Losing may lead to brighter days

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2016 (3484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two old rivals are at it again.

The Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers have had some epic battles over the years, whether it was in the World Hockey Association or the National Hockey League (with Jets 1.0). Those playoff series had fans at their best and most hopeful for a win.

Today, fans may be cheering for their respective teams but know it’s best if they lose to increase the chances of obtaining the consensus first pick in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft: Auston Matthews.

Save that thought, as I need to make a full disclosure here: I still hate that Oilers jersey.

It’s mainly because during the last year of the WHA (1978-79, which would conclude with my Jets dumping the Oilers in the Avco Cup final four games to two; oh, the memories…) I had this scrawny kid named Wayne Gretzky all lined up for a big hit.

When I threw my shoulder into him, I got a quick lesson in how he could move sideways as fast as he could move forward. The air was all I hit, and I was lucky I didn’t have to pull my teeth from the boards. From that day on, I realized the idea was to try to “contain” Gretzky if I didn’t want to look silly.

The second one is a generational thing; a sign of those times when fighting was as much a part of hockey as scoring goals.

I’d be getting ready for a faceoff in our end while winded from a long shift, with just a few seconds left in a period. All I would have to do would be to “clear the front of the net” (usually with a legal crosscheck or two) for a few seconds. I’d look across at players I could easily handle and know I was OK.

But then I’d hear the clunk of the door opening at the Oilers bench. Over the boards would roll big Dave Semenko, a most accomplished fighter. Out would go the guy I was happy to clear out, as a fresh Semenko rolled into his spot. Oh, how I hated the yappy coach of the Oilers, Glen Sather, and his mind games (although nothing ever happened after I showed Semenko my stick like a gang member flashing a gun).

The Jets and Oilers clashed many times that year, including a line brawl or two (all skaters on the ice fighting). Battles for the puck were also ferocious; we just didn’t like each other.

The good guys not only won that championship, it was the Jets’ third Avco Cup in seven years. The Oilers won zero. Round 1 of the rivalry went to the Jets.

When they both merged into the NHL in 1979 (along with the Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques) the next battleground was set.

While the teams were only allowed to protect two skaters and two goalies to start the process of building their clubs, the Oilers got a leg up on Jets 1.0 because of Gretzky, a “generational player” (the best in the league for many years).

After two years of NHL play, the Jets came up with their best possible answer to Gretzky: “franchise player” (the undisputed leader of a team in all pertinent ways) Dale Hawerchuk, selected with the first-overall pick of the 1981 draft.

That was the real start of round 2, rivalry-wise, that had many heart-wrenching moments for Jets fans. Winnipeg and Edmonton faced each other six times in the playoffs between 1983 and 1990 (when Hawerchuk was traded to the Buffalo Sabres). The Oilers won every series.

This had nothing to do with Hawerchuk’s play, of course; his inclusion into the Hockey Hall of Fame verifies that.

There’s also a good argument the surrounding cast of players was in the Oilers’ favour but Gretzky was a generational player. And while he wasn’t there for the sixth series win in 1990 (having been traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988), he had helped build that team with his presence.

Round 3 of the rivalry (the winning part; not the dive to the bottom) looms in the future as the Jets 2.0 and Oilers (along with a bunch of other teams) hope to land Auston Matthews this summer. There may be a few franchise players available in the draft as it is top heavy in prospects, but Matthews is the big prize.

Put on your rose-coloured glasses and imagine the Oilers’ and Jets’ rebuild programs work from now on, and they face each other a few years from now in the playoffs.

Even if the Jets get Matthews, he’ll have to contend with the Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the first pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, who looks to be every bit the generational player he’s projected to be. 

McDavid will be a major reason players on other teams looking to move will want to play in Edmonton; to counter, the Jets will have to find a way to give any future franchise player a better supporting cast.

The timing is perfect, with the Oilers taking on the Jets in the Heritage Classic in October in Winnipeg. The alumni game will bring back good memories for fans of both teams, who had to suffer through dreadful 2015-16 seasons.

Remember, Jets players: don’t try to hit Gretzky, just contain him.

I won’t be playing in the game, so my teeth are safe.

Chosen ninth overall by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and first overall by the WHA’s Houston Aeros in 1977, Scott Campbell has now been drafted by the Winnipeg Free Press to play a new style of game.

Twitter: @NHL_Campbell