Civic election

Who will run the city? Latest news and views about the civic election

View all features

Bomber Report

Get the latest news and features on the Big Blue as they battle in the CFL

View all features

News Alerts

Sign up for our Breaking News Alerts so you know the latest

View all features

Miss Lonelyhearts

Life advice from Maureen Scurfield

View all features

Winnipeg Free Press > Latest News > The whole truth and nothing but

Latest News

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

The whole truth and nothing but

What we might have wished Mark Chipman would have said Thursday

By: Paul Wiecek

Posted: 5/03/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 49

What might have Mark Chipman said Thursday?

Enlarge Image

What might have Mark Chipman said Thursday?

We interrupt this regular column to take you live to the news conference True North chairman Mark Chipman didn't have at the MTS Centre Thursday, but should have had. This is what we wish he'd said:

Chipman: Good morning. I'd like to thank you all for coming...

Blogger in his pyjamas: You lie!

Chipman: What? Is this the U.S. Congress? I'm not lying...

Blogger in his underwear: Liar.

Chipman: I'm not lying. I haven't even said anything yet...

Naked blogger: Liar. You just said you weren't lying. That's saying something. This proves you're bringing the Jets back to Winnipeg.

Chipman: I'm not bringing the Jets back to Winnipeg! Not today, anyway. Not tomorrow either. Not next week. Not next month.

Reporter wearing cheap, unattractive pants: Well, what about beyond next month?

Chipman: We'll, see. That's the whole thing: I can't tell you that because I honestly don't know. What I do know is that I am actively seeking, along with my mildly eccentric, but wildly rich partner David Thomson, an NHL team to purchase and relocate to Winnipeg.

DJ for local radio station that was once the undisputed FM heavyweight in Winnipeg, but was most recently tied for a distant sixth in local ratings: Hey, at least we're still ahead of CBC Radio 2.

Chipman: What? And everyone's ahead of CBC Radio 2.

Hank DJ: We're not.

Chipman: Look, can we stick to the subject? I'm here because the whole city's been in a tizzy for a month now that I was going to announce today, March 4, that I'm bringing the NHL back to Winnipeg.

Blogger, via Internet link from his parents' basement: That was my scoop.

Other bloggers: No, it wasn't. It was mine. Mine. Mine.

Chipman: It was nobody's scoop because it wasn't a scoop. Because it's not true. I'm not announcing any such thing. I'm not announcing anything, in fact. I'm just saying that I'm actively seeking an NHL team.

Bloggers: See? We knew it.

Chipman: Knew what? I've been saying for seven years that I'm actively seeking an NHL team to purchase and locate in Winnipeg. That's what I was doing in 2004 when the MTS Centre opened, that's what I was doing in 2008, and that's what I'm doing in 2010. Nothing's changed.

Another badly dressed reporter: But is something imminent?

Chipman: No, not at all.

Smokin' hot TV reporter: So you're not engaged right now in any advanced discussions with any particular ownership group?

Chipman: Nope. We see what you see -- a team in Phoenix that's owned by the league, a team in Nashville that had a crook for a part-owner, teams in places like Florida that continue to lose money hand over fist. Have we made all of them aware of our interest? Categorically yes. But are we on the verge of concluding a deal with any of them? Categorically no.

Drooling sports writer: And you're not actively involved in any advanced discussions with the NHL right now?

Chipman: Categorically no. Have we made the NHL completely aware of our desire to purchase a team and locate it in Winnipeg? Categorically yes.

Blogger: Liar. We have a friend who has a cousin who has an aunt who has a husky that pulled Gary Bettman, Izzy Asper and Ben Hatskin on a dogsled to Dubrovnik's Sunday night.

Blogger: I heard it was Hy's.

Blogger: I heard it was 529.

Blogger: Velvet Glove.

Chipman: Do you guys just go through the yellow pages for this stuff? This is what I mean -- you've created all this hysteria in town. One bad rumour from a month ago has gotten repeated again and again and again. And what's happened is people are now hearing variations on the same bad information from different places and concluding there must be something to it because they're hearing it from multiple sources. But it's not multiple sources, see; it's just a bunch of different people with different versions of the same bad information, all of it compounded by the vagaries of the Internet. It's the telephone game on steroids -- can't you see that?

Reporters: So you're saying the NHL is never coming back to Winnipeg?

Chipman: Not at all. In fact, I happen to be quite optimistic about the NHL coming back to Winnipeg. That's why I'm doing all this stuff. I really do hope that it's a matter of time before the right situation comes along and we get our team back.

Everyone: That'd be cool.

Chipman: I agree.

Bloggers: But not today?

Chipman: Not today.

One blogger to another: He's lying.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

 

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 5, 2010 C1

49 Commentscomment icon

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

"I get more info from reading coffee news than this article, and it's free"

I agree. I hate these 'made up conversation' type articles. Hard to follow. Active imagination though.

First off if the NHL comes back the team needs a new name, the Jets name sucked 30 years ago and it's even worse today. On top of that name just conjures up a bunch of bad memories & years of losing teams. When Wpg gets the NHL back, it's time for a fresh start and a new franchise name! Granted most Winnipeggers are stuck in the past and fairly lame overall when it comes to anything that’s new, so they’ll want to keep the worn out Jets name. Figures.

Okay moving on to is the NHL coming back. Paul, rumours abound, but a couple of interesting ones I heard recently that could be easily investigated (I know it's rare that reporters do that anymore, but hey we can all hope), are that the Moose have not renewed a number of contracts with their suppliers, they are holding off on renewing players contacts and they are looking at cancelling season ticket purchases into the future. Come on Freep, dig into this story a little more or at least investigate and confirm if the rumours are right or wrong. Rumours of Bettman, whatever, but rumours of cancelling supplier contracts, that’s an interesting angle, which would lead one to believe either the Moose are going broke or they might not be here for much longer, last time I checked the Moose are doing okay financially, sooo....

I get more info from reading coffee news than this article, and it's free


Face it, the Jets aren't coming back-ever. The city couldn't afford the Jets 15 years ago and things have hardly gotten cheaper since 1995. Please, it's going on 20 years, give it up and face the facts, the dream is dead! Perhaps you could use the extra cash to fix a few more potholes? This city sucks...

@ RJN

100% true. Wiecek = pwned!

Here is an Interesting read from nnw.

1. The Chipman Group (who own the Manitoba Moose) along with the Thomson Group
(co-owner of the MTS Centre) and a 3rd silent partner have purchased the Atlanta Thrashers
2. The press conference is March 4th (the day after the NHL trade deadline)

3. The Manitoba Moose will be heading to Saskatoon

Source also reports Manitoba Moose have also closed 3 accounts in Winnipeg in the past 7 days, one which includes their clothing supplier.

What the bloggers need to start doing is making Nostradamus like predictions that may be interpreted as the jets returning.

"Those that fly high on ice will return when the animal of prey exerts its efforts in a wasteland of sand." Bloggers' intrepretation= The Coyotes are coming to Winnipeg.

He of great wealth but no morals who is hated by countrymen of the north will only allow the return of the great winged fighter when the wrath of God falters in the land of retirement and sun." Bloggers' Interpretation= Gary Bettman will relocate the Lightning to Winnipeg.

You get my drift.

To Jets_Or_Bust:
Last year the Moose payroll was 4.2 million.
Moose tickets are $22.50 to $42.50.
There is no way Chipman can make more money with an NHL team and he knows it.
Do the math.

cemegs:

Has beens and never weres?? The AHL is 85% younger than the NHL players. What are you smoking??

Good to hear that you are getting out for the olympics though; I guess it's nice every four years to get out of your parent's basement...[edited]

@ Taxpayer:

Why would he want an NHL team? Because an NHL team would bring in even more money than the moose. Of course the MTS Center is a goldmine, but the point your missing is all those concert revenues, concessions, etc don't go away with the arrival of an NHL team. Those revenues remain, we just replace 6 000 moose fans (5 000 paying ones) with 15,000 paying jets fans. How much do you think that increases parking, concessions, etc?

The numbers are all there for you to see. Go to the sites mentioned by Chris below.

View all Comments

The comment period for this story has ended.

Follow

  1. Breaking News Alerts

    Sign up for our new Breaking News Alerts

  2. Editor's Bulletin

    Sign up for daily bulletins

  3. Winnipeg road closures

    Check if your commute is affected

  4. Blogs to Watch

    We pick our favourite local blogs for you to follow

  5. Breaking News Widget

    Create and embed a Winnipeg Free Press breaking news widget on your site or blog

  6. Twitter

    Follow our reporters and news feeds on Twitter

letters

Make text: Larger | Smaller

Our Communities

Poll

How interested are you in the upcoming civic election?

View Results

View Related Story

Events

September 5, 2010

View all Events

9th Winnipeg Marian Eucharistic Conference

“I am with you always, until the end of the world”(Mt 28:20). Come and listen to seven dynamic, inspiring speakers (Fr.Iannuzzi, was ass’t to Fr. Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome; Susan Tassone on the ...

[ View Full Event information ]