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Phoenix Coyotes: Howling at 21
By John Halligan
NHL.com

The Jets played their last game in Winnipeg on April 28, 1996.

The Phoenix Coyotes, now a ripe 21 years-of-age, are howling and prowling along the upper levels of the National Hockey League this season, and it’s the most rarefied air these Coyotes have sniffed since joining the National Hockey League as the Winnipeg Jets back in 1979-80.

Under the direction of second-year coach Bob Francis and general manager Bobby Smith, the Coyotes have really not faltered this season, and are legitimate contenders for a Pacific Division title, a Western Conference crown, a President’s Trophy, and the Stanley Cup itself. In a nutshell, Francis and Smith have brought stability to a team that has had no less than 14 coaches in its 21 seasons.

The roots of the Coyotes go even further than 1979, actually tracing back to November 1, 1971 and the formation of the World Hockey Association, which included the Winnipeg Jets. More than any other team in the WHA, the Jets were about flamboyance, even signing legendary superstar Bobby Hull to a million dollar contract at the famous Winnipeg crossroads of Portage and Main.

The Jets, who also imported Swedish-born stars Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg to play with Hull, won three Avco Cups, the WHA’s stovepipe version of the Stanley Cup in 1976, 1978 and 1979. The three Cups gave the team a strong emotional springboard as they sped into the NHL along with the Hartford Whalers, the Quebec Nordiques and the Edmonton Oilers.

John Ferguson, the stalwart left winger who won no less than five Stanley Cups during his playing career with the Montreal Canadiens, was the Jets first general manager. The club played its first NHL game on October 10, 1972, losing to the Penguins in Pittsburgh, 4-2. Left winger Morris Lukowich netted the team’s first goal and went on to lead the club in scoring with 35 goals and 74 points. The first Jets NHL team would win only 20 games.

Nilsson and Hedberg would never play an NHL game for the Jets, having been signed as free agents by the New York Rangers in 1978. Hull limped through 18 games of the inaugural season before being traded to the Hartford Whalers, where he played nine more games and ended his great career. Also reaching the end of his terrific career that season was the Swedish defenseman Lars-Erik Sjoberg, who excelled for the Jets in 79 games that season, his only year in the NHL.

In 1981 the Jets had the very first pick overall in the NHL Entry Draft, and Ferguson made no mistake with it, choosing everyone’s number one choice, center Dale Hawerchuk. There was another signing ceremony at Portage and Main, and Hawerchuk promptly went out to score 45 goals and 103 points and won the Calder trophy as rookie of the year.

Hawerchuk would spend nine great years with the Jets, playing 475 consecutive games at one point and setting team standards for most career goals (379) and most career points (929).

Joining the Jets for their third season (1981-82) was crafty center Thomas Steen, who would become “Mr. Winnipeg Jet”, playing 14 straight seasons and 950 games for Winnipeg (both team records) before finishing his professional career with three seasons in Germany. His number 25 would eventually be retired by the team. Defenseman Randy Carlyle joined the Jets in 1984, staying with the club for almost 10 years and becoming one of the most popular Jets of all time.

The Jets were on their way to success--seven straight years in the playoffs, although they never advanced past the divisional finals. The carousel of coaches continued behind the bench, and the Jets continued to falter in the playoffs through the 1980s and into the 90s.

Mike Smith had replaced John Ferguson as general manager in 1988. Smith’s arrival produced no less than 71 trades during his five-year tenure, including one that sent Hawerchuk off to Buffalo for Phil Housley, Scott Arniel, Jeff Parker and a 1990 first round draft choice. The draft choice turned out to be left winger Keith Tkachuk, one of the leaders of today’s Coyotes.

In addition to Tkachuk, Smith was responsible for bringing such top talent as Teemu Selanne, Teppo Numminen, Alexei Zhamnov and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to the organization. In 1993, Selanne set a record for most goals (76), and most points (132) by a rookie and captured the organization’s second Calder trophy as rookie of the year.

By the mid 1990s, it was apparent that NHL hockey was not going to survive in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Arena was among the oldest in the League, and even feverish public pleas and fundraisers were not going to help. The franchise was transferred to Phoenix on July 1, 1996.

Now, just over three years later, the Coyotes find themselves in legitimate pursuit of the Stanley Cup, something that fans in two cities now, Winnipeg and Phoenix, would wildly celebrate.

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