Eddie O ‘aghast’ King playing ahead of him on top line

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This article was published 21/10/2016 (3607 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s already dissension in the ranks of the Winnipeg Jets alumni squad. But in a playful way.

Ed Olczyk, who had two stints with the NHL Jets 1.0 during a 16-year, 1,031-game career, said Friday he’s not happy with the makeup of the club’s top line.

“It’s (Dale) Hawerchuk and (Teemu) Selanne, and I don’t think anyone can argue with that. But Kris King on the left side?” Olczyk asked, to chuckling reporters. “There’s no doubt in my mind this is about the NHL having something to do with it.”

King, a rugged winger who spent a couple of seasons with the Jets (1992-96) before the franchise went south to Phoenix, is the NHL’s senior vice-president of hockey operations and is heavily involved the planning and execution of the Heritage Classic weekend.

He wasn’t a guy known for his offensive prowess, a fact not lost on his former teammate.

“If he is on the top line, I’m filing tampering charges because he cannot be on that top line (today),” Olczyk vowed.

A longtime hockey broadcaster south of the border, Olczyk has worked many outdoor NHL games. This is the first time he gets to play in one — in a city he cherishes.

“To come back and see the name on the jersey, it brings back a lot of great times here in the ’Peg. It’s an honour to be here,” said Olczyk, a Jet from 1990-92 and again from 1994-96. “I’m going to be nervous. The pressure is on from my kids that I better do something constructive. I don’t know what that is.

“Plus-minus is over-rated, just for the record. Corsi is not invited to the game. The analytics guys can have the day off.”

A dream gig

Jets co-owner and governor Mark Chipman was just dropping by to say a quick hello to the Jets alumni squad Friday morning when he was invited to join them on the ice at MTS Centre.

Good thing he had his skates and gloves in the car.

“It was incredible. I don’t even know how you put words around that,” said Chipman, who dumped the puck in on breakout drills and made a few tape-to-tape passes.

“To be asked to go out and do something like that today, my knees were knocking, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “That wasn’t on my bucket list. But I would have put it on if I ever thought I could have pulled that off. Wow.”

Close connections

The brash, young Oilers of the 1980s are much older now, but they still seem to have an unusually close connection.

“We enjoy each other’s company,” said Grant Fuhr, a Hockey Hall of Famer who won five Stanley Cups with Edmonton and was a seven-time all-star. “When there’s opportunities to get together, everybody says yes and seems to show up.

“We all kinda grew up together and learned the game together so I think it’s just stayed a close connection.”

The 54-year-old has no illusions about being able to perform at a high level in today’s alumni game.

“I’m replacing body parts now so I know I’m getting old,” he said. “I’ve replaced a (right) knee so far. Getting a shoulder done in a couple of weeks.”

The flying Finns

Another fabulous Finn, Hall of Fame winger Jari Kurri, is pleased to see all the dynamic players arriving in the NHL from his country.

“We’ve got a lot of good youngsters coming. Like this group, (Jesse) Puljujarvi, (Patrik) Laine, (Sebastian) Aho… the next few years there’s a lot of good players coming,” said Kurri, 56.

“Three years ago, Finnish hockey had a big (summit) meeting… (It asked) what do we need to do to have success? We always had team play, talked about team stuff, but the individual skills (were lacking). And now we have that. Goaltending’s always been good, so I’m not worried about that.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca