A bronze statue of late Winnipeg Jets icon Dale Hawerchuk was vandalized with graffiti over the weekend, drawing anger and disappointment from fans of the National Hockey League team.
A photo on social media showed graffiti on a puck and a bottom portion of the statue, which was unveiled in True North Square downtown in October 2022.
The pink writing was later removed, but additional graffiti was present on the puck when a Free Press photographer examined it at about noon Monday. The latter graffiti was removed later in the afternoon.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
The Dale Hawerchuk statue at True North Square was vandalized over the weekend, but city police said the incident has not been reported to them.
Jets fan Brad Harrison was disappointed when he saw a Facebook post that contained a picture of the pink graffiti.
“I think it’s pretty sad,” he said. “It may seem like a joke to (the vandal), but to others, it’s a hurtful act.”
Harrison was told the statue was tagged with graffiti Saturday night.
“Downtown Winnipeg gets a bad enough rap as it is, and this doesn’t help,” he said, noting he hopes there’s consequences for anyone who vandalizes the statue.
Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said it doesn’t appear the graffiti was reported to police.
True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Jets and True North Square, was made aware of the graffiti, spokesman Sean Kavanagh said.
“(True North) has a company under contract to remove this type of vandalism,” he wrote in an email. “They were contacted, and the statue was cleaned up shortly after that notice.”
Eric Hawerchuk, one of the NHL great’s three children, said his family doesn’t want to comment on the vandalism.
“Unfortunately, if you draw attention to it, it’s just more likely to continue or happen again,” he said.
Harrison runs a Facebook group, called Winnipeg Jets 1.0, dedicated to the history of the original franchise that was in the city from 1972 to 1996 before moving to Phoenix, Ariz.
Some of the group’s 4,000-plus members reacted to the graffiti with disappointment and outrage.
Harrison said Hawerchuk was a unifying person who remains one of Winnipeg’s biggest sports icons. Many fans are still affected by the former captain’s death, he added.
Hawerchuk was 57 when he died of stomach cancer on Aug. 18, 2020. Affectionately known as Ducky, he played nine NHL seasons in Winnipeg after being drafted first overall in 1981.
Hawerchuk became a beloved figure in Manitoba while racking up franchise records as one of the league’s top forwards. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
Thousands of people, including family members and former teammates, attended an unveiling ceremony for the statue before a pre-season game two years ago.
True North commissioned Illinois-based sculptor Erik Blome to create the artwork, which depicts Hawerchuk extending his stick for a puck.
The statue, at the corner of Hargrave Street and Graham Avenue (also known as Honorary Dale Hawerchuk Way), is positioned so that it faces the Jets’ home at Canada Life Centre.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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