A history lesson about Winnipeg before Bobby Hull arrived to play for the Jets, and how our city changed after he jumped from the Black Hawks to the WHA and became an ambassador for Winnipeg.
Marty sets the scene for Episode 8: who our heroes were, the rise and fall of the amateur National team, and the leadership of Ben Hatskin with other businessmen and community leaders to bring major league hockey to the Arena. This is about Winnipeg sports history as we lived it – in Marty’s era, sports was our other religion and part of his upbringing; he sets the stage of how the national game had evolved as Canada’s Centennial and the NHL expansion era dawned, the stars from Winnipeg, etc. Bobby Hull was a superstar, with flair, bulging muscles and a personality made for the media. The Jewish community – proud to be represented in the ownership of the franchise – along with the rest of Manitoba were presented with fire-wagon scores and unmatched excitement. Hear how The Golden Jet made Winnipeg internationally famous and put our city on the map.
10:00 Peter Young, PY The Sports Guy, joins the podcast. He talks about his career in Thunder Bay, being invited to Winnipeg in June 1974 and the luck he had in becoming the CKY-TV sports anchor. Hear about his 50 years of friendship with Hull; the experiences of travel in European countries where Hull, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg et al established their brand of hockey and made Winnipeg an international destination. Peter tells about the appreciation players had for Hull taking down the reserve clause and about Hull with his fans and his work with charities off-ice.
From Marty as a fan at the game and Peter doing TV play by play, hear of the dramatic night Hull tied Rocket Richard’s 50 goals in 50 games record against Gordie Howe and the Houston Areos on Valentine’s Day 1975. Peter tells about Howe and Hull ribbing Peter’s dad. You’ll hear a fan letter Hull got after that game from a family that ended up owning… the Jets.
40.00 We talk about the ’74 WHA series against Russia, ’76 Canada Cup, and our perspectives of seeing the home squad beat the tremendous Russian and Czeck national teams. So many Bobby Hull imitations and memories – the broadcasters and athletes of the past – hear about Friar Nicholson, Don Jonas and more; listen to the experience of a blind kid in Philly, a former network anchor, and an ex-Chicago goalie – and of Hull trying to save a life in the Jets offices.Peter tells about some historical revisionism he put together for an MTN recap about the 1972 Canada-Russia series.
Peter addresses the ‘other side’ of Hull and the things being said by people who never knew him; then the final visit with Bobby at the WHA reunion. We recall the George Smith trophy and the Jets-Russia old-timers at the post-game bar.
Peter also confirms that he gave a boost to Marty’s wrestling career on CKY in ’83 and tells some AWA stories.
1:28.26 Part 2 – One more funny Jets story – Marty’s most memorable Jets WHA game was because of a wild final 5 minutes, and a Racers goalie who never knew what hit him. Literally. Then, Kenny and Marty add a few observations about the coverage of Bobby Hull’s issues away from the game, review what’s been written, and analyze the agenda behind it.
1:46:00 A brief crime report scoop – we tell you what the cops won’t tell the public about the victim of homicide #5 this year – even though they told us about him before. We ask why the cops are biting their tongue.
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Here’s a video clip from today’s podcast