Who here loved the Winnipeg Jets?

[jiggs 10]

Back on topic, the city of Winnipeg could (and DID) support NHL hockey. The Jets had an owner who tried to hold up the city for a new arena, when he should have to pay for it himself, or pay rent if the city builds it. But the city wouldn't, so he moved the team to even WORSE lands (attendance-wise): Phoenix! 8 years, 2 rinks, very few sellouts. Hum.......

Meanwhile, the city of Winnipeg builds the MTS Center for the Moose, and does well for itself. And is STILL one of the best hockey towns I've ever been to. And Phoenix is sinking like a stone tied to an anchor... Hum........

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Back on topic, the city of Winnipeg could (and DID) support NHL hockey. The Jets had an owner who tried to hold up the city for a new arena, when he should have to pay for it himself, or pay rent if the city builds it. But the city wouldn't, so he moved the team to even WORSE lands (attendance-wise): Phoenix! 8 years, 2 rinks, very few sellouts. Hum.......

You, sir, need to recheck your numbers.

 

[Higgins_and_Main]

Back on topic, the city of Winnipeg could (and DID) support NHL hockey. The Jets had an owner who tried to hold up the city for a new arena, when he should have to pay for it himself, or pay rent if the city builds it. But the city wouldn't, so he moved the team to even WORSE lands (attendance-wise): Phoenix! 8 years, 2 rinks, very few sellouts. Hum......

I think you have barry Shankerow and Pete Karmanos (Carolina owner) mixed up. Shankerow was not the problem, as he has unfairly shouldered much of the blame for the Jets leaving town. The WEC (Winnipeg Enterprises Corporation) are the ones who drove the Jets out of the city, with their incompetant leadership, and bureaucractic red tape.

Gary Filmon also proved he was a lying ******* when one of his election promises was to keep the Jets in Winnipeg, whcih he quickly reneaged on once his PC party won the election. Susan Thompson (ex-mayor) proved she was worthless. The odds were really stacked against the Jets back then.

 

[Sotnos]

It's not fair. Who cares what the business is or what the population is.

First off, life's not fair (in case you haven't figured that out already), and in terms of having an NHL team, business support and population are the most important factors, not the weather.

 

[GKJ]

Didn't Winnipeg build a new arena?

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

[url]http://www.mtscentre.com/[/url] It is a 15 000 seat arena.

It is nice to see Shankerow finally getting cut some slack and the blame placed on the MEC, the local and provincial governments: two of the three parties responsible for the loss of the Jets. It shouldn't be up to the owners to foot the whole bill for an arena. There should be some private and public funding available (both municipal and provincial because it will make money for the city and province). The problem was at the time, in the early 90s the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba were consumed with hosting the Pan Am games and any funding that may have been there for an arena went to luring and building for the games.

It is a shame to see that the Phoenix fans, who all but two seasons helped the Coyotes outdraw the Jets.

After seeing 6 teams fold due to bankruptcy or whatever (just as long as 6 teams die) I wouldn't mind seeing Quebec and/or Winnipeg have a franchise relocate if it is proven they couldn't survive in their current location. This is contingent on a new arena in Quebec and whehter the MTS can be expanded without compromising the arena (like the old Winnipeg Arena expansion did) .

RE: Fair. Life isn't fair. If life was fair Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators would have died.

 

[mazmin]

After seeing 6 teams fold due to bankruptcy or whatever (just as long as 6 teams die) I wouldn't mind seeing Quebec and/or Winnipeg have a franchise relocate if it is proven they couldn't survive in their current location. This is contingent on a new arena in Quebec and whehter the MTS can be expanded without compromising the arena (like the old Winnipeg Arena expansion did) .

Huh?

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

After 6 teams die a miserable death, then relocation is acceptable.

 

[jiggs 10]

You, sir, need to recheck your numbers.

Why? What numbers are off? Phoenix averages around 14,000 a game, which is close to what Winnipeg did in a 15,000 seat arena. Phoenix had their first arena, which held 16,000+. Now their new arena (30 miles from Phoenix) holds, what, 19,500? And they STILL can't sell out a game.

Sorry, but hockey in the desert will probably never be as popular as it was in Winnipeg. The fact that politics got in the way of hockey there is too bad, but in the Bettman day-and-age it has become a fact of life. And it sucks.

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

attendance #s from the site frequently accessed in this thread:

Average attendance in Phoenix:
96-97: 15 604
97-98: 15 405
98-99: 15 548
99-2k: 14 991
00-01: 14 224
01-02: 13 161
02-03: 13 229
03-04: 15 592 http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2004

Winnipeg Jets:
1979-80: 13 284
1980-81: 13 265
1981-82: 13 382
1982-83: 12 889
1983-84: 12 400
1984-85: 12 994
1985-86: 13 620
1986-87: 13 594
1987-88: 12 681
1988-89: 12 816
1989-90: 13 106
1990-91: 12 931
1991-92: 12 931
1992-93: 13 550
1993-94: 13 297
1994-95: 13 013
1995-96: 11 316

Jiggs, it looks like your numbers are way off.

 

[Buffaloed]

Thread has been closed for drifting way off topic: "Who here loved the Winnipeg Jets?".