‘It Was Very Special’: How NHL Hockey Coming Back To Winnipeg Shaped Young Penguins Players

May 31, 2011 will always hold a special place for those who hail from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Fifteen years earlier, the original Winnipeg Jets franchise played its final game in the city before its relocation to Arizona the following season. Fans were left heartbroken and devastated, but their love for hockey and quest to bring NHL hockey back to Winnipeg never really faded.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Cody Glass – who was born almost three years later – may not have been around for the heartbreak experienced by Jets fans when the team left. But he does remember that day in 2011, when, at 12 years old, he and the thousands of other fans attending a parade at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg were told by commissioner Gary Bettman that NHL hockey would be returning to the city.

“I skipped school for the parade downtown whenever the Jets came back. And then, I missed school again for the draft party when Mark Scheifele was getting drafted,” Glass said. “It was cool because I got to miss school, but at the same time, that’s just how dedicated I was to hockey, and how my family was as well. It was pretty cool being able to experience that stuff, and now I have the opportunity to play against the team and play against Mark Scheifele, which was a weird feeling, but it’s also something I’ve always strived for.”

Glass talked at length about how dedicated his entire family was to hockey and how much it meant to them that NHL hockey returned to revive a heartbroken city. He said they always new when the team was playing, and it always gave a reason for them to gather and share the experience with one another.

“It was very special just because, certain nights, you knew the Jets were going to be playing, and you could gather around the TV,” Glass said. “I was a huge fan of them – not anymore – but growing up, it was just something really cool to be able to have a bond with your family and either argue over Jets games or have fun over Jets games. It was always a good time.”

Glass wasn’t the only Penguins player who was in town for the NHL revival. Although he didn’t reside downtown like Glass did, defenseman Owen Pickering grew up in small suburb of St. Adolphe, which is about 10 minutes from the city.

Pickering spent a lot of time as a kid watching the Manitoba Moose, so it was a pretty special experience for him to carry over to the NHL team. And since he was so young when the NHL team came back, he got to enjoy the experience of mostly growing up with the Jets.

“I live ten minutes south of the city, so hockey’s kind of everything,” Pickering said. “My first hockey memory is watching the Manitoba Moose play the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup finals. I was seven years old when the Jets were coming back, and that was, like, the biggest deal ever. They were gods, and I was a die-hard Jets fan growing up. Hockey’s huge in Winnipeg, and people love it, so it was a cool spot to grow up.”

Pickering also pointed out that – NHL team or not – Winnipeg was always a hotbed for youth hockey and NHL-caliber talent. It has seen the likes of Jonathan Toews, Mark Stone, James Patrick, Andy Bathgate, and Duncan Keith.

While the Jets may have brought some NHL enamor back to the city of Winnipeg itself, Pickering stressed that the city’s love for hockey is something that never waivered in the first place.

“I think hockey’s huge in Winnipeg regardless. It’s just kind of what you do,” Pickering said. “Everybody plays hockey to some extent, and some pretty good hockey players come out, so I wouldn’t say it was a ‘revival,’ but the city was definitely revived in terms of having an NHL team to cheer for again, so it was pretty cool.”

His personal idol, Travis Sanheim, grew up a few hours from the city. But both Pickering and Glass appreciate the level of hometown talent that they had to look up to when they were finding their path to the NHL.

“I played with a couple of guys in Vegas, too,” Glass said. “So, having all those guys to follow in their footsteps was a huge help for me growing up.”

Nowadays, both players have found their way to the Penguins’ organization. They carry a friendly beef with each other because of the fact that Glass spends a large part of his summer in Portland with his wife instead of in Winnipeg.

Because of this, Pickering said that Glass is certainly not one of his hockey idols.

“Absolutely not Cody Glass. Absolutely not Cody,” Pickering said. “Tell him to spend more time in Winnipeg in the summer. He’s only at our gym for a month and a half, then he’s in Portland.”

Although some friendly chirps about their hometown have caused some brotherly friction between the two of them, being from Winnipeg has also brought them together in Pittsburgh Both were able to experience the revival of NHL hockey in the city that they love, and while Glass is still on injured reserve with a concussion, Pickering will get to face his hometown team for the first time in his NHL career on Friday.

“Obviously, I know a lot about those guys over there,” Pickering said. “I’m excited to play, and I’m excited to, hopefully, get a win.”