AT THE HELMAS TOLD TO SCOTT TAYLOR Photos by James Carey Lauder, Rusty Barton and Jonathan KozubThe man called “Chevy,” says he was “very, very fortunate to grow up in Blaine Lake,” Sask., a small town, 50 miles north of Saskatoon.“I was fortunate in the sense that my age group of kids all played different sports together,” he recalled. “We played softball in the summer and hockey in the winter. I was a kid who could just play.”He certainly took advantage of that opportunity to “just play.” Today, of course, the 53-year-old Cheveldayoff is the executive vice-president and general manager of the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets, and in 12 years at the helm has yet to win a Stanley Cup, but he has taken the former Atlanta Thrashers from perennial NHL basement dwellers to a perennial playoff team. And he’s done it despite having a franchise located in a cold, northern town in the smallest market in the NHL.A former defenceman with the Brandon Wheat Kings, he was a first-round draft pick of the New York Islanders, but just seven months after being selected by the Isles, he tore up his knee and admitted, “Because of that significant injury, I lost a step that I couldn’t afford to lose.”He played four seasons of minor pro hockey and then got a call from Denver Grizzlies GM and head coach Butch Goring. He asked Chevy to become the Grizzlies assistant vicepresident of hockey operations and assistant coach. He was only 24.Chevy worked his way to Chicago, where he became general manager of the IHL Wolves in 1998. He won two Turner Cups (1998 and 2000) with that incarnation of the Wolves and then went with the franchise when they joined the American Hockey League and led that club to two Calder Cups. After four championships in 12 seasons, he was hired as the general manager of Winnipeg Jets 2.0 and he is still in that post today. He is the second-longest tenured general manager in the NHL.Chevy and his wife Janet have two children, son Chase and daughter Alexi. Alexi was featured in Game On when she played for the Prep Schoollevel St. Mary’s Flames.Game On Magazine’s Scott Taylor spoke to Cheveldayoff about his life in hockey and his plans for the Winnipeg Jets' future.INTERVIEWKEVIN CHEVELDAYOFF HEIGHT / 6’0”WEIGHT / 203 POUNDS.AGE / 53 YEARS OLDBORN / FEB. 4, 1970BIRTHPLACE / SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWANPOSITION / DEFENCEMANSHOOTS / LEFTDRAFTED / 1ST ROUND, 16TH OVERALL, 1988 NHL DRAFT BY THE NEW YORK ISLANDERSHOW DID YOU GET FROM BLAINE LAKE, SASK., TO THE NHL AND HOW IMPORTANT WERE YOUR PARENTS TO YOUR HOCKEY CAREER? My parents were very supportive and knew that I loved the game and knew that I had fun with it. They gave me all the support that I needed. The best thing they ever did is what they didn’t do. They never pushed me in any one direction. I played in Blaine Lake, until my first bantam year and at that point, I started to get noticed by some of the better teams in different leagues. I got to attend the Saskatoon Blazers U18 AAA tryouts. From there I made it as a 15-year-old and was fortunate to get listed by the Brandon Wheat Kings during that time. I got into the Wheat Kings organization and I ended up becoming a first-round draft pick of the Islanders in 1988. Unfortunately, I suffered a major knee injury on Jan. 1, 1989 and missed an entire season with that injury. But I did get into the pro ranks and was able to play for a few years before one door closed and another one opened.HOW DID YOU MAKE THE STEP OFF THE ICE AND INTO THE EXECUTIVE BOX? Butch Goring, who had been my coach during several years of my pro existence, offered me the assistant coach and assistant general manager’s job with the Denver Grizzlies. I still wanted to play, but I’d just been married that summer and was talking to my wife and decided to give it one more shot. I knew I wasn’t going to play in the NHL, but I also felt I could still play in the IHL or the AHL. When Butch called, I thought he was going to offer me a tryout, but instead he offered me that position. My wife and I talked and then I called my agent and said, ‘Hey I just got a call from Butch Goring and Butch offered…’ ‘Take it!,’ my agent yelled. He didn’t even let me finish the sentence. ‘Hey, I didn’t tell you what he offered me,’ and my agent said, ‘Chevy, it doesn’t really matter at this point, whatever it is, take it!’ so, it turned out to be great. I was 24-years-old, newly married and Butch gave offered me a great job with lots of responsibility. He loved the coaching side, but he wasn’t a big fan of the details and all the other stuff that went into the managerial side of a hockey franchise. So, as a manager, I got a baptism by fire.CHEVELDAYOFF WITH THE BRANDON WHEAT KINGS WHEN YOU LOOK BACK, HOW IMPORTANT WAS STARTING YOUR FRONT-OFFICE CAREER DOING THE DAY-TO-DAY DETAIL WORK FIRST? It was great. I stepped into a situation where I did everything. I was the travelling secretary, I booked the hotels, I cut the video for practice, I did everything from A-to-Z. All the things that had to happen while Butch coached. It was great for my development and a wonderful learning experience. When I started, I was also a 24-year-old assistant coach working with 32-year-olds.I owe a lot to guys like Gord Dineen, Andy Brickley, Normand Rochefort, veteran guys who had played in the NHL and gave me a ton of respect simply because they knew I had a job to do.HAS IT BEEN A REWARDING 12 YEARS? It’s a pinch-yourself moment each and every day. What a privilege it is to be in the National Hockey League and what a privilege it is to represent the Winnipeg Jets. It’s an honour, but the job is allconsuming. People say, ‘Well, you can take some time off during the summer,’ Sure, but your constant thoughts on the things you need to do is never far from your mind.WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED THE ATLANTA THRASHERS WERE MOVING TO WINNIPEG? I still remember the day, watching on TV, when Mark (Chipman) announced the Jets were coming back. I remember how wonderful that was for the city. I’d played junior in Brandon. I was so excited for so many people. I’d had a great rivalry with the Moose and Zinger (Moose GM Craig Heisinger) and I were such good friends from back in the junior days and obviously, I’d met Mark on many occasions at AHL league meetings and we were often linemates in the AHL executives’ on-ice scrimmages. Little did I know that a couple of days later, they’d be seeking permission from the Blackhawks to interview me.WHAT WAS YOUR RESPONSE WHEN YOU GOT THE CALL?We were at the NHL combine in Toronto when the president of the Blackhawks informed me that the Jets had asked permission to speak with me and the Blackhawks had granted permission. It was a whirlwind. Mark and Zinger had flown into the combine and we started to discuss things. I was excited to interview for the job because I had interviewed for the job in Phoenix several years earlier. This time I was excited to have the opportunity to represent a place I knew and really loved. I had grown up on the prairies, played junior in Brandon and I thought it was exciting to have the NHL back in Winnipeg.SO HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER? We will always be faced with different challenges, some contract related, some player related, all of those things are part and parcel of living in a cap world. We made a trade that showed we want to keep this team moving forward. We want to win. I think that trade resonated with guys who had to make some decisions about their futures. I know from the discussions I had with Connor (Hellebuyck) and Mark (Scheifele) before training camp and they just wanted to win. They weren’t even talking about signing in Winnipeg or not signing in Winnipeg, they both wanted to know: ‘Are we trying to win?’ And I think that trade with LA was a factor in their final decision.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CONSTANT TALK THAT IT’S DIFFICULT TO BE A GM IN WINNIPEG BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY HERE? It’s difficult to be a GM in the National Hockey League period. There are 31 other guys who have a lot of different difficulties. One of the things that is incumbent on us as an organization is provide the best environment and best opportunity to put the players on this team in a position to win. Not everybody is going to want to play in Winnipeg, but not everybody is going to want to play in St. Louis or Dallas or Buffalo or New Jersey. There are a lot of factors that come into play. It isn’t just Winnipeg. In fact, we just honoured Blake Wheeler here in November and he had two opportunities to leave Winnipeg and chose to re-sign here. If you look at the way our team is constructed now, we have a number of players here for five years, six years, seven years – in the prime of their careers. These are players who enjoy being in Winnipeg. I just read where Paul Stastny said, ‘Being traded to Winnipeg rejuvenated my career.’ It gave him a renewed love for the game and that’s not just a reflection of the organization, but of the community, as well.WAS IT TIRING TO CONSTANTLY LISTEN TO THE NATIONAL MEDIA DRONE ON ABOUT HOW SCHEIFELE AND HELLEBUYCK WILL NEVER SIGN IN WINNIPEG AND THE TEAM’S FUTURE IS BLEAK? I make it a point to never pay attention to what anybody ever says or writes about us. The rumours and all that are just noise. I know exactly where things are within our group. For example, we didn’t know what we’d get in return for Pierre-Luc (Dubois) and I know I frustrated people in my year-end press conference last spring because I didn’t give them concrete, point-blank answers, but I couldn’t at that point. I didn’t know. My job is to have a vision and see if I can execute the vision and it’s a methodical process. You have to do the work and you can’t go from Point A to Point C and leave out Point B. Nothing really takes place until it takes place.ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE JETS’ FUTURE? I’m excited about the fact that the second player we drafted in our very first draft, Adam Lowry, is now captain of our team and I’m excited that the first player we chose in that first draft, the guy people were saying, ‘Mark Who?’ is now one of the premier centres in the NHL and committed to staying with us for eight more years. I’m excited about the foundation we have in net. I’m also excited about some of the prospects we have. We turned six players pro with the Moose this year. I don’t think we’ve ever done that in a single year. Sure, we’ve paid the price along the way to stay competitive. We’ve traded some picks for some players, but I had a chance recently to see Rutger McGroarty play, we’re excited about him. We drafted Colby Barlow and we have (Brad) Lambert and (Chaz) Lucius. We have so many exciting prospects. Those are the types of players who will keep this organization fresh.DO YOU LIKE WATCHING OTHER SPORTS?Yes. The Finals of any sport.WHAT DO YOU DRIVE?I love my 2014 GMC SierraWHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR DOWN TIME?Cooking, woodworking, fishing and reading.FAVORITE MUSIC?Country FAVORITE MOVIE?Field of Dreams DID YOU PLAY OTHER SPORTS AT A HIGH LEVEL?I played softball quite competitively until I was drafted by the Islanders.RUNNING OR CYCLING?I love my Peloton. I’m a bike guy. If you’ve seen my knee you know I don’t run.WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN THE OFF-SEASON?Something to do with woodworking. The only thing that gets my mind off hockey happens when I’m working a saw.FAVORITE FOOD?My favorite food is pasta but I can’t eat it. It just doesn’t go well with me. I spend a lot of time working out as it is.FAVORITE TV SHOW?Anything on HGTV.