WHA reunion set for October

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/03/2022 (1277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This won’t be the first World Hockey Association reunion, but it’ll likely be the last.

In honour of the WHA’s 50th anniversary, more than 100 players from the now defunct outlaw league will be gathering in Whistler, B.C. from Oct. 6-9 for a celebration/fan festival.

“How many more times are we going to have the opportunity to be together? I think it’s wonderful and that’s definitely the reason why I want to participate,” said 75-year-old Bill Lesuk, one of only seven players to suit up for the Winnipeg Jets for all three of their Avco Cup championships.

“And for the players that can’t make it, I know that they want to be there.”

All three members of The Hotline ⁠— Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, and Ulf Nilsson⁠ — are expected to be in Whistler. So will another high-scoring Jet in Kent Nilsson as he and his wife Helen Alfredsson, an LPGA star, will be leading the WHA Alumni Golf Tournament at the Chateau Whistler Golf Club on the Friday. The following day is a legacy dinner honouring Hull, the Howe family, WHA’s all-time leading career scorer Andre Lacroix, the WHA’s first Black player ⁠— Alton White, WHA founder Dennis Murphy, and a tribute to Garnet “Ace” Bailey.

“One thing about this reunion is you’ll run into people you played against,” said Perry Miller, 69, who played parts of three seasons with the Jets.

“Everybody is now at an age where everybody loves everybody else, but back then that wasn’t the case. But now you’ll see guys you played against and laugh about things that happened. This will probably be the last thing ever done for the league.”

Lesuk, Miller, and Mike Ford were among the former Jets on hand at Thursday afternoon’s media conference at the Bell MTS Iceplex. The festivities in Whistler are being organized by former WHA Jets play-by-play announcer Peter Young and Greg Beaudin — the son of former Jets forward Norm Beaudin. They originally had their eyes set on Las Vegas, but they had a tough time securing dates at a resort due to all the competition in town. Winnipeg was the next option, but there’s been several WHA Jets reunions over the years so they were eager to change things up. They eventually landed on Whistler and the city’s tourism board was all in.

With more than half of the WHA’s player pool having died since the league closed its doors in 1979, Young said it’s important to get everyone together while they still can.

“To get everyone in one city is going to be nuts… Can you imagine all the stories that will be told? You could write 20 books,” said Young.

“… I’m getting just as much email response from the adult children of the players. People who are 50 years old whose dad played in the WHA. They’re saying ‘Hey, we want to come.’ Of course you can come. And then they’re saying ‘Well, can we bring our kids?’ And by kids, they mean their 25-year-old kids. So one player could become four hotel rooms… That’s why even with 100 players, I think we’ll be successful because of the residual carryover of the family members that want to see and hear about what grandpa did… There won’t be a 75th anniversary reunion so this is the last shot.”

It’s been 40 years since the WHA dropped the puck for the final time — Game 6 of the Avco Cup final with the Jets beating an upstart Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers 7-3 for the right to keep the trophy forever — but players such Lesuk, who also won a Stanley Cup in 1970 with the Boston Bruins, are eager to celebrate the league any time they can.

“It was the best years of my existence in pro hockey,” said Lesuk.

SLAP SHOT COMING TO WINNIPEG

Thursday’s media conference also announced St. Boniface Golf Club will be hosting a golf tournament in honour of the 45th anniversary of the wildly popular hockey movie, Slap Shot. Members of the cast, NHL alumni, and celebrities will be in town with proceeds of the tournament going to the StopConcussions Foundation. The Slap Shot tournament is also making stops this summer in Philadelphia, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Calgary, Edmon and Whistler.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31