History of the Jets

The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The franchise was founded in 1972 as one of the original World Hockey Association (WHA) members. After five seasons in the WHA, they joined the National Hockey League (NHL) when it merged with their league for its 1979–80 season. Due to financial difficulties, the Jets moved to Phoenix and became known as Arizona Coyotes after the 1996-97 NHL season.

In 2011, True North Sports & Entertainment bought an Atlanta Thrashers franchise and relocated them back to Winnipeg, where they were renamed “Jets” again by popular demand from fans who had been missing an NHL team since 1996. In the 2015-16 season under head coach Paul Maurice's guidance, Jets made playoffs for the first time since relocating back to Canada but lost 4 games against Anaheim Ducks during the Western Conference First-Round series. Despite this early exit from postseason action that year marked a milestone achievement for the Canadian club, which hadn't seen playoff action on home soil since the 1990s when the original version of the organization competed at the highest level before moving southward across the border into the United States two decades prior.

Since then, Winnipeg has become a perennial contender within Central Division despite having limited resources compared with larger market teams such as Chicago Blackhawks or St Louis Blues. They have also developed core groups of players like Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, or Jacob Trouba, around whom the entire roster is built each year, making sure that competitive spirit remains high despite the fact there isn’t necessarily enough money available to spend freely on free agents every summer. With the right kind of leadership both off -and –on ice, these days future looks bright indeed, even if Stanley Cup victory still eludes a city located near the geographic center of Canada today just the same way it did several generations ago during the heyday former incarnation of same beloved hockey squad known simply affectionately as ‘Jets’ amongst locals here northern part world.