WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Fifteen years of pent-up passion for the return of big-league hockey spilled into the streets of downtown Winnipeg as the usually modest Canadian Prairie city celebrated its growing chances of getting a National Hockey League team.
While the return of an NHL franchise is not yet certain, hundreds of excited fans waved Winnipeg Jets flags and sported classic jerseys of the team that left for Phoenix, Arizona, in 1996.
The street party started on Thursday night and extended into the wee hours of Friday morning, offering a foretaste of the greater jubilation that's likely to greet the actual purchase of a team.
Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Thursday evening that a deal was done to move the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, whipping up the fan frenzy, even as the NHL denied a deal was in place.
Congrats to Winnipeg, a proper hockey town. Why the loser in charge of the greatest sport on earth thought that Hot-lanta would be a good town for hockey...well, the world will never know.
With regard to this move, I can only quote the immortal Californian bard, Steinbeck:
Things were finally back to normal, [in dear Winnipeg]. Once more, the world was spinning in greased grooves.
Well, I've never even heard of the Atlanta Thrashers (was it Ted Turner's team?) but it seems only right that Winnipeg should again have a team.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hockey fan, but I know Fay and Pamela are so I'm happy for you all!
"I've never even heard of the Atlanta Thrashers"
ReplyDeleteWhat better reason then to make them the Winnipeg Jets?