Draft beer, draft picks

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2016 (3384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A hot, muggy summer night. The Bombers season opener about to kick off. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on the big screen at IGF Stadium, about to bring a potential franchise player into the fold.

Did we mention $5 beers?

If there ever was nirvana for Winnipeg sports fans — outside of a title — this would be as close as it gets.

“It’s recording history, right?”, said Stephane Poirier, standing on the stadium concourse Friday night only moments after the Winnipeg Jets drafted highly touted Finnish forward Patrik Laine second overall in the NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo. “All around it’s good for the city both ways. If they could start winning, you could have the best of both worlds.”

While Laine strode to the stage in Buffalo to pull a Jets jersey over his head, the Bombers were on the field below in Winnipeg preparing to face the Montreal Alouettes in their 2016 home opener.

Let’s be honest. The last few decades haven’t been kind to fans of the city’s hockey and football squads. The Bombers haven’t won a Grey Cup since 1990. They haven’t even made the playoffs since 2011.

The Jets, well, they left. And since returning in 2011, Jets 2.0 have made the playoffs just once and haven’t won a game in the post-season. Last year, they finished close enough to the bottom of the standings to snag the second overall pick in the NHL Draft Lottery.

“It’s been a challenge being a sports fan in Winnipeg, for sure,” said Jason Hlatky, who was wearing a Doug Brown jersey. “There’s been a lot of walks of shame to the parking lot.”

Still, Hlatky and his buddies — Ryan Fidler and Jeff Dyck — weren’t about to miss an opportunity for a Manitoba sports fan’s trifecta — Jets, Bombers and beer.

“We’ve been waiting for this a long time,” Dyck said. “When we saw that the Bombers game was on the same day as the draft and that they (the Bombers) were doing this, I thought, ‘Perfect.’”

Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller was hanging out on the concourse, too, as the former fullback does before every home game. Miller scanned the crowd and estimated there were about 6,000 gathered at least an hour before kick off to watch the draft.

“It’s an important day for sports fans in Manitoba,” Miller said. “So let’s celebrate. It’s great.”

Fans such as Bob St. Laurent and Rob Sawatsky said the marriage of the Bombers and Jets events was worth the wait, too. Said St. Laurent: “I love the Bombers. I love the Jets. Perfect.”

“It was a genius idea,” added Steve Shaw.

Shaw was hanging out with fellow fans Greg Stewart and Vince Stycke, who are also Jets season-ticket holders.

Stewart, like every fan interviewed at the stadium, was adamant the Jets should draft Laine, a big-bodied sniper who has been compared to former Jets superstar and fellow Finn Teemu Selanne and Russian star Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

“You can sleep easy now,” Stewart said. “He could be the next Ovechkin. He could be the next Teemu. He could be the next franchise player. Andrew who?”

Of course, Stewart was referring to former Jets captain Andrew Ladd, who was traded by the Jets in the spring of 2016 to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Without missing a beat, Shaw piped up: “We’ve got a new Andrew. Andrew Harris.”

‘This is the best year to be a Winnipeg sports fan in a long time’– Jets and Bombers fan Vince Stycke 

Yes, the Winnipeg-born Harris, a longtime star with the B.C. Lions, was lured by the Bombers as a free agent during the off-season. The Bombers also bolstered their offence — the club was 5-13 last season — with receivers Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith, both formerly of the archrival Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“Without this off-season,” Shaw feared, “we would have been the Toronto Maple Leafs of the CFL.”

But the combination of a Jets team brimming with young, talented prospects and the Bombers in rebuild are giving local sports fans a sensation that has alluded them for many years: hope.

“This is the best year to be a Winnipeg sports fan in a long time,” Stycke predicted.

Perhaps. As Bombers fans Tammy Kiliwnik was quick to caution: “I hope so. But we say that every year. You think it’s going to be a good team but… But we support them anyway.”

So maybe Patrik Laine will be the answer. Maybe Dressler and Harris will lead the Bombers to the promised land for the first time in over a quarter century.

We’ll leave the last word to Brent Clarke, an RCMP officer stationed in Fort McMurray who — raised in Stonewall — flew to Winnipeg just to attend the home opener. As usual, Clarke was wearing his No. 13 Bombers jersey, with shoulder pads, and the words “Sask Sucks” on the name bar.

His gladiator helmet was sitting on a table nearby.

Like we said, big fan.

When asked if the Winnipeg franchises may have finally turned the corner, Clarke said it would be about time for the faithful who have long been waiting for more than high draft picks and cheap draft beer.

“We deserve a Grey Cup,” he said. “And we deserve a Stanley Cup. We’ve done our time.”

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca