I grew up being a Winnipeg NHL hockey fan. I ceased to be one when the Winnipeg Jets left in 1996.
I never became a fan of the Manitoba Moose, just because I never found the level of hockey to be too exciting and cheering for a team that had its best players called up to the majors did not appeal to me.
So, I am pleased that Winnipeg and Manitoba is getting the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. The fact that season tickets sold out and a wait list was created really demonstrates that Manitoba is pretty hungry for NHL hockey.
There is lots of opinion that they will be called the Jets, possibly the Manitoba Jets to create a separation from the old franchise. Personally, I say let the Jets name go. I was a Winnipeg NHL fan, but thought that the Jets stunk. From 1979 to 1996 they posted a pathetic 0.378 winning record. While they had some exciting players, they were haunted by a culture of mediocrity. It continues to this day with the team in Phoenix.
So, I say we rename the team to something fresh and unique. Something that captures some defining element of Manitoba, namely the Mosquitoes!
I have taken the liberty to quickly draft up a graphic for the team uniform. True North is free to use it!
The benefits of being named the Manitoba Mosquitoes are:
- Its relevant to the Manitoba experience,
- We would have a really cool mascot,
- We would ‘swarm’ the opposition net when trying to score,
- Instead of icing skaters, we would ice ‘skeeters’,
- Fans could use the Mosquito sound when they score – “Bzzzzznnnn!”,
- We could have blood drives during games with Canadian Blood Services,
- We could have great corporate sponsorships with the makers of “Off” and “Raid”, and finally…
- It would be okay if the team sucks. 😛 (Thanks to Frano for this one)
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