Thread by @joechurchill, Twenty years ago tonight, I attended my first @TheWHL game. The Portland [...]

Twenty years ago tonight, I attended my first @TheWHL game. The Portland Winter Hawks were in Brandon to take on the @bdnwheatkings.

5 years earlier, the Winnipeg Jets left Manitoba for the deserts of Arizona. I was 14 and heartbroken. The game I loved so much betrayed me.

I tried cheering for Phoenix. KY58 even called that first Coyotes season. KY58 had a monster signal, and on winter nights if everything aligned, I could listen to the Jets on my boombox. When it was the Jets, and the signal faded, I waited until it came back.

When it was the Coyotes, I couldn't be bothered. I listened to one game, and it was just too hard. So, from that point on, with no team to follow, I was a Hockey Night in Canada kid. I'd watch hockey because that's what I always did. But the passion as a fan was gone.

Save for the '98 Olympics, I didn't get worked up about the game anymore. Sure, when the playoffs rolled around, I made sure the television was always near by. But that was it. Fast forward to 2001, I graduated high school the year before and moved to Killarney, MB.

I was aware of major junior hockey, but I didn't really know much about the WHL. One Friday night, some of the gang decided to drive an hour north to Brandon to watch the Wheat Kings play. I wasn't missing out on a Friday night with the fellas, and I hadn't seen a game in years.

I knew @Jtootoo22 was playing for Brandon, so I knew I had a northern player (born in Churchill, raised in Rankin Inlet, NU) to cheer for. I expected it to be a good time, we'd grab some McDonald's, then drive home.

What ended up happening was January 12, 2001 became the day I fell in love with hockey again. First off, the hockey was AMAZING. These were all kids who busted their ass for 60 minutes. It was hard hitting, hard shooting, and the most competitive game I'd seen live or on TV.

Not only did I have Tootoo to cheer for, my late pal's (RIP Blair) cousin who I knew from his visits to Churchill played for them as well. Lance Monych, who ended up getting drafted by the Coyotes a year later.

Portland's starter that night was @JomarCruz, from The Pas, and his backup was from Baldur, a fella by the name of Lanny Ramage, who was a good friend of my pal Darryl "Stu" Anderson. He was at the game, and so was Ashton Rome, who camped in the same campground in Killarney.

Ashton ended up playing for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Red Deer Rebels, Kamloops Blazers, and was drafted by the Bruins in '04 (and the Sharks in '06). Though he came close, he never did crack the NHL. A shame, he certainly worked hard enough for it.

Anyway, the final score was 3-2 for Portland, with the crazy good Marcel Hossa picking up 2 goals for the Winter Hawks. The loss didn't deter me, as I was all the way hooked. My new favourite hockey team was the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The next few days, I did as much research as I could on not just the WHL, but I wanted to know as much as I could about the grassroots levels right up to the NHL. AAA Midget, Junior A, the different tiers of pro like the ECHL, AHL, & IHL (which happened to be in its last season).

I could go on and on. I've had some great hockey experiences since then, such as the last IHL game in Winnipeg, the first AHL game in Winnipeg, working as a goal judge/timekeeper/scout for the Winnipeg South Blues, volunteering a few times with the MJHL itself...

Watching John Tavares as a 15 year old play against the Windsor Spitfires, attending the 2010 Memorial Cup in Brandon, multiple visits to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, becoming a Jets 2.0 season ticket holder... jumping back into playing rec...

All of this wouldn't have happened I'm sure without January 12, 2001. I know I'm rambling here, but this date has always meant more than others when it comes to this beautiful game. And tomorrow, it's opening day in the NHL. I simply can't wait!

A special shoutout to @bradleygillies AKA MusicManBrad for being my hockey partner for those first few years with the Winnipeg South Blues. 2001 was both of our first years living in the city, and before I moved out there, I emailed every MJHL team and asked for work.

The Winnipeg South Blues got back to me first, and they needed a goal judge. No problem. The fella also mentioned they needed a music man. I couldn't think of anyone better to ask. Brad did music for the Blues for 3 or 4 seasons, he'll know. It's been 20 years, come on.

Anyway, we had some great times not only at the Blues games, but we were all over the province to watch games whether the Blues were playing or not. I'd like to think we knew a bit about every player in the league at one point.

And no one played music like him. I will never, ever forget the time that one of our fiercest rivals, the Winkler Flyers came to Century Arena to face our boys. They were the first ones on the ice for warmup, and Brad played circus music as soon as their skates touched the ice.

The looks on the Flyers' faces as they tried to get pumped up for the game while that familiar "do do dodododo do do dooo do" music played is something I'll never forget.

Anyways, thanks for indulging me tonight, friends. My memory lane is a well worn path.

Here's the boxscore from that cold January evening at the hundredth meridian 20 years ago. Go Wheaties.

https://whl.ca/gamecentre/23100/boxscore

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