self-proclaimed “hockey nerd” such as him.

“I went there, expecting to maybe stay half an hour. I ended up staying four hours.”–Mark Scheifele

But it perfectly illustrates how, when done right, the past and the present can be brought together. Scheifele, the first-ever draft pick of the 2.0 era, seemed genuinely moved by the entire experience, which was to honour his former junior coach and mentor.

So, too, did Jets chairman and co-owner Mark Chipman. He doesn’t do many interviews these days, but I did get the chance to ask him a couple questions as part of a scrum on Saturday. The man who kept pro hockey going in this market after the original team took off to the desert in 1996, who brokered the move from the old Winnipeg Arena to the current building downtown, who partnered with billionaire David Thomson to buy the Atlanta Thrashers and who is now overseeing the True North Square development, was the architect of the Hawerchuk tribute.

Chipman admitted to a “bittersweet” feeling of seeing so many aspects of Winnipeg hockey history, but missing such a key piece.

“When you’re preparing these things, the thought that just kept coming back was I wish he was here,” Chipman told me. “That’s the difficult part of this. I wish he was able to be here and see all the love this community has for him. Hopefully this, in some small way, will remind our community how important he was to all of us and how important this team has been to this community for decades. We’re just grateful we’re able to do this. I’ve never lost that sense of pride for the community and for what this team means to that.”

I would argue the Jets now need the community more than ever. Chipman penned a personal letter to a select group of supporters this past summer, asking for their continued support while stressing the toll the global pandemic has taken on their business. We’re seeing the most aggressive promotion for ticket packages in the 2.0 era.

And, perhaps not coincidentally, we’re seeing the organization embark on a trip down memory lane a lot more than usual. Arniel and Rick Bowness have been brought in to lead the current club. Old friends Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen will be welcomed back with open arms next month, the ninth and 10th members of the team’s Hall of Fame which already includes Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen, Randy Carlyle, Ab McDonald, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Bobby Hull.

”I wish he was able to be here and see all the love this community has for him.”–Mark Chipman

While chatting with Savard the other day, he shared a couple stories. One was how, as GM of the 1987 Canada Cup team, he had to tell coach Mike Keenan to find a spot for Hawerchuk. “Iron Mike” apparently thought he already had too many centres. Hawerchuk, of course, famously won the faceoff that led to Mario Lemieux’s winning goal against the Soviet Union.

The other was how he suspected, if not for Hawerchuk’s tragic August 2020 death to stomach cancer, he might have eventually found himself behind the Jets 2.0 bench as head coach.

“I once asked him about that, and he told me ‘Not now, maybe in a few more years,’ said Savard. “There’s no doubt he knew the game very well, and he could teach it. There’s been so many bad coaches in the NHL. There’s no reason Dale Hawerchuk couldn’t have had a shot at it.”

Unfortunately, we’ll never know. But we are left with a lasting legacy to Hawerchuk in this city, one that reminds us how the past can always be a vital part of the present.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg