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From the Archives: Carlyle Loses Flab, Gains Respect
“I’m not at liberty to say what I am, but the last time I weighed 196 pounds was in my last year of junior. Being this light, it can’t do anything but help me.”
The following THN Archive story by Reyn Davis takes and up-close and personal look at Randy Carlyle's choice to show up to his first Jets camp down significant weight. The news was the talk of the town and Jets management.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
Carlyle Loses Flab, Gains Respect
October 12, 1984 – Vol. 38, Issue 3
By Reyn Davis
"There is less of Randy Carlyle to watch this season. Twenty-three pounds less.
His gesture has tickled the Winnipeg Jets so much they are tempted to name him captain.
“I think in doing so he has demonstrated the tremendous desire he has to play here,” said coach Barry Long. “He has illustrated to other players his intentions. That’s the kind of dedication and commitment we need to be a winner.”
When the playoffs ended so abruptly last April, the merciful sight of the 220-pound Carlyle struggling to be effective on two bad knees was over. As battered and buttered as he was, the Jets had no one better.
“We are depending on him,” said Long. “He is a quality defenseman who is young enough (28) to have one of his best years. Staying away from injuries is important. You start by being in shape.”
Breezing through his first 60-minute skate, showing no effects of any lingering injury, Carlyle showered and dressed before pausing to discuss his new look.
“Weight is supposed to be an internal thing,” he said, smiling at the double meaning of his remark. “I’m not at liberty to say what I am, but the last time I weighed 196 pounds was in my last year of junior. Being this light, it can’t do anything but help me.”
Starting anew with a self-negotiated contract, Carlyle said the motive of his weight loss was based on mutual respect.
“The Jets have shown they have an interest in me,” he said. “I’m a 28-year-old hockey player and, hopefully, I can perform for these people. This is the least I can do.”
Using a diet introduced last fall at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ camp, Carlyle limited himself to a “solid” breakfast and an “adequate” lunch and supper while staying away from red meats.
“It was more a question of sticking to the basics,” he said. “But it isn’t easy during the summer. We entertain a lot at our cottage near Sudbury. I was accustomed to eating at 10 o’clock, then going to bed. But I forced myself to eat at six, then stayed away from food.”
Looking back on the season past, he dismissed it as a write-off.
“One thing after another happened,” he said, recalling the beginning of the end of a six-year stay in Pittsburgh. “I was hurt all season. After a while, it became apparent a change was the best thing that could possibly happen. It was time for a change.”
Idle for a month, he played the day after the Jets acquired him—helping the team to a 7-3 win in Los Angeles on Mar. 6.
“I played three or four games, then bruised my kneecap and missed another three weeks,” said Carlyle. “I came back one game before the playoffs. We were going to meet Edmonton Oilers. You better be ready.”
Though the meeting was brief, Carlyle seemed to strike a rapport with Winnipeg fans who liked the generalship, the fundamental skills and the touch of meanness mixed with strength of the 1980-81 winner of the Norris Trophy.
“I will definitely do the best I can possibly do,” vowed Carlyle, issuing a promise to the people who are eager to see him perform for an entire season.
BENCH BITS—Swedish national coach Leif Boork had to sever his ties with the Jets when he accepted the fulltime position before the Canada Cup. Boork had worked as a scout for the Jets for the past 10 years…Laurie Boschman is still slightly affected by his shoulder injury of last season. He has lost 5-10 percent of his extremeal rotation, which would be serious if he were a baseball player…Scott Arniel, Andrew McBain and Jim Kyte have added valuable pounds of muscle to their upper bodies, complying with the team’s off-season suggestions.
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Jets' Head Coach Rick Bowness Announces Retirement
Rick Bowness has officially announced his retirement from coaching.
The Winnipeg Jets have officially announced the retirement of head coach Rick Bowness.
The news came on Monday morning, just days after Bowness met with Jets front office staff and management in his year-end meeting.
Bowness, 69, had just completed the final season of a two-year contract signed in the summer of 2022. He had a club option for the 2024-25 year, meaning he and the team could mutually agree to continue the contract for one more year at the same rate.
When speaking last week at his year-end media availability, Bowness said he had made up his mind about his future, but did not give any hints at what that was.
Half a week later, the news came.
After 38 years in the big leagues, Bowness goes out with a 310-408-37-48 record over time with the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and most recently the Jets.
He went 98 57-9 with Winnipeg over the past two years, but was unable to get the Jets out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Bowness is a finalist for the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award, given to the league's top coach following the regular season of play.
Serving on the bench of an NHL club in 2,726 games Bowness holds the title of most ever in NHL history. He is one of just three men to ever coach in five different decades.
Winnipeg will now begin the search for its next head coach. Associate coach Scott Arniel is certainly high on the list, but the Jets will exhaust all options before naming their next bench boss.
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Connor Hellebuyck, Canada Life Centre Appear in NHLPA Player Poll
The National Hockey League Players' Association Poll has been released.
Data collected in the National Hockey League Players' Association has been released.
Over the past five months, 639 players from across the league were interviewed, survey-style, on a variety of different questions - 15 total.
These inquiries ranged in nature from individual NHL player skill, positional awareness, certain attitudes and mentalities, as well as off-ice personality. There were also questions related to the league's 32 venues.
As has been the case in recent memory, two connections to the Winnipeg Jets have continued to come up in answers from across the league.
In the question pertaining to which goaltender a player would want in net if their team needed just one win, the overwhelming answer - with nearly 47 percent of the votes - was Andrei Vasilevskiy, but sitting in fourth-place was Jets' backstop Connor Hellebuyck (five percent).
And then, as has also been typical, Canada Life Centre was voted as the No. 3 venue league-wide in terms of ice conditions. Sitting behind Montreal's Bell Centre (34 percent) and Edmonton's Rogers Place (15 percent), Canada Life Centre took home 11 percent of the votes.
Although 15 total questions, there were only two answers that included anything pertaining to the Winnipeg Jets in the top-five submitted answers.
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Jets Acquire Tyler Toffoli from New Jersey
The Winnipeg Jets have added another big piece in advance of the NHL's trade deadline.
On Friday morning, the Winnipeg Jets and New Jersey Devils came together on a trade that saw veteran forward Tyler Toffoli dealt for two draft picks.
Heading back to New Jersey is Winnipeg's 2025 second round pick and its third round selection at this year's draft. On top of that, the Devils are retaining half of Toffoli's $4.25 million cap hit on his expiring contract.
Toffoli, 31, won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, before playing another six years in California for the team that drafted him out of the Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's, where he put up multiple 100-point seasons.
Having overlapped time with Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo in Los Angeles, Toffoli also spent time with fellow Jets newcomer Sean Monahan both when they played in Ottawa together, as well as their short season of overlap with the Calgary Flames in 2021-22.
On the year, Toffoli has 26 goals and 44 points in 61 games, which followed up the best statistical season of his career in 2022-23, to which he amassed 34 goals and 73 points in 82 games.
Toffoli has 253 goals and 510 points in 794 career regular season games, and another 18 goals and 44 points in 88 postseason contests.
The offensive forward now joins a top-six consisting of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti.
The Jets, which may not yet be done, are clearly set to go all-in following the jump start move in acquiring Monahan and now the addition of Toffoli. All that may be left is another shut-down blueliner for the heck of it.
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Josh Morrissey Earns Weekly NHL Honour
Winnipeg's Josh Morrissey has been named one of the NHL's Three Stars of the Week.
Winnipeg Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey has been named the NHL's Third Star of the Week.
Thanks to his performance over the past week, Morrissey has become the third Jets player to take such an honour this season (Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck).
This week alone, the 28-year-old has amassed seven points in four games, helping the Jets to a 3-1-0 record to jump into first place in the Central Division.
Dating back to his last eight games, Morrissey has 16 total points. Overall, he's at eight goals and 51 points in 60 games this season, just shy of the pace set in his breakout 2022-23 campaign, where he finished with 16 goals and 76 points in 78 games.
The Calgary, Alberta product sits seventh league-wide in scoring among defencemen, and is just the third blueliner in franchise history to hit 50 points in consecutive years.
It is the second time that Morrissey has been named a Star of the Week, after taking the No. 2 spot in November last season.
Morrissey and the Jets next face the Seattle Kraken at home on Tuesday night.
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Dominic Toninato Clears Waivers, Joins David Gustafsson with Moose
The Winnipeg Jets have successfully passed forward Dominic Toninato through Waivers to the AHL.
The Winnipeg Jets have dangled forward Dominic Toninato out for the league to see, but had no takers.
On Monday, the veteran forward passed through Waivers successfully and is set to report to the Manitoba Moose, which are on the road in Calgary for a back-to-back, week-night set with the Wranglers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Toninato, 29, has worked his way into 15 games for the Jets this season - thanks in large part to a number of injuries up front.
He has five points on the year, plus an additional six points in his nine games played with the Moose.
It is Toninato's fourth season with the team and is under contract for one more year after signing a two-year extension late last season. In his career, he has 13 goals and 35 points in 184 NHL contests.
The move to put Toninato on Waivers comes shortly after the Jets lost defenceman Declan Chisholm to the nearby Minnesota Wild.
It also helps pave the way back for injured forward David Gustafsson, who has been out since December with a lower-body injury.
Gustafsson was activated from the Jets' injured reserve on Monday and sent down to Manitoba for a conditioning stint, to which he will still make NHL money, but can participate in games, practices and travel with the Moose for up to two weeks without needing to go through Waivers.
With Gustafsson no longer on the team's injured reserve, Winnipeg is back to full health for the first time in nearly the entire 2023-24 season.
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From the Archives: Carlyle Pilots the Jets to a New Altitude
Fergie Paid Steep Price, But ‘Kitty’ Has Been Worth It
The following THN Archive story by Reyn Davis takes a long look at the young, blossoming defensive diamond, Randy Carlyle. Learn more about the player deemed as important to Winnipeg as Wayne Gretzky was to Edmonton below.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
Plan the Parade
March 8, 1985 – Vol. 38, Issue 23
By Reyn Davis
"There was a time when there was enough of Randy Carlyle to go around…and around and around.
Today, he’s a svelte 200 pounds, as light as a whisper on his skates but as strong as the proverbial ox.
Of all the reasons why the Winnipeg Jets are suddenly a winning hockey club, none has precedence over the arrival of the 28-year-old defenseman from Pittsburgh on March 5, 1984 in the waning moments of the National Hockey League trading deadline.
It is more than a coincidence that since Carlyle’s acquisition, Dale Hawerchuk has bolted into the echelons of the scoring leaders while Thomas Steen, Paul MacLean, Robert Picard and Brian Mullen are having the most productive year of their careers.
“When he’s not there you realize how much he means to this team,” said general manager John Ferguson, lamenting the loss of Carlyle with a bruised shoulder as the team skidded.
A clean, well-timed punishing hit by Washington right winger Lou Franceschetti on Feb. 13 left Carlyle cut above the left eye and his shoulder badly bruised, if not slightly separated.
As feared, the injury hurt every member of the Jets: MacLean played nonchalantly; Hawerchuk lacked his drive; Dave Ellett, a rookie, had no one to take him by the hand; the renewed attention Dave Babych received cast him in a bad light; Picard was adrift without a paddle.
Carlyle is the straw that stirs their drink. He is also the whip Barry Long has never had to use.
The title has yet to be bestowed but Carlyle is the coach’s assistant. Players who float are answerable to him long before the coaching staff enters the picture.
Appropriately, he has several nicknames. Two favorites are Oscar, after the grumpy Sesame Street character, and Boss Hawg, after the irascible mayor on the Dukes of Hazzard. But the one that is heard on the ice in the heat of action is Kitty, after the former television panelist on What’s My Line?
A thatch of hair tumbling forward, parting his high forehead, Carlyle presents a unique appearance…not unlike the other top defensemen in the NHL.
Strong-willed, he knows what he expects of himself and others.
“His greatest contribution to the team goes unseen by most people, and that’s his leadership,” said Brian Hayward, the Jet’s undisputed No. I goaltender. “He is the guy who motivates others. He is not afraid to stand up and say what he thinks of you…in the locker room or on the bench. He makes sure you are ready to play. We have missed that kind of person in the past.”
There were skeptics, even among the Jets, when Ferguson closed the deal that sent Moe Mantha and the team’s first-round draft choice (Doug Bodger) to Pittsburgh for Carlyle.
“Giving up a first-round draft choice for him I thought was fair,” said Bill Sutherland, one of the Jets’ assistant coaches. “But giving up a player as well was a little steep, I thought. But I have changed my mind. The way Randy has played for us I would have to say this is the best deal this team has ever made.”
At 28, he is seven years younger than Serge Savard was when the Jets coaxed him out of Montreal in 1981. He has never been seriously injured. His knees are sound.
Carlyle is 23 pounds lighter than he was when he reported to the Jets last March. He also has a new contract which he negotiated by himself.
While he has not accumulated the points he did, winning the Norris Trophy during the 1980-81 season, Carlyle has amazed Long with his defensive talents.
“I never appreciated the sense of anticipation he has,” said Long, a former defenseman. “He seems to be two or three steps ahead of the play.”
Most teams key on Carlyle, knowing how effective he can be if he has the time to turn and face the forecheckers pouring into his zone.
“If you can catch him before he’s turned, he might make a turnover,” said Rod Langway of the Washington Capitals. “But if you don’t, he’ll pick you apart.”
Carlyle prefers to direct much of the credit to Picard, the much-travelled veteran who wore out his welcome in three other cities.
“I never paid much attention to him,” said Carlyle. “I knew he was quite talented. And I’ll never forget the time he hit me in Washington. He gave me one of the hardest checks I’ve ever received.
“But he always hits you clean. Some guys like (former NHLer) Hilliard Graves went for the knees. Picard goes for the chest.”
Winnipeg writers and broadcasters say Carlyle has brought out the best in Picard to such an extent he deserved to be considered among the Campbell Conference’s mid-season All-Stars.
“I dispute the argument,” said Carlyle. “It isn’t true. Instead, he is bringing out the best in me.”
Always chirping to his teammates on the ice, Carlyle often uses his stick to point out the open man in case he isn’t heard. He is the quarterback, a leader on a team that was sadly in need of an experienced hand to run the defense.
One of the frustrations he has experienced playing with the Jets is the team’s inability to beat the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames on anything more than an occasional basis.
Only recently did the Jets end a 20-game losing streak against the Oilers. The Flames have beaten them five times.
“Calgary is so prepared for us,” said Carlyle. “They seem to know every move we are going to make. They are not all that talented but they are a hard-working team that backchecks as hard as it forechecks.”
Long shares Carlyle’s frustration. But he knows he must be thankful for his mercies, both large and small.
“Randy means as much to us as Wayne Gretzky does to Edmonton,” said Long. “He is not going to put the same number of points on the board as Gretzky but he’ll help us in so many other respects he becomes just as valuable.
“I wish we had two more like him.”
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Line Combinations: Jets at Bruins
The Winnipeg Jets take on the Boston Bruins from TD Garden on Monday night.
The 30-10-4 Winnipeg Jets will face off against the 28-8-9 Boston Bruins in a battle of top teams on Monday night.
Winnipeg, which has 64 points, will look to extend a number of its lengthy streaks against a Bruins team owning 65 points in one more game played than that of the Jets.
Mark Scheifele remains out of action for Winnipeg, as he continues to skate for the team in a non-contact sweater.
Another question mark for the Jets is the services of fellow top-line forward Gabe Vilardi, who head coach Rick Bowness says will be a game-time decision for Winnipeg on Monday.
According to Ken Wiebe who is on-site in Boston, the Jets held an optional morning skate, meaning their official line combinations were anything but.
Connor Hellebuyck will get the nod in net as he looks for his 23rd win of the season.
As per warmup, Gabe Vilardi did not set foot on the ice, as Axel Jonsson-Fjallby moved into action.
Winnipeg Jets expected line combinations for Monday, January 22 vs. the Boston Bruins:
Connor-Lowry-Iafallo
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Toninato-Appleton
Gustafsson-Kupari-Jonsson-Fjallby
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Hellebuyck
Injured: Scheifele, Vilardi, Heinola
Healthy scratch: Samberg, Chisholm
Monday's game can be viewed live on Sportsnet at 6:00 PM central time.
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From the Archives: Jets Will Roll Out the Carpet for Behrend
Four players who have never earned a dollar from professional hockey are considered sure-bets by the man who drafted them. Jet general manager John Ferguson.
The following THN Archive story by Reyn Davis takes a thorough look at a number of up-and-coming Winnipeg Jets prospects in the year 1984. Unfortunately for GM John Ferguson, many didn't quite pan out the way he had planned. And as many remember, Marc Behrend's NHL career lasted just 39 games, to which he posted a 4.92 goals against average and a .848 save percentage.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
Jets Will Roll Out the Carpet for Behrend
January 13, 1984 – Vol. 37, Issue 15
By Reyn Davis
"The people who excite Ferguson most are goaltender Marc Behrend of the U.S. Olympic team and three defensemen—Dave Ellett of Bowling Green, Peter Taglianetti of Providence College and Dan McFall of Michigan State.
Of these, the one who is expected to surface first is Behrend. He’s expected to arrive on Feb. 16.
Selected in the fifth round (85th overall) of the 1981 entry draft. Behrend has since established himself as the hottest goaltending property in the amateur ranks.
Already, Ferguson has had a raft of phone calls from other National Hockey League general managers, enquiring as to his availability.
“I have a stock answer,” said Ferguson. “A capital NO.”
By others, Behrend has been described as “a franchise.” Ferguson won’t go so far. The title is a burden. Dale Hawerchuk and Dave Babych were described as “franchise” players, too. It’s unfair to pin a kid with such a heavy responsibility.
Nonetheless, Behrend is prized. He seems to have the skills and deportment of a great one.
“He reminds me a lot of Glenn Hall,” said Ferguson. “He has great concentration. He’s tall like Hall and he uses his pads like Hall did. I watch him and I see Hall all over again.”
Ellett may be the second hottest prospect in the system. He’s the backbone of Bowling Green’s defense. Oddly enough, he was coveted by both the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams because of his dual citizenship. But he passed on both Olympic teams as well as the Canadian national junior team to stay with Bowling Green and concentrate on his studies. However, he did join the Canadian Olympic team on a trial basis in late December.
Ferguson believes he could be playing for the Jets right now.
A fourth-round choice (75th overall) in the 1982 draft, Ellett has groomed himself into a smooth, hard-shooting defenseman who uses his body well.
Ellett’s father was a teammate of Ferguson and chief scout Les Binkley with the old Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League.
“I would say Dave is at least six inches taller than his father,” said Ferguson, “and he skates just as well, if not better. Right now, Dave Ellett is the key player on the No.-l rated team in college hockey.”
McFall and Taglianetti may be two years away. Ferguson can wait. Rushing college prospects into the breach is no longer necessary. He’ll be ready when they are.
Taglianetti was a third-round choice (43rd overall) in the 1983 entry draft. He barely missed winning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. McFall was chosen in the eighth round (148th overall) in the 1981 draft while playing for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. He was a longshot who appears to have NHL potential.
By no means are the Jets depending on all four. There are a flock of others who may make the grade ahead of them. However, they are considered the brightest prospects.
“I’m more than happy with the development of most of our draft choices,” said Ferguson. “As many as eight others figure in our future plans.”
A first-round choice, defenseman Bobby Delias, is playing his second year of junior hockey with Laval Voisins, a powerhouse from the Quebec Major League. Dollas has been spending the Christmas period working out with the Jets.
Others who have since turned pro are right wingers Kirk McCaskill and Mike Lauen, defenceman Jyrki Seppa and center Murray Eaves.
McCaskill was coaxed out of baseball to cast his lot in hockey.
Lauen was impressive during a one-week stay in Winnipeg. He could be a regular next season. Eaves and Seppa have been brought up at various stages.
Still others are long-term hopes for the future. They include defenseman Brad Berry, only 18, a second-round choice in 1983 who is a freshman at the University of North Dakota; Iain Duncan, 19, a left winger and teammate of Ellett’s at Bowling Green; and rugged Tom Martin, 19, a left winger with Victoria Cougars of the Western League."
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From the Archives: 'Jets' Takeoff Destined for Respectability'
Christian, Hawerchuk and Babych are essential figures in Ferguson’s master plan to build by jealously hoarding his draft choices.
The following THN Archive story by Reyn Davis takes a look at the three musketeers making up much of Winnipeg's excitement in the early 1980s, Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Babych and Dave Christian.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
Jets' Takeoff Destined for Respectability
November 27, 1981 – Vol. 35, Issue 09
By Reyn Davis
"Two members of the Winnipeg Jets were locked in a serious conversation one day in the dressing room.
Without batting an eye, Dave Christian reached down and picked up a pair of skates and kept on talking.
Quietly, he took a set of scissors and neatly snipped all the laces, then gently put the skates back down.
Ron Wilson continued to press his point, weighing Christian’s reaction, and airing all of his own.
When the discussion ended, Wilson reached for his skates.
“Who’s the crazy so-and-so who cut the laces in my skates?” he wanted to know, glancing suspiciously around the room.
Christian gave him his best look of innocence, shrugged his shoulders and wondered himself.
Players couldn’t stop from laughing. The scene was too funny to be real.
But it was only an example of the free, relaxed spirit among the Jets these days.
They are flying high on a path to respectability and their fans are enjoying the ride.
Wherever you may go in the city, people are excited about the Jets.
And three players who are instrumental in this rise to new heights are an 18-year-old sensation, Dale Hawerchuk, a hulking defenseman, Dave Babych, and the clever, fun-loving Christian.
It’s a joy to be around them, savoring this new-found sip of success, when only one year ago they were languishing in the throes of 30 consecutive games without a win.
No fewer than 13 players on this team shared in the suffering of a year reprieved by only nine wins.
One of them is Babych, now a 20-year-old veteran of one of the most forgettable seasons in National Hockey League history.
As wonderful as winning is, the fear of losing is foremost in his mind.
“How many guys in the league can say they know what losing is really like?” he challenges. “Going 30 games without a win is like being tortured for three months.”
There are no visible signs that Babych has been scarred for life by the events of last season. His damaged pride is healing.
“We can beat anybody,” he vows. “This is a pretty fair hockey team we have here.”
Certainly the arrival of Hawerchuk is having a medicinal effect on the health of the franchise.
But he’s more than a box-office attraction. He’s a winner whose appetite for success is insatiable … and contagious.
So young he can vividly remember the first goal he ever scored — as a four-year-old in Oshawa, Ont, — Hawerchuk is already a threat every time he is on the ice, paying little or no regard for the stature or status of his opponents.
His twisting, writhing rushes, frequented by jumps and changes in speed, have allowed him to penetrate deep inside enemy zones where he is most likely to leave a pass for teammates heading for the holes he has created.
“In my opinion, Dale has never shot enough,” said his father, Ed Hawerchuk, a foreman at the General Motors Plant in Oshawa.
“He would sooner set up a nice goal rather than score one. It’s been that way all his life. I doubt if he’ll ever change.”
Shooting may not be his passion, but it’s a facet of his game that can be dangerously overlooked. His shot is hard and accurate and unloaded in a hurry.
“This opportunity may never happen again,” said general manager John Ferguson, exercising his first overall choice in the June draft to chose Hawerchuk.
“He’s blue chip all the way. A great kid and a tremendous talent.”
One scout, Tom Savage, saw Hawerchuk play over 50 games last season. Progress reports were continually sent back to Winnipeg.
Although he was playing for the Cornwall Royals, leading them to their second successive Memorial Cup, it seems Hawerchuk has been a figure in the Jets’ scheme of things for over a year.
Constant comparisons to Wayne Gretzky have been disconcerting, but they persist.
“I actually get sick of it,” he says. “Wayne’s so great. He’s proven himself time in and time out. He’s a guy I look up to. He has given me advice.
“But people who are comparing us are making a mistake. We are two different types of hockey players.”
Gretzky bobs. Hawerchuk lurches. As all great players, they have the uncanny sense of knowing where the puck will be two or three moves in advance.
Already teams are starting to key on Dale, but what’s new? In junior hockey, he was shadowed by as many’as two players. Yet, he always seemed to manage to find a way to escape.
What’s most encouraging is that he has the ability to make plays in compact situations. He may appear to be covered but suddenly the puck is his, bound for a teammate’s stick.
Still growing, Hawerchuk weighs 177 pounds and stands a fraction under six feet. Eventually, he’ll be the same size as this season’s average NHLer — six feet and 188 pounds.
However, he looks frail compared to his opponents today.
“People have always questioned my size,” he says. “I usually look smaller than the others because I’m younger than the rest.”
Which only makes sense. Of the 492 players who appear on NHL rosters, only two are younger — center Rob Carpenter of the Washington Capitals, born July 13, 1963, and center Doug Smith of the Los Angeles Kings, born May 17, 1963.
Hawerchuk entered this world on April 4,1963. Two years later, he was on skates and, at three, a local Oshawa hero by the name of Bobby Orr invited him onto the ice to take some shots at him.
“I can’t remember that,” said Hawerchuk, apologetically, “but Dad says it’s true. Bobby was a junior then and after practices he liked to stay out on the ice and joke around with the hockey team my Dad played for.”
Christian grew up in a hockey family. Perhaps you’ve heard of their business — Christian Brothers hockey sticks, of Warroad, Minn.
His father, Billy, played for the U.S. in two Olympics - 1960 and 1964. So did his uncle Roger. Another uncle, Gordon, played on the 1956 U.S. Olympic team which won a silver medal.
Billy Christian was the hero of the 1960 squad, scoring the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over the Soviet Union which led to the gold medal.
It was only appropriate that the younger Christian should share in the glory of America’s most recent Olympic championship at Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980.
Mike Doran, the Jets’ director of player personnel, first discovered Christian at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, 1979, at Boulder, Colo.
Then 19, and only 157 pounds, Christian won a place on the team by demonstrating remarkable poise and a keen ability to handle the puck.
So impressed was Herb Brooks, his coach, Christian was moved back to defense where his tidiness and quickness were best exploited.
Drafted in the second round by the Jets, Christian opted to turn pro following the Olympics rather than return to the University of North Dakota.
Only seven seconds into his first shift he scored his first NHL goal, snapping a rebound behind Chicago’s Tony Esposito.
A center by preference, Christian is the Jets’most versatile player. He plays the point on the power-play.
“In high school, I didn’t know what I was,” he said. “I’d take one shift on forward and the next on defense. Some games I never left the ice.”
When Christian first came to the Jets he appeared extremely shy. He spoke in whispers. Humor seemed the furthest thing from his mind.
Today, he’s the best practical joker on the team, the acting captain in the absence of Barry Long and a master of the quick lines.
“He has a sly, innocent smile,” cautions coach Tom Watt. “But behind it is mayhem.”
His nickname is Coma, largely due to his aloof nature.
Christian, Hawerchuk and Babych are essential figures in Ferguson’s master plan to build a team by jealously hoarding his draft choices.
While other lowly, desperate clubs have traded away their prime positions in future drafts, seeking immediate help, Ferguson has exercised extreme patience with his kids.
“It’s the only way to go,” he claims.
Ferguson’s attitudes are most influenced by the Montreal Canadiens, his former team, and the New York Islanders.
“People laughed at Bill Torrey when he lost so many players to the World Hockey Association at the start in 1972,” said Ferguson.
“But it was probably a blessing in disguise for the Islanders. By losing them, he was able to develop his draft choices faster. And it’s paid off. That’s a feather in his hat.”
Ferguson received his most tempting offer from the Minnesota North Stars, minutes prior to the 1980 re-entry draft.
The Jets had the second overall choice. The Canadiens, by way of Colorado Rockies, had the first.
Ferguson dearly wanted a Portland defenseman, Davy Babych, younger brother of the St. Louis Blues’ Wayne Babych. Lou Nanne of Minnesota wanted him too.
The Canadiens selected first and, to the surprise of everyone, chose center Doug Wickenheiser of the Regina Pats.
Nanne made Ferguson an offer. Four players for the choice. “They would have been starters with us,” said Ferguson. “But I wouldn’t budge. I took Babych and I’ve never regretted the move.”
None of the four stayed in Minnesota long. Two of them, Mike Fidler and Paul Shmyr have gone to the Hartford Whalers. Glenn Sharpley is with the Chicago Black Hawks. Tom Younghans belongs to the New York Rangers.
But it wasn’t easy on Babych. Thrust to the fore, he had the burden of trying to carry his team.
It wasn’t a pretty sight. As the losses mounted and the season grew longer, Babych became more frustrated. Defensively, he was woeful; offensively lost.
“The word was, he was trying to do too much,” said Watt, then an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks. “He always tried to make the extra play. If you kept checking him, sooner or later he would cough up the puck.”
Babych ended his first season in the NHL with a minus-61, worst in the league.
Now, he’s still the tireless worker he always was. But he has begun to discover and use the talent around him. Watt has relaxed him, restored his confidence and taught him more about the game.
“He’s helped my defensive game a lot,”said Babych. “He’s even pretty close to making me a plus player. If you can turn the No. 1 minus into a plus, you must be doing something right.”
Slow to anger, Babych rarely fights. Mainly because no one is crazy enough to test him. The last two who tried — Pat Boutette of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pat Hughes of the Edmonton Oilers — were so brutally beaten word quickly spread around the league.
He is an incredibly strong man even for his size — 6-2 and 215 pounds.
Dr. Ed Enos of Concordia University once described Babych as “a one in a million athlete” after measuring his heart and lung capacity and various strengths.
“A lot of cardiovascular endurance is genetically inherited,” said Watt. “He must have great parents.”
Raised in Edmonton, Babych grew up in the shadow cast by his brother. Even today he is annoyed when broadcasters or writers or even fans confuse him with his brother.
“When I was a kid, people would come over to the house, notice all the trophies, and all night all you heard was ‘how’s Wayne doing in this?’ and ‘how’s Wayne doing in that?’. I always wanted to do better than him.”
It was somewhat gratifying to be the second overall choice in 1980. Wayne was the third overall choice in 1978.
But the brothers remain close. So close, in fact, they are marrying twin sisters Sherry and Shelley Buffy in Winnipeg on July 3.
With the team going so well, a marriage in the works and a growing awareness that another Babych exists, Dave is flattered to be going on the cover of THE HOCKEY NEWS.
“But, like I told Mom and Dad,” he said, “where can you find a prettier face?”
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Jets Move Back Atop Central Division, Beat Bolts 4-2 at Home
The Winnipeg Jets improved to 23-9-4 with a 4-2 home victory over Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
The Winnipeg Jets hit the ice for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday night, when they hosted the always-dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning from Canada Life Centre.
After falling behind early in the first period, the Jets turned up the Florida heat and lay a beating on the visiting Bolts.
Winnipeg got goals from Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo, Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron, as Connor Hellebuyck earned win No. 18 of the season, this one by way of a 4-2 final.
The Jets actually fell behind rather quickly, as captain Adam Lowry was called for high-sticking, on a play that actually didn't involve his stick whatsoever. As shown on the replay, it was a Tampa Bay player who got his teammate up-high with friendly fire, leading to an early Bolts power play.
The league's point leader Nikita Kucherov got the puck to Victor Hedman, who set captain Steven Stamkos up for a power play one-timer. The blast found its way through Connor Hellebuyck after deflecting off defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
Winnipeg did get a late man advantage of its own as time wound down in the first, but couldn't quite make one count.
The Jets finished the period down 1-0 and trailing 11-7 on the shot chart through 20 minutes.
It took just 4:44 of the second period for Winnipeg to tie things up, as defenceman Brenden Dillon set his partner Neal Pionk up for a perfect redirection play. Dillon's shot-pass was put home by Pionk for his third of the season, knotting things up at ones early.
Then it was Iafallo, who stayed hot with his second goal in three games, as he followed up a Cole Perfetti chance to score his seventh on a rebound marker with 10:47 to play.
The Jets' two goals put them ahead of Tampa entering the third period, but they trailed 25-15 on the shot chart as the final frame began.
The third period did feature two Jets power plays, but Winnipeg wasn't able to put the visitors away on either man advantage.
It took until just 4:47 remained on the clock for Ehlers to strike from in tight. With the puck loose atop the Bolts' crease, Vladislav Namestnikov out-hustled Vasilevskiy to the disc and found Ehlers for his second helper of the night, as the speedy forward put his 12th of the season past Vasilevskiy and into the yawning cage.
“I just tried to take as much room away, I guess," Namestnikov said. "He’s on his forehand and there’s a lot of bodies in front, and luckily it hit me. From there I just had to make a play.”
Until that point, Winnipeg had held Tampa to just two shots in 15 minutes of action.
Morgan Barron sealed the deal with an empty-netter with 2:07 left, firing the puck into the open net, off a pass from Dominic Toninato, who extended his season-opening point streak to four games.
Kucherov got a late one for the visitors in garbage time, cutting Winnipeg's lead in half, but that was as close as Tampa would come, as the Jets shut it down in the final 38 seconds.
Hellebuyck ended up with 33 saves on the 35 shots he faced, while Vasilevskiy made 23 stops on the 26 Jets shots fired his way on the evening.
“It’s always nice to play with some really, really elite goalies," said Namestnikov. "I think they displayed that today. They both made some huge saves.”
Next up for Winnipeg is the annual fathers trip through California, as Winnipeg hits San Jose, Anaheim and Arizona as the week wears on.
“Just staying with the process," Namestnikov added, when asked how he is able to ride the highs and lows. "Tomorrow is new day, come practice. There is things that we can clean up while watching the video and then correct it and move on. There’s not much to it.”
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Winnipeg Jets Place Dominic Toninato on Waivers
Dominic Toninato has been placed on Waivers.
Among the NHL's Waiver wire updates on Thursday, was news that the Winnipeg Jets had placed forward Dominic Toninato on Waivers.
In hopes of assigning the 29-year-old to the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose, the Jets will need to have him pass through unclaimed in order to comply with league rulings.
Thanks to Kyle Connor being placed on the team's injured reserve, Toninato served as a standard AHL recall who served as a listed healthy scratch on Wednesday.
Having cleared Waivers back on October 2, Toninato has been listed on Winnipeg's roster for a full month, meaning he will need to clear once again, in order to achieve a clean slate.
Should a claim (or more) be put in on the Duluth, MN. product, he would immediately join the interested club, removing all ties from the Jets' organization.
That exact situation occurred in early-October when Winnipeg lost forward Jansen Harkins via Waivers to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It just so happened that Harkins scored the 12-round shootout winner for Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
For Toninato, things haven't quite gone the way he would have hoped since signing his two-year, $1.55 million contract with Winnipeg this past April.
Having suited up quite regularly with the Jets in 2021-22, he was relegated to the minors for the majority of the 2022-23 season.
This year has been a bit more of an equal split between the two clubs for the 2012 fifth round pick. However, Toninato has yet to dress in a big-league game for the Jets, while suiting up in nine games for the Moose. In those contests, he has two goals and six points.
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From the Archives: “The History - Backgammon, Hull And Hawerchuk”
Wayne Gretzky, almost a Jet? Read all about it in this THN Archives piece from Reyn Davis.
The following THN Archive story by the late Reyn Davis gives readers an inside look into
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
“The History: Backgammon, Hull And Hawerchuk”
November 26, 1982 – Vol. 36, Issue 8
By Reyn Davis
"One warm fall day in the city of Indianapolis, three wealthy Canadians were meeting to discuss the future of Wayne Gretzky.
Drinking wine at $400 a bottle, much to the chagrin of at least one member of the party, Michael Gobuty and Barry Shenkarow, owners of the Winnipeg Jets were negotiating with Nelson Skal-bania, owner of Indianapolis Racers and the man to whom the 17-year-old Gretzky had signed a personal services contract.
The Jets were offering Skalbania $250,000 plus one-seventh of the hockey team.
“Tell you what,” said Skalbania, a Vancouver resident. “I’ll play you (Shenkarow) one game of backgammon. If you win, you get Gretzky; if I win, I get the Jets.”
In either case, Winnipeg would have got Gretzky.
Shenkarow refused the offer and Gretzky found his way to Edmonton and Peter Pocklington.
Later, Skalbania and Shenkarow decided to play backgammon anyway.
“I beat him nine out of 10 games,” said Shenkarow. “But you know what? He won the first.”
The Jets. Few teams have had such a colorful history in such a short time. They were the scourges of the World Hockey Association, winning three championships and reaching the final on two other occasions in the seven-year history of the league.
Appropriately, the Avco Cup is permanently displayed in Winnipeg Arena.
Of all their accomplishments on the ice, the one that attests most triumphantly to their magnificence as a team was a 5-3 victory over the Soviet Nationals on Jan. 5, 1978.
The feat has never been matched by a North American club team.
Off the ice, the Jets have been as equally exciting. Their pursuit of Bobby Hull, orchestrated by Ben Hatskin, the founder, raised. world attention.
Then, in 1974, corporations, children, the city and men and women of all walks of life, saved the club from financial ruin by raising almost $1 million in three weeks.
Non-refundable shares of the club were even held in the names of dogs and cats as the money poured into the campaign.
Ingenuity made the team go. Searching for talent, they leaned on a Winnipeg doctor studying in Stockholm to recruit the best players in Scandanavia.
Before it became fashionable, the Jets had Swedes and Finns in their lineup. The result was a curious, entertaining style of play that could best be described as “Euro-Canadian,” featuring the speed and finesse of Europeans and the determination of Canadians.
They became world travellers, conducting two training camps in Europe, attending the Izvestia Cup in Moscow and playing a) series of exhibition games against the Soviet Nationals in Japan.
Dr. Garry Wilson, an orthopedic surgeon, is probably the best raw recruiter of talent the team has ever had. His discoveries included the likes of Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Kent Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg and Willy Lindstrom.
The lure of the National Hockey League brought more changes. Private owners evolved who led the charge into the NHL, though the expense was more than money.
Their championship lineup was decimated. Crippled, they entered the NHL, where they suffered from the indignities of their forced mediocrity.
They set a record that grates at their soul to this day, 30 games they played without a win, smashing a record for futulity previously set by Kansas City Scouts. From Oct. 17, 1981, until Dec. 23, 1981, they went without a win.
“I die a little every time we lose,” said Tom McVie, their coach who did not survive the streak, neither did Billy Sutherland. He ’’ lasted only three games.
But they would not stay down for long.
Buoyed by general manager John Ferguson’s guile, the Jets made 13 lineup changes and hired their ninth coach, Tom Watt, and produced a team that went from 9-57-14 in 1980-81 to 33-33-14 in 1981-82.
They became the most improved team in NHL history.
Their new-found pride was personified in the play of 18-year-old Dale Hawerchuk, who became the youngest player in NHL history to accumulate more than 100 points (103) and ran away with Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
Today, the Jets are basically the same team they were a year ago. Their only rookies are a left winger, Brian Mullen, from the University of Wisconsin and a massive defenseman, Wade, Campbell, a 6-5, 232-pound giant from the University of J Alberta.
Any improvement as a team is expected to come from within. Their rookies of a year ago are all wiser, stronger and more aware of what it takes to win in the NHL. The group’s members are centers Thomas Steen, Scott Amiel and Hawerchuk, left winger Bengt Lundholm, right winger Paul MacLean and defenseman Tim Watters.
Ferguson has used every conceivable method to build a team that probably ranks among the top dozen in the league.
He used the waiver draft to snatch two defensemen, Serge Savard and Craig Levie, out of the grasp of Montreal Canadiens. He signed left winger Doug Smail, defenseman Don Spring and goaltender Doug Soetaert, right winger Lucien DeBlois, and Lundholm as free agents.
He traded for goaltender Eddie Staniowski, MacLean and defenseman Bryan Maxwell and drafted the likes of defenseman Dave Babych, center Dave Christian, Watters, Hawerchuk, Arniel, Mullen and right winger Jimmy Mann.
Throwbacks to the WHA days are right winger Willy Lindstrom, signed in 1975, and left winger Morris Lukowich, acquired in the Houston purchase of 1978.
Lukowich was one of five Houston Aeros whose contracts were bought when the Texas franchise became yet another victim on the WHA’s long list of casualities.
The same package included Terry Ruskowski, Scott Campbell, Rich Preston and John Gray.
“We had to do something,” said Shenkarow, now the president of the Jets. “We had just bought the team for $400,000. We paid all outstanding bills, including one for $68,000 owed to an airline. We weren’t aware of that one. Anyways, we’re losing Hedberg and Neilson to New York and we had to keep a team together.
They did. And once again the Jets were WHA champions, knocking off the favorites from Edmonton, led by Gretzky, in six games of a best-of-seven final.
Graciously, the Jets have never forgotten their roots. The corridors of Winnipeg Arena are adorned with life-size photos of that era.
A football great, Annis Stukus, was the team’s first general manager. He was followed by Rudy Pilous and Ferguson.
Nine men have coached the Jets, including Hull, Nick Pilous, Bobby Kromm, Larry Hillman, McVie, Sutherland and Mike Smith. Watt is the ninth and club’s first winner of Coach-of-the-Year honors in the NHL.
Undoubtedly, the line of Hull, Nilsson and Hedberg was the prettiest to watch. Their whirling rushes up the ice were a thing of beauty. Often, as many as six or seven passes would be traded before a shot on goal.
They captivated crowds at home and away. They brought science back to hockey.
The Swedes were also treated unmercifully by their opponents, some of whom turned into absolute ogres in their presence.
Hull grew so disgusted at one point he announced he wouldn’t play again until the WHA cracked down on violence. His strike lasted only one game.
But he achieved world wide attention for his stand against violence. And hockey became a better game."
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From the Archives: “Hawerchuk Helped Young Jets Grow Up Quickly”
“His qualities and abilities make every guy on the team a little bit better—” General Manager John Ferguson
The following THN Archive story by the late Reyn Davis gives readers an inside look into the early years of Dale Hawerchuk's prowess with the Winnipeg Jets of the very early 1980s. From on-ice contributions to locker room conversations and galavants in the airplane, 'Ducky' quickly became a fan favourite in one of the league's top hockey-crazy markets.
(You can read all of THN’s new Archive by subscribing to the magazine.)
“Hawerchuk Helped Young Jets Grow Up Quickly”
April 23, 1982 – Vol. 35, Issue 29
By Reyn Davis
One day Winnipeg coach Tom Watt fell asleep on an airplane. When he awoke, half his tie was gone.
On another occasion, Dave Christian was still hungry after a typically light lunch on Northwest Orient.
So he ate a napkin, one boarding pass and an entire safety features guide.
When he was through dining, he found a needle and thread and stitched the sleeves together on Serge Savard’s suit.
John Ferguson was still chuckling to himself as he waited for his bags.
Standing in his favorite pose—legs apart, arms behind his back, clenching a tightly folded newspaper—he started to feel a gush of warm air.
Someone had lit his paper.
Goofy? Of course. They are the boys of winter.
For every member of the Winnipeg Jets this season, it has been fun, exciting and rewarding.
They have surprised everyone but themselves, compiling a 33-33-14 record through 80 games, finishing a strong second in their division (the Norris) and 10th overall in the-final National Hockey League standings.
And the champion of their cause has been the dimpled darling of the fans—Dale Hawerchuk.
An 18-year-old for all but the last of the 80 games, he set a standard of excellence on a team that had none.
“I don’t think there has ever been a rookie in the NHL who could have done what he’s done for us,” said Ferguson, the general manager and main architect on the most improved team in the history of the league.
Led by the dashing center, the Jets rose from the inequities of 21st place with a 48-point improvement over the previous year (9-57-14).
“I see something like that and I know what keeps us going,” said Marshall Johnston, assistant coach of the Colorado Rockies, a team in despair.
“If they can improve that much in one season, I know we can. They give us some badly-needed encouragement.”
Finding another Hawerchuk won’t be easy. He’s a jewel plucked from the draft and the Rockies, as everyone knows, have peddled most of their prime choices.
Hawerchuk was one of the eight rookies on a club that featured 13 new faces.
“This team wasn’t put together by mistake,” said Ferguson. “It was put together by design.”
But even he never expected such a dramatic rise to respectability.
“Maybe we’ve arrived a little quicker than I thought we would,” he said. “I figured we would definitely make the playoffs. But second place? I’ll take it.”
In doing so, Hawerchuk rewrote 17 club records and became the youngest player in the history of the NHL to reach the 100-point plateau.
He set club records for goals (45), assists (58) and points (103).
“I’m satisfied with my season,” he said. “But I know I can do better. I’ve learned a lot.”
Built rather rakishly—he’s almost six feet and weighs 175 pounds—Hawerchuk took his share of the knocks and vices of opponents bent on stopping him.
Of all the plays he made, one stands out. The Jets were playing in St. Louis on Tuesday, March 16.
It was early in the second period and the Blues were reeling as the Jets established a 3-0 lead.
Twisting in his own inimitable style, Hawerchuk led a l-on-3 rush. Three Blues converged him. Suddenly, he leaping through the air, knifing through the crowd with the puck veritably on a leash. Off balance as he landed, he kept his feet and with one hand steered a pass across the front of the St. Louis net, timing its arrival perfectly with Paul Mac Lean’s.
His burly right winger scored easily.
Of all the players who have been aided by Hawerchuk, the one who has benefited most is MacLean. He scored 36 goals, 12 of them on the power play.
“Playing with Ducky is simple,” said MacLean. “You give him the puck at center ice, then head for the right post. Sooner or later, it seems to get there.”
Hawerchuk is considered the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. His support is far reaching from Philadelphia to Buffalo to Montreal to Chicago to Vancouver.
“I think we’ve got the best rookie in the NHL,” said MacLean, a rookie himself. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s the Calder Trophy winner. It doesn’t matter what they write about me; he’s going to win it.”
MacLean and the line’s left winger, Larry Hopkins, have been described as the “Book Ends”. They have also been called fringe players, enjoying the company of a young star.
But the fact of the matter is, they have complemented Hawerchuk with their plodding styles. Because of their considerable size—MacLean weighs 195 pounds; Hopkins, 220—they can slug it out in the corners with the league’s biggest defensemen, tying them up while Hawerchuk is able to do his thing.
Hawerchuk’s value to the team extends far beyond his capacity to form an effective line with Hopkins and MacLean.
“His abilities and qualities make every guy on the team a little bit better,” said Ferguson. “He’s done more than we ever expected. And remember, he was only 18 for 79 games this season. What he’s done in his first year is unbelievable.”
“It’s hard to imagine how good he can be two or three years down the road.”
St. Louis coach Emile Francis had no illusions about Hawerchuk as the Blues entered the best-of-five Norris Division semifinal series in the opening round of Stanley Cup playoffs.
“The main thing is to stop him [Hawerchuk],” said Francis. “Give him credit. He’s a great young player and he’s Rookie of the Year as far as I’m concerned.”
The Jets’ two most influential members of the team are Hawerchuk and 36-year-old Serge Savard. Hawerchuk was only one-year-old the year Savard played on his first Stanley Cup champion.
“He’s going to be as good as Gretzky is,” said Savard, referring to the Edmonton Oilers’ superstar. “Remember, who said it first.”
Hawerchuk hates to be compared with Wayne Gretzky, a Gus Badali stablemate. Although their styles are similar, their ideals the same and their own importance to their teams comparible, Hawerchuk has no intention of becoming the next Gretzky.
He just wants to be the first Dale Hawerchuk.
Already, Hawerchuk is being considered as the subject of a book and a certain brand of peanut butter is going to be named after him.
Off the ice, he is the idol of every youngster in the city and the heart-throb of the ladies, not all of whom are teenagers.
Flowers, cakes and candies are always delivered to the door of the dressing room, much to the delight of his sweet-toothed team mates.
Accustomed to living in a home, where people reside, he shares a basement suite with his friend and former Cornwall teammate, Scott Amiel, the Jets’ second-round choice in the 1981 Entry Draft.
According to their landlady, the two boarders are perfect gentlemen with enormous appetites. As she put it, “they eat tons of ice cream and drink gallons of apple juice.”
Although individual records were either set by him or within his grasp, Hawerchuk never lost sight of the fact the team’s ambitions came first.
“The greatest ability he has is being able to always put the team ahead of himself,” said Ferguson. “He has a have-to-win attitude before every game.”
Willy Lindstrom, a seven-year veteran of the Jets, has been impressed by Hawerchuk’s influence on everyone in the dressing room.
“He never takes a night off,” said Lindstrom. “And when others are sloppy, I’ve seen him get awfully angry. He’ll slap his stick on the floor to show his disgust. I think that’s great.”
Other teams have started to envy the Jets and admire the resourcefulness of Ferguson, who refused to panic when the team was abysmally bad, sinking as low as a 30-game winless streak last season.
They marvel at how he pilfered a proven goaltender, Eddie Staniowski, defenseman Bryan Maxwell and MacLean out of St. Louis; lured Savard out of retirement; acquired rightwinger Lucien DeBlois from Colorado; pried goaltender Doug Soetaert from the Rangers; charmed Bengt Lundholm in Sweden; dipped into the waiver draft for another defenseman, Craig Levie; and brought along draft choices, such as defenseman Tim Watters and center Thomas Steen.
From last year’s team, he was able to form a nucleus from the likes of Dave Babych, Don Spring, Morris Lukowich, Tim Trimper, Doug Smail, Norm Dupont, Jimmy Mann, Lindstrom and Christian.
But the biggest move of all was drafting Hawerchuk. Suddenly, everyone else would become a little better.
One of the first to recognize what was happening was Mike Nykoluk, coach of Toronto Maple Leafs.
“At the start, I didn’t realize how, good he was,” said Nykoluk. “He relates to that team. He’s like Bobby Clarke used to be in Philly. He’s got that kind of magnetism.
“As 1 have said before, he could be as good as Gretzky.”
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