Yes, they're back . . .

If you’re a hockey fan, chances are you were in front of a TV set on Sunday and watched at least part of the game from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
This was the regular-season return of the Jets to Winnipeg and not even a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens could ruin the atmosphere.
And if you’re a hockey fan chances are pretty good that you really will enjoy Back in the Bigs, a book loaded with photos and the story of the Jets as written by Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press.
Turner and the photographs tell the story of the Jets, going all the way back to the days of Ben Hatskin — was he, you know, connected? — and the Junior Jets.
Turner tells the complete story, too.
When you think of the Winnipeg Jets, chances are you think immediately of the big line — Ulf Nilsson between Bobby Hull and Anders Hedberg — or maybe Dale Hawerchuk.
It’s true that time and distance make the heart grow fonder, so you may have forgotten that despite the presence of the likes of the four aforementioned players, the Jets never were a rip-roaring success in Winnipeg.
Oh, the fans loved the Jets the day it all ended — the Detroit Red Wings beat the host Jets 4-1 in a playoff game on April 28, 1996. The Winnipeg franchise was then relocated to Phoenix.
But travel back in time with Turner and read about how the Jets, featuring Hull, Hedberg and Nilsson, rarely sold out the Winnipeg Arena when they played in the now-defunct World Hockey Association.
And things didn’t get much better when the NHL ended the war between the leagues by begrudgingly accepting four teams, including the Jets.
Turner touches on all of that and, by the time Winnipeg is gearing up to welcome back the second-coming of its Jets, you are wondering how a team that struggled for acceptance as a WHA team and later as an NHL entry can make a go of it this time around?
More than anything, though, there are great hockey stories in this book. Stories of how Hatskin landed Hull and how Hedberg and Nilsson came to play in Winnipeg, even though neither player had even visited North America. Remember, too, that the Jets had more Europeans on their roster than just those two skaters.
There is lots here, too, on the fiery John Ferguson, who during his stint as general manager was the face of the Jets.
Turner also delves into Winnipeg’s lengthy stay in the American Hockey League — its franchise was the Manitoba Moose, an affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. If you are wondering how it is that Craig Heisinger, a former trainer with the Brandon Wheat Kings, moved from the Moose, where he started as the trainer, to the Jets, where he now is director of player operations, you need only read about his going nose-to-nose with Brian Burke, then the Canucks’ GM.
Through the pages of this book you will get a look at Mark Chipman and David Thomson, the two men most responsible for the Jets’ return to Winnipeg. And you’ll read all about how it happened.
There also are a whole lot of terrific photos and it’s great to see some of the older ones from the archives of the late, great Winnipeg Tribune, most from the always capable camera of Jon Thordarson.
(Hard cover, Viking Canada/Winnipeg Free Press, 208 pages, $35)

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Tuesday . . .

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA:
As you no doubt are aware, the WHL has confirmed that it has conditionally approved the sale of the Chilliwack Bruins.
What the league didn’t reveal is just who is buying the franchise.
Presumably, it is RG Properties, the Vancouver-based company that manages the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and owns that city’s ECHL franchise, the Salmon Kings.
The Salmon Kings are involved in a best-of-five first-round playoff series with the Bakersfield Condors. The Condors got a split in Victoria and the teams now head for Bakersfield and games Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Monday.
Once the Salmon Kings’ season ends, the transfer of the Bruins to Victoria almost certainly will be announced.
And now the speculation can begin on which one of the WHL’s other existing franchises is being asked, or told, to move to Chilliwack.
Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, has said: “Not us.”
Dallas Thompson, the general manager of the Prince George Cougars, has said: “Not us.”
Who then?
And, really, do you want to be the owner of the next WHL team that goes into Chilliwack and needs to sell tickets? Especially if it’s in time for next season?
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Another hot rumour these days involves the AHL which one person has described to me as the “700-pound gorilla in the corner of the room.” . . . That would be the WHL’s room, of course. . . . All of this speculation is based on the assumption that the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes will one day return to Winnipeg. In which case, True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, would move the Moose to Saskatoon with the Blades moving to Winnipeg.
Hey, it’s what some people are saying. . . .
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The Chilliwack Times of Tuesday included an editorial on the subject of the Bruins leaving town. The editorial appeared before the WHL confirmed the sale of the Bruins, but it is worth a read. It is right here.
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The Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs will play a 2-3-2 format in the second round of the playoffs. They’ll open with games Saturday and Sunday in Spokane.
But if you’re wondering why they’ve gone to that format, Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald has the story right here.
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Doug Brown, a defensive lineman with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, writes what is almost always an insightful column for the Winnipeg Free Press. He recently returned from CFLPA meetings in Las Vegas, where some of the conversation had to do with concussions. The column he wrote about that is headlined “Players slowly killing themselves” and it’s right here.
Allan Maki wrote about the CFLPA meetings in today’s Globe and Mail. Maki’s piece is right here.
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In Pittsburgh, the NHL’s Penguins, who have been without concussed star forward Sidney Crosby since early in January, announced Tuesday that they will provide free concussion baseline testing to youths. That story is right here.
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You will recall earlier in the season that former Everett Silvertips captain Zack Dailey had filed a lawsuit against the WHL over a dispute involving the league’s education policy and how it applied to him. Well, the parties have settled. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald revealed that right here on his blog.
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F Scott Glennie of the Brandon Wheat Kings has joined the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. He is likely to finish his season with Texas. Glennie, 19, was selected eighth overall by Dallas in the NHL’s 2009 draft. He put up 91 points, including 35 goals, with the Wheat Kings this season. He added 10 points in six playoff games. . . . The Everett Silvertips have announced that D Ryan Murray is their captain. Murray, who wore an ‘A’ this season, just wrapped up his second season with Everett. He is expected to be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft. The Silvertips selected him ninth overall in the 2008 bantam draft. He succeeds F Landon Ferraro as Everett’s captain. . . . The Tri-City Americans are expected to announce today that they have signed G Eric Comrie, the 13th overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . The Kelowna Rockets arrived in Portland on Tuesday night. They’ll open their second-round series with the Winterhawks there on Thursday night in the Rose Garden with Game 2 there on Sunday. . . . Portland won three of the four regular-season games between the teams. . . . According to Regan Bartel, the Rockets’ radio voice, from his blog over there on the right: “The Rockets' extended stay in Portland between games one and two isn't coming out of their pockets. League rules stipulate the Hawks will pay for the extra two nights of accommodations and meals.” . . . More from Bartel: “My understanding is the Hawks rejected the Rockets offer of playing the first two games of the series at Prospera Place. Had that happened, the next three would have been played back in Portland and would have followed a 2-3-1-1 format. The Hawks didn't like that idea and went for playing the first two games on home ice despite the extended break between games one and two.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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