Jersey-tossers need to remember why they’re fans

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/01/2015 (3920 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ACCORDING to the legend, Serge Savard walked across the dressing room in the old Winnipeg Arena, bent down to pick a jersey up off the floor and handed it to the offending player saying only, “We can get mad. But we don’t ever do that.”

Dale Hawerchuk was a rookie with the Jets at the time.

“We came in between periods. We weren’t doing very well and someone got a little angry and threw their sweater on the floor. That’s all Serge needed to say. We knew to treat the jersey with respect,” said Hawerchuk.

Savard, reached by phone on Monday, couldn’t clearly recall the incident. “If Dale said it happened that way, then it did,” said Savard. “It could have been me or it could have been Fergie (John Ferguson). Fergie would have reacted the same way.”

The message, still very clear and alive in the Winnipeg Jets dressing room of today, does not resonate with some fans as the latest rash of jersey-tossing attests.

It’s the ultimate act of derision and it’s been picking up steam in Canadian rinks this winter.

Oilers jerseys have hit the ice in Edmonton, Maple Leafs jerseys in Toronto and in Winnipeg on Saturday night a pair of Leafs sweaters sank down from the rafters.

Hey, it’s their 200 bucks, and what they want to do with their money and belongings is their business. Some might argue they threw their cash away when they bought a Leafs sweater in the first place, but that’s just mean, right?

The whole concept of being a fan, however, runs counter to the act of getting frustrated and tossing a jersey on to the ice. You know, through thick and thin, and all that.

Does it send a message? Sure. Does it accomplish anything? Doubtful. The boardroom boys at Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment won’t be getting sweaty over this supposed act of civil disobedience. In fact, they’ll count on the same sucker buying a new jersey to further fatten the bottom line. Their cups, except in the case of Stanley, will continue to runneth over.

Veteran Jets defenceman Jay Harrison says fans can do what they like, but also illustrates what the jersey represents to NHL players and why you’ll never see one on the floor in a dressing room.

“Within the league, within the locker-room, you hold the jersey in very high regard. Certainly as a player, I couldn’t fathom treating something you’ve worked so hard and dreamt about all your life with such disrespect,” said Harrison, now in his 14th pro season. “It represents not only yourself but your teammates, your team and your community. That’s a player’s perspective. Fans might have a different view. They have their own rights and obligations.”

Players are very careful not to bite the hand that feeds them, and Harrison made pains to stress he believes every fan is free to make their own choice. But he also made clear what he’d do if he was sitting in the stands.

“As a fan of the game, I think it’s outside the boundaries of good taste. I would never think of throwing my jersey on the ice if I was a fan,” said Harrison. “Our jerseys never hit the floor of the dressing room. It’s sacred. It’s a privilege and an honour to wear that jersey. You never know how long you’re going to get. Every day should be treated as a blessing. It’s a symbol and you treat it with the respect it deserves.”

Jets coach Paul Maurice says players have a different attachment to the sweater they wear.

“Players take it far more personally than a fan that bought it at the store who then has his frustration get to the point where they try to make the biggest statement they possibly can,” said Maurice. “It would be a far bigger statement if it was a player who threw his jersey on the ice.”

What does your jersey mean to you? Certainly to the people of Winnipeg, a Jets jersey means a great deal. It represents heartache and rebirth. A second chance.

When the players in Toronto elected not to salute their fans the night after they were booed off the ice and saw a few jerseys tossed, they punished the entire fan base. There were 20,000 or so in the building that night and less than a handful disrespected the jersey.

Maurice and Harrison are right players treat the sweater with a special reverence. But so do most fans. They go out and buy them and pull them on whenever their team plays. They wear them to the grocery story. They even wear them to church.

Maybe they spill a little beer or mustard on them over the years, but they keep washing and wearing them and buying new ones when the team makes a tweak to a stripe or a star.

No disrespect to the men who earn a jersey by making it to the NHL, but those jerseys in the stands, they mean just as much. The Jets or any other NHL team belong to the fans who follow them.

Want to toss your jersey? Fill your boots. But as Harrison says, “it’s your team and your community.”

And it’s your jersey.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless