WINNIPEG – Sometimes everything falls in place, just so.
There had been talk of bringing an outdoor game here for years but finally the time is right. This has been a weekend wrapped in nostalgia, but the best thing about the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers facing off in Sunday afternoon’s Heritage Classic is what it says about the future.
The Jets will have five of their own first-round picks in the lineup at Investors Group Field. The Oilers have Connor McDavid and a whole bunch of reason for hope.
Those 1980s teams we celebrated during the alumni game on Saturday? Well, you don’t have to squint very hard to see the possibility of an Oilers-Jets rivalry reborn, and soon.
“One day this group of guys here, hopefully they make their path to history,” said Wayne Gretzky. “Both in Winnipeg and in Edmonton.”
History was not always kind to the first version of the Jets, but better days seem to be ahead. Outside of Alex Ovechkin, there aren’t many purer goal scorers in the league than Patrik Laine – the grinning, 18-year-old Finn who now calls this city home.
He’s joined a team with Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Kyle Connor — one that’s already authored four-goal and three-goal comebacks this season.
The Oilers have every reason to believe that McDavid is on his way to becoming a modern day Gretzky — the most dominant player in the game. In just his second NHL season, he’s hanging around the top of the scoring charts and most expect him to stay there.
That they have collided here during a special weekend with their alumni just feels right. The Oilers held a dinner on Friday night where a current player was paired up from one in the past at each table.
Small lessons were passed along.
“It’s not going to change anything on the ice for these guys, but I think it definitely serves as a reminder that there’s a huge obligation and a responsibility when you play for an organization,” said former Oilers great Mark Messier.
“As kids in Edmonton at 17, 18, 19 we idolized the great teams – the Montreal Canadiens – and the great players,” added Gretzky. “We wanted to emulate them, we waited to be them, but we also wanted to make our own history. So it’s up to you … as an individual player to what role you see past players and past teams as part of your life.
“You can either take it in and grasp it or say: ‘You know what, they can’t win a game for us. We have to go out there.’ We accepted, as a group of young guys, we idolized everybody who played before us and I think it helped makes us a better franchise.”
Both of these franchises are in a good place.
It’s the only positive to be found in the fact that Canada’s teams have done so much losing in recent years. They’ve been stockpiling draft picks and moving toward a better future.
In Winnipeg, there is a unique dynamic at play because the memory of losing the original Jets is still fresh for fans of a certain vintage. They still holler the words “True North!” during the national anthem before every game as a tribute to the company that brought the team back here.
Jets co-owner Mark Chipman has put his life into seeing pro hockey thrive here. On an occasion like this one – with more than 30,000 people packing a football stadium on back-to-back days – he’s being rewarded for that work.
A couple years ago we sat down in his office and he explained the impact this team has on its city.
“When I was a kid, this was the fourth largest city in the country and there was some sort of pride we took in that,” said Chipman. “It was Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Other cities have gone roaring past us in population and appeal to young people, particularly in Alberta.
“In Winnipeg, I think people feel like it got left behind to a certain extent. When we had the NHL in the first place it was a great source of pride, and then when it was taken away, it was devastating for a lot of people on a few different levels…”
He paused to collect his thoughts.
“So coming back, really what I think it has done, it’s just a source of pride or a badge of honour or whatever for people who stuck it out here, who’ve committed to living here their whole lives or whose families have been here for generations,” he said. “I think it makes people feel good about their decision to live here.”
Those words have stuck with me ever since.
This is a really special place. Even as a visitor, you can feel the heart and pride and soul in this community when you spend time here. The Jets are finally getting a chance to connect the past and future, and they are doing it against a former rival.
“[In Winnipeg] hockey’s just not entertainment, it is part of life,” said former WHA star Anders Hedberg, who joined the team’s newly created hall of fame earlier this week.
The Oilers may become a future rival, too, if everything comes together.
