Connor Hellebuyck has spent two months refusing to report to the Winnipeg Jets, and the irritation has long since spread past the hockey pages. It has now turned up in a comedy club.
Emmanuel Lomuro is a stand-up comedian who was born in Cairo, came to Canada as a Sudanese refugee, and grew up in Winnipeg. He has performed at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just For Laughs Toronto, appeared on CBC’s The Porter, and featured on the latest season of CBC Gem’s The New Wave of Standup.
That background is the whole joke.
Lomuro opened by asking the room whether anybody followed the NHL, or supported the Jets. The response suggested not many did. He went ahead anyway.
“We’re dealing with Hellebuyck right now. I’m not a big NHL guy, but like, I’ve never had another opportunity to tell a white guy to go back to where he came from,” Lomuro said. “Let me tell you guys, it is a blast. My bad, white people, I didn’t know how much fun it was to be at this side.”
Why are Jets fans so angry at Hellebuyck?
The American goaltender asked to be traded in the spring, went public with it in August, and then didn’t turn up to training camp, which earned him a suspension without pay that has now cost him more than $721,000. Winnipeg has played the entire season so far without the best goaltender in the world, and has gone 6-2-1 regardless.
READ MORE: The Jets captain has a warning for Connor Hellebuyck
The club has to lift that suspension on Friday, October 23, under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Captain Adam Lowry made clear at the weekend that a return would not be treated as routine.
“If he does show up, conversations are going to have to happen,” Lowry said.
Lomuro, for his part, posted the bit to his own Instagram account. He has been building a name on the Canadian circuit for several years, and it’s fair to say this is the most hockey attention he has ever received.
Read more:
