Dale Hawerchuk doesn’t believe in having any regrets.
All-time Jets icon Dale Hawerchuk didn’t always have the best relationship with Winnipeg management, but as this 1989 story demonstrates, he always had a strong connection to the franchise.
Hawerchuk met with Jets GM Mike Smith, team owner Barry Shenkarow and new coach Bob Murdoch the summer before this story came out, and by all accounts, any broken fences that may have existed were mended.
That said, Hawerchuk was dealt to Buffalo in the summer of 1990 in a blockbuster deal that set him, Winnipeg’s first-round pick (which turned out to be longtime Sabres enforcer Brad May), in return for star blueliner Phil Housley, Scott Arniel. Jeff Parker and Buffalo’s first-rounder, which the Jets used to pick franchise cornerstone Keith Tkachuk.
Hawerchuk had a statue erected in his likeness for all he did for the Jets, and although he died tragically young in 2020, his impact on hockey in Winnipeg will be forever remembered fondly.
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