Winnipeg Jets

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1999
• Home arena: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• Owner: True North Sports and Entertainment
• Team colors: Polar night blue, aviator blue, silver, red, and white

Overview

The Winnipeg Jets are a Canadian team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays in the Central Division of the Western Conference. The franchise is the second NHL team to use the name Jets. The first started as a member of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972 and were merged into the NHL in 1979 before moving to Arizona. The current Jets began as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999 before moving to Winnipeg and taking the Jets name in 2011. Since returning to Winnipeg, the team reached the playoffs six times, including an appearance in the 2018 Western Conference Finals, when they lost to the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The team has two minor league affiliates, the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League and the Norfolk Admirals in the East Coast Hockey League.

History

Winnipeg has a long and strong hockey history. Amateur teams from Winnipeg were playing the earliest version of the contemporary game in the late 1800s. Players in these teams innovated aspects of the game that are now considered indispensable, such as the wrist shot and leg pads for goalies—goalies played without pads until a Winnipeg team opted to use cricket pads as protection. These same amateur teams also competed for what is now the league’s championship trophy, the Stanley Cup, which was originally a trophy for the winner of amateur challenge games. Amateur teams from Winnipeg and the surrounding areas bearing nicknames such as the Falcons and Monarchs also represented Canada in the Olympics and won the World Hockey Championships in the early decades of the twentieth century.

The city’s first professional team was part of the World Hockey Association when that league was formed in 1972. The Jets reportedly got their name because team owner Ben Hatskin was a fan of the National Football League’s New York Jets, a successful franchise at the time. The name also pays homage to the Royal Canadian Air Force, which is headquartered in Winnipeg. The logo for the contemporary team includes a stylized jet plane.

The original Jets team signed Chicago Blackhawk superstar Bobby Hull to a ten-year contract. This high-profile signing for $2.75 million, an unheard-of amount at the time, granted a sense of legitimacy to the upstart WHA. However, the league faced numerous financial struggles and ceased operations at the end of the 1978–1979 season.

The NHL opted to absorb some of the most viable of the WHA franchises. These included the Edmonton Oilers, the New England Whalers, the Quebec Nordiques, and the Jets. However, there was a price to be paid for joining, as the NHL required these four expansion teams to each give up several of their best players for redistribution throughout the league. This requirement handicapped all four teams but had a significant impact on the Jets. They finished in next to last place in their first year in the NHL and in last place in their second year.

This did give the team the advantage of the first pick in the next two NHL drafts because the picks are awarded in the reverse order of how teams finished in the previous season. The Jets’ 1981 draft pick was eventual Hall of Fame member Dale Hawerchuk. The team would benefit from other early draft picks over the next few years. They earned a spot in the playoffs in 1987, where they advanced to the second round before losing to the Edmonton Oilers. This series marked the beginning of a tradition that continues to the present day. Called the Winnipeg White-Out, fans wear white to home games as a way of intimidating visiting teams with their support for the Jets.

Winnipeg made the playoffs in eleven of its first fifteen years. However, it was struggling financially despite an ardent fan base. The NHL made the decision to move the Jets to Arizona in 1996 and renamed the team as the Phoenix Coyotes. Disgruntled Winnipeg fans transferred their affections to the Manitoba Moose, an International Hockey League (IHL) team that moved from Minnesota when the Jets left the arena in Winnipeg. They would eventually become part of the American Hockey League (AHL), which is the primary farm system for the NHL. The Moose is currently the minor league affiliate for the modern Winnipeg Jets.

The newest incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets began as the Atlanta Thrashers. In 1997, the NHL awarded a franchise to Turner Broadcasting Corporation to establish a team in Atlanta. The team was the fifth NHL franchise in a Southeastern state when it played its first home game on October 2, 1999.

The Thrashers improved over their first six seasons, eventually reaching the playoffs for the first time in 2007. Their number one draft pick in 2001 was Ilya Kovalchuk, the first Russian to ever be chosen first overall in the NHL draft. The next year, they chose Dany Heatley, a forward who went on to be rookie of the year. However, Heatley encountered problems off the ice when he was involved in an accident on September 29, 2003, that killed teammate Dan Snyder and left Heatley severely injured. Heatley faced charges for second-degree vehicular homicide and served time on probation. He was eventually traded to the Ottawa Senators for the 2005–2006 season.

The Atlanta team only qualified for the playoffs once, in 2006–2007, and had relatively poor attendance. By 2011, a group called True North Sports & Entertainment Limited purchased the team and announced its intent to move them to Winnipeg. They did not purchase the rights to the Thrasher name, so the team adopted the Jets name upon their return to the Canadian city.

Back in Winnipeg, the team’s on-ice struggles continued and it failed to make the playoffs until the 2014–2015 season. That year, the Jets faced off in the first round against the Anaheim Ducks. They lost in four straight games, but gave the fans their first chance to enjoy the White-Out in nearly two decades. After missing the playoffs for two more years, the team got a second pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, selecting Patrik Laine.

Helped by Laine’s 44 goals in 2017-2018, the team finished with 114 points, good enough to top the Western Conference and second only to the President Cup-winning Nashville Predators. The team won its first-round series against the Minnesota Wild in five games, then beat the Predators in the second round in a hard-fought series. However, Winnipeg lost in the Conference final to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Jets made the playoffs four times in five years since 2018, but lost in the early rounds each time.

Notable players

Several members of the original Winnipeg Jets team are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, most notably Bobby Hull, who was inducted in 1983. Hull’s number was also retired by the original Jets. Two members of the second incarnation of the Jets are members as well. Mark Recchi was with the team for the 2007–2008 season, and Chris Chelios played in Winnipeg in 2010. Each spent only a small fraction of their Hall of Fame careers with the Jets.

Kovalchuk holds several of the team’s scoring records. He notched a franchise-best 328 goals and 615 total points in his 594 games with the Jets. He also recorded the most points in one season by a Jets player with 52 in both 2005–2006 and 2007–2008. The team’s second highest overall scorer is Blake Wheeler, who scored a team-leading 301 assists as part of his 586 points. He was responsible for 71 assists in 2018–2019, a team single-season record.

Laine holds the team record for most goals in a rookie season with 36 in 2016–17. Heatley holds the team record for most points and assists by a rookie, scoring 67 and 41, respectively. The team scoring leader among defensemen is Dustin Byfuglien. He scored 20 goals twice, in 2010–2011 and 2013–2014. In the latter year, he also recorded a team high points by a defenseman with 56.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck holds the team record for most wins in a season with 44, and most shutouts, with 8. Both were recorded in 2017–2018. Hellebuyck’s jersey bears the number 37, which had not been issued since the Dan Snyder died in the car accident in 2003. Hellebuyck consulted with Snyder’s family before taking the number.

The newest version of the Jets has not retired any numbers. The original Jets had retired the jerseys worn by Bobby Hull and Thomas Steen. Both numbers are worn by members of the reestablished Jets team. While the number has not been officially retired, the team has not issued number 11 to any player since the 2011 season. It was the number assigned to Rick Rypien, who committed suicide just before he was scheduled to join the team that season. Although he never skated for the Jets, the team wears number 11 on their helmets in support of the mental health awareness initiative, Project 11.

Bibliography

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“History of the Winnipeg Jets.” CTV News,10 Mar. 2011, winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/the-history-of-the-winnipeg-jets-1.617120. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

Marrazza, Dan. “How NHL Teams Got Their Names.” NHL.com, 14 June 2016, www.nhl.com/goldenknights/news/nhl-teams-getting-their-names/c-283742854. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.

“Winnipeg Jets.” Hockey Reference, 2024, www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WPG/history.html. Accessed winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/the-history-of-the-winnipeg-jets-1.617120. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.

“Winnipeg Jets Team History.” Sports Team History, 2020, sportsteamhistory.com/winnipeg-jets. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.

Stainkamp, Michael. “A Brief History: Phoenix Coyotes.” NHL.com, 10 Aug. 2010, www.nhl.com/news/a-brief-history-phoenix-coyotes/c-536186. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.

Starrs, Chris. “Atlanta Thrashers.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, 9 May 2019, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/sports-outdoor-recreation/atlanta-thrashers. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.