Photo Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press

Following a fellow supporter's suggestion, eyes turned on February 10th to the Winnipeg Free Press article "Talking to the boss" where Paul Wiecek interviewed Mark Chipman mostly about the AHL's Manitoba Moose. But Wiecek led off with two questions about the possible return of the NHL to Winnipeg.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/moose/Talking-to-the-boss--84014237.html

Over the years following Mark Chipman direct quotes, live audio and video (most of which are already posted on www.myNHLincludesWinnipeg.com), he has portrayed an optimistic yet grounded message whenever he has had the chance to "wave Manitoba's flag".

One would be completely OFFside to find fault with Mark Chipman's public persona, past and present.

Yet Mark Chipman's tone and message changed in this article for the first time yours truly can recall. From his normally upbeat "Winnipeg may very well be able to support the NHL now" message to one replaced by this:

~~~
FP: Before we talk about your team, what did you think of the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning for $170 million (last week)?

Chipman: I haven't followed it.

FP: OK, but does that $170-million sale price get us closer or further to an NHL team in Winnipeg?

Chipman: Honest to God, I just don't want to comment on anything that's happening right now. I don't know enough about the transaction so I'm better off not saying anything.
~~~

His admission that he hasn't put much thought into the Tampa sale and/or price may be true, but it smacks against his calculated and detailed planning throughout his last 14 years. He has met with two Canadian NHL teams to review their books to see if Winnipeg's re-entry will be successful. When asked in the past about the sale price of the Oilers, Wild and Predators, Mark Chipman usually commented in a glass-is-half-full tone for Manitoban NHL fans.

Either the bad news has finally sunk in or a deal is on, somewhere between tire-kicking and being totally completed.

"Honest to God, I just don't want to comment on anything that's happening right now." This one sentence from Mark Chipman, is a step change in his dealings with the media, going back to several years ago when he first started talking about the NHL and Winnipeg in the same sentence.

Based on this and nothing about rumours constantly flying around, I suggest that a "game-changer" has entered the situation for better or for worse. My bet is that nothing has recently quashed his NHL aspirations which leads to the obvious conclusion.

Because of the departure from his normal tone, yours truly had to temper first impression with the grace of a few days to ponder these quotes before minting another update to The OFFside blog.

Upon that further review, either Mark Chipman had the puck and nets taken home on him this week or he is entering Sudden Death Overtime on closing the provincial "deal of the century" as CJOB's Bob Irving once called it.

Chris
President, myNHLincludesWinnipeg.com
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