A Winnipeg Tradition Rises From the Ashes

In the movie “Jesus of Montreal,” a priest who commits a grievous error worries that the archbishop will ordain a terrible punishment, such as exiling him to Winnipeg.

I remember the scene vividly because I saw it at a theater in Winnipeg. Everyone laughed.

No one knew better than the people of Winnipeg that they didn’t live in an entertainment capital, like New York, Paris or even Calgary. Visitors had to be creative to find fun. The Kings always scheduled their annual bowling tournament for one of their trips there.

But Winnipeg would have been a great place to be this week, if it still had an NHL team.

Instead, their Jets renamed themselves the Coyotes, moved to Phoenix and, less than one year later, are playing the Mighty Ducks in a first-round playoff series that begins tonight at the Pond of Anaheim.

A little piece of the NHL died when it left Winnipeg. Unfortunately for Winnipeg, it was too little a piece. Small-market teams no longer have a place in a big-thinking league.

Lamenting that after a workout Tuesday was the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne, who played in Winnipeg for parts of four seasons. He recounted numerous memories, especially of his playoff experience in 1993.

He spoke with particular fondness of the “white noise,” the roar from the fans in Winnipeg who traditionally dressed in white for important games and created an almost ethereal atmosphere. Visiting teams, he said, felt as if they were playing in a blizzard.

So Selanne was heartened to learn the spirit of Winnipeg will be present in Anaheim and Phoenix.

The Coyotes announced they will try to re-create the tradition, asking their fans to wear white for playoff games against the Ducks next week. Never one to concede an advantage, Coach Ron Wilson asked Duck fans to do the same tonight and Friday night.

Doing its part, the Ducks’ marketing department will hand out white towels to fans. Presumably, they aren’t intended to signal surrender.

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All the experts expect the Ducks’ Selanne and Paul Kariya and the Coyotes’ Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick to lead their respective offenses, but Wilson pointed out that a playoff series is often decided by players who aren’t creating much buzz beforehand. . . .

For instance, he said John LeClair was considered a “plugger and a grinder” before he scored overtime goals in Games 3 and 4 for Montreal against the Kings in the 1993 finals. . . .

LeClair never looked back, becoming an outstanding left winger. Chris Kontos had a different experience, scoring eight goals for the Kings in one 1989 playoff series against Edmonton. He played only six games for the team the next season before he was released. . . .

Who might step forward for the Ducks? . . .

I like their most experienced player, Jari Kurri, and one of their least experienced, Joe Sacco. . . .

So Tiger Woods couldn’t postpone his vacation and accompany President Clinton in honoring Jackie Robinson on Tuesday night. . . .

What, Woods didn’t want to lose his nonrefundable plane ticket? Or the deposit on his beach house? . . .

Maybe he should call Phil Knight and renegotiate that $8-million-a-year endorsement deal. Nike’s stock went up 1 1/2 points the day after the Masters. . . .

The Amateur Athletic Foundation presented lifetime achievement awards last week to Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang. They are former UCLA teammates whose decathlon duel, won by Johnson, was a highlight of the 1960 Rome Olympics. . . .

Yang, from Taiwan, said he tried to avoid Johnson upon arriving in Los Angeles, planning to enroll at USC. But he changed his mind after one workout at UCLA. . . .

“My eyes felt better there,” he said. “USC has smog.” . . .

UCLA assistant coach Craig Dixon immediately sent the 168-pound Yang to an off-campus weight training instructor, Jack LaLanne. . . .

Do you think Shaquille O’Neal is at least the NBA’s 19th most valuable player? The Madison Square Garden network doesn’t. In a list of 19 nominees that MSG sent to coaches, O’Neal wasn’t included. . . .

Sean Elliott and other San Antonio Spurs say they’re signing a petition to encourage Gregg Popovich to return as coach. Popovich coached for eight years at Pomona Pitzer College in Claremont. . . .

Santa Anita Park was saved by that $383-million merger agreement this week with Meditrust. Or was it? Between now and the September vote, some shareholders are expected to question whether they could have gotten a better deal.

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While wondering if we couldn’t honor Jackie Robinson every year, I was thinking: Some team should give Frank Robinson a job, the Ducks will beat Phoenix in six, we can depend on death, taxes and the Cubs losing.