A GOAL THEY’LL
NEVER FORGET
B Y PA U L E D M O N D S
Radio Play-by-Play Voice of the Winnipeg Jets
PHILADELPHIA – For
decades, Philadelphia
has been a hockey home
for many Manitobans.
Despite the geographical
distance and very few
commonalities, the City
of Brotherly Love has a
unique kinship to the
Keystone Province.
More specifically,
it’s an import-export
relationship with those
origins dating back to
the early days of the
Philadelphia Flyers when
Winnipegger Fred Shero
was the team’s head coach
and guided the franchise
to their only two Stanley
Cup championships in
1973-74 and 1974-75.
At the same time Flin
Flon’s Bobby Clarke
was team captain and
Riverton’s Reggie Leach
was leading the team
in goal scoring.
Fast forward to today
and another generation
of young Manitobans
are trying to get the
Flyers back to the Stanley
Cup championship
again. At the top of that
list is veteran winger
Dale Weise and rookie
centre Nolan Patrick.
In his second year with
the Flyers and eighth
in the National Hockey
League, Weise admits to
finding career comfort
in Philly under general
manager and former
Brandonite Ron Hextall.
Weise has been
granted a chance to
play important minutes
with top end players
like Patrick and Wayne
Simmonds and as a result,
he couldn’t be happier.
“I like the way I’ve
played,” he says. “Things
are going well. If I told
you I’d play over 400
games in the league, I
don’t think anyone would
have believed me. That’s
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