Random Thoughts – Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, The Blame Game and More
April 20, 2017
1. Congratulations to Michael Gobuty, former owner of the (real) Jets, on his induction into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. Gobuty, along with so many others including Ben Hatskin and Dr. Gerry Wilson, don’t get nearly the credit they deserve for the vital roles they played in the franchise’s history. As Paul Friesen of Winnipeg’s only newspaper put it, the only surprise was what took them so long to put him in.
1a. Did you know that inductee Rob Martell worked the first home game for the Fighting Moose back in 1996?
1b. I’m guessing there were no ex-Jets on the selection committee by virtue of the fact that former Tribune writer Vic Grant was among the inductees.
1c. In a bit of an odd coincidence, inductee Jim Benzelock was officially my last Fighting Moose ticket representative. I still remember his voice mail greeting, which led off with “Nice Guy Jim Benzelock.” We never met or spoke on the phone, so I can’t confirm whether or not he is indeed a nice guy.
2. Former Fighting Moose Jim Montgomery will be interviewing to become the next head coach of the Florida Panthers. Yes, I do remember him from those lonely IHL days sitting among “crowds” of less than 4,000 at the Winnipeg Arena.
3. I enjoy reading Patti Dawn Swansson’s postings, but I don’t understand why she, of all people, keeps hammering on Kevin Cheveldayoff for the perpetual failures of the Mark Chipman Personal Hockey Club. For example, in a recent post, she took another shot at Cheveldayoff, sarcastically pointing out that it was indeed possible to use the trade route in building a winner, a route the Chipman franchise has seldom traveled.
I have no doubt that Cheveldayoff is well aware that making trades can and possibly should be an integral part of a well-rounded plan to build a successful team. I also have no doubt that Cheveldayoff would love to the opportunity to barter a few of Chipman’s player-cronies, if only he was given the freedom to do so. I suspect he’s just as frustrated by having his hands tied as any scribe, paid or otherwise, or paying customer.
But continually blaming Cheveldayoff for the franchise’s woes is akin to paying big bucks at a five-star restaurant and blaming the dishwasher for the lousy meal. It’s time to turn the focus to the general manager. Leave his flunkie alone.
3a. I don’t always agree with her, but I hope she keeps up the blog she’s threatened time and again to abandon. It’s definitely worth reading.
4. No one will be more thrilled when the Conservative Party elects its new leader than yours truly. Over the past several months, I’ve been absolutely drowning in information overload. Give me my ballot already.
4a. I admit to still a little torn between Maxime Bernier and Andrew Scheer, but one thing’s for sure, all the spots on my ballot are going to be used in order to ward off the threat of Kevin O’Leary and, to a lesser extent, Michael Chong.
4b. I believe both Bernier and Scheer have what it takes to make a good prime minister.
4c. My neighbor’s six-year-old would make a better prime minister than the one we have now. At least the kid would be smart enough to listen to his parents.
5. I heard that a pedestrian was killed early Tuesday morning on the 406. What I want to know was what he or she was doing on the 406. If only Darwin Award winners had one last chance to tell us their story before moving on. Like my nutty ex-neighbor in the Old Country who chose to prematurely end her stay on Earth, likely with a lethal cocktail of alcohol and drugs.
6. Watching some 1970s-era classic NHL games recently, I couldn’t help but snicker as the announcers mentioned a “Crippled Children’s Hospital” and a “Home for Retarded Children.” I’m not suggesting open season on insulting people, but I do fondly remember a bygone era when we could open our mouths freely without worrying about using a word that might trigger a meltdown from some offended group. Political correctness has gone much too far, and his strong stance on that subject has endeared me to CPC leadership candidate Pierre Lemieux.
7. Socialism Illustrated reported recently that former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger is looking for a graceful exit from politics. Given the heavy-handed manner in which he governed and the damage he did to the province and his own party, it is not a privilege he has earned. Like Kathleen Wynne here in Ontario, he deserves to be remembered as one of the worst premiers in the province’s history.
8. I recently heard a story about a cyclist in Grimsby who was hit, by all accounts, through no fault of his own. Yet he kept asking himself what more he could have done to avoid being hit. Listening to the story, it hit home once again as to the difference in attitudes between people here and in the Old Country.
Case and point was the story of the jogger in Winnipeg many years ago who was hit and nearly killed. Eschewing a perfectly safe jogging path, he insisted on running on a busy roadway that I, as a cyclist, had a legal right to use but avoided like the plague. Yet even from his hospital bed, not long after cheating death, he remained utterly defiant and vowed to get right back on the road as soon as he could.
To this day, joggers in that part of the world like him still whine and complain incessantly about how unsafe it is to run on the road and are mortally offended by those who “challenge their rights.” As someone once said, you can’t fix stupid.
8a. Cyclists in the Old Country are no better. As I wrote elsewhere on social media recently, the fact that one isn't killed every day in Winnipeg can only be explained by divine intervention.
8b. I saw three Manitoba plates around town this week. Even though the SPRM and I didn’t exactly part on good terms, that place does keep following me around.
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