It’s Hughes vs. Hawerchuk for local sports supremacy By: Taylor Allen Posted: 2:25 PM CDT Friday, Jun. 12, 2020

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2020 (2258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After four rounds, 30 matchups and nearly 15,000 votes, it’s time for the Final Showdown.

We began May 21 with 32 athletes but there’s just two left standing: speedskater/cyclist Clara Hughes and Winnipeg Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk. And if you had told me at the beginning they’d be the last two left, I would not have been surprised.

The argument for Hughes — the only athlete in the world to win multiple medals at both Summer and Winter Games — is a strong one. With six overall medals, she’s tied with fellow Winnipegger Cindy Klassen for the title of Canada’s all-time most-decorated Olympian.

Hughes dominated Sports Showdown from the start, defeating cyclist Tanya Dubnicoff by 350 votes in the opening round. She went on to have another convincing victory in her following matchup, defeating soccer star Desiree Scott in the Super 16.

Her toughest week came in the Excellent 8, where she squared off against Paralympic swimmer Tim McIsaac, who had a wealth of supporters backing him. Hughes trailed for the majority of the week, but grabbed the lead on the final night of voting and ended up with a 422-404 win.

In the Fantastic 4, Hughes went up against Jonathan Toews, a player who’s won essentially everything there is to possibly win in hockey. But a Sports Showdown championship wasn’t in the cards for the Chicago Blackhawks captain, as Hughes skated away with 44 more votes.

This town sure loves Hawerchuk. The NHL Jets 1.0 all-time scoring leader (713G, 550A in 713 games) didn’t have an easy road to the final, by any means. He took down the current captain of the Jets, Blake Wheeler, in Round 1, cruising to a 374-129 win. Hawerchuk then faced Bobby Hull, taking down The Golden Jet by 270 votes.

Then came Hawerchuk’s most intriguing matchup: Teemu Selanne. No, Selanne wasn’t a Jet for long, but his sensational rookie season in 1992-93 is still talked about to this day. Selanne steamrolled his previous opponents, but Hawerchuk put an end to the Finnish Flash’s hopes by a count of 248-177.

Hawerchuk got through all the Jets, but to earn a meeting with Hughes he needed to outlast Milt Stegall, a guy who has a street named after him. The ever-so-popular Stegall, who beat Chris Walby in the Blue Bombers final, put up a solid fight but fell to Hawerchuk by just 13 votes.

So, that’s how Hughes and Hawerchuk got here. Who deserves to be crowned the face of Manitoba sports? Hughes is a Winnipegger and that could give her an advantage in the final, but it’s tough to ignore the fact that this city is obsessed with hockey.

Whether you were fully engaged or apathetic, voted once or 100 times, I appreciate those who took part in Sports Showdown. Hopefully, the next time we do something like this we can argue over it while watching live sports.

Click to vote for Manitoba’s greatest athlete

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31