History

It all started, back on September 13, 1971, for a franchise fee of $25,000, the Winnipeg Jets became one of the twelve charter franchises of the WHA. The WHA was not up to par with the NHL in talent, it provided quality hockey for the fans in Winnipeg for the seven seasons of it's existence. Many players were certainly deserving of being in the NHL, and those players helped make those seven seasons very memorable. Starting with Bobby Hull, who gave the league instant credibility with his historic signing at the corner of Portage and Main back on June 27, 1972, and later, with Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and many others, the Jets were the dominant team of the league. The Jets reached the finals in the league's first season, only to lose to the New England Whalers. After the 1973-1974 season, the Jets, through Dr. Gerry Wilson in Sweden, and chief scout Billy Robinson, brought over Hedberg and Nilsson among others including Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Curt Larsson and Finns Veli-Pekka Ketola and Heikki Riihiranta. Hedberg was offered more money by the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the idea of playing with Hull and his fellow Swedes was intriguing to him. The Jets subsequently won their first Avco Cup in the 1975-1976 season, sweeping the Houston Aeros 4-0 in the finals. The following season, they lost in 4-3 to the Quebec Nordiques. Painful memories still linger from the sight of champagne flowing in the stands of Le Colisee, as the Nordiques celebrated their only Avco Cup at the expense of the Jets. The Jets won the Avco Cup the next two seasons, which included the league's final season, which ended with a Game 6 victory over Wayne Gretzky, Dave Dryden, and the Edmonton Oilers. Captain Lars-Erik Sjoberg carried the Avco Cup around the Winnipeg Arena ice for the last time, as the Jets prepared for life ahead in the NHL. Memories of the "Hot Line", as well as the success of the team will linger forever, despite John Ferguson's attempts in later years to brush the glory days away. The Jets were able to survive despite twice nearly folding, but both times, new owners were found to keep the team afloat and in Winnipeg.

On March 22, 1979, the NHL agreed to take in four of the remaining six WHA teams in an expansion/merger deal. The Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers were paid to fold, while the Jets, along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques and New England/Hartford Whalers were to gain entry into the NHL. This deal, in the works since 1977, sealed the fate of the WHA, while ensuring the long-term future for the surviving teams. As late as March 8, 1979, however, a vote among NHL owners failed by a 12-5 margin, as a three-quarters vote was needed for approval. The 'no' votes came from Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles and Vancouver. An immediate backlash came against Molson Breweries, owners of the Quebeciens, in the two Canadian WHA cities and one Quebec WHA city where they do business. At the Winnipeg Arena, the Molson Three Stars were suddenly being announced as simply the "Three Stars". Molson backtracked and decided to reconsider after fearing a major loss of business. The Canucks and Kings had always voted against the merger deals in the past over fears of longer travel schedules and less visits from big drawing teams. The Canucks were convinced to change their stance when they were promised a balanced schedule. This led to another vote by NHL governors, where the final result was 14-3 in favor of the merger. Boston, Toronto, and Los Angeles still voted against the deal, but they could not stop it. The four WHA teams to be admitted into the NHL were to pay $6 million each, along with a $1.5 million that fee each team had to pay to buy out the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls.

As for the players, the Stingers and Bulls players were distributed among the remaining four WHA teams. The existing NHL teams then stepped in and had the option of reclaiming the rights to players that had been playing in the WHA, which they did. The Atlanta Flames reclaimed Kent Nilsson, the Chicago Blackhawks reclaimed Terry Ruskowski and Bobby Hull, the Detroit Red Wings reclaimed Glenn Hicks and Barry Long, the Montreal Quebeciens reclaimed Peter Marsh (via Cincinnati), the New York Islanders reclaimed Markus Mattsson, the Pittsburgh Penguins reclaimed Kim Clackson and Morris Lukowich, the St. Louis Blues reclaimed Scott Campbell, and the Washington Capitals reclaimed Paul MacKinnon off the Jets Avco Cup championship roster. Once that had been done, the NHL set up an Expansion Draft, where the four WHA teams would be stocked with players made available from the existing 17 NHL teams. The WHA teams would also be allowed to protect two skaters and two goaltenders from an NHL team that attempted to reclaim their rights, referred to as "priority selections". The Jets protected G Markus Mattsson, D Scott Campbell, and F Morris Lukowich. In the regular Expansion Draft, the Jets chose G Linsday Middlebrook, G Pierre Hamel, F Peter Marsh, F Bobby Hull, D Al Cameron, F Dave Hoyda, F Jim Roberts, F Lorne Stamler, F Mark Heaslip, F Gord MacTavish, D Gord Smith, F Clark Hamilton, F Jim Cunningham, F Dennis Abgrall, F Bill Riley, F Gene Carr, and F Hilliard Graves. Graves was the last selection in the Expansion Draft, and the Jets were literally forced to take him.

Despite having their Avco Cup championship roster raided by the NHL, a spirit of optimism gripped Winnipeg hockey fans as they prepared for their first NHL season in 1979. The Jets had emerged from the fledgling WHA to become a legitimate NHL franchise. No more Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers, real NHL teams were now going to be coming to town. The Winnipeg Arena had been hastily expanded, and would soon be upgraded to seat over 15,000 fans.

In their first two seasons, no one expected the team to do well, as the Jets and the other 3 WHA teams that joined the NHL were robbed of their existing talent base. In their second season, they only won 9 games, but the fans still supported them. There was still the novelty factor of being in the NHL, but Winnipeg has always shown itself to be a city that for the most part, does not have many "fair weather" fans.

What happened in Jets third season in the NHL really started to get people excited about the team. They had escaped the pain of expansion and had managed to post a .500 record under new coach Tom Watt. Real NHL rivalries were starting to take shape in the newly reorganized Norris Division, most prominently with the Minnesota North Stars. The Jets had home ice advantage for their first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Imagine that, the Jets having the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. I remember back then the heartbreak, the first of so many more to come, when Guy Lapointe scored late in the third period to give the Blues the victory over the Jets in that first playoff game. The Jets rebounded to win Game 2, only to be smashed in St. Louis, and lose the series 3-1. Despite the disappointment, the Jets now had some legitimate NHL talent. Dale Hawerchuk won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie, and was a budding superstar. Dave Babych was a promising defenseman, Morris Lukowich had another fine season, and many more players who toiled prominently for the Jets made their mark that year.

As would mark the entire NHL history of the franchise, though, the team slipped and turned in two mediocre seasons. The promise of that season turned to frustration. Tom Watt was replaced by Barry Long as coach as one of a long string of musical coaches that would plague the franchise throughout it's existence, and one that continues even in Arizona. Though not nearly as bad as the 9 win season that Jets fans will never forget, the mediocrity of these two years would come to symbolize how the Jets will be remembered on the ice.

One shining season came from the rubble, and that was 1984-1985. 96 points - the best ever by an NHL Jets team. Again, home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup playoffs, against bitter Smythe Division rival Calgary Flames. Two emotionally charged games gave the Jets a 2-0 lead, as the "white out" was born. Back in Calgary, no Jets fan will ever forget the pain on Dale Hawerchuk's face after he was cross-checked by Jamie Macoun in Game 3. Without their leading scorer, the Jets did rebound to win Game 4 and take the series 3-1. The Flames remain as the only franchise that the Jets/Screaming Weasels have ever beaten in an NHL playoff series. As per their doctrine, they lost in the next round to Edmonton 4-0, including a difficult loss at the hands of referee Bryan Lewis in Game 3, as his biased work was the sole reason for the Jets loss that night.

Once that season ended, the team went up and down like a yo-yo. One good year, one bad year. The "good" years meant close to or slightly above .500, but compared to the bad years, it still felt like a good season. Coaches came and went with regularity. John Ferguson replaced Barry Long with himself, then with Dan Maloney, Bob Murdoch, among others. Ferguson himself was fired, replaced by Mike "Mikhail" Smith, who was then replaced by John Paddock. Dale Hawerchuk was eventually traded, on came Teemu Selanne on to the scene, along with Keith "Captain Weasel" Tkachuk. The faces changed many times, and few fans can remember them all, but the commitment to perennial mediocrity continued on, and still haunts the franchise in Arizona to this day.

The Mike Smith years saw an influx of Europeans and Russians hit Winnipeg, none of whom were particularly gifted. Names such as Sergei Bautin, Arto Blomsten, and Igor Ulanov continue to turn the stomachs of Jets fans, who couldn't see Smith's reign end fast enough. John Paddock took over and restored some order, but the results on the ice didn't change much at all.

There were some fond moments to be found in the muck of not-so-eventful seasons of NHL Jets hockey. The night that Bobby Hull's number was finally retired brought back the glory days of the WHA. Teemu Selanne's 76 goal season in 1992-1993 was something to behold. Through it all, the fans here stuck with them, but they were never rewarded like they should have been.

Never has this team advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs, and if the ghost of Barry Shenkarow remains, they never will. They will, and continue to beat the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames at all costs, and they'd win the Stanley Cup every year if they were the only other teams in the NHL. As if under constitutional decree, with as much ferocity as they attack the Devils and Flames, they roll over and play dead for Edmonton and Montreal. They only win when they have to in order to take heat off at the moment. Coaches only last at most two to three seasons, when they get replaced because the team doesn't perform up to it's talent level. All in all, it's a cycle that was repeated many times over in Winnipeg, and will continue in Arizona. It's no accident, it's not luck, it's not divine intervention. It all starts at the top. One factor remained through it all, one man who ran the show, and that man is Barry Shenkarow.

On the afternoon of 6 May 1995, the Jets held a farewell at the Winnipeg Arena, commonly referred to as "the funeral". This was a gathering of an angry mob that turned into one sad day. The funeral was held prior to the involvement of the Spirit of Manitoba group, so it was believed at the time that the team was headed for Minneapolis. Thomas Steen's #25 was raised to the rafters, QBC entertainer Don Cherry made an appearance, and all the players were introduced and each gave their own good byes to the fans that filled the Arena on that day. The first Jets captain, Ab MacDonald, along with longtime Jet Bill Lesuk, brought out the Avco Cup. Certainly had to be the most emotionally charged group of 15,000 people you'll ever want to be around. On one hand was the angry mob waiting to get in, then the massive amount of cheering once the mob got in (did they think that the team was going to stay because they cheered?), then the teary-eyed emotions all associated with a death in the family. All in all, I felt lucky to get out of there alive, though I did feel it was important to go, not just watch it on TV, as QBC was carrying it live.

Though it's trendy to blame the various levels of government, in reality, they are only partly to blame for the loss of the Jets. First and foremost, the blame must rest at the doorstep of Barry Shenkarow. Even during an era where the Jets could be financially competitive with other NHL clubs, Shenkarow's management of the team kept it wallowing in a sea of mediocrity both on and off the ice. Though Winnipeg is a small market by the standard of other NHL cities, you would have a hard time finding a city that cared more for it's team, even a Barry Shenkarow team. The Winnipeg Arena could have been sold out half the time with anything resembling competency in upper management. During the times when the team was winning, excitement was at a fever pitch, and tickets were hard to come by. Yet, in spite of the perennially mediocre product and the horrible treatment of customers, 12-13,000 fans filled the Arena every night. Try finding another city that will support a Shenkarow team like that.

Of lesser importance, but still very significant, is the landlord of the Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg Enterprises Corporation. A truly oppressive and arrogant bunch that kept the Jets from any percentages of parking and concessions revenues, and extreme belligerence when the team's survival was at a critical stage played a major role in the loss of the team.

Meanwhile, the three levels of government, knowing that a new arena needed to be built for years, failed to act in this regard. Though it's certainly a matter of debate as to whether the government should be involved in such ventures, but one certainly cannot argue that the people of Manitoba wanted them to collectively act on this issue. When a cheap town starts throwing huge sums of money at the grassroots level for the project, that speaks volumes for the will of the people at large. However, Susan Thompson, Duchess over Winnipeg, was going off behind the backs of the people pursuing the Pan Am Taxpayer Games that no one else but her seemed to want. Sorry, three weeks of glory does not equal an NHL team.

Though unknown as to their true role in the loss of the team, the local daily publication, Winnipeg Free Press (hereinafter referred to as the Barry Shenkarow News, or simply BSN), certainly tried very hard to ensure Barry Shenkarow's continued involvement with the team, be it in Winnipeg or elsewhere. When the Spirit of Manitoba group was organized, the BSN started with a barrage of front page articles designed with the sole purpose of discrediting the group and saying that Shenkarow was the best person to run the club, even going as far as calling the Spirit group "saboteurs".

I must make a comment on the "Thin Ice" group that was against government funding of a new arena. I highly respect the right of them or any such group to protest against such things, but I lose all respect for them when they are not equally, if not more outraged at the ongoing subsidies handed to the local Canadian Taxpayer Football League team, the Blue Bombers. The Blue Bombers seem to think that taking government money is a birthright, one that they continue to take advantage of year after year, which is the sole reason for their continued existence. These people spoke out so vigorously against the Jets getting money for an arena, yet why are they nowhere to be found at Blue Bomber games? Complete hypocrites. They don't deserve my respect or yours.

The Relocated Franchise in Arizona

Yes, the Screaming Weasels now have new ownership, with Wayne Gretzky as the group's front man. Perhaps Gretzky can turn the Weasels into a winner, but it will take him at least two years to clean out the Shenkarow/Burke organization that he inherited. It remains to be seen, however, if the principal owner, Steve Ellman, has the cash to be able to build the new WeaselDome in Glendale, or to even to sustain the losses until this mythical new building is constructed, let alone have enough cash to pay for a competitive team if Gretzky is successful in building a winner. The future of this franchise, both on and off the ice, remains very much in doubt, to say the least.