Hello, time traveler!
This article was published 03/03/2011 (4701 days ago), so the information it contains may no longer be up to date.
Above the jazz band, dance performances, violin solos and even spoons, you could almost hear the opening chords of Leap.
The Van Halen anthem, which filled the Winnipeg Arena every time the Winnipeg Jets took to the ice at the start of a period, was playing in virtually everyone’s heads this morning at the Robert H. Smith School.
Students, teachers, politicians, business people and police officers were on hand to raise money for Cancer Care Manitoba at the school’s annual community breakfast, but you couldn’t get past the pancake stand to the potatoes to juice boxes without anyone mentioning the (increasing?) possibility of the Phoenix Coyotes returning to Winnipeg.
Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs’ Thursday press conference in which she pleaded with the Goldwater Institute to lift the threat of legal action so it could proceed with a $116 million bond offering for subsidizing Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer’s purchase of the Coyotes boosted local spirits.
In between pancake flips, Deputy Mayor Justin Swandel said he was “hopeful and optimistic” that the bond deal would fall through and that True North Sports & Entertainment would step in, buy the team and move it to the MTS Center this autumn.
“We went up and down that pole several times. Every time there is news out of Glendale, people become hopeful. The news about the bond deal put everyone on edge,” he said.
“I would love to see an NHL franchise back in Winnipeg. We just have to be patient.
Winnipeg Police Chief Keith McCaskill says he’s increasingly confident the Jets — or whatever they’re called — will fly again. Even if the city of Glendale comes out of the fire, the disinterested owners of the Atlanta Thrashers could sell their team to TNSE, he said.
“It would be a big vote of confidence for the city. When Winnipeggers were traveling through parts of North America and Europe (during the Jets era), locals knew where Winnipeg was because of the Jets,” he said.
The repatriation of the three-time Avco Cup champions doesn’t keep Annitta Stenning, executive director of the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, up at night – that honor goes to the constant need to raise money for research – but she’s certainly keeping up with the latest developments .
“I had Jets season tickets. We are incredible sports fans in Winnipeg, sports are an integral part of our culture. If Winnipeg decides to do something, nothing can stop them. We are a force to be reckoned with,” she said.
