Changing the Game

by Stephen Laroche

  Although there was justified hype about his heading into the established league, Lukowich expressed some doubts regarding his readiness to coach Tom McVie, who praised his play.

  “He’s got just a tremendous shot coming in off the wing and you want to know the crazy part about it? Luke came to me the other day and said ‘Do you think I have a good enough shot to play in the NHL?’”

  Fittingly, Lukowich scored the club’s first goal against Greg Millen of the Penguins in the team’s first game and also had an assist later in the contest. In December, he had some strong outings, earning four points one night against the Edmonton Oilers and then, with a national audience watching, putting up three points in a 6–2 defeat of the Montreal Canadiens.

  Since he was Winnipeg’s top offensive producer, it was natural that Lukowich be selected to play in the 1980 NHL All-Star Game for the Campbell Conference. He finished the year with 15 more points than his closest teammate, Peter Sullivan. At the end of the year, he was awarded the Molson Cup for the most three-star selections on the club.

  Morris Lukowich

  Peter Sullivan

  Sullivan was originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1971 and, after tearing up the minor leagues, he chose to sign with the Winnipeg Jets. It was a smart move, as he won three AVCO Cup titles with the club and had a strong season in 1978–79 that saw him finish tied for third in the league with 46 goals alongside Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky.

  When he finally made his NHL debut on October 10, 1979, Sullivan scored against Pittsburgh. He also scored the club’s first goal at home four days later when they hosted Colorado. The firsts kept on coming as he took a penalty shot against Minnesota’s Gary Edwards on October 19, but failed to put the puck in the net.

  The son of Frank Sullivan, an early Canadian football star who also won a gold medal in hockey at the 1928 Winter Olympics, he felt that he had a lot to prove in the established league. He exacted some revenge on the team that drafted him as he scored the winner in addition to setting up four others against the Habs on December 15.

  “I think I should have been here a long time ago,” Sullivan said at the time. “I always believed I belonged, but there was a lot of politics involved. I don’t want to say anything, though, because it would only sound like sour grapes. It would have been nice to play here with that C-H on my sweater, but I’m just as proud to be here wearing the Jets’ crest. Probably more so.”

  At the end of the season, “Silky” was voted the Most Exciting Player on the team and he remained with Winnipeg for one more year.

  Ron Wilson

  Yet another great prospect who was stuck on the farm with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s, Wilson was conditionally sold to the Jets just before the 1979–80 campaign began. If he made the team, he was going to be skating for Winnipeg, and if he was bound for the minors, he’d be back with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. He worked hard and earned a spot with the new NHL club.

  “There was more hope at this camp,” Wilson said at the time. “At Montreal, you pretty well knew who was going to be on the team when you got there, so you didn’t get your hopes up too high. That way you weren’t disappointed when you were sent down.”

  General manager John Ferguson was very pleased by the acquisition, even if he had sustained a bruised heel during the season opener.

  “In Ron Wilson, we got ourselves a hockey player who has gotten better each season,” he said. “One of the good things about him is that he can play both centre and the wing positions.”

  On October 19, 1979, Wilson scored the first goal of his career on Gary Edwards of the Minnesota North Stars, and it gave the Jets the edge they needed in a 3–2 win. Just 12 days later, he scored another game-winner and chipped in two assists against the Quebec Nordiques. Over the course of the season, he produced at a good clip and was sixth among rookie scorers once the schedule was over. He remained with Winnipeg for many years after, and a decade later was the last member of the 1979–80 team to leave the club through a trade.

  Craig Norwich

  Like many talented players drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s, Norwich chose to play in the WHA to get some pro experience instead of spending time on their farm team in Halifax. Before he was drafted, he was a standout for the University of Wisconsin and had two very strong seasons with the Cincinnati Stingers before the rival league shut down.

  After seeing him in action, the Jets made a play for him at the WHA Dispersal Draft. They saw him as the one who was going to be their primary offence provider from the blue line. For most of the year, he did exactly that. He had strong outings against the Edmonton Oilers on December 7, 1979, with two goals and an assist, and against the Los Angeles Kings a month later with a trio of power-play helpers.

  The majority of his offence came in power-play situations, and he scored seven of his 10 goals with the man advantage.

  “I consider myself a giver rather than a shooter,” he explained. “I’d much rather feed it off to guys like Peter [Marsh] or Luke [Morris Lukowich] because both those guys have much better shots than I do … . Eventually, the other teams in this league are going to learn they can’t take penalties against us.”

  By the end of the year, Norwich was regarded as the team’s fifth defenceman, and his frustration was beginning to show — especially in his comments to the press.

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I fit into this club’s plans. I have somewhat of an understanding of what they’re trying to do here, but I don’t know if it includes me… . I plan to play out this contract and then quit,” he said. “I’ve got two years left on my contract plus an option year, and it’s up to me if I play out the option. I don’t think anybody likes to get traded. It’s sort of a demeaning thing. But, if something comes along that would help this club and help me …”

  Management for the Jets didn’t take these comments lightly and he was dealt to the St. Louis Blues soon after for Rick Bowness.

  Lars-Erik Sjoberg

  The first captain of the Winnipeg Jets when they arrived in the NHL, Sjoberg had been a member of the club since 1974–75 and was an integral part of three AVCO World Trophy victories. In fact, his captaincy made history when he became the first European-trained player to wear the “C” on his chest. He also faced a wide array of challenges during their expansion season while coming back from an Achilles tendon injury that forced him out of most of the 1978–79 campaign.

  A strong leader with the will to win, Sjoberg earned a pair of assists against the Colorado Rockies on October 14, 1979. He was particularly effective against the Los Angeles Kings with eight points over four games, including a three-assist effort on January 13, 1980.

  As the end of the year approached, the frustration of playing for a losing team began to set in and he expressed his feelings in the press.

  “I’ve only missed the playoffs once in my life and that was the 1974–75 season, my first with the Jets. But I think this year is worse,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it much, but losing bothers me. If I see someone on the team who I have faith in and he doesn’t put out, then that really disappoints me. It makes losing harder to take. That’s only happened once, but I was very disappointed to see it.”

  Goalie Pierre Hamel offered praise for the veteran blueliner’s work.

  “Any goaltender in the league would love to have Shoe in front of them. We used to get bombarded with shots in Winnipeg, so it was a good thing that he blocked so many shots for me.”

  At the end of the year, Sjoberg was set to become a free agent as well, but it looked as if retirement was looming.

  “It’s possible,” he said. “It hasn’t been that enjoyable this year. I don’t like to lose, I don’t know anybody who does. Many guys feel the way I do about losing, but I’m 35 now.”

  Ultimately, hanging up the blades was the option he took, but he went on to become a scout for the New York Rangers. He passed away on October 20, 1987, after battling cancer, and the Rangers chose to
honour his memory by naming their team Rookie of the Year award after him.

  Dave Christian

  Christian’s college career with the University of North Dakota drew the attention of the Jets, and they made him their second-round selection in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. Instead of rushing him into pro duty, they allowed him some time to develop his skills with the United States National Team, and he was a big part of their run to a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. His father, Bill, had been a part of the original Miracle on Ice 20 years earlier, and the young star was given the key to his hometown of Warroad, Minnesota.

  During that ceremony, Winnipeg’s general manager, John Ferguson, came down to present him with his first professional contract and had glowing things to say about the team’s new star.

  “He is a very versatile hockey player and a most welcome addition to our club,” he said. “The Christian name is associated with winning. We are obviously pleased that we will have one who will help us start that tradition in Winnipeg.”

  On March 2, 1980, he made his NHL debut against Chicago and scored his first goal against Mike Veisor mere seconds into his first shift. His biggest performance in the dwindling days of the 1979–80 campaign was a natural hat trick and an assist against the Hartford Whalers on March 26. He also lit up the Black Hawks once again with a four-point performance on April 2.

  Dave Christian

  Bobby Hull

  Hull was the marquee superstar for the World Hockey Association and he gave the fledgling league instant credibility when he signed with the Winnipeg Jets in the summer of 1972. Over six full seasons with the Jets, he was a part of two AVCO Cup titles, but he chose to step away from the game early in the 1978–79 campaign.

  With the merger between the NHL and WHA, the ownership of the Chicago Black Hawks was salivating over the chance to bring one of hockey’s greatest heroes back into the fold, even going to the lengths of holding a press conference announcing his return. Naturally, they reclaimed him, but then puzzlingly left him available in the expansion draft to protect Alain Daigle. This was great news for Jets fans — but there was one big problem — Hull wasn’t ready to come back just yet and it didn’t help that he didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with general manager John Ferguson.

  The two sides ultimately came to an agreement in late October 1979, and Hull was pleased that the ordeal was finally over.

  “It was no secret and I stated on more than one occasion that if I returned to the game as a player, I would have preferred an American-based team,” he said. “Those feelings were expressed and based on personal matters. However, as a result of our meeting, these matters have now been resolved and I am very happy to say that I will be rejoining the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club.

  “It’s been a long, drawn-out affair, although I wasn’t too involved with it. We got together to hash things out. Had we both done this sooner maybe things would have been resolved sooner.”

  Ferguson was also pleased with the agreement.

  “I am very pleased that Bobby has decided to make a comeback with the Winnipeg Jets. His return is a great bonus for the people of Canada and fans in the National Hockey League cities who will be able to see Bobby play again.”

  The return to Winnipeg lasted just 18 games. The best of those came against the Hartford Whalers on November 14, 1979, when he scored two goals, including the winner. He also had consecutive two-point nights in early December in matches with St. Louis and Detroit.

  “Everybody was in awe of him,” said Lindsay Middlebrook. “We didn’t have a lot of superstars, but Bobby came in and had everybody on the team in awe. In practice, he would never shoot the puck. I asked him to shoot and once in a while he’d fire one in. As great a guy as he was, he didn’t make a difference in whether we won or not. We struggled with him and without him.”

  Hull’s last game with the Jets was a 5–0 loss to the Quebec Nordiques on December 12. He was expected to play three nights later in the nationally broadcast game against Montreal, but he showed up late to the arena and was told that he was not playing that night. Instantly, the tenuous relationship between Hull and team management soured, and he was suddenly on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. It was publicly announced that he was not practising with the club until his shoulder had healed.

  Naturally, speculation began to grow and Hull asked to be traded to another team even though he was a partial owner of the one he was playing for. Ferguson blasted the star left-winger in the press in an effort to motivate his return.

  “Hull does not fit into the Jets’ style and hasn’t been producing. He has to play more to get into the kind of condition he needs to be productive.”

  It took a few weeks, but Hull was eventually shipped off to the Whalers for future considerations, marking the end of an era for hockey in Winnipeg.

  Bobby Hull

  Jimmy Mann

  Mann starred for the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Castors and established himself as a prime prospect heading into the 1979 NHL Entry Draft with 35 goals and 260 penalty minutes in his final campaign with the club. The Jets took him with their first-ever amateur selection, and that came as a surprise to the young prospect.

  “My last year in junior I had a great year. I was really well known in the league at that time and they were terrified of me,” he said. “All I wanted to do was play hockey and my goal was to get to a training camp. I worked my ass off. I got a call congratulating me for being a first-round pick and I thought they were joking.”

  John Ferguson was one of his idols growing up, and Mann quickly found a niche with the club, despite Winnipeg’s exodus of talent that resulted from the merger.

  “They dismantled that team … and they had a good team! Personally, I didn’t follow much of the WHA, but we didn’t have an overly tough team. We had Scott Campbell and Dave Hoyda and I came in there all fired up. Fergie told me to take care of the team.”

  Mann recorded his first assist on a goal by Ron Wilson against the Colorado Rockies on October 20, 1979, and had his first two fights with Chicago’s Doug Lecuyer four days later. On October 26, he served notice to the rest of the league when he battled three of the toughest members of the Boston Bruins, dropping the gloves with Terry O’Reilly, Al Secord and Stan Jonathan to spark the Jets to a 3–2 win.

  “I pretty much won all three of them! I was 20 years old and ready to go,” he said.

  Mann got his first NHL goal while hosting the Vancouver Canucks on November 24. The goal was scored on Curt Ridley and it proved the game-winner.

  “I remember getting the puck and shooting it in. It was exciting scoring goals — I only got 10! I wish a lot more came and if they let me play more, I might have got more.”

  Firmly positioned in the enforcer role, Mann continued to stand up for his teammates and ended up getting into 22 scraps over the course of his rookie season with other heavyweights like Willi Plett, Wally Weir and Dave Semenko. On March 16, 1980, he tangled twice with Dennis Polonich and received a game misconduct that resulted in a two-game suspension. At the end of the 1979–80 campaign, Mann led all players in penalty minutes.

  Pierre Hamel

  After years of toiling in the minors for the Maple Leafs organization, Hamel saw minimal NHL action, but he did benefit from the tutelage of Ed Johnston while playing for the AHL’s New Brunswick Hawks in 1978–79. The recently retired goalie spoke with a couple of teams about getting the young netminder from Toronto, and John Ferguson listened, grabbing him in the expansion draft.

  “I was kind of glad to get out of the Toronto organization because they had a pretty packed house,” he said. “Going to an expansion team, there was less pressure and they weren’t expecting the best. I went to training camp and I didn’t know who was under contract. I knew that Smith and Mattsson had deals, and John Ferguson drafted Lindsay Middlebrook. I figured they brought me in for the minor league team. I always worked hard in training camp and I shuffled their deck a little bit.”

 
After prevailing in the training camp dogfight for a backup position with the Jets, Hamel made his debut with the club during a 4–0 loss to the Boston Bruins on October 11, 1979. It took him a little while to earn his first victory, but he ended up prevailing over the Hartford Whalers on November 14. One of his favourite outings, however, was the 6–2 win on December 15 over the Canadiens, where he had a unique experience before the puck was dropped.

  “We were playing Montreal in Winnipeg and the Stanley Cup was travelling with them. They brought it into the dressing room to stay safe,” he said. “I was there and I figured it was going to be my only chance to grab it and hold it. A reporter was there and I told them not to write what I said or did. He was nice enough to never mention it and I let him know that I appreciated his silence.”

  Over the rest of the season, Hamel led the team with nine wins but did miss a little time with a cracked kneecap. He was back again in 1980–81, when the team experienced one of the worst seasons in NHL history.

  “Personally, I enjoyed the first season better. You almost knew it was going to be a rough season. There was a lot of politics going on.”

  Fellow goaler Lindsay Middlebrook enjoyed playing alongside Hamel, and the pair shared the crease during the exhibition match against Moscow Dynamo.

  “He was a funny, hilarious guy. He was very acrobatic. He’d look better letting in goals than I would stopping them. He had a flair and I was amazed by how he made things look so good.”

  Pierre Hamel

  Bill Lesuk

  After the shell shock of playing for the Washington Capitals for their first season in 1974–75, Lesuk jumped to the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets and firmly re-established himself as one of the game’s best penalty killers before going on to win three AVCO Cup championships.

  “I wish I had more patience to stay in Los Angeles and Washington, but I look at my years in Winnipeg to be the best of them all,” he said. “I always prided myself on being a hard-working player, but playing with guys like Hull, Hedberg, Nilsson and Sjoberg made me realize I had a long way to go to realize my potential.”