Best player in franchise history-Winnipeg Jets

[toothlessgoon]

you're nuts.

Kovalchuk is not a Jet dude. Hawerchuk is.

Funny how when you go to the Jets page on the league website and look at the all-time leaders, you can see Thrashers players there.

 

[um]

Funny how when you go to the Jets page on the league website and look at the all-time leaders, you can see Thrashers players there.

I just wonder if they'll retire Kovalchuk's number eventually, being such a legend for the Winnipeg Jets.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Came to say Dale. I know he was listed under the Phoenix team but he was a Jet.

I think of the current Jets as Jets 2.0 stemming from Trashers and having no other relation to Jets that joined the league from WHA than name only. It's Kovalchuk for the franchise but voted Wheeler due Kovalchuk never played for this team.

 

[Regal]

You get a junior partnership out of this or what?

As a fan, "legal entities" are a lot less compelling than "Sports Teams".

But your previous argument hinges on the franchise name since apparently this isn’t an issue for the Stars/Wild, and that’s entirely a corporate decision.

 

[Regal]

I just wonder if they'll retire Kovalchuk's number eventually, being such a legend for the Winnipeg Jets.

You mean like Bill Goldsworthy having his number retired by Dallas when he never played there? Or Peter Stastny’s retired in Colorado when he never played there either?

 

[Puck Dogg]

You mean like Bill Goldsworthy having his number retired by Dallas when he never played there? Or Peter Stastny’s retired in Colorado when he never played there either?

Honoring franchise legacy or cultural appropriation, that's the question.

 

[weaponomega]

How is it being oddball?

Kovalchuk literally never played for a team called the Jets.

This problem only exists on hfboards. Tell someone in real life that your favorite Jet was Hull or Hawerchuk or Scheifele and no one bats an eye.

Paul Kariya literally never played for a team called the Anaheim Ducks yet he was included in the poll.

 

[treple13]

So it seems like this has become a question of what does it mean to be a franchise?

And what it seems to me is many people are taking the side of "the arbitrary definition put forth by the NHL".

Is a franchise the players? Well if so, most franchises are changing every year.

Is a franchise the front office? Well if so, it's also changing pretty quick in many cases.

Is a franchise the owners? Often this lasts a long time, but it does change as well.

Which leaves location/fanbase. Of all the things about a team that last longest or is the most consistent, it's this.

Take the case of the Cleveland Browns. If the NFL defined things the same way as the NHL, Jim Brown would be the greatest Raven. But nobody says that because the NFL's arbitrary decision was different.

Which fanbase in the NHL feels more connected to the history of the Jets 1.0? To me, that holds a lot more weight than "the Coyotes are the Jets 1.0 because the NHL says so". Coyotes fans don't care about Jets 1.0. As a Flames fan, I wouldn't consider Atlanta Flames stats relevant. Jets fans don't care about the Thrashers. Putting those histories together is meaningless to anyone.

Imo, fanbase and shared history is what defines a franchise

 

[M88K]

Love how jets fans are fighting hard to try and take another franchises history all because of a name, that a new franchise re-used.
And of all the franchise polls that were done this way
(Avs, Stars, Coyotes,Canes,etc)
this is the only one that can't grasp the simple concept that the franchise is the collective history of the team from when it first existed in the NHL,(which is this franchise case is 1997) regardless of where it currently resides. and having the same name as a completely different team doesn't make it the same franchise.
It's why the original Senators, are not part of the current senators history.

 

[Flair Hay]

I get there is a certain way of doing things. Franchise history is franchise history. But as is our right, the good people of Winnipeg choose to ignore this. Our team is the Jets, and was the Jets.

Dont blame people for being technically correct. But we dont compare our current Jets to Thrashers. We compare them to Jets. End of discussion haha

Love how jets fans are fighting hard to try and take another franchises history all because of a name, that a new franchise re-used.
And of all the franchise polls that were done this way
(Avs, Stars, Coyotes,Canes,etc)
this is the only one that can't grasp the simple concept that the franchise is the collective history of the team from when it first existed in the NHL,(which is this franchise case is 1997) regardless of where it currently resides. and having the same name as a completely different team doesn't make it the same franchise.
It's why the original Senators, are not part of the current senators history.

Perception is reality. For us, we knowingly choose to perceive it this way. Right or wrong, doesnt matter to us. Just the way it is.

 

[treple13]

Perception is reality. For us, we knowingly choose to perceive it this way. Right or wrong, doesnt matter to us. Just the way it is.

Exactly. History is more valuable as an experience than a statistic

 

[M88K]

I get there is a certain way of doing things. Franchise history is franchise history. But as is our right, the good people of Winnipeg choose to ignore this. Our team is the Jets, and was the Jets.

Dont blame people for being technically correct. But we dont compare our current Jets to Thrashers. We compare them to Jets. End of discussion haha


Perception is reality. For us, we knowingly choose to perceive it this way. Right or wrong, doesnt matter to us. Just the way it is.

This might be the most eloquent post on hf ever. Kudos to you, sincerely no sarcasm

 

[Flair Hay]

This might be the most eloquent post on hf ever. Kudos to you, sincerely no sarcasm

I appreciate that