Hull was older by then on the Jets and Nilsson and Hedberg did not stand out once they hit the NHL. So the Jets might have been a mid tier team in the NHL.
I think they both were past their primes when entering the NHL, so those numbers should be put into perspective. Nilsson and Hedberg was 27/28 and Hedberg had been playing against men since he was 16. I think he "was older than his age". And Hedberg had an knee injury in 76/77 And Ulf of course only played about 50 games before that unlucky Potvin incident and was never the same.
And even Hedberg had problems with his knees starting already in 76/77 with the Jets.
Even if they wouldn´t replicate there WHA numbers I think they could have had some All Star Teams selections amongst them.
For instance Kent Nilsson was an 6th and 4th All Star his first two NHL seasons and got 5 votes (8th) for the Hart his second season. So his transition indicates that the jump could be made if one was the right age. Mid 70´s Hedberg/Nilsson was way better than late 70´s and early 80´s Hedberg/Nilsson. And when on the same team Nilsson/Hedberg was clearly superior to Kent, even if Kent of course then was an 21 year old and Nilsson/Hedberg 26/27 and just before injuries.
And lesser forwards like Laabraten also had injury derail him as an player. And he still managed to pot 30 goals and 57 points in 76 games in Detroit after that. And he was a better player in 76/77 then 79/80 when he did that.
Willy Lindström was also past his offensive peak when he followed Winnipeg to the NHL. He still managed to fill a great role on SC winning Oilers teams at age 32-33 before he then dipped as an player and retired two seasons later.
In an interview with Ulf in 2013 with Joe Pelletier an question regarding success in the NHL and the abuse before that.
Question: Why was it tougher to find success in the NHL when you joined the Rangers in 1978?
Answer: My first year before I broke my ankle in February was great. I took so much physical abuse during my 4 years in Winnipeg so I did not have anything left in my body. I believe that was the reason!
I think that goes for most players on that Jets team. A team built around a european way of playing and europeans being the best on the team (with Bobby of course...) was not something that would be taken lightly by NA hockey players at the time...
Especially Sjoberg/U Nilsson/Hedberg are probably the swedes that have had the biggest impact on hockey, as they where really the first to take that kind of hockey to NA. And they didn´t just play it. They won with it.
"It was a new lease on life," commented Hull. "I finally found a couple of kids who could play the game the way I wanted to play it."
So, a comparable would be the LA Kings era with the Triple Crown Line (one line team)?
With a better D according to me. I think the Jets D is getting underrated.
Sjoberg had an achilles tendon injury at age 34 his last season as an Jet and only played 9 regular season games that season. Still had an 34 points in 79 games first season in the NHL the next season and retired after that. People forget he was already 30 when he came over. And he peaked at 33 and then had the injury the next season. Without it he probably could have had a few more great years, and some of them in the NHL. He was the one stirring the drink in Winnipeg, being called the "The Professor" and "The Little General" for reasons. His small stature and being team captain the reason for the last
And Green was still a good player, if not the same as before. He certainly could have been a contributing defenceman on any NHL team. Even if not a 1-2 defenceman of course...
And Bergman was a good defender his first season in Detroit. Playing mostly with Ron Stackhouse, who later on in his career got some spred all star votes. Bergman was actually given the “A†in only his second season in his first stint with Detroit. Considering he was third in scoring amongst defenceman and 13th amongst all players on that team, that says a lot about what he brought. Outside a good defensive player, during his first season in Detroit fought both “The Hammer†and Bobby Clarke.
But he missed most of that and the the next season because of a knee injury. An ACL tore, that he had operated on even before leaving Sweden. And back then they had recovery time for a couple of months after that, Bergman has later said. Not half an year or so as you have today. Imagine the difference of how that healed…
He then went to the Jets and WHA and about his second season there had resurrected his play to his rookie season level in Detroit. He then had another (third really…) knee injury and was never the same player again. Released by the Jets and once again picked up by Detroit where he really wasn´t any good.
Also, Bergman probably had it harder than many other swedes coming over. Even if Salming was the first star from Sweden/Europe in the NHL, Bergman was really the first coming over (if one doesn´t count Widing, who moved with his parents from Sweden to Canada at age 15/16 and and started playing junior hockey there until he reached NHL…). Bergman was a tough customer and paid the price with his own injuries, outside the knees he amongst other thing broke his hand in a fight in 79/80. And he got the A the season Salming came over...
So just about any impact player, outside Kent Nilsson, they had were either done or had moved on or both by the time the Jets and there former players hit the NHL. And Nilsson was greater in the NHL than in the WHA one could aruge. So I don´t think one can judge the potential off that team based on what it achieved in the NHL or some of the players did in the 80´s. As evident that they where the WHA team that finished last in the first season after the merger…
And they wouldn´t have become the Oilers dynasty, but Sather has been on record many times talking about how he formed the Oilers style of play out of those Jets team. So the “european style†of hockey worked in the NHL.
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On a side note I love this question/answer in the same Pelletier/Nilsson interview mentioned above:
Question: Who was the best player you played against, be it NHL, WHA or internationally?
Answer: I played with Bobby Hull, I did not play against Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux in their prime. My career fell just between those four great North American players. I played against some great CCCP players, most of the people don’t remember the real big red machine. Those five I played against were, Gusev, Vasiliev, Michalov, Petrov and Charlamov!