in six games with a 4-1 victory at the old Winnipeg Arena. After the game, Red Wings defenceman Paul Coffey stopped by the Jets dressing room to wish his friend Heisinger good luck. Coffey knew Heisinger from their time together on various Canada Cup teams. But this encounter set off Heisinger’s emotions.

When Coffey departed Heisinger resumed his equipment manager duties. He cried as he vacuumed the Jets dressing room for the last time.

"It was emotional because it was the last day," Heisinger said on Friday as he watched the Jets second last practice before the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at the MTS Centre on Sunday. "In the end you still had to clean up because that was your job. I did that because I was theequipment guy and that was what an equipment guy did at the end of the day."

After the Jets left, the AHL Moose came in. Heisinger was back as the new team’s equipment manager, but after three seasons then GM/head coach Randy Carlyle promoted Heisinger to assistant GM. When Carlyle left to join the Washington Capitals coaching staff in the summer of 2002, Heisinger received another upgrade to the team’s GM from owner Mark Chipman.

The Moose made the playoffs in eight on the nine seasons under Heisginer’s watch, including a 50-win regular season and trip to the 2008-09 final which garnered Heisinger the James A. Hendy Award as AHL executive of the year.

"I don’t know how you wind up going from an equipment guy to an executive in the