MONTREAL — His legacy will stay on in the kind of a statue set to be unveiled this slide outdoors Canada Daily life Centre.
The family members of the late, wonderful Dale Hawerchuk has no doubt he’d adore what is heading down inside the rink these days with the hockey club with which his Corridor of Fame profession commenced.
New head mentor Rick Bowness and new associate mentor Scott Arniel have a loaded and storied background with “Ducky,” who died of abdomen cancer in August 2020 at the age of 57.
“I know Dale would be actually satisfied to see these guys managing the display collectively,” Eric Hawerchuk informed me on Tuesday. “Not only do they have this kind of a robust connection to the city, they are obviously among the very best in the world at what they do.”
Bowness, 67, was near the finish of his participating in profession in 1981 when the Jets built Hawerchuk the initially all round select in that summer’s draft. Bowness returned to the corporation to coach Hawerchuk, 1st as an assistant for 3 years (1984-87) and briefly as interim head coach in 1989.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG Cost-free Press Documents
Eric Hawerchuk (proper) and his father, the late Winnipeg Jets star Dale, at Elmhurst Golfing and Place Club in 2017.
The working connection blossomed into a deep friendship and mutual admiration spanning 4 decades.
“Him and my father made use of to converse frequently. Dale normally only experienced excellent matters to say,” mentioned Eric Hawerchuk, who received to spend some high quality time with Bowness this past February in Arizona.
“I did not know Rick personally very properly until the past few years. We performed some golf collectively throughout the All-Star split. It was terrific to catch up with him,” Eric Hawerchuk claimed.
No question a great deal of hockey observers remember the sight of Bowness, coaching the Dallas Stars within the Edmonton bubble, standing on the bench in tears as a video tribute played to Hawerchuk on the working day of his passing.
“Him (Rick Bowness) and my dad applied to discuss typically. Dale generally only experienced terrific factors to say.” – Eric Hawerchuk
“I was not significantly of a player so I always had fantastic admiration for his techniques,” Bowness claimed at the time. “The 12 months we drafted him, again in ’81, I was just a journeyman hockey player. But when he stepped on the ice with us prior to the (year), throughout those people scrimmages during instruction camp, he was 18 and I said, ‘Wow, this kid is the true deal, and he’s likely to turn that franchise all-around.’ Which he did. Then, you get to know him as a man or woman. There are elite athletes and elite persons, and Dale was both.”
Bowness’s club in the end manufactured it to the Stanley Cup Ultimate in 2020, slipping to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, after stepping down after a few seasons with the Stars, Bowness is back again in the metropolis where by his adorned NHL coaching journey commenced.
“I was really pleased to hear Rick received the work. He’s a wonderful guy and a good chief. The gamers seem to adore him almost everywhere he goes,” reported Eric Hawerchuk.


KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG Cost-free Press Information
Dale Hawerchuk (appropriate) and Scott Arniel broke into the huge leagues alongside one another and ended up Winnipeg Jets teammates for five many years.
As for Arniel, he and Hawerchuk had been junior teammates with the Cornwall Royals for two Memorial Cup seasons — Hawerchuk had 183 details in 1980-81, though Arniel experienced 123 — and he was drafted by the Jets the identical yr as Hawerchuk, exactly a single spherical afterwards (22nd-all round).
They broke into the significant leagues the next period and were Jets for five years until eventually Arniel went to Buffalo. The bond was hardly ever damaged.
“Scotty has been close to our relatives endlessly,” claimed Eric Hawerchuk. “He was a groomsman at my moms and dads marriage, and our people have often stayed in touch.”
Just one of the previous persons Dale spoke to prior to his death was Arniel, in a Facetime discussion to in essence say goodbye. Arniel most not long ago served as an assistant coach in Washington.
No question there’s some disappointment within Accurate North, together with the Jets fan-base, that they could not land their prime coaching concentrate on in Barry Trotz. The Dauphin native, who received the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018 and was fired after this previous year by the New York Islanders, has determined to phase absent from the match for at minimum a year to aim on his household.
Eric Hawerchuk believes “Prepare B” could not have labored out any greater for the business.

MIKE Deal / WINNIPEG Free of charge Push Files
Rick Bowness was in the vicinity of the close of his actively playing profession in 1981 when the Jets manufactured Dale Hawerchuk the initially total choose in that summer’s draft.
“To me, hiring these two together has opportunity to be a serious property run. They’re both equally wonderful guys who stay and breathe hockey,” he mentioned.
“I’ll be observing each match and actually searching forward to receiving this time begun.”
Eric Hawerchuk will get his 1st up-close glimpse at the Bowness and Arniel-led Jets on Oct. 1, when he and the rest of his family attend Winnipeg’s pre-year sport from Edmonton.
The monument will be formally unveiled that evening, and followers will also get a commemorative Hawerchuk coin as a souvenir.
“I have not noticed the statue in human being however, but I can’t wait around. This is such an remarkable honour for our household, and we just can’t thank the Jets enough,” he said.
“I haven’t seen the statue in person but, but I simply cannot hold out. This is such an extraordinary honour for our family, and we just can’t thank the Jets more than enough.” – Eric Hawerchuk
Hawerchuk will also get the possibility to capture up with Bowness, Arniel and the rest of the Jets firm this week in Montreal. He’s attending the NHL draft on Thursday and Friday as an aspiring player agent. He’s also performing the identical in the golfing entire world, possessing competed on the PGA Tour Canada for numerous seasons.
“I’m all set to dive correct in, function really difficult and see in which these streets lead,” reported Hawerchuk, who has been the leading pressure driving the Hawerchuk Solid fundraising movement in his father’s identify, together with his mother, Crystal, sister, Alexis and youthful brother, Ben, who is at this time enjoying professional hockey and is signed with a workforce in Italy for the impending period soon after taking part in previous yr with Jacksonville of the ECHL.
“I’m all set to dive suitable in, work really really hard and see wherever these roadways lead.” – Eric Hawerchuk
No issue exactly where their occupations take them, Hawerchuk mentioned a major aspect of their world remains in Winnipeg. And this week’s developments have only strengthened that link.
“With the Jets, I believe the long run is pretty vivid,” he mentioned. “A coaching transform halfway as a result of the period final 12 months place all people in a tricky location but you go by individuals escalating pains to get to periods like now. I assume there is a new excitement in the city from chatting to good friends and family. It is an thrilling time for guaranteed.”
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg
