A Winnipeg brewery says it will give Barry Trotz free beer for life if he returns to his native province to coach the Jets.
Little Brown Jug Brewing Company and a local sports talk show launched the campaign Monday, several months into the NHL club’s coaching search. Trotz became available a month ago when he was
The idea sprung from a conversation between Little Brown Jug founder Kevin Felch and office administrator and liaison James Hofer in their taproom late last week.
“Just thought it would be a little fun initiative,” Hofer said. “We thought people would get a kick out of it and who knows, maybe it might get the coach here.”
Trotz, 59, is from Dauphin, Manitoba, about a 3 1/2-hour drive from Winnipeg. Andrew “Hustler” Paterson from Winnipeg Sports Talk said in a
The Jets missed the playoffs this season after coach
Trotz, who
Little Brown Jug also pledged to brew a beer of Trotz's choice commemorating his return, if it comes to pass. It was not immediately clear if word of the “Barry Come Home” campaign had reached Trotz or Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, though Hofer would love for someone to pass it along.
“If we’re putting this offer out there, we definitely want him to hear it, that’s for sure,” he said.
Even if that doesn't happen — and Hofer doesn't seriously expect this to affect Trotz's decision — he hopes it shows how much people in Winnipeg care about the Jets, who returned in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers were relocated there 15 years after the original franchise moved to Arizona.
“It kind of reminds me of, in the ’90s, how kids were cracking open their piggybanks to try to keep the Jets here,” he said. “But it kind of demonstrates the passion that we have here for sports teams and our willingness to try to do whatever we can to sway things.”
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