Imagine your city loses its beloved professional
sports team. Oh man, that is rough. Right. We
are talking about the team you grew up watching,
the colors you proudly wore to school. The players
you completely idolized. Exactly. And then, one
day, they're just gone. Packed into moving trucks
and shipped across the border. Leaving a massive
void. And so you wait. You wait 15 long years
enduring these harsh prairie winters, watching
other cities celebrate championships. Wondering
if the highest level of the game is ever going
to come back to your hometown. Yeah, I wonder
if it's gone forever. And then finally, a group
of local business leaders quietly pulls off this
absolute miracle. They purchase another city's
struggling team just to bring the game back home
to you. It's an incredible scenario. It really
is. So today we are taking a deep dive into the
comprehensive Wikipedia history of the Winnipeg
Jets. And it is quite a history. It is. Our mission
for this deep dive is to explore the complete
kind of complicated resurrection and evolution
of this NHL franchise. We're looking at everything
from its notoriously dismal early days in Atlanta.
Down in Georgia, yeah. Right, all the way through
to becoming the absolute powerhouse that captured
the 2024 -2025 President's Trophy. And perhaps
most importantly, we want to see how a team navigates
the complicated ghosts of its own past. Because
there are a lot of ghosts here. So many. Okay,
let's unpack this. Where does the story of the
modern Winnipeg Jets actually begin? Because,
I mean, they didn't start out playing in Manitoba.
No, they didn't. To really understand the heights
this team eventually reached, you have to look
far south of the Canadian border. Right. The
franchise that plays in Winnipeg today actually
began in 1999 as an expansion team. The Atlanta
Thrashers. The Thrashers, yeah. And their time
in Georgia was, well, by almost every metric
available in our sources, a deeply difficult
run. That is putting it mildly. Over their 12
years operating in Atlanta, they managed to qualify
for the Stanley Cup playoffs only one single
time. Just once in over a decade. Yeah, just
once, which happened during the 2006 -2007 season.
I mean, I know expansion teams usually struggle
out of the gate. Building a roster from scratch
is hard, but a decade without sustained success
seems uniquely rough. It was. Did they at least
make some noise when they finally got into the
postseason? They didn't. They were swept in the
first round. Oh, wow. Yeah, meaning they recorded
zero playoff game wins in over a decade of existence
in Atlanta. That has to take a toll on the fan
base. Absolutely. Yeah. And this prolonged lack
of on -ice success. naturally bled into the business
side of the franchise. Like ticket sales and
everything. Right. They were dealing with mounting
financial losses and these really complex ownership
disputes within their own investment group. And
attendance. Steadily dwindling in their final
seasons. It basically became an open secret in
the NHL community that the Thrashers were in
deep trouble and potentially on the move. Which
obviously opens the door for a rescue mission
or I guess a relocation bid. But what stands
out to me in the source material is the strategy
used by the group that eventually brought the
team to Winnipeg. It was very unique. Because
usually when a professional sports team is up
for grabs, you see these billionaires making
grand public declarations. Holding press conferences.
Fighting in the press, promising the moon to
local politicians. But the Winnipeg group took
a completely different path, didn't they? They
took a highly calculated, almost silent approach.
Silent. Yeah. The ownership group in question
here is True North Sports and Entertainment,
led by their chairman, Mark Chipman. Okay. To
appreciate their strategy, you have to contrast
it with what was happening around the league
at that specific time. Right. There was a lot
of drama with other teams. Exactly. You had figures
like Jim Balsillie making these highly aggressive,
very public bids to buy teams. Oh, right. The
Blackberry guy. Yes. He'd even attempted to use
bankruptcy courts to basically skirt NHL relocation
rules and force the Phoenix Coyotes to move to
Hamilton, Ontario. That is wild. Just trying
to force the league's hand legally. And the NHL
exec. particularly Commissioner Gary Bettman,
they did not appreciate that combative litigious
style at all. Well, yeah, that makes total sense.
Nobody likes being backed into a corner by a
rogue billionaire. Precisely. So how did True
North play their hand differently? True North
operated with strict professional discretion.
No leaks, no grandstanding. They had already
proven themselves as reliable partners by successfully
running an American Hockey League franchise in
Winnipeg. For years. A Manitoba moose. Right.
So when they engaged the NHL about buying the
Thrashers, they kept the negotiations entirely
behind closed doors. They respected the league's
processes. Building trust instead of forcing
a legal battle. Exactly. Because of that quiet
professionalism, Bettman and the other owners
developed a deep trust in Mark Chipman. And that
trust pays off. It did. It ultimately allowed
True North to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers
in May of 2011. I'm curious about the financial
reality of a deal like that, though, because
moving an NHL team isn't just about buying the
roster. There are usually heavy fees involved
when you cross state or, in this case, national
lines. Oh, it was a massive financial commitment.
The reported purchase price for the franchise
was $170 million. Wow. And on top of that, True
North had to pay a $60 million relocation fee
that went directly to the NHL. $60 million just
for the right to move them. Yep. And securing
the team is really only half the battle here.
Winnipeg is famously one of the smallest markets
in the league. Very true. So the NHL Board of
Governors needed proof that the city could actually
support a massive modern payroll. They required
True North to launch a season ticket drive to
prove the market's viability before the... puck
ever dropped a drive to 13 000 is what they call
it right and the response from the fans seems
like the ultimate validation for anyone who ever
doubted canadian hockey markets what exactly
happened when those tickets went on sale so true
north set that target to sell 13 000 season tickets
they gave a brief priority window to the existing
season ticket holders of their minor league team
the moose makes sense reward the loyal locals
right But once the remaining ticket opened up
to the general public on June 4th, the entire
allotment sold out in exactly 17 minutes. 17
minutes? 17 minutes. You can barely order a pizza
in 17 minutes, and they sold out a professional
arena for a multi -year commitment. It was unprecedented,
and the demand didn't even stop there. True North
quickly opened a season ticket waiting list.
How fast did that fill up? Within two hours,
8 ,000 people had signed up. They literally had
to cap the list and shut it down. That is insane.
And if you look at the secondary market data
for their home opener that October, tickets were
averaging $713. Just for a regular season opener.
Yep, with some prime seats listed well over $1
,700. Just to get in the building, that is a
profound level of pent -up demand. What's fascinating
here is what this specific event says about sports
markets and community identity. Yeah, tell me
more about that. Well, relocations usually destroy
a fan base. They leave a trail of bitterness,
empty arenas, and broken civic trust in the city
losing the team. Like what happened in Atlanta.
Right. But in this case, the relocation of a
failing asset from Atlanta instantly mobilized
an entire Canadian province. Because it went
so much more to them. Exactly. For the people
of Manitoba, this wasn't just about buying an
entertainment product. It was about reclaiming
a piece of their civic pride that they felt had
been unfairly stripped away back in 1996 when
the original team left. Which brings us to perhaps
the most suspenseful part of that entire summer,
the branding. Oh, this is a great story. Because
True North bought the franchise, but they didn't
acquire the Thrasher's name or logo in the transaction.
Right. The Atlanta ownership group retained those
rights. And True North was remarkably secretive
about what the new identity would be. Naturally,
the public desperately wanted them to reuse the
name Winnipeg Jets, which was the city's original
franchise from the World Hockey Association days.
Everybody wanted the Jets back. But looking at
the history, there was a massive legal hurdle
standing in the way of using that name, wasn't
there? There was a significant legal knot to
untangle. When the original Winnipeg Jets left
Canada in 1996, they relocated to Arizona and
became the Phoenix Coyotes. Right. So legally
speaking, the Coyotes organization owned all
the trademarks, the history, and the naming rights
associated with the old Jets. You can't just
steal another team's IP. Exactly. A new ownership
group in Winnipeg couldn't just casually start
using the intellectual property of a completely
different franchise playing in the desert. But
there is a wild twist in the source material
regarding the coyotes at that specific moment
in time. Yes. The timing was remarkably serendipitous.
At the exact time True North was finalizing the
purchase of the Thrashers, the Phoenix Coyotes
franchise was going through bankruptcy proceedings.
They were bankrupt. Yeah. And as a result, the
Coyotes were literally being owned and operated
by the NHL itself. Oh, wow. So the league had
taken over. Right. Because the league temporarily
controlled the Coyotes, they also controlled
the old Jets' trademarks. That is such a lucky
break. It really was. This allowed the NHL to
easily grant True North permission to revive
the Winnipeg Jets name. The stars completely
aligned and True North kept this a total secret
right up until the 2011 NHL draft, which was
being held in Minnesota. Everyone was waiting.
Mark Chipman steps up to the podium, introduces
his newly hired general manager Kevin Sheveldayoff,
and Sheveldayoff steps to the microphone to announce
they are making their first pick on behalf of
the Winnipeg Jets. The hockey world just erupted.
I can imagine. But once the excitement settled,
they still had a major design problem to solve.
They did. You can't just copy and paste the old
1990s logo onto the new jerseys. Because technically
this is a different legal franchise. Right. And
you want to signal the dawn of a new era rather
than just acting as a tribute band to the past.
They needed to execute a complex branding pivot.
I think this is a great case study for anyone
trying to build a brand that balances deep nostalgia
with a distinct modern aesthetic. How did they
bridge that gap visually? Well, instead of leaning
purely on the old hockey designs, they drew inspiration
from a completely different pillar of local history.
Okay. They designed a new primary logo and a
color scheme centered around specific shades
called Polar Night Blue and Aviator Blue. Sounds
very military. It is. This entire design package
was a direct authorized homage to the Royal Canadian
Air Force, or the RCAF. Specifically, it honors
Winnipeg's 17 -wing base, right? I love the details
in this. The details are incredible. The primary
logo is patterned directly after the roundels
used by the RCAF. And if you look closely, the
center incorporates the precise silhouette of
a McDonnell Douglas CF -18 Hornet. Yeah, an actual
fighter jet. And they even negotiated permission
from the Toronto Maple Leafs to use a specific
style of red maple leaf in the design to ensure
it looked authentic to the military roundel.
And their partnership with the RCAF has only
deepened over the years. It elevates the visual
identity from a standard sports logo. into a
piece of national heritage. Do you have an example
of that? A perfect example from our sources occurred
recently during the 2023 -2024 season when the
team unveiled their 48 heritage uniforms. Oh,
those powder blue uniforms are stunning. What
was the specific historical tie -in for those?
Those were designed to coincide with the RCAF's
centennial anniversary. The team wore a powder
blue base, affectionately nicknamed RCAF Blue,
which served as a tribute to the Ottawa RCAF
Flyers. And who were they? That was a military
hockey team that won the gold medal for Team
Canada in the 1948 Winter Olympics. Wow. Yeah,
by weaving this military history into their aesthetic.
the Jets anchored themselves to something much
larger than just professional sports. It's brilliant
marketing, honestly, but they didn't completely
abandon their more recent kind of quirky history
either. I want to talk about their mascot because
it's such a fun detail. Oh, I love the mascot
story. When the new Jets arrived, they needed
someone to entertain the crowds. Instead of paying
a design firm millions to invent a completely
new character, what did they do? They went with
a very pragmatic and endearing solution. They
simply promoted their existing minor league mascot.
Nice. Mickey Moose had spent 15 seasons entertaining
crowds for the American Hockey League's Manitoba
Moose. A veteran. A true veteran. True North
brought him up to the NHL level, outfitted him
with a vintage leather aviator helmet to match
the new branding, and introduced him to the Jets
crowd. It's the ultimate minor league to major
league success story. The mascot got called up
to the big leagues. He really did. But beyond
the branding and the mascots, the actual in -arena
experience in Winnipeg is famous for being incredibly
intense. The traditions this fan base has cultivated
are visceral. You can feel it through the television
screen starting right at the national anthem.
The anthem tradition is a perfect reflection
of the city's gratitude. How so? During the singing
of O Canada. When the performer reaches the lyric,
the true north strong and free, the entire arena
of 15 ,000 fans shouts the words true north in
unison. That must be deafening. It is a massive
unified vocal tribute to true north sports and
entertainment for rescuing the game and bringing
it back to their city. And when the postseason
rolls around, they turn the dial up even further
with the Winnipeg Whiteout. Where did that specific
visual tradition originate? The whiteout is a
fascinating piece of sports sociology that actually
dates back to 1987. Back with the original Jets.
Right. Fans of the original Jets franchise were
encouraged to wear entirely white clothing to
home playoff games. This was organized as a direct
visual counterattack to the sea of red created
by fans of their fierce division rivals, the
Calgary Flames. Ah, I see. A color war. Exactly.
And it resulted in this blinding, intimidating
sea of white clothing in the stands. And they
brought it back. When this new iteration of the
franchise finally qualified for their first Stanley
Cup playoffs in 2015, the fans instantly resurrected
the tradition without missing a beat. That seamless
blend of old and new traditions brings up a really
thorny issue, though. When you resurrect a beloved
brand like the Jets, but legally, your franchise
history belongs to the Atlanta Thrashers. How
do you handle things like retired numbers? It
is a delicate balance. Because the history of
those iconic original Jets jerseys technically
belongs to a completely different organization
playing in a different city. It requires an immense
amount of grace from the management. The current
Jets organization does not officially retire
the jersey numbers of the original Jets. Because
those official records belong to the Coyotes
lineage. Strictly speaking, yes. But they still
find ways to honor those original legends respectfully.
Like how? A great example from the source material
involves Bobby Hall. His number nine was retired
by the original franchise. When the new team
arrived in 2011, their young star Evander Kane
wanted to wear that number. That could have been
controversial. It could have been, but he actually
sought out and received Bobby Hull's personal
blessing to wear number nine, bridging the gap
between the two eras nicely. It shows a lot of
respect, but the current franchise doesn't just
honor the hockey legends of the 70s and 80s.
They also have to carry the history of the Thrashers
with them. They do. And that includes some very
heavy emotional weight. There have been deep
tragedies within both the Atlanta and True North
families that the team continues to honor today.
Yes, and these tributes are incredibly poignant.
Let's look at goaltender Connor Hellebike, who
has been the absolute backbone of this current
team. Right. He wears the number 37. That number
holds deep significance because it was worn by
Dan Snyder. And who was Dan Snyder? He was an
Atlanta Thrashers player who tragically died
as a result of a car crash in 2003. Oh, that's
awful. The franchise had not issued that number
to any player since his death. But when Hellebike
arrived, he requested to wear it. and does so
with the explicit blessing of the Snyder family.
Wow, carrying that memory forward. There is also
the heartbreaking story of Rick Ripien, which
the organization has handled with so much care.
That one hit very close to home for Winnipeg.
Right. Ripien was a former Manitoba Moose player
who had just signed a contract to play for the
newly relocated Jets right before their inaugural
2011 season. Tragically, He passed away before
ever getting the chance to play a single game
for the Jets. And the team stepped up. The organization
responded to that loss by turning their grief
into meaningful action. They established Project
11, which is a comprehensive mental health awareness
initiative designed for students. That is a beautiful
legacy. It is. Furthermore, to this day, you
will see Jets players wearing small number 11
stickers on the backs of their helmets to honor
him. Every single game. Every game. If we connect
this to the bigger picture, a sports team is
so much more than a business or a localized entertainment
product. It functions as a living memorial. It
holds the collective memory of the city, honoring
both its highest triumphs and its deepest tragedies.
Carrying all that emotional weight, playing in
front of a fan base that sold out an arena in
17 minutes, that is an immense amount of pressure
on the athletes. Tremendous pressure. The fans
desperately needed an on -ice triumph to validate
all that loyalty. How long did it take for the
product on the ice to actually reward the people
in the stands? It certainly wasn't an overnight
success. The management team had to patiently
rebuild the roster they inherited from Atlanta.
Which means lots of draft picks. Exactly, which
required years of drafting and developing young
talent. But the watershed moment finally arrived
during the 2017 -2018 season. Six or seven years
later. Right. The ghosts of those old Thrashers'
playoff failures were conclusively busted. On
April 11, 2018, they defeated the Minnesota Wilds
3 -2. And why was that game so important? That
was the first playoff game victory in the entire
combined history of the Atlanta and Winnipeg
franchise. I can only imagine the relief in that
building. To finally get that monkey off their
back. The roof almost blew off the arena. And
they didn't stop at just one game, did they?
Not at all. Nine days later, they thoroughly
defeated the Wilds 5 -0 to win the series, four
games to one. A shout out to Quinchit. Yeah.
That marked the city of Winnipeg's first playoff
series victory in 31 years. 31 years. The source
material describes total elation in the streets,
with fans flooding the downtown intersections
to celebrate. They pushed all the way to the
Western Conference Finals that year. So they
broke the curse and established themselves as
contenders. But that 2018 run wasn't actually
the peak of their regular season dominance? No.
The best was yet to come. Let's pivot to the
absolute pinnacle of this franchise's history,
the 2024 -2025 season. This is where the long
-term vision of True North fully materialized.
The 2024 -2025 season is an undisputed masterpiece
in Jets lore. Tell me about it. Well, under the
strategic guidance of head coach Scott Arneal
and the steady leadership of team captain Adam
Lowry, the Winnipeg Jets accomplished something
the franchise had never done before. The president's
trophy. They won the president's trophy. They
dominated the regular season, notching an astounding
56 wins and finishing with 116 points. Winning
56 games in the modern, charity -driven NHL is
incredibly difficult. It requires consistency
every single night. And the individual statistics
from that season are just jaw -dropping. We talked
earlier about Connor Hellebyke honoring Dan Snyder
by wearing number 37. Well, Hellebyke honored
that jersey by putting up 47 wins and eight shutouts
that season. It was a monumental performance
for a goaltender. But while the team was dominating
the league standings, there was also a fascinating
internal battle happening for the franchise's
all -time points record. Right, because by the
time the 2024 -2025 season rolled around... The
team had been in Winnipeg long enough for its
own modern legends to completely rewrite the
record books. No more comparing to the Atlanta
days. Exactly. You had Blake Wheeler and Mark
Scheifel, two players who had been foundational
pieces for the franchise, battling for the top
spot. A friendly rivalry. Wheeler ended his tenure
with the team having recorded 812 points, firmly
cementing his legacy. But Scheifel was right
on his heels, crossing the 800 -point threshold
with 804 points. And there is something so poetic
about Mark Scheifel chasing that record. He was
literally the very first draft pick Kevin Shovel
Dayoff made back in 2011, right after announcing
the Jets name to the world. From draft day to
franchise legend. To watch that kid grow up to
be the engine of a 116 point president's trophy
winning team is incredible storytelling. It really
is. OK, let's untack this. So what does this
all mean? It means that the product on the ice.
finally, undeniably matched the ferocious loyalty
of the fans. The faith of the people who bought
out that season ticket drive over a decade earlier
was entirely justified. Absolutely. When you
look at the entire scope of the source material,
the Winnipeg Jets serve as a master class in
how to correct a historical wrong. That's a great
way to phrase it. They took an exceptionally
messy legal lineage, an expansion team from Atlanta,
burdened with a losing culture. and they successfully
merged it with the fierce frozen heritage of
a Canadian prairie city. It shouldn't have worked,
but it did. They proved. that passionate markets
can overcome decades of disappointment, provided
that the ownership genuinely respects the community
they operate in. And I think there is a profound
takeaway here for you listening right now. Whether
you are running a business, trying to build a
brand, or you are just a passionate fan of the
game, the story of the Jets proves that understanding
and respecting your audience's history is the
ultimate key to success. Drew North didn't come
in and dictate to Winnipeg how things were going
to be. No, I didn't. They listened. They brought
back the beloved name. They honored the Air Force.
They paid quiet, respectful tribute to the fallen.
They built trust in the community long before
they ever built a 116 -point roster. They didn't
try to erase the difficult parts of their past.
They integrated them. And that thoughtful integration
created a bond with the city that is practically
unbreakable today. Which leaves us with one final
lingering question to mull over. It's something
that isn't explicitly resolved in the Wikipedia
pages, the legal documents or the record books,
but it builds on everything we've just discussed
today. When a franchise packs up and moves, where
does its soul truly reside? That's a tough one.
If the original Jets legally became the Coyotes,
who, as of our sources, are currently an inactive
franchise, and the Atlanta Thrashers legally
became the new Jets, do a team's true records
and history belong to the legal paperwork stored
in a filing cabinet at the NHL League office?
Or do they belong exclusively to the fans who
originally sat in those freezing arenas, painted
their faces blue and white, and cheered them
on through the bitter winters? It's something
to think about the next time you see a beloved
team pack up a moving van in the middle of the
night. Until next time, keep diving deep.