Hawerchuk’s son taken with Winnipeg whiteout
Like most people with any interest in the Winnipeg Jets, Eric Hawerchuk had seen playoff whiteouts on TV and was suitably impressed.
But he’d never seen his late father’s former team host a playoff game in the flesh. Until this week.
Dale Hawerchuk’s son flew up from his home in Phoenix on Sunday just in time to catch most of Game 1 against Colorado and couldn’t believe what he saw, heard — and felt.
“It exceeded all my expectations, honestly,” Hawerchuk told Postmedia News before Tuesday’s Game 2 loss, a 5-2 decision that tied the series at 1-1 heading to Colorado.
“And my expectations were pretty high. It’s one of those things that you just have to see in person to really feel it. ’Cause I’ve seen it on TV and can tell it’s crazy in there. But when you’re in the building and you feel the vibration of the sound on your chest, it’s different.”
Hawerchuk arrived in Winnipeg just as Sunday’s game started, spending some agonizing time on the tarmac and in a taxi as the scoreboard began to light up.
“It felt like an eternity,” he said. “I’m in the cab and every time I check the phone, it’s like 2-1, 2-2, 3-2. I was like, ‘Get me to the darn game!’ I made it for the second period, sat down and two minutes later we scored to make it 4-3. That barn erupted and it was like nothing I ever heard in my life.”
The 34-year-old got an even more complete experience on Tuesday, as he took in the pre-game street party and Game 2.
He’s been attending offday practices and morning skates, too.
Each time he walks to the arena, he passes by the statue of his dad, erected in 2022 to honour the former Jets great who died of cancer in 2020.
“You come around the corner and you see it there, and it’s just so unbelievably ...”
He paused, searching for the right words.
“It’s just an epic piece,” he said. “I can’t believe that it’s real sometimes. So I had to take a picture and post it. It’s magnificent. That’s the word I use for it.”
Hawerchuk was on hand for the statue’s unveiling two years ago, along with former teammates and a few thousand fans.
After Sunday’s 7-6 Jets victory, he was there again.
Again, he wasn’t alone, as it’s become a gathering place.
“Walking out and just seeing all the fans standing around it, celebrating, taking pictures with it — it gets emotional,” he said. “Because there’s nothing my dad liked more than Winnipeg and seeing the Jets succeed. We needed that home win. It had been a while, right, for a whiteout win?”
It had been. Sunday’s win ended a four-game home playoff losing streak that dated back to the 2021 post-season.
“I felt like I had to come up there and turn the tide,” Hawerchuk said. “I’m glad it didn’t hurt.”
A former pro golfer who’s now teaching the game in Arizona, along with dabbling in the sports agent business, Hawerchuk says he’s not planning to fly up for every home game.
But he’ll get to Manitoba as often as he can.
“If they win tonight (Tuesday) and then they run into some trouble, I may have to talk to the Jets and figure something out to be here,” he said. “We’ve got to get it done tonight (Tuesday). Then I’ve got some negotiating power.”
Despite his dabbling as an agent, Hawerchuk says his future remains with golf, teaching it and maybe playing it as a pro again.
“There’s so many things I learned over the years that I’m like, ‘I wish I knew that a lot sooner.’ To be able to help people improve, it’s pretty rewarding.”
He says he may come back to Winnipeg in August and try to qualify for the local stop on the Canadian Tour.
“I got away from it for a couple of years,” he said. “And it’s calling me back.”
Just like Winnipeg does.
IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE IN PERSON TO REALLY FEEL IT.