Golden Jet makes big Hull-abaloo in Windy City

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(CRAIG ROBERTSON / CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

CHICAGO -- The irony dripped right off the huge video screen that hangs above the ice here in the world's biggest hockey arena, the United Center. But nobody knew it at that moment.

It would take a few more hours of remarkable hockey, played by a group of remarkable Winnipeggers, for it to fully sink in.

But that's getting ahead of our story.

Here's the scene -- It's just prior to game time Wednesday night and most of a crowd of 20,077, the 47th consecutive Blackhawks sellout, has filed in to see the Hawks take on the Vancouver Canucks.

Above the ice, on a massive video screen, the Hawks are running one of several video tributes they do every night to honour the team's rich history.

At this moment, the tribute is to the Golden Jet -- former Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets great, Bobby Hull.

The tribute cuts to a scene with Hull standing on the ice at what looked like the old Chicago Stadium, talking into a microphone at what seemed like the night they retired his jersey here.

The grainy film -- and the entire United Center -- suddenly gets quiet as Hull looks into the camera and tells the crowds -- the one that night and the one this night -- about how much he loved his 15 years of playing in Chicago, how he wishes it had been double that.

And then, Hull tells his Chicago audiences, "The biggest mistake I ever made in my life was leaving this city."

The crowds loved it. First, it's the crowd from that long ago night you hear cheering on the screen. And then, a split second later, Wednesday's crowd roars its approval.

'Yeah, exactly,' they seem to be saying, 'what the hell were you thinking ever leaving Chicago, Bobby? What a stupid move that turned out to be, eh Bobby? Why on earth, Bobby, would you have ever moved to...

"Winnipeg?"

Ummmm, yeah, about that, Bobby. It seems to me, Bobby, that you left Chicago because they wouldn't match the $1-million contract -- an unheard of sum of money at the time -- that the fledgling Winnipeg Jets of the WHA offered you.

Indeed, while I was just five years old at the time, Bobby, you seem quite pleased with your decision in that famous picture every Winnipegger knows of you signing that million-dollar contract -- at Portage and Main, no less.

Whatever the case, the irony -- as it would soon become crystal clear -- is that this same city of big shoulders that seems to continue to harbour some ill feelings about losing a great hockey player to our little burb is presently relying on the hockey services of not one, not two, not three, but four native-born Winnipeggers in their drive to do what no Chicago team has done in 48 years -- win a Stanley Cup.

Indeed, the entire Blackhawks leadership was born in Winnipeg -- captain Jonathan Toews was born and raised while alternate captains Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp were born in Winnipeg but moved at young ages. And then there's born and raised Winnipegger Cam Barker, who doesn't require an 'A' or 'C' because he leads, every night, by example.

And seldom would the influence of these River City men on this team be more clear than on the very same night Hull thumbed his nose at us from the rafters, as three of those four Winnipeggers played huge roles on the ice -- two by their presence and the third by his sudden absence.

Consider:

"ö The Hawks had two goals on the night and Keith played a part in both, scoring one and assisting on the other.

"ö Barker set up the Keith goal, feathering a perfect pass to Keith for the one-timer from the blue-line.

"ö And then, just when it seemed like the Winnipeggers would carry the Hawks to victory, it was the sudden departure of Toews that precipitated a Hawks meltdown that led to them blowing a 2-1 third-period lead and losing 3-2.

Toews was belted at centre ice by the Canucks Willie Mitchell six minutes into the third and had to struggle just to get back to the Hawks bench. He didn't return to the game and his departure sparked a string of bad penalties that saw the Hawks squander the work of their Winnipeggers.

It was a Winnipeg storyline, but not everyone got it. About halfway through the game, Hull made another appearance on the screen -- this time live and in person, a surprise guest sitting in a luxury box. He was smiling, still.

After the game, I tracked down Barker in the Hawks dressing room and asked them if there was a certain pride that instead of being the Chicago of the North, these Winnipeggers had transformed the Chicago dressing room into the Winnipeg of the South.

"We talk about Winnipeg all the time," Barker said. "We're from the same background -- we skated outside in the cold all the time, Johnny's from St. Vital, I'm from Fort Garry. It's great to have that on your team.

"Skating outside -- it's something we all did. It'd be minus-30 and we'd be out there shooting around with our buddies or our dads and having a great time. It's something I'll always remember."

It builds, if nothing else, toughness.

And on a night when so many Winnipeggers tried so hard to win a hockey game for this city, who was it that helped sink the Hawks?

Why, none other than the Canucks Michael Grabner -- who refined his skills in Winnipeg with the Manitoba Moose the past three seasons. He fired a blast from the top of the face-off circle midway through the third period to tie the game. History will record it was Grabner's first-ever NHL goal.

Ironic, isn't it? And kind of, if you look at it from just the right angle, fitting on a night when the Golden Jet appeared larger than life above the ice and told the crowd he wished he'd never been a Jet.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 23, 2009 C1