Winnipeg Jets (1972-1996)

Winnipeg Jets
founding	1972
history	Winnipeg Jets 1972 - 1996 Phoenix Coyotes 1996 - 2014 Arizona Coyotes since 2014
Stadion	Winnipeg Arena
Location	Winnipeg , Manitoba
Team colors	Blue, red, white
National Hockey League
Stanley Cups	no
Conference title	no
Division title	no
World Hockey Association
Avco World Trophies	1975/76 , 1977/78 , 1978/79
Division title	1972/73 , 1975/76 , 1977/78

The Winnipeg Jets ( IPA : [ˈwɪnɪpɛg dʒɛts] ) were a Canadian ice hockey franchise from Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba . They played in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1979 and in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1996 . The team colors were blue, red and white. In the summer of 1996, due to ongoing financial problems, the team moved to Phoenix , Arizona , and changed their name to Phoenix Coyotes . It has been playing in the suburb of Glendale since 2003 . In 2014 it was renamed Arizona Coyotes . Since summer 2011, after a 15-year hiatus, there has been a franchise with this name in the NHL again, but it only bears the same nickname and is otherwise in no way connected with the jets of the time.

The Jets had their most successful period during their time in the World Hockey Association. There they won the Avco World Trophy three times within four years between 1976 and 1979 . With the move to the National Hockey League, the successes failed.

history

The time in the WHA (1972 to 1979)

1972 was in Winnipeg franchise of the World Hockey Association established itself that Winnipeg Jets called and was one of the twelve founding members of the WHA. The National Hockey League had now grown to 16 teams, so that teams in Los Angeles , Oakland and Atlanta were re-established, but there were only three Canadian teams. The World Hockey Association, on the other hand, brought high-quality ice hockey to Edmonton , Québec , Ottawa , Winnipeg and later Calgary .

The founder and first owner of the jets was Ben Hatskin, a Canadian businessman. At the WHA General Player Draft in February 1972 in Anaheim , California , he selected the NHL star Bobby Hull with the first right to vote and a little later with Ted Green , Ted Irvine and Ernie Wakely other NHL players. Initially mostly ridiculed as wishful thinking, Hatskin had consistently opted for Bobby Hull, who at the time was the second best goalscorer in NHL history, with the first right to vote. He was dissatisfied with the management of the Chicago Black Hawks and, as in previous years, the contract negotiations were always lengthy as the contracts had to be renegotiated almost every year. Hatskin quickly managed to get the striker to sign a contract as a player-coach for ten years with a total of 2.5 million US dollars including a signature bonus of one million dollars. Hull signed this contract in June 1972. His commitment guaranteed that the WHA would at least survive the premier season. Hull's signing and many others of the same type indicated that the WHA was establishing itself as serious competition to the NHL.

On October 12, 1972, the Jets played their first game in the World Hockey Association, which they won 6-4 at the New York Raiders . The first home game was played three days later and ended in a 2-5 loss to the Alberta Oilers . In the inaugural season, star Bobby Hull formed an effective line of attack with Christian Bordeleau and Norm Beaudin . The trio played a key role in the successful performance of the jets, as all three scored over 100 points each. In the back rows, however, there was a lack of penetration and no other player scored more than 20 goals. The good defensive work and the balanced goalkeeping duo Joe Daley and Ernie Wakely made it possible for the Jets to finish the 1972/73 season in first place in the Western Division . Bobby Hull, who contributed 51 goals to this achievement, was named Regular Season Most Valuable Player and received the Gary L. Davidson Award . In the playoffs, the Jets first prevailed against the Minnesota Fighting Saints and Houston Eros . In the final series of the Avco World Trophy, the Jets lost to the New England Whalers in five encounters . Decisive for the victory of the Whalers turned out to be their excellent exploitation of chances, while the Jets had more chances in four of the five games.

The Winnipeg Jets were one of the first teams from North America to use Europe as a source of talented ice hockey players. The team was able to sign the Swedish strikers Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson . The franchise also signed defender Lars-Erik Sjöberg , later captain of the Jets and once awarded the Dennis A. Murphy Trophy as best defender of the WHA . From 1977, Kent Nilsson was another Swedish top scorer.

After the dissolution of the WHA in 1979, the Winnipeg Jets were included in the NHL along with the New England Whalers , Edmonton Oilers and Québec Nordiques .

The time in the NHL (1979 to 1996)

Winnipeg's second logo (1974–1990)

After the great successes in the WHA, the demands had to be scaled down. In the first two years, the entry into the play-offs was missed, but was able to bring a great talent into the team in the NHL Entry Draft 1979 with Dale Hawerchuk .

Dean Kennedy in the jersey of the Jets 1992/93

In the mid-eighties the team had a solid core with Hawerchuck, Thomas Steen , Paul MacLean and many more and the potential to fight for the Stanley Cup . The disadvantage was that the team played with the Edmonton Oilers in a division that with Wayne Gretzky could win the Stanley Cup a total of five times by the end of the eighties. The Jets were regularly eliminated from the play-offs against the Oilers.

1987 was the last time the Winnipeg Jets could win a playoff round. A negative streak from the franchise that only ended in Phoenix in 2012.

The NHL continued to expand in the United States , costs increased, and player salaries in particular rose rapidly. The Jets got into financial problems and had to give up the best players. There have been several attempts to rescue the jets through Manitoba provincial loans or banks, but the problems have not diminished. On April 28, 1996, the Winnipeg Jets played their last game in Winnipeg.

The team was sold and in the summer of 1996 a new location was found for the team in Phoenix, Arizona. Associated with the move was a name change to Phoenix Coyotes . The blocked jersey numbers 9 (Bobby Hull) and 25 (Thomas Steen) were taken over from Winnipeg and are hanging in the Glendale Arena. At the beginning of the 2005/06 season, the number 9 was released by Bobby Hull for his son Brett to wear. After playing five games for Phoenix, Brett Hull announced his retirement and the number has since been suspended.

Achievements and honors

Sporting successes

Avco World Trophies
season
1975/76 , 1977/78 , 1978/79
Regular Season Championships
season
1977/78
Division Championships	season
Western Division	1972/73
Canadian Division	1975/76

Awards and All-Star Team Nominations

Award	Surname	season
Calder Memorial Trophy	Dale Hawerchuk Teemu Selänne	1981/82 1992/93
Dennis A. Murphy Trophy	Lars-Erik Sjöberg	1977/78
Gary L. Davidson Trophy Gordie Howe Trophy	Bobby Hull	1972/73 , 1974/75
Jack Adams Award	Tom Watt Bob Murdoch	1981/82 1989/90
King Clancy Memorial Trophy	Kris King	1995/96
Lou Kaplan Trophy	Kent Nilsson	1977/78
Paul Deneau Trophy	Kent Nilsson	1978/79
Robert Schmertz Memorial Trophy	Bobby Kromm	1975/76
WHA Playoff MVP	Ulf Nilsson Bob Guindon Rich Preston	1975/76 1977/78 1978/79
NHL First All-Star Team	Teemu Selänne	1992/93
NHL Second All-Star Team	Dale Hawerchuk Alexei Schamnow Keith Tkachuk	1984/85 1994/95 1994/95
NHL All-Rookie Team	Iain Duncan Bob Essensa Teemu Selänne Boris Mironow *	1987/88 1989/90 1992/93 1993/94
WHA First All-Star Team	Bobby Hull Ulf Nilsson Anders Hedberg Joe Daley Lars-Erik Sjöberg	1972/73 , 1973/74 , 1974/75 1975/76 , 1977/78 1975/76 , 1976/77 , 1977/78 1975/76 1977/78
WHA Second All-Star Team	Larry Hornung Anders Hedberg Bobby Hull Joe Daley Ulf Nilsson Barry Long Morris Lukowich	1972/73 1974/75 1975/76 , 1977/78 1976/77 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79

* joined the Edmonton Oilers during the season

NHL All-Star Game Nominations

year Surname 1980 Morris Lukowich 1981 Morris Lukowich 1982 Dale Hawerchuk 1983 Dave Babych 1984 Dave Babych 1985 Randy Carlyle Dale Hawerchuk Paul MacLean 1986 Dale Hawerchuk 1988 Dale Hawerchuk

year Surname 1989 David Ellett 1990 Doug Smail 1991 Phil Housley 1992 Phil Housley 1993 Randy Carlyle Phil Housley Teemu Selänne 1994 Teemu Selänne 1996 Teemu Selänne

A total of 19 Winnipeg Jets players were voted into the All-Star Game by fans because of their popularity or were nominated by the coaches because of their performance. In 1985 and 1993 a record number of three players took part in the selection game.

Season statistics

World Hockey Association

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, PIM = penalty minutes

season	GP	W.	L.	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	space	Playoffs
1972/73	78	43	31	4th	90	285	249	757	1st, western	Victory in quarter-finals, 4-1 ( Minnesota ) victory in semi-finals, 4-0 ( Houston ) loss in final, 1-4 ( New England )
1973/74	78	34	39	5	73	264	296	673	4th, western	Quarter-finals lost, 4-0 ( Houston )
1974/75	78	38	35	5	81	322	293	869	3rd, Canadian	not qualified
1975/76	81	52	27	2	106	345	254	940	1st, Canadian	Victory in quarter-finals, 4-0 ( Edmonton ) win in semi-finals, 4-1 ( Calgary ) win in final, 4-0 ( Houston )
1976/77	80	46	32	2	94	366	291	991	2nd, western	Victory in the quarterfinals, 4-3 ( San Diego ) win the semifinals, 4-2 ( Houston ) defeat in the final, 3-4 ( Québec )
1977/78	80	50	28	2	102	381	270	988	1., WHA	Quarter-finals win, 4-1 ( Birmingham ) Bye semifinals Final win, 4-0 ( New England )
1978/79	80	39	35	6th	84	307	306	1342	3rd, WHA	Bye in quarter-finals Victory in semi-finals, 4-0 ( Québec ) victory in final, 4-2 ( Edmonton )
total	555	302	227	26th	630	2270	1959	6560		6 playoff appearances 14 series: 11 wins, 3 defeats 70 games: 48 wins, 22 defeats

National Hockey League

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, PIM = penalty minutes

season	GP	W.	L.	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	space	Playoffs
1979/80	80	20th	49	11	51	214	314	1251	5th, Smythe	not qualified
1980/81	80	9	57	14th	32	246	400	1191	5th, Smythe	not qualified
1981/82	80	33	33	14th	80	319	332	1314	2nd, Norris	Division semi-final defeat, 3-1 ( St. Louis )
1982/83	80	33	39	8th	74	311	333	1089	4th, Smythe	Division semi-finals lost, 3-0 ( Edmonton )
1983/84	80	31	38	11	73	340	374	1579	4th, Smythe	Division semi-finals lost, 3-0 ( Edmonton )
1984/85	80	43	27	10	96	358	332	1540	2nd, Smythe	Victory in the division semi-finals, 3-1 ( Calgary ) defeat in the division final, 0-4 ( Edmonton )
1985/86	80	26th	47	7th	59	295	372	1774	3rd, Smythe	Division semi-finals lost, 3-0 ( Calgary )
1986/87	80	40	32	8th	88	279	271	1537	3rd, Smythe	Victory in the division semi-finals, 4-2 ( Calgary ) defeat in the division final, 0-4 ( Edmonton )
1987/88	80	33	36	11	77	292	310	2278	3rd, Smythe	Division semi-finals lost, 4-1 ( Edmonton )
1988/89	80	26th	42	12	64	300	355	1843	5th, Smythe	not qualified
1989/90	80	37	32	11	85	298	290	1639	3rd, Smythe	Division semi-finals lost, 3-4 ( Edmonton )
1990/91	80	26th	43	11	63	260	288	1675	5th, Smythe	not qualified
1991/92	80	33	32	15th	81	251	244	1907	4th, Smythe	Divisional semi-final defeat, 3-4 ( Vancouver )
1992/93	84	40	37	7th	87	322	320	1851	4th, Smythe	Division semi-finals defeat, 2-4 ( Vancouver )
1993/94	84	24	51	9	57	245	344	2143	6th, Central	not qualified
1994/95 1	48	16	25th	7th	39	157	177	1141	6th, Central	not qualified
1995/96	82	36	40	6th	78	275	291	1622	5th, Central	Conference quarter-finals lost, 2-4 ( Detroit )
total	1338	506	660	172	1184	4762	5347	27374		11 playoff appearances 13 series: 2 wins, 11 losses 62 games: 19 wins, 43 losses

¹ season shortened due to the NHL lockout in 1994/95

Franchise records

In the following, selected player records of the franchise in the National Hockey League are listed over the entire career as well as over individual seasons.

Career

	Surname	number
Most games	Thomas Steen	950 (in 14 seasons)
Most goals	Dale Hawerchuk	379
Most templates	Thomas Steen	553
Most of the points	Dale Hawerchuk	929 (379 goals + 550 assists)
Most penalty minutes	Laurie Boschman	1,338
Most shutouts	Bob Essensa	14th

season

	Surname	number	season
Most goals	Teemu Selänne	76	1992/93
Most templates	Phil Housley	79	1992/93
Most of the points	Teemu Selänne	132 (76 goals + 56 assists)	1992/93
Most points as a rookie	Teemu Selänne	132 (76 goals + 56 assists)	1992/93
Most points as a defender	Phil Housley	97 (18 goals + 79 assists)	1992/93
Most penalty minutes	Tie Domi	347	1993/94
Most wins as a goalkeeper	Brian Hayward Bob Essensa	33	1984/85 1992/93

Trainer

Abbreviations: GC = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats
after overtime , Pts = points, Win% = win rate

Surname	season	Regular season						Playoffs
		GC	W.	L.	T	Pts	Win%	GC	W.	L.
Bobby Hull **	1972 / 73–1973 / 74	156	77	70	9	163	.522	18th	9	9
Rudy Pilous	1974/75 *	37	18th	17th	2	38	.514	-	-	-
Bobby hull	1974/75 *	13	4th	9	0	8th	.308	-	-	-
Rudy Pilous	1974/75 *	28	16	9	3	35	.625	-	-	-
Bobby Kromm	1975 / 76-1976 / 77	161	98	59	4th	200	.621	33	23	10
Larry Hillman	1977 / 78–1978 / 79 *	141	78	55	8th	164	.582	9	8th	1
Tom McVie	1978/79 * –1979 / 80 *	96	30th	55	11	71	.370	10	8th	2
Bill Sutherland ***	1979/80 *	3	1	2	0	2	.333	-	-	-
Tom McVie	1980/81 *	28	1	20th	7th	9	.161	-	-	-
Bill Sutherland	1980/81 *	29	6th	20th	3	15th	.259	-	-	-
Mike Smith ***	1980/81 *	23	2	17th	4th	8th	.174	-	-	-
Tom Watt	1981 / 82–1983 / 84 *	179	70	85	24	168	.469	7th	1	6th
Barry Long	1983/84 * –1985 / 86 *	205	87	93	25th	199	.485	11	3	8th
John Ferguson Sr.	1985/86 *	14th	7th	6th	1	15th	.536	3	0	3
Dan Maloney	1986 / 87–1988 / 89 *	212	91	93	28	210	.495	15th	5	10
Rick Bowness	1988/89 *	28	8th	17th	3	19th	.331	-	-	-
Bob Murdoch	1989 / 90–1990 / 91	160	63	75	22nd	148	.463	7th	3	4th
John Paddock	1991 / 92–1994 / 95 *	281	106	138	37	249	.443	13	5	8th
Terry Simpson	1994/95 * -1995 / 96	97	43	47	7th	93	.479	6th	2	4th

* Change during the current season; ** player-coach; *** Interim trainer

In the history of the Winnipeg Jets, there have been 15 different individuals who have held the position of head coach. Bobby Hull was the team's player-coach between 1972 and 1974, with the latter winning more than half of the games under his leadership.

General manager

Surname	season
Annis stukus	1972 / 73–1973 / 74
Rudy Pilous	1974 / 75-1977 / 78
John Ferguson Sr.	1978 / 79-1987 / 88
Mike Smith	1988 / 89–1993 / 94 *
John Paddock	1993/94 * -1995/96

* Change during the current season

player

Team captains

year	Surname
1972-1974	From McDonald
1974-1975	Danny Johnson
1975-1988	Lars-Erik Sjöberg
1978-1979	Barry Long
1979-1980	Lars-Erik Sjöberg
1980-1981	Morris Lukowich
1981-1982	Dave Christian
1982-1984	Lucien DeBlois
1984-1989	Dale Hawerchuk
1989-1990	Dale Hawerchuk
	Thomas Steen
	Randy Carlyle
1990-1991	Thomas Steen
	Randy Carlyle
1991-1993	Troy Murray
1993	Dean Kennedy
1993-1995	Keith Tkachuk
1995-1996	Kris King

In the history of the Winnipeg Jets, there have been 14 different players who have held the position of team captain.

Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame

Surname	Recording date	position
Dale Hawerchuk	November 12, 2001	player
Bobby Hull	1983	player
Rudy Pilous	1985	Trainer
		General manager
Serge Savard	1986	player
Teemu Selänne	2017	player

So far, four players and a coach of the Winnipeg Jets in the in were Toronto located Hockey Hall of Fame added.

Blocked jersey numbers

No.	Surname	Blocking date
9	Bobby Hull	February 19, 1989
25th	Thomas Steen	April 1, 1994
99	Wayne Gretzky	February 6, 2000 (league-wide)

In their franchise history, the Winnipeg Jets have officially banned two shirt numbers from deserving players. In addition, another one is no longer officially awarded.

Already on February 19, 1989, the Winnipeg Jets blocked the jersey with Bobby Hull's number 9. In April 1994, the jersey with the number 25 of the Swede Thomas Steen followed . Despite the franchise's move from Winnipeg to Phoenix, the Phoenix Coyotes also kept the two blocked numbers of their predecessors. This makes you the only former World Hockey Association franchise to do so. The banners of the two blocked jerseys are therefore kept in the club colors blue, white and red of the jets.

In the meantime, Bobby Hull released the number 9 again for the 2005/06 season so that his son Brett Hull could wear it for the Coyotes. After five games, Brett Hull ended his career and the number was again banned.

Furthermore, the famous 99 of the Canadian Wayne Gretzky will no longer be awarded to a player, as it has been officially banned by the league since February 6, 2000.

Top 10 voting rights

WHA Amateur Draft

Surname	year	Draft position
Randy Andreachuk	1974	7th
Brad Gassoff	1975	8th.
Thomas Gradin	1976	9.
Ron Duguay	1977	3.
Miles Zaharko		8th.

NHL Entry Draft

Surname	year	Draft position
Dave Babych	1980	2.
Dale Hawerchuk	1981	1.
Andrew McBain	1983	8th.
Pat Elynuik	1986	8th.
Teemu Selänne	1988	10.
Stu Barnes	1989	4th
Aaron Ward	1991	5.
Shane Doan	1995	7th

Top point collector

The top ten points collectors in the history of the Winnipeg Jets during their time in the National Hockey League through the end of the 1995/96 regular season and the 1996 playoffs .

Abbreviations: Pos = position, GP = games, G = goals, A = assists, Pts = points, P / G = points per game

Regular season Surname Item season GP G A. Pts P / G Dale Hawerchuk C. 1981 / 82-1989 / 90 713 379 550 929 1.30 Thomas Steen C. 1981 / 82-1994 / 95 950 264 553 817 0.86 Paul MacLean RW 1981 / 82-1987 / 88 527 248 270 518 0.98 Doug Smail LW 1980 / 81-1990 / 91 691 189 208 397 0.57 Laurie Boschman C. 1982 / 83-1989 / 90 526 152 227 379 0.72 Eugene Lukowich LW 1979 / 80-1984 / 85 431 168 177 345 0.80 Fredrik Olausson D. 1986 / 87-1993 / 94 496 86 249 335 0.68 Dave Babych D. 1980 / 81-1985 / 86 390 73 248 321 0.82 Teemu Selänne RW 1992 / 93-1995 / 96 231 147 159 306 1.32 Randy Carlyle D. 1983 / 84-1992 / 93 564 80 226 306 0.54

Playoffs Surname Item GP G A. Pts P / G Dale Hawerchuk C. 38 16 33 49 1.29 Thomas Steen C. 56 12 32 44 0.79 Paul MacLean RW 35 16 10 26th 0.74 David Ellett D. 33 4th 16 20th 0.61 Fredrik Olausson D. 35 4th 13 17th 0.49 Randy Carlyle D. 31 3 14th 17th 0.55 Brian Mullen RW 26th 7th 9 16 0.62 Laurie Boschman C. 34 5 10 15th 0.44 Moe Mantha D. 16 5 10 15th 0.94 Dave Babych D. 18th 4th 10 14th 0.78

literature

• Scott Surgent: The Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association, 1972-1979 . Xaler Press 1995, ISBN 0-9644774-0-8 .
• Scott Surgent: The World Hockey Association Fact Book . Xaler Press 2010, ISBN 978-0-9644774-8-3 .

Web links

Commons : Winnipeg Jets  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• History of the Winnipeg Jets at sportsecyclopedia.com
• Winnipeg Jets at hockeydb.com