March 13th, 1981
Tim Trimper - like a bulldozer and like a pinball.
Recently traded to the Jets from Chicago.
One of my favorite Jet roleplayers ever, a ton of energy and effort.
Also in the news;
Tuxedo night. After losing to the Habs 9-3 and then to the Flyers 10-1 the Jets
bounced back with a win two nights later on March 7, 1981 in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,648. The Jets
beat the storied Canadiens 4-2 in front of a Mallabar clad Tuxedo wearing crowd. Whenever the Canadiens or the Leafs came
to town, as in many other cities, a good portion of the crowd cheered for the visitors. Tuxedo night was one way to sort of
mitigate that a little more, with a pumped up partisan crowd.
For those unfamiliar with "Tuxedo Night" it pre-dated "White-Out" as the fan crazy Jets promotion. The first two years
it was held against Montreal and the Jets won each time. The third and last time it was held (from what I remember anyway)
it was against the Maple Leafs and the Jets won again.
The event was sponsored by Winnipeg's premiere Tuxedo retailier Mallabar. I would later work for Mallabar
and if you think the Eaton's saga was an interesting tale of a business failing thanks to shoddy planning and family infighting,
you should hear the tale of the infamous Malabar family.
I remember one game earlier that year sitting in the stands reading my copy of the Jetstream. On the
back of the Jetstream was a full page (that's a 2 page ad) for Mallabar featuring a tuxedo clad man and a man dressed in Canadiens
colors (but without the propieratory logos). So I look over beside my brother and sitting next to him is the same dude who
was wearing the Canadiens colors in the ad. That was kind of freaky!
Violence in the news.
Ron Hodge of CFRW-Q94 complains about the league. Doug Lecuyer gets a 4 game suspension for taking
a swing at Paul Baxter's head (he missed), while Detroit's Reed Larson kicks Tiger Williams and gets only 2 games.
Nick Fotiu is suspended for 8 games for leading the Rangers into the seats in Detroit in an altercation
with fans.
The Bruins and North Stars set a new record in a 392 penalty minute game in Boston, including
12 fights.
Juniors & Minors:
By now everyone knew Dale Hawerchuk of Cornwall (then playing in the QMJHL)
was going to be the #1 pick for the Jets. He led all QMJHL scorers with 165 points after 65 games. Scott Arniel
was 6th in QMJHL scoring with 113 points playing on a line with Hawerchuk. Grant Fuhr was the leading goalie
in the WHL, Brian Varga of Regina the leading scorer with 125 points. John Goodwin of Sault Ste. Marie led the OHL scoring
parade with 151 points, followed by Tony Tanti and Bernie Nicholls. Steve Larmer
was 7th in OHL scoring. Joe Mullen led the CHL in scoring, with 97 points for Salt Lake City.
