Back where it all began
When I first came to Winnipeg the Manitoba Moose were the professional hockey team and one I could relate too, they were the Canucks farm team. I knew some of the players, their history and speculated on the their future. Kesler, Hansen, Bieksa, Edler, Burrows and Mason Raymond, were all guys I got to watch play before they became household names to curse at or cheer in Vancouver.
I’ll be honest here the Canucks are my team. Always have been and always will be. Just because I moved does not mean I give up on the team I always supported. When they suck, which appears to be a direction they are heading in, I’ll support them and should they find themselves close to the top again I’ll only have waited longer.
For Vancouver, and many of its players, coming back to Winnipeg, the last team in the NHL to visit the Jets 2.0 is like returning to where it all began. In the early days it was not always an easy relationship between True North and Orca Bay. The GMs Heisinger and Burke, neither known for backing down, would often bristle with each other as the two entities tried to find a common ground in their relationship. With the tenure of Dave Nonis, as short as it was things improved but once again became rather iffy under the helm of Mike Gillis. That all changed after 2011 when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg…all bets were off and the two parties were set to battle against each other on the ice and no longer in the boardroom.
The interesting point in how this return matters is that True North Sports and Entertainment had a large role in creating the Canucks that made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. They saw, and learned, how an NHL team has to grow and develop it’s own talent to be successful in the league, to reach that ultimate position to challenge for a cup.
Remembering the history and relationship between these two clubs might shed light on the current course of action the Jets have taken in their strategy to build a championship caliber team. Patience, development and direction to a common goal with cohesion between the ‘farm’ and big club is the recipe. It explains why with a stable of draft picks getting better the Jets want them closer, in a place like Thunder Bay. Adopt from success and learn from mistakes.
The game against the Canucks may not have Henrik Sedin in the line-up and certainly not Bieksa and Tanev due to injuries. It won’t be the full line-up and those in Winnipeg at the game are unlikely to witness Sedin wizardry in person. The Canucks are of course the ‘enemy’ standing in the way of the slim playoff hopes some Jets fans may have, but hating them seems silly. Perhaps you hate some of the players for the way they ‘play the game’. Maybe it’s the coach or the general fan base, one that has taken to savage it’s own streets and city twice after losing in a game seven Stanley Cup final. That’s the shortsighted view, but one most often used by fans of any team.
These two clubs have a history with which to be proud. Three head coaches in the NHL have come from having stints in Winnipeg when the Moose played here. The support and commitment to the Moose by the Canucks helped make building an arena, one that would eventually house an NHL team, possible. The learning curve to own and run a professional hockey team was kept sane because of this relationship.
Hate the Canucks all you want when the puck drops tomorrow but don’t forget how important they were to this city and getting a team back. Boo Kesler when he has the puck but remember you cheered for him once, the same for Burrows, Hansen, Edler and Bieksa. You dear Winnipeg fan were a part of this Canucks team whether you like it now or not.
Many of the Canucks players began their professional hockey careers in Winnipeg. They were a part of the city and community even if this was not yet an ‘NHL City’. For those players who had a stop here, it’s a sort of strange homecoming, returning to a little place that has grown up.
Yes, the Canucks are the opposition, but a good number of them got the same passion fans here now give the Jets. It would do well for Jets fans to remember that but also take note. With some hard work, dedication, and a bit of luck this group here may one day in the near future resemble the Canucks should the Jets ever have to play a game in St. John’s. If that’s the case something probably went right before ever going horribly wrong. Jets fans should keep that thought in their critical perspective at all times but with the Canucks in town it’s a chance to see first hand how True North was a part of doing things ‘right’ for the long haul.