Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets* joined the NHL in 1979 as part of the NHL-WHA merger along with the Quebec Nordiques, Hartford Whalers, and Edmonton Oilers. Despite being placed into a division with the Oilers and Calgary Flames that proved to be intensely competitive throughout the 1980s, the Jets were actually pretty good at making the playoffs, just not getting much of anywhere when they did. In the seasons between 1982 and 1990, the Jets were eliminated by the Oilers no less than six times and the Flames once. The Jets actually beat the Flames on two occasions as well, the franchise’s only ever playoff series victories prior to the team’s relocation in 1996. The Vancouver Canucks then emerged as another power in the division and eliminated the Jets from the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. By 1996, WInnipeg, one of the smallest markets in the NHL along with Quebec City, was having trouble contending with rapidly-rising player salaries and the draw of a strong American dollar down south. As Quebec had lost their Nordiques to Denver (where they became the Colorado Avalanche), so Winnipeg lost their Jets to Phoenix (where they became the Phoenix Coyotes, then the Arizona Coyotes). Winnipeg fans who had supported their team through thick and thin (mostly thin) were heartbroken, many in disbelief that a Canadian city so passionate about hockey could lose their team to an American city nearer to the Mexican than the Canadian border where most people had never even heard of the icy sport. The city of Winnipeg fought for many years for the return of their team and thought they had something in the works as the Coyotes soon flagged in popularity in their new southern home, but their answer ended up being found in the city of Atlanta instead. The struggling oddly-named Atlanta Thrashers were looking to move, so Winnipeg snapped them up, transforming the team into a second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. These new Jets fared even worse than their predecessors at first, failing to qualify for the playoffs in five out of their first six seasons (and being swept by the Anaheim Ducks in their sole postseason outing), but 2018 saw the Jets take the city of Winnipeg into uncharted territory when they reached the Western Conference Finals, only to lose to the upstart debutant Vegas Golden Knights. The team has been a fairly consistent playoff participant ever since, but has struggled, as of old, to get past the first or second round. Fans in Winnipeg will be hoping to take their famous Winnipeg Whiteouts, in which the whole crowd dons white clothing, deeper into the postseason in the years to come.  

*The NHL considers the Winnipeg Jets team that played in the league from 1972-96 and the current Winnipeg Jets to be distinct entities, but this does not reflect the feelings of most fans in Winnipeg, who pretty much consider the teams to be part of a single continuum (punctuated by an unfortunate break in between).