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?”