My four-day break from Sharks hockey this month was rudely interrupted when my mother, in Winnipeg, called to ask: why are those guys trashing our city?

She must have her facts wrong, I thought. Whenever I discussed my hometown with Sharks players, they told me how glad they were that the NHL returned to Winnipeg in 2011. It's a great hockey town, they told me, Winnipeg deserves a team.

I jumped on my laptop and quickly learned that a video had surfaced where a few Sharks were shown describing Winnipeg as the worst NHL city.

It's cold, they said. (True.)

It's dark. (Not true; Winnipeg is the second-sunniest city in Canada.)

Winnipeggers have faced this line of attack from Torontonians and Vancouverites for as long as the Golden Boy has been perched atop the Manitoba legislature. What irked the locals about this video was defenseman Justin Braun's suggestion that Winnipeg lacked working Wi-Fi and quality hotels, depicting the city as a Siberian backwater or a Midwestern cowtown.

"Internet doesn't work ever. I don't know if they have Wi-Fi there yet," Braun said in the video produced by NBC Sports California.

The comments triggered responses from Mayor Brian Bowman, Manitoba premier Brian Pallister and Jets head coach Paul Maurice, who essentially said Braun is a pampered professional athlete. To Winnipeggers, Braun was the Ugly American, speaking from a place of ignorance

As Winnipeg defended itself, Sharks fans fought back, accusing the city of being overly-sensitive, melodramatic and unable to take a joke.

With a foot in both camps, I can see how a couple of misunderstandings had sparked a war of words between my hometown and the city I now live in. Let me clear up a few things:

First, I understand why Winnipeg took offense to Braun's words. I meet a lot of people in California who assume that Winnipeg is an uncultured redneck outpost, Canada's version of Fargo, and I'm qualified to say that because I have ties to North Dakota, as well.

In truth, Winnipeg is one of Canada's cultural hubs. It's more like Portland, Oregon than Fargo.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is world renowned, selling out shows across the globe as the oldest ballet company in North America. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is equally celebrated, attracting top conductors and musical directors from Japan, Germany and Russia.

If classical music isn't your thing, Winnipeg also produced Neil Young, the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Every summer, the city hosts the Winnipeg Folk Fest, a world music festival that annually brings in more than 40,000 campers and spectators. I once met a Californian who attended the festival, and when she learned I was from Winnipeg, she exclaimed, "That place is like Woodstock!"

Winnipeg also stages an annual summer event called Folklorama, the world's largest multicultural festival that recognizes the city's expansive ethnic diversity. For two weeks in August, Winnipeg opens up more than 40 pavilions across the city, each one celebrating the culture of a specific country with authentic performances, art and food and drink.

In the winter, Winnipeggers break up the cold with the Festival du Voyageur, the largest outdoor winter festival in Western Canada. The festival, held in Saint Boniface, which is home to the largest French-Canadian community west of Quebec, celebrates Winnipeg's unique blend of French-Canadian, Metis and First Nations cultures.

Winnipeg was also the home of a Che Guevara-like folk hero known as Louis Riel, who led two rebellions against the Canadian government in an effort to preserve the rights of the Metis, the mixed-race descendants of early European settlers and First Nations people.

Riel was eventually charged with high treason and executed by the Canadian government in 1885.

This history is why Winnipeg is home to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Of course, it would be difficult to discover Winnipeg's unique cultural history when you're passing through town for a day or two on an NHL road trip. That's why I've offered to take Braun on a skate down the Assiniboine River the next time the Sharks are in Winnipeg, an invitation he has accepted, time permitting.

In reality, Braun isn't an Ugly American. He just got caught joking around while answering one of 30 questions in a conversational promo shoot with NBC Sports California back in training camp.

He had no idea that the back and forth would resurface in a 10-second clip four months later when the team traveled to Winnipeg.

Here's what Braun told me about the flap: "The Wi-Fi thing was definitely over the top. I think I was practicing my stand-up routine. I probably need to go back to the drawing board on that one.

"Honestly though, I'd never want to offend a city like that. The Jets are a great team in our league and that's a great hockey city.

"Usually, you never see those (promo clips) again. It came out and I don't feel great about it."

The Sharks defenseman said he actually appreciates Winnipeg winters having grown up in St. Paul, Minn.

"It's the exact same weather I grew up in," Braun said. "Without those winters, I probably wouldn't be a pro hockey player. I played outside most nights under the lights at the local rink.

"You make the most out of winters. It can be a great time when you're immersed in it."

In my view, NBC Sports California made a poor choice by using a couple of framed sound bites to promote the game in an antagonistic way. Tomas Hertl also came off in a bad light and Tim Heed was led into bashing the city even though he'd never played an NHL game in Winnipeg.

The TV station obviously intended the promo as a light joke, not realizing it would feed into stereotypes of Winnipeg as a rural backwater and Americans as disinterested in everything that takes place outside of their borders.

Hopefully, Winnipeggers can give the Sharks a break and recognize that Braun isn't an ignorant American for trying to be funny in a promo video. The Sharks and NBC Sports California, meanwhile, can develop a deeper appreciation for Winnipeg's rich-cultural history.

Most importantly, if weather and scheduling permits, it'll give me an excuse to go for a twirl on the river with Braun next season and enjoy one of Winnipeg's unique-winter pleasures. We won't even need Wi-Fi.