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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Glen Murray: Go Jets Go
I had a chance to speak with former mayor Glen Murray the other day.
As most of my conversations go, we talked more about the Winnipeg Jets than other stuff.
By way of background, Murray was mayor for the ground-breaking of the MTS Centre in 2003 and says before that, he helped get Mark Chipman and David Thomson together, first meeting them at the Fyxx to discuss "the crazy idea" of building an arena on the old Eaton’s site.
Because of that, he was invited to be at the team’s Oct. 9 home opener against the Canadiens.
"I actually teared up. That was amazing moment to see the Jets back and to sit in there."
Murray said a better moment came when the Jets played the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 19.
"It’s a moment I’ll never forget in my life. When the Jets came in, the announcer told a bit of the story about how Winnipeg won its team back. Everyone stood up and gave a standing ovation for many, many, many, many minutes. A lot of people were crying. You could feel the emotional enthusiasm in the room."
Now halfway through the hockey season, Murray says Winnipeg fans shouldn’t despair the team’s win-loss record.
"They are doing as well as the Maple Leafs. I know that’s not exactly the gold-bar standard for success in the NHL. But it only took Winnipeg less than 12 months to have a team as good as Toronto. That’s a huge credit. In a just a few months Winnipeg already has a hockey team rivalling the Leafs."
Murray left the mayor’s office in 2004 to run under the Liberal banner in the federal election. He lost to Tory Steven Fletcher.
Murray is now Ontario’s minister of training, colleges and universities in the McGuinty government.
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About Bruce Owen
Bruce Owen joined the Winnipeg Free Press in 1990 after four years working in other media.
He's worked in a number of positions at the Freep, including pet columnist, assistant city editor and police reporter. Right now he takes up space at the Manitoba legislature.
Bruce is one of five reporters who won a National Newspaper Award for the paper’s coverage of the 1997 Flood of the Century. He's also the recipient of the 1996 Volunteer Centre of Winnipeg Media Golden Hand Award and the 1995 Canadian Federation of Humane Societies Media Commendation Award.
In a past life Bruce worked at YMCA-YWCA Camp Stephens. He has a blog where he and others write about camp and the people who worked and played there.
You can also find Bruce on Twitter where he posts and retweets all sorts of stuff.
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