The first thing that went through my mind when I heard Michael Gobuty is going into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame: what took so long?

It's not a stretch to say that without Gobuty, the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 wouldn't have happened.

And without Jets 1.0, would there be a Winnipeg Jets in the NHL today?

Gobuty, in town from his Palm Springs home for Tuesday's Hall of Fame announcement, wasn't willing to go that far.

“I take pride in having hockey in Winnipeg,” the 77-year-old said. “I'm just very happy standing here... and know what I did 35 or 40 years ago.”

What he did was step in to prevent the original Jets of the World Hockey Association from going belly-up.

All it took was a cheque for $250,000.

“I got a call from some people that the Jets were going to fold and that they were having a meeting that night in the old Arena,” Gobuty recalled of that day during the 1977-78 season. “There were about 30 or 40 guys there, and they said needed X-amount of dollars by tomorrow at 12 o'clock or they couldn't meet the payroll. So I put my hand up and gave them the money they required.

“And about a week later we're checking the books and they needed a lot more than the 250.”

That's when Gobuty, a successful clothier, pulled together Eight Hockey Ventures, the group of owners, including Barry Shenkarow, who two years later would marshal the team's merger into the NHL.

Again, Gobuty was front and centre, flying to Montreal to meet and hire GM John Ferguson, which gave the Jets instant NHL cred.

“What did we know about hockey?” Gobuty said. “We needed the best. If we wanted to get into the NHL, we needed people who knew what they were doing.”

Gobuty didn't always hit home runs, though.

In fact, it was a $250,000 cheque he didn't write that haunts him to this day.

In November, 1978, his friend Nelson Skalbania called to say he was folding the Indianapolis Racers – and offered a 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to the Jets.

Gobuty got on his plane and flew to Indianapolis, watched Gretzky play then took him out for dinner.

For years legend had it Gobuty lost Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers over a backgammon game, a myth Gobuty is quick to debunk.

“We played backgammon, but it was not for Wayne,” Gobuty said. “Wayne stayed two days in my house. I had the opportunity to get him. I had partners, and the late great Rudy Pilous (then Jets GM) said he's too skinny.”

Gretzky, of course, would go on to lead a dominant Oilers team that was the thorn in the side of the Jets for years to come.

“The stupidest move I ever did,” Gobuty said. “I wasn't quick enough.”

Gobuty was quick enough to swoop in when the WHA's Houston Aeros were folding, scooping up players like Morris Lukowich, Rich Preston and Terry Ruskowski, who'd help keep the Jets relevant as they lurched towards the NHL.

The NHL-WHA merger was a milestone moment in the city's sports history, one that would affect generations to come.

People like Jennifer Botterill, one of this year's other inductees.

“Growing up, that's who we watched,” Botterill said of the Jets. “In high school, it was Teemu Selanne – they were a big part of our culture.”

Botterill parlayed hockey into three Olympic gold medals and five World Championship golds with Team Canada.

“That's why these stories were so fascinating,” she said of the other inductees. “That one (Gobuty's) certainly struck a chord. To think about the impact on hockey on a number of people standing up there, and the paths they took. You never know how things would have been different.”

You could say the same about Rob Martell, inducted after an officiating career that saw him work 1,004 NHL games.

Martell worked Jets training camps as a Western League linesman, getting his big break when called to fill in for a sick official at a Jets game against Chicago, in 1984.

“As you reflect on it, it's amazing how things happen for a reason, I guess,” Martell said. “Everybody needs to get their foot in the door, somehow. I'm lucky it all fell into place.”

You can trace Martell's steps, along with Botterill's, back to the day a “little guy making jackets,” as Gobuty called himself, decided to take a chance at a meeting, 40 years ago.

“Nobody put their hand up,” Gobuty said. “I'm glad I did.”

His induction to the Hall, which will take place in October, is the ultimate thank-you from all Manitobans.

“When they called me, I can't tell you – I was very, very happy.”

pfriesen@postmedia.com

Twitter: @friesensunmedia