the 4th star

And the hyperbole award goes to…

John Walton, the voice of the Hershey Bears.

Know this about the city of Winnipeg right now. This is the Super Bowl to them. We had more media requests this morning from Manitoba than Hershey, and we hold our own pretty well here when it comes to media coverage. I was told yesterday that one of the local papers up there is planning a 20-PAGE pullout section Saturday to mark the opening of the Finals. What NHL team heading into the Stanley Cup Final outside of Toronto or Montreal would ever get something like that?

Try Vancouver. Or Ottawa. Or Edmonton. Or Calgary. Welcome to Canada.

Look, I’m happy for the Manitoba Moose. Big cheese Mark Chipman and GM Craig Heisinger have worked a long time at this thing and they deserve a shot at an American Hockey League title. But let’s not get swept up in a handful of media requests. I know it’s more than your usual one a day. If this were the Super Bowl, John, you’d be a lot more in demand and I would have been drunk for five straight days now with about five hours sleep in that same span.

I’m sure John is a nice guy and I understand what he’s trying to do as a local radio broadcaster, but let’s not get too crazy with the hype. The Grey Cup isn’t even the Super Bowl to us, and its roots can be traced back to the same sport.

One more thing: Can someone explain to me why some media outlets in this city are asking fans to wear black to Game 1? Is this like a reverse Winnipeg Jets thing? Black is the new white, is it? The timing of this is odd, too. I mean, why start up a fan fashion campaign in the final round of the Calder Cup Playoffs? If you’re going to do this Black Sea business, wouldn’t you want it going right from the start? Someone needed to point out in the meeting that the Moose wear white at home. If you’re going to raid the closet for a colour (or lack of one) to sport at the game, shouldn’t you at least wear the same shade as the jersey of the team you’re supporting? Plus, black is for funerals. It’s depressing. You know — the opposite of what going to a playoff hockey game should be.

This is going to be a long series. In more ways than seven.