The rumour mill is churning extra hard these days in Winnipeg: engineers and architects inspecting the MTS centre, the Saskatoon Blades checking out new homes, conversations overheard in the Fairmont Hotel lounge, Gary Bettman sightings in town ... That's right boys and girls: the NHL is coming back to Winnipeg!
The current variation of the rumour started last year, as far as I know. There was a Regina sports reporter who heard something, and this post on a Saskatoon blog last October from "Trusty Rusty":
the Atlanta Thrashers people are in Winnipeg looking over the MTS centre with plans to expand seating to 18,000. It gets better.You have to believe him. After all, he is trusty! Now, every internet forum in town is buzzing.
The rumour also goes that the Moose would move to Saskatoon and then Jack Brodsky would move the Saskatoon Blades to Winnipeg, giving the MTS a NHL/WHL combo like Edmonton and Calgary.
If the rumours are true, there will be an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) -- right after the trade deadline. So ... it is safe to say that we will be hoisting the Stanley Cup in three years, but what will be the team name on the trophy? According to this Toronto Star article, "The NHL earlier this year contacted Canadian regulators to reinforce its trademark on the Winnipeg Jets name." I heard that the "Jets" name was owned by Barry Shenkarow. Somebody else said that the NHL owned it. I have a vague memory of winning the rights to the name in a coin-snatching competition after a night of Yukon Jack and tequila, but try as I might I cannot find the paperwork.
Regardless, even if Chipman can get rights to the name, the name will probably change so that everybody who currently owns Winnipeg Jets gear (approximately 80% of the city) will have to go out and buy new gear. That means that you and I will need to be prepared to provide input into the team name so that we don't end up with some disaster like The Raptors or Mighty Ducks.
With that in mind, I have come up with some preliminary ideas for team names. Vote for your favourite in the comments or suggest your own! Here we go:
- The Manitoba Flood
- The Winnipeg Level 4 Puck Theives
- Winnipeg World Class
- The Walleyes
- Shakin' All Over in the 'Peg
- The Winnipeg Falcons
- Hey Everybody, We've Got A Helicopter
- The Manitoba Monopolies
- The Volts (in honour of our great hydro resource, you see...)
- The Voyageurs
and my personal favourite: - The Burtons!
late addition:
12. The Manitoba Rebellion
11 comments:
They all have a nice tone, but The Winnipeg Level 4 Puck Theives really sets a standard.
I think the Manitoba Doers also sets a nice ring. If the team is anything like the Thrashers, they won't perform that well, but hey, people will like them!
Ooo, just thought of another one: The Manitoba Rebellion.
Gustav: some are now saying that it's the Coyotes that are coming. Much better, eh?
How about the Winnipeg Dream ons.
The Winnipeg King Cans
Honest question: the old front pages and pics were removed from the skywalk a few weeks ago. Does anyone know why?
The Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson Jets.
The Thomson Thunder: they'll come in with a bang and be done by November!
@Anon #3: I had assumed it was just so that they could paint the wall, but now that you mention it ... maybe there is a connection?
@Lincoln: you might have to explain that one to me. You don't have a tip that the Jets are moving to Thompson, do you? Ah, wait .. the billionaire David Thomson ... ya, that makes more sense.
I was referring to David Thomson, that is correct.
While I would love to see the NHL come back, I don't think that there would be enough corporate or personal financial support. Whoever decides to bring an NHL team here must be prepared to lose some money.
I agree ... they won't be successful per se, but they won't be as unsuccessful as Phoenix.
heh, Flood is the name of one of the "touring" (ie. pro) ultimate frisbee teams. Another one is Strike.
I like the ring of the Falcons.
See? Flood's a good name!
The Falcons are the name of the team from Winnipeg that won Canada's first Olympic Hockey gold. You may have known that already ...
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