Mark Chipman’s first hockey memory is being dropped at Sturgeon Creek Community Club in Winnipeg. It was a Saturday afternoon when he was five years old and he was dressed in hockey equipment he borrowed from a neighbor.



While his skill set didn’t turn him into an all-star his passion for the game came naturally.



Growing up a Boston Bruins fan, just like his dad, Chipman vividly recalls watching Bobby Orr soar through the air after he scored the game-winning goal to defeat St. Louis in the 1970 Stanley Cup final.



Now 57, Chipman not only owns his hometown hockey team, he is the man many Manitobans credit with bringing the Jets back to Winnipeg.



A buddy of mine — obsessed Jets fanboy Derek Wolfe — suggested I find the backstory of how it all happened from Chipman himself. I liked the idea but the chairman of True North Sports and Entertainment doesn’t like a lot of fanfare and I wasn’t sure he would be up for...