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Even Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff doesn’t know what jersey he’s giving to draftees

Kevin Cheveldayoff

Kevin Cheveldayoff speaks at a news conference during which he was introduced as general manager of the relocating NHL team, Wednesday, June 8, 2011, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Woods)

AP

Winnipeg is busy taking care of business of late. They’ve picked a new general manager in Kevin Cheveldayoff, they’re in the process of picking out a new coach now that they’ve decided to move away from Craig Ramsay, and they’re still trying to figure out just what in the world they’re going to call the new team.

True North ownership is still deciding whether or not they’re going to go in their own direction to call the team the Moose, Polar Bears, Falcons, or some other team name or if they’ll adopt the moniker that helped put Winnipeg on the map and call the team the Jets. With that one decision still up in the air and the NHL Draft set to start on Friday night, things could get a little awkward when Winnipeg makes their first draft pick at seventh overall.

When it comes time for Kevin Cheveldayoff to make their pick, even he’s not sure just what kind of jersey and draft cap he’ll give to their first round pick.

A name and logo have yet to be unveiled for the team and it won’t necessarily happen before the weekend.

“Certainly there’ll be a sweater — whether it’s a team sweater or not, I guess that remains to be seen,” Cheveldayoff said Monday during a conference call with a handful of reporters. “There has been different discussions about what to do in the case of a sweater not being available.”


That might just be a bit awkward for whoever ends up being picked to go up to the stage, shake hands with the executives of the team, have the host of Winnipeg fans sure to crash the party in St. Paul, Minnesota going wild for him and... Wear a sweater with an NHL logo on it or a True North logo and feel at home.

While the guys at True North continue to sort through what they’re going to do, Tuesday shapes up to be a big day for them as the NHL Board of Governors will vote to approve the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to True North and officially seal the deal for Winnipeg. After the fans met their goal of selling 13,000 tickets with flying colors, it’s expected that there won’t be any problems at all and the Board will approve everything.