I guess you didn't know this, but I'm
kind of a hockey fan (Canadian stereotype, I know). Not so much of
today's hockey – I couldn't even name half of this year's all stars
– but more so of vintage/retro hockey. I'm talking the 1980's and
1990's. This is probably thanks to the abundance of overproduced,
unsold backstock of early 1990's hockey cards that my brothers and I
were able to buy from just about any dollar store around the turn of
the century.
This month is the Stanley Cup playoffs
and I wanted to write something hockey-related. And since I don't
know terribly much about the current NHL scene, I thought it would be
fun to go look back at some NHL teams that no longer exist. So for
the next few weeks I'm putting together my choice of all-time lineups
for the three former WHA teams that no longer exist, starting with
the Winnipeg Jets.
The World Hockey Association was set up
in 1972 as a rival to the NHL for the North American professional
hockey market. It wasn't the first David league to try to take on the
Goliath supremacy of the NHL, but it was perhaps the most popular and
least-unsuccessful. The WHA took advantage of the lack of
professional teams in major Western and Midwestern cities and it paid
its star players much better than the NHL (luring away some of the
best players of the day). It also made headway in signing players
from Europe, a new thing at the time. The rivalry between the two
leagues was intense, although mergers were being talked about all the
time. Unfortunately by the late 70's, the WHA was in a state of
financial distress and teams were always relocating and/or folding. A
merger in1979 brought the upstart WHA to an end, with four of its
best teams – Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques,
and Winnipeg Jets – joining the NHL for the 1979-80 season.
The Jets' transition to the grand old
league was pretty bad. Their first two years saw them finish dead
last in the standings, including one year in which they only recorded
9 victories. However this did allow them to get some good
draft picks in (Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Babych) and by the mid-1980's
the Jets had a solid line up and were able to make the playoffs in 10
of the next 12 years. While the Jets would typically do well in the
regular season (peaking in a fourth place finish in the 1984-85
season), they had the misfortune of facing either the red hot Calgary
Flames or the unstoppable Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs. Throughout
its history Winnipeg won only two playoff series (both against the
Calgary), and the team's performance fell into mediocrity in the
mid-1990's.
By the mid-90's, Canadian NHL teams
were in trouble. Costs and player salaries were rising, the Canadian
dollar was falling, and the league's new commissioner/pimp Gary
Bettman was more interested in shoving hockey teams into large
southern US cities that have never even seen ice before. The Jets
simply didn't have a large enough market base to support a team, so
the franchise was relocated in 1996 to Phoenix, Arizona, of
all places. I mean, blimey!
Since then, the Phoenix Coyotes – now
called the Arizona Coyotes – have been a pretty unremarkable team.
Though they've made the playoffs several times, they've only made it
past the first round once. Not only that, but the Coyotes
organization has long suffered major difficulties, struggling to (A) gain
a decent audience (despite dirt-cheap tickets and a huge television
market), (B) build a proper arena in which people can actually see a
hockey game, (C) find someone in Arizona who actually wants to own the
damn team, and (D) avoid bankruptcy (which was declared in 2009). So
yeah, pretty much sums up all that's wrong with Gary Bettman's
business mindset.
The Jets never won any division titles. The last remaining Jets player in the
NHL is Shane Doan, who is still active today with the Arizona
Coyotes.
So let's get on with my choice for the
all-time Jets lineup. Just to be clear, only these players' NHL
achievements with the Jets (not the Coyotes) will be considered for
this team's inclusion. I've tried sticking to players who have spent
at least 200 games with the club. Also, I'm not a complete expert at
coaching hockey and building teams, so if any of the following
choices sound strange to you, relax. These are just my personal
picks.
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Keith Tkachuk (1991-96) | Dale Hawerchuk (1981-90) | Teemu Selanne (1992-96) |
| Morris Lukowich (1979-85) | Alexei Zhamnov (1992-96) | Paul MacLean (1981-88) |
| Brian Mullen (1982-87) | Thomas Steen (1981-95) | Pat Elynuik (1987-92) |
| Mike Eagles (1990-95) | Laurie Boschman (1982-90) | Kris King (1992-96) |
I've filled the first line, as always,
with the team's most gifted scorers: future Hall of Famer and career
Jets points leader Hawerchuk (pictured, left), the aggressive 50-goal
scoring power forward Tkachuk, and Selanne, who recorded a
mind-blowing 76 goals and 132 points in his rookie year. The
second line is loaded with three fine playmakers and goalscorers,
with some added toughness from MacLean (pictured, centre). The third
line is a lot like the second line, but without the aggression. Could
be better. The fourth line is where all the tough guys are: defensive
forward Eagles, determined two-way playmaker Boschman (pictured,
right), and the rugged King. As you can see, most of the forwards are
heavily focused on scoring. While there is some toughness throughout,
the Winnipeg Jets' all-time roster isn't all that rich in defensive
forwards.
Honourable mentions: Dave Christian,
Lucien DuBois, Eddie Olczyk
Defencemen
| Dave Babych (1980-86) | Phil Housley (1990-93) |
| Teppo Numminen (1988-96) | Fredrik Olausson (1986-94) |
| Randy Carlyle (1983-93) | Peter Taglianetti (1984-90) |
The Jets have had some pretty good
defencemen over the years. The first pairing – Babych and Housley
(pictured, left) – provide a wealth of playmaking ability, with
Babych also delivering on a strong defensive style of play. Numminen
is a solid rock on the blueline while Olausson (pictured, right) is
good at moving up the puck during the powerplay. The third pairing
adds some much needed aggression as well as some exceptional
positional play from Carlyle. Not a bad defensive corps, if I do say
so myself.
Honourable mention: Mario Marois
Goaltenders
| Bob Essenza (1988-94) |
| Nikolai Khabibulin (1994-96) |
Winnipeg wasn't exactly blessed with a
plethora of outstanding goalies. But if I had to choose a starting
goaltender for this all-time team it would be Bob Essenza (pictured).
He had a winning record, one 30-win season, and was a second runner
up for Vezina Trophy voting in 1991-92.
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