Shawn L. Bird

I’m taking page out of the blog of my old pal Ralph Hass today with a sport’s commentary… (tongue in cheek though it may be!)

The big sports news in Canada today is that negotiations are in progress to bring the Atlantic Thrashers to Winnipeg.  Manitobans are dancing in the streets over the idea of a return to NHL hockey in their province. The next question is, “What will they be called?” Some are determined that the team should harken back nostalgically and be called the Winnipeg Jets; others think the team should keep its name and become the Winnipeg Thrashers.

I vote for “None of the Above” and submit that the name should both be new and something meaningful for the province. Something powerful.  A name that conveys a real force of nature.

I vote for The Red River Flood.

The Manitoba Sandbaggers?

The Winnipeg Dikebreakers?

If you don’t like those, how about The Prairie Blizzard?  That might be the ideal choice, actually, since it includes 3 provinces, and prairie blizzards can strike ferociously any time during the extremely long  hockey season…

I mean really, what do Jets and Thrashers have to do with anything?  At least lets have a name that tells you something about the people who support the team. Manitoba Threshers fits with the agriculture of the region.  Maybe that would work?

 Good luck Winnipeg.  May the flood water recede and the NHL return.