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71-599: Founded in November 1971, the first Fighting Saints team played four seasons beginning in 1972–73 under the ownership of nine local businessmen. St. Paul attorney Wayne Belisle purchased the team late in the 1973–74 season. Belisle was the front man for a group of owners that included Jock Irvine. The Saints' first game, a 4–3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets , was played October 13, 1972, at the St. Paul Auditorium . The team moved to

142-416: A "Reverse Retro" jersey was introduced in collaboration with Adidas. The jersey was designed to emulate the original Jets' 1979–90 look but used colors of the current Jets. Before the 2021–22 season , the blue WHA-era uniform the modern-day Jets wore in the 2019 Heritage Classic became the team's third jersey. A second "Reverse Retro" jersey, this time a recoloured version of the 1990–96 Jets white uniform,

213-693: A 7–3 Jets win. The 1976, 1978 and 1979 Avco Cup winning Winnipeg Jets were inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in the team category. By 1978–79 , the vast majority of the WHA's teams had folded, but the Jets were still going strong. After the season, the Jets were absorbed into the NHL along with the Nordiques, Oilers and Hartford Whalers . Pre-merger inter-league exhibitions had shown that

284-819: A 9–5 home win over the Indianapolis Racers . The franchise officially folded on January 20, 1977. The team's logo and uniforms were identical to the first team's, but with scarlet replacing royal blue. Ted Hampson was the Saints' captain in their first four seasons. In the final season, Ron Ward was the team captain, replaced on December 28, 1976, by John Arbour . Among the Saints' notable players were Wayne Connelly (the team's career scoring leader with 283 points in 291 games), Mike Walton , Mike Antonovich (the team's career games leader with 309), Hockey Hall of Famer Dave Keon , John McKenzie and Rick Smith , and goalies Mike Curran and John Garrett . Also on

355-551: A decimated roster, the Jets finished dead last in the league for their first two seasons in the NHL, including a horrendous nine-win season in 1980–81 that still ranks as the worst in Jets/Coyotes history. This stands in marked contrast to the other 1979 Avco Cup finalist, the Oilers, who went on to dominate the league during the second half of the 1980s. The Jets' first two wretched NHL seasons did net them high draft picks; in

426-513: A flamboyant Canadian real estate businessman. Skalbania, who regularly flipped real estate property and sports franchises for a profit, was repeatedly accused of mismanaging the promising Indianapolis hockey market and plotting to move the franchise to Canada, where it would presumably have had a much better chance of being included in an eventual merger the WHA was negotiating with the National Hockey League (NHL). Having taken

497-673: A professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg . They began play in the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. The club joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979 after the NHL merged with the WHA. Due to mounting financial troubles, in 1996 the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes (the former name of the now inactive Arizona Coyotes ). The team played their home games at Winnipeg Arena . On December 27, 1971, Winnipeg

568-537: A series of bids for the financially-troubled Coyotes in October 2009, which were taken seriously enough that the league drew up a tentative schedule with Winnipeg in place of Phoenix. The NHL shelved the bid after securing a large subsidy from the Coyotes' municipal government. As True North's low-key approach was praised by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman , this placed True North in a favorable position once question of

639-490: A single American player. In fact, one of the players the Saints selected in the inaugural WHA draft in 1972 was Wendell Anderson , a former star defenseman at the University of Minnesota and a member of the silver medal-winning Team USA squad at the 1956 Winter Olympics . Anderson said he was flattered, but he chose not to join the Saints and instead stuck to his day job—as Governor of Minnesota . The Saints never missed

710-567: A wild player named Ogie Oglethorpe, based on Goldthorpe.) Veteran NHL coach Bruce Boudreau made his professional debut with the Saints, playing 30 games in the 1975–76 season and scoring three goals and six assists. The last active Fighting Saints player in major professional hockey was Jack Carlson , who retired after the 1986–87 NHL season with the North Stars (Carlson was also invited to be in Slap Shot , but had to decline as his team

781-427: The 1978–79 season . They played at Market Square Arena . They were the first professional team to secure Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier . The Racers were known in the WHA for their sometimes-fanatical fans. The franchise led the WHA in attendance for the 1976–77 season. The Racers won the 1975–76 WHA Eastern Division championship and swept the rival Cincinnati Stingers in the 1977 WHA playoffs. Notable players for

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852-551: The 1979 NHL expansion draft , they opted to protect defenceman Scott Campbell , who had shown a good deal of promise in the last WHA season. However, Campbell suffered from chronic asthma that was only exacerbated by Winnipeg's frigid weather. The asthma drove him out of the league entirely by 1982. Upon entering the NHL, the Jets were based in the Smythe Division of the Campbell Conference . However, with

923-412: The 1980 draft they picked Dave Babych second overall and in 1981 they drafted future Hall of Fame member Dale Hawerchuk first overall. The team developed a solid core of players by the mid-1980s, with Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen , Paul MacLean , Randy Carlyle , Laurie Boschman , Doug Smail , and David Ellett providing a strong nucleus. Also in 1981, a league-wide realignment placed the Jets with

994-579: The NHL and WHA . Note: This list includes draft picks from both the NHL and WHA . The original Winnipeg Jets retired two numbers in their history. When the Jets relocated to Arizona, the banners of these players also made the move, and these numbers originally remain retired with the Arizona Coyotes , in Jets' colors. Beginning with the 2014–15 season, those numbers were unretired and brought back to circulation; they were still inducted as part of

1065-541: The Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96 . Despite a loyal fan following, serious doubts were raised about whether Winnipeg could continue to support an NHL team. Additionally, their home arena, Winnipeg Arena , was over 40 years old, had no luxury suites, and numerous obstructed-view seats. Faced with mounting losses, Jets owner Barry Shenkarow agreed to sell

1136-723: The 1973–74 season, one Saints home game was carried on KTCA -TV (PBS). No local TV station aired games of the New Fighting Saints. The main sponsors of the Fighting Saints on radio and TV were Schmidt Beer and Midwest Federal. The main sportswriters who covered the Fighting Saints were Charley Hallman of the St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch and John Gilbert of the Minneapolis Tribune . Winnipeg Jets (1972%E2%80%9396) The Winnipeg Jets were

1207-464: The 1978–79 WHA Jets were the competitive equal of most NHL teams, with the possible exceptions of the three-time defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens and the rising New York Islanders . However, the Jets had to pay a very high price for a berth in the more established league. They had to give up three of their top six scorers – the core of the last WHA champion – in a reclamation draft. They were also forced to draft 18th out of 21 teams. In

1278-670: The 1995–96 season, it eventually became apparent that the Spirit of Manitoba consortium was far too undercapitalized to purchase the franchise and underwrite expected losses while a proposed new arena was built. Meanwhile, Gluckstern and Burke failed to reach an agreement with the City of Minneapolis to share the Target Center with the NBA 's Minnesota Timberwolves . They purchased the team nevertheless, but with no suitable alternate venues in

1349-573: The Arizona Coyotes Ring of Honor. After the move to Arizona, number 10 was inducted in honor of Dale Hawerchuk , number 7 was inducted for Keith Tkachuk , and number 27 was inducted for Teppo Numminen . Shane Doan 's number 19 was the only number officially retired by the Coyotes. The current Winnipeg Jets (formerly Atlanta Thrashers ) also honoured both numbers in the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame. Notes: These are

1420-623: The Central was at least the competitive equal of the re-named Pacific Division and the strict division-based playoff bracket had been abandoned. As the NHL expanded in the United States and free agency rules were liberalized, operating costs and salaries grew rapidly; players had the leverage to demand being paid in U.S. dollars league-wide. Until about the early 1990s, Canadian teams were able to pay their players in Canadian dollars, with

1491-618: The Coyotes and thus controlled the Jets' trademarks. However, the franchise's records still belong to the Coyotes. In April 2024, after years of instability, the Coyotes suspended operations, with their assets (including players and hockey operations staff) being transferred to the new Utah Hockey Club . Unlike the Thrashers' relocation to Winnipeg (which saw all records transferred), the Coyotes entered inactivity, with their intellectual property remaining in Phoenix. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo

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1562-562: The Flames in six games, and fans wore white for every home playoff game thereafter. Fans dubbed it the "White Out" which is a prairie term for a winter snow storm. Marketing for the team during the playoff referred to the "charge of the white brigade." In later years, marketing referred to the White Out as "White Noise." Fans of the AHL franchise Manitoba Moose also continued this tradition when

1633-427: The Jets donned their "classic" look, ditching the contrast-colour nameplates and unveiling their famous roundel logo. In 1977 the Jets added a white shoulder yoke on the blue uniform, and the following season, switched from red to blue pants. Upon moving to the NHL in 1979, the Jets unveiled new uniforms. Then-general manager John Ferguson Sr. had been derided for changing the classic New York Rangers uniforms during

1704-478: The Minnesota roster were Jeff Carlson , Steve Carlson , and David Hanson , who played the infamous Hanson Brothers in the 1977 cult movie Slap Shot . (The trio weren't the Saints' only connection to the film: in the 1974 WHA semifinals against Houston , controversial forward Bill "Goldie" Goldthorpe played three games for the Fighting Saints, compiling no points and 25 penalty minutes; Slap Shot featured

1775-555: The NHL (and to still be with the franchise) upon his retirement in 2017. The only other former original Jet playing professionally by that time was Deron Quint , who played in the German DEL in Germany until 2017. The current Winnipeg Jets have acknowledged the original Jets' history on a number of occasions. The original franchise's division and Avco Cup championships currently hang atop the rafters of Canada Life Centre , as are

1846-455: The NHL as "expansion teams" the following season and the WHA itself would cease operations. Cincinnati and Birmingham , the other surviving WHA teams, were paid to disband. Mark Messier also began his career with the Racers in the 1978–79 season, playing five games but failing to register a point before finishing his tryout contract. He was picked up later by Cincinnati for the remainder of

1917-412: The NHL had stringent rules regarding the age of players they could sign while the WHA regularly signed underage players. Skalbania's best-known signing was that of 17-year-old future superstar Wayne Gretzky, who signed a personal services contract worth between $ 1.125 and $ 1.75 million over four to seven years – at the time, one of the largest contracts ever offered a hockey player. The move did not improve

1988-486: The NHL's Minnesota North Stars from 1967 to 1970 on WTCN-TV (now KARE-TV ). Buetel's color commentators included Roger Buxton (1972–73) and Bob Halvorson, the Saints' first-season public relations director (1972–73), and Bill Allard (1973–1976). Al Hirt 's version of " When the Saints Go Marching In " was used as the theme song for WLOL's Fighting Saints broadcasts. No local radio station carried games of

2059-464: The National Anthem. George Nagobads was the team's physician from 1973 to 1976. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes Games of the original Fighting Saints were heard on WLOL Radio (1330 AM) from 1972 to 1976, with Frank Buetel as play-by-play announcer. Buetel was the original TV voice of

2130-477: The New Fighting Saints (1976–77). Fighting Saints games were televised sporadically on WTCN from 1973 to 1975. The first WTCN game was a home contest versus Cleveland on December 23, 1973, with Buetel and Allard simulcasting. Buxton called subsequent games on WTCN. On January 7, 1973, CBS aired its first WHA game between the Fighting Saints and Winnipeg Jets live from the new St. Paul Civic Center with Ron Oakes , Gerry Cheevers and Dick Stockton announcing. In

2201-594: The Norris, the relocation of the Colorado Rockies to New Jersey compelled Winnipeg to return to the more competitive Smythe Division along with the Oilers and Calgary Flames – by some accounts, the two best teams in the league during the second half of the 1980s. Due to the way the playoffs were structured at the time, whenever the Jets made the playoffs, they faced the near-certainty of having to beat either

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2272-428: The Oilers or the Flames (or both) to get to the Campbell Conference finals. At the time, the top four teams in each division made the playoffs, with the regular-season division winner playing against the fourth-place team and the regular-season runner-up playing the third-place team in the division semifinals. The division semifinals winners advanced to the division finals, and the two division final winners would meet in

2343-547: The Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup . The Jets won only one more playoff series, in 1987 (defeating Calgary in the division semifinal before losing to Edmonton in the division final). It was not until the 1993–94 season that further expansion and re-alignment permitted the original Jets to return to the re-branded Central Division (the former Norris Division) of the Western Conference. By this time however,

2414-468: The Oilers. While they managed to dispatch the Flames (with the league's fifth-best record) in four games in the best-of-five division semifinal, they were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Oilers in the division final. In fact, Winnipeg and Edmonton played each other in the playoffs six times between 1983 and 1990 . The Oilers not only won every series, but also held the Jets to only four total victories. Five times (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990),

2485-615: The Racers include Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Pat Stapleton , Dave Keon , Michel Dion and Kim Clackson . The Racers' best-known coach, Jacques Demers , later led the Montreal Canadiens to the 1992–93 Stanley Cup championship. At the time of the Racers' founding, the only other major league competitor was the Indiana Pacers of the similarly-upstart American Basketball Association (ABA). As merger and expansion discussions heated up in both established leagues,

2556-472: The Saints "S" logo on the front, with the word "Saints" across the middle of the "S." (The gold jerseys were rarely used, and were worn only in the first season.) When the Saints left the St. Paul Auditorium for the new Civic Center on January 1, 1973, the familiar "little saint" logo replaced the "S" on the white and blue jerseys. While a halo was part of the team's "little saint" logo in promotions and advertising, it

2627-406: The Saints (called the "New Fighting Saints" in advertising and promotional material) had a winning record through their first 42 games (19–18–5), but owner Nick Mileti was unable to sell the team to local buyers. (Also, the new Saints weren't drawing as well as the old ones: just 6,211 a night, versus the league average of 7,675.) The "New" Fighting Saints played their final game on January 14, 1977,

2698-458: The Thrashers' relocation came up. The new Jets, despite reclaiming the name and subsequently the original franchise's logos, retained the Thrashers franchise records rather than the records of the original Jets. During their history, the Jets retired two numbers: Bobby Hull's #9 and Thomas Steen 's #25. The Coyotes have continued to honor those numbers, and hang their banners in the Jets' old blue-red-white colour scheme. Dale Hawerchuk 's No. 10

2769-737: The Twin Cities area, the Jets' new owners reached an agreement with Jerry Colangelo , owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns , to move the team to Phoenix and become the Phoenix Coyotes . The Jets managed to qualify for the playoffs in their final season in Winnipeg, and played their last game on April 28, 1996, a home playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 4–1. Norm Maciver scored the last goal in Jets history. Winnipeg

2840-443: The WHA wearing blue and white uniforms with red trim. White uniforms featured a blue shoulder yoke, blue numbers and blue-white-red-white-blue waist, sock and sleeve stripes. The blue uniforms were the inverse of their white counterparts minus the contrasting yoke and used red numbers. In the franchise's first season, the uniforms featured the futuristic "Jets" wordmark in front along with red or white player nameplates. Starting in 1974,

2911-465: The conference finals. For example, in 1984–85 , they finished with the fourth-best record in the entire league (behind only Philadelphia , Edmonton and Washington ). They also notched 96 points, which would remain the franchise's best as an NHL team until the 2009–10 Coyotes racked up the franchise's second 100-point season (and first as an NHL team). However, they finished second in the Smythe behind

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2982-416: The exceptions being contracts acquired in trades from U.S. teams. However, since the Canadian teams still collected most of their revenue in Canadian dollars, having to pay players in U.S. dollars proved to be a serious drain on finances given the declining value of the Canadian dollar. For most of their NHL tenure, Winnipeg was the league's second-smallest market, and was set to become the smallest market after

3053-501: The firm position that no surviving Canadian WHA teams would be excluded from a merger, and knowing the NHL was barely willing to even consider taking in a small number of WHA teams, the WHA was not willing to risk upsetting delicate merger negotiations and rebuffed all proposals to add more teams in Canada. Unable to move his team, Skalbania looked elsewhere to gain leverage in the ongoing merger discussions. He turned to underage players –

3124-573: The franchise occurred February 28, 1976, in the lobby of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport , moments before the team was scheduled to board a flight to Cincinnati for a game that night. After the NHL's California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland to become the Cleveland Barons , the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders moved to St. Paul for the 1976–77 season. Like their predecessors, this second version of

3195-527: The honoured numbers of the original Jets who were inducted into the current Jets' Hall of Fame . They have also worn throwback uniforms of the original Jets on a few occasions, and brought back the Whiteout tradition in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The new franchise acquired the trademarks to the name and logo of the original Jets from the NHL when it moved to Winnipeg – at the time, the league directly owned

3266-406: The late 1970s, so he brought most elements of that design to the Jets. Both uniforms featured a thick shoulder stripe that extended through the sleeves, along with another thick stripe on the waist. In addition, the blue uniforms now featured white numbers with red trim and a white inverse of the team's logo in front. In 1987, the Jets added a "Goals for Kids" patch which remained a prominent figure on

3337-623: The league's final season against Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers . Another notable accomplishment was the Jets' 5–3 victory over the Soviet National team on January 5, 1978. In the WHA's last season, Kent Nilsson scored 107 points, while Morris Lukowich had 65 goals, and Peter Sullivan had 46 goals and 86 points. During the Avco Cup Finals, Gary Smith gave up the last goal in WHA history to Dave Semenko in

3408-486: The league's other Central Time Zone teams in the Norris Division , which over the course of the decade would become the weakest division in the league. Led by Hawerchuk, Steen, Babych and Carlyle, the Jets returned to respectability fairly quickly, and made the playoffs 11 times in the next 15 years. However, regular-season success did not transfer over into the playoffs. This was because after just one season in

3479-632: The new St. Paul Civic Center , which opened in January 1973. The first game in the new arena was on January 1, 1973, a 4–4 overtime tie with the Houston Aeros . The team colors were royal blue, white and new gold. The name was taken from the St. Paul Saints of the Central Hockey League, who had used the nickname "Fighting Saints" in promotional material. The team originally had three sets of jerseys—white, blue and gold—all bearing

3550-538: The playoffs nor had a losing record. Perhaps even more impressively, given that they were in direct competition with the Minnesota North Stars of the established National Hockey League , the Fighting Saints always drew more fans than the WHA average. On a few occasions, the Fighting Saints drew more fans than their local NHL rivals. They also boasted a handful of expensive marquee players such as Mike Walton , Dave Keon and John McKenzie . Eventually, it

3621-470: The question of Indianapolis' inclusion proved a complicated one. Both the NBA and the NHL believed Indianapolis was far too small to support teams in both sports in the long term, and were reluctant to risk the embarrassment of placing a failed franchise there. For this reason among others, the Pacers were seen for a long time to have a slim chance to be included in the eventual ABA-NBA merger . Nevertheless, to

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3692-565: The rest of the WHA's teams, gave the league instant credibility and paved the way for other NHL stars to bolt to the upstart league. The Jets were the first North American club to seriously explore Europe as a source of hockey talent. Winnipeg's fortunes were bolstered by acquisitions such as Swedish forwards Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson , who starred with Hull on the WHA's most famous and successful forward line (nicknamed "the Hot Line"), and defenceman Lars-Erik Sjoberg , who would serve as

3763-487: The season, before being selected by the Oilers in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft . Messier retired in 2004 as the last active player to have played in the WHA, and also the last active player to have played for the Racers. Skalbania himself would ultimately become an NHL owner a year after the merger when he fronted a Calgary-based ownership group that purchased the Atlanta Flames and moved them north, where they became

3834-457: The surprise of many sports fans and pundits of the time the Pacers were ultimately included in the merger, so that starting in 1976, the WHA would have to compete with the established NBA in Indiana. While the Racers continued to attract strong fan support for awhile, this turned out to be the beginning of the end for the team. The Racers' demise came under the stewardship of Nelson Skalbania ,

3905-525: The team briefly relocated to St. John's, Newfoundland, as the St. John's IceCaps , as did fans of the "IceCap's White Out" and "Coyotes White Out", respectively. When the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg as the second incarnation of the Jets, they brought back the White Out tradition for all playoff appearances for the Jets. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties minutes Notes: Note: This list includes Jets captains from both

3976-504: The team to American businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke for $ 65 million. They planned to move the team to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region (which had lost the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas in 1993. In response, a local consortium called the Spirit of Manitoba was assembled. While they persuaded Shenkarow to delay the proposed sale to American interests long enough that the Jets ultimately remained in Winnipeg for

4047-559: The team was broke, and the players would continue to play without pay. (Belisle's group withdrew its backing at the start of the season.) A permanent buyer was never found, and the players received one paycheck in the final two months. The Fighting Saints' last game was played February 25, 1976, at the Civic Center, a 2–1 overtime loss to the San Diego Mariners in front of an announced crowd of 6,011. The decision to fold

4118-514: The team's captain and win accolades as the WHA's best defenceman. Behind these players and other European stars such as Willy Lindstrom , Kent Nilsson , Veli-Pekka Ketola , leavened by players such as Peter Sullivan , Norm Beaudin and goaltender Joe Daley , the Jets were the most successful team in the short-lived WHA. The team made the finals in five of the WHA's seven seasons, winning the Avco World Trophy three times, including in

4189-406: The team's desperate financial situation, and just eight games into the 1978–79 season Skalbania liquidated his greatest asset to his old friend and former (and future) business partner, Peter Pocklington , owner of the Edmonton Oilers . Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll , paying a reported $ 700,000 for the contracts of

4260-460: The three players, although the announced price was $ 850,000. The Racers folded 17 games later on December 15, 1978, ending major league hockey in Indianapolis. The other six WHA teams finished the season, and before the Winnipeg Jets won the 1979 Avco World Trophy , the league accepted the terms of a merger with the NHL whereby Edmonton, Winnipeg , Quebec , and New England would enter

4331-483: The top-ten-point-scorers in Winnipeg Jets history, combining NHL and WHA totals. Legend: Pos = position; GP = gpmes played; G = goals; A = assists; Pts = points; P/G = points per game Indianapolis Racers The Indianapolis Racers were a major league ice hockey team that played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1974 to 1978. They competed in four full seasons before folding 25 games into

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4402-403: The uniforms until the relocation. In 1990, the Jets unveiled their final uniform design, featuring the updated crest in front and contrasting sleeve and waist stripes. They also switched back to red pants. The current incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets employs a different uniform design and logo, although they occasionally use the "old" Jets uniform as an alternate jersey . For the 2021 season ,

4473-595: Was February 17, 1973). Sonmor coached the Saints again during their final season, 1976–77. Neale became head coach of the New England Whalers after the original Saints folded in 1976, and later coached the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League . The Saints' public address announcers included Al Tighe (1973–74) and Rod Trongard (1974–1977). Team organists included Rob Meads (1973–1976) and Ronnie Newman (1976–77). Jim Bowers often sang

4544-425: Was added in 2006, in the Coyotes' current sand-red-black scheme. Another tradition that was retained when the franchise moved to Phoenix was the "whiteout", in which fans wore all white to home playoff games. Shane Doan , drafted seventh overall by the Jets in the 1995 NHL entry draft prior to their last season in Winnipeg, and who played his rookie season in Winnipeg, was the last original Jet to still be active in

4615-413: Was granted a five-year window to construct a new arena in the Phoenix area, upon which automatic expansion would have been triggered to "re-activate" the Coyotes. However, in late June, Meruelo opted to discontinue his efforts to build an arena and re-activate the team, ceding the Coyotes intellectual property back to the NHL, and leaving the fate of the Jets/Coyotes records uncertain. The Jets debuted in

4686-586: Was granted one of the founding franchises in the WHA. The original owner was Ben Hatskin , a local figure who made his wealth in cardboard shipping containers. The team took their name from the Winnipeg Jets of the Western Canada Hockey League . The Jets' first signing was Norm Beaudin (earning the player the moniker of "the Original Jet"), while the first major signing was Bobby Hull . Hull's acquisition, partially financed by

4757-688: Was in the playoffs, so his role was recast). The last Saint regularly playing in pro hockey was Bruce Boudreau, who played in the American Hockey League until 1992. (In 1996, Mike Antonovich came out of retirement as a player-coach, playing a few games in the United Hockey League .) Glen Sonmor was the Saints general manager throughout their history. Sonmor coached the Saints for the first part of their inaugural season. When Sonmor gave up his coaching duties, assistant coach Harry Neale took over as head coach (his first game

4828-408: Was never used on the jersey. At the outset, the Saints had a policy of favoring local players, with the 1972–73 roster featuring no fewer than 11 athletes who were either born in Minnesota or were at least American citizens (as in the case of former Team USA players Keith Christiansen , George Konik and Carl Wetzel ). This was almost unheard of in the early 1970s, when few NHL or WHA teams had even

4899-730: Was not left without a professional ice hockey team for the 1996–97 season as the International Hockey League 's Minnesota Moose moved to Winnipeg to become the Manitoba Moose a few months after the Jets left town. The NHL ultimately returned to Winnipeg 15 years later, with the Atlanta Thrashers relocating to become the second incarnation of the Jets franchise which is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment . Prior to this, True North submitted

4970-491: Was released in the 2022–23 season . The Winnipeg White Out is a hockey tradition that dates back to 1987 when fans were asked to wear white clothing to home playoff games, creating a very intimidating effect and atmosphere. It was created as a response to the "C of Red" created by fans of the Calgary Flames , whom the home-town Jets were facing in the first round of the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs . The Jets eliminated

5041-629: Was the team's high payroll that largely contributed to its demise. Without a marketable star in Gordie Howe or Bobby Hull 's mold, the Saints were unable to secure a lucrative television deal. As a result, even above-WHA average gate receipts were not enough to overcome the team's financial woes. In 1975–76, the Saints had a record of 30–25–4 and were second in the West behind the Houston Aeros when they ceased operations because of financial struggles. Saints officials announced on December 31, 1975, that

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