October 9, 2011: The Winnipeg Jets Return

And they returned with much better uniforms than the previous version.

October 9, 2011: The new Winnipeg Jets, previously the Atlanta Thrashers, end the Manitoba capital's 15-year exile from the NHL, playing their inaugural game at the new MTS Centre. Nik Antropov scores their 1st goal, but that's all they get, and the Montreal Canadiens beat them, 5-1.

The Winnipeg Victorias had won the Stanley Cup in the amateur era, 1896, 1901 and 1902. The Winnipeg Falcons represented Canada the 1st time ice hockey was played at the Olympic Games, in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. The Memorial Cup, the championship of Canadian junior hockey, has been won by Winnipeg teams: The 1921 Winnipeg Junior Falcons; the 1923 University of Manitoba Bisons; the 1935, 1937 and 1946 Winnipeg Monarchs; the 1941 and 1943 Winnipeg Rangers; and the 1959 Winnipeg Braves.

The original version of the Winnipeg Jets were founding members of the World Hockey Association in the 1972-73 season, and made the Finals but lost in that season and 1977; but won in 1976, 1978 and 1979. They were then admitted to the NHL, but never did well, winning just 2 Playoff series, 1 each in 1985 and 1987.

But, like most Canadian cities, other than Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Winnipeg was a small market, without much in the way of suburbs. Add on an NHL Commissioner like Gary Bettman, who hates Canada and loves the Sun Belt, and in 1996, the original Jets were bought and moved to Phoenix, where they became known as the Arizona Coyotes. They didn't do much better there, reaching the Conference Finals only once, in 2012. Meanwhile, back in Winnipeg, the Manitoba Moose became one of the most popular minor-league teams.

In 2004, the MTS Centre opened in downtown Winnipeg, as the new home of the Moose. It was necessary to lure a new team, as the previous version's home, the Winnipeg Arena, was built in 1954, was far from downtown, and had hardly any luxury boxes. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg, and took up residence at the MTS Centre, which was renamed Bell MTS Place in 2017, and the Canada Life Centre in 2021.

The new Jets took until 2015 to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2018, they reached the Western Conference Finals, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights. They appear to now be perennial Playoff contenders.

UPDATE: In 2024, the Arizona Coyotes failed, and were bought and moved to Salt Lake City. They played the 2024-25 season as simply "Utah Hockey Club," before becoming the Utah Mammoth.

The fact that Salt Lake City was the site of a Winter Olympics doesn't change the perception that, like Phoenix and Las Vegas, it's in the middle of a desert. But it does show that the initial decision to dump Winnipeg in favor of a Sun Belt city was as stupid as it was greedy.

The new Winnipeg Jets have established a team Hall of Fame, including Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk, Tomas Steen, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Ab McDonald, Randy Carlyle, Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen. They've also retired the uniform numbers of Hull, 9; Hawerchuk, 10; and Steen, 25.

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October 9, 2011 was a Sunday. A Game 1 was played in the National League Division Series. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

The NBA team owners had locked the players out, so the season did not begin until Christmas Day, December 25. And aside from the Jets' opener, there was only 1 game in the NHL: The Edmonton Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 in a shootout at Rexall Place, as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton was then called.

And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Seattle Seahawks, 36-25 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots, 30-21 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-20 at EverBank Field (as EverBank Stadium was then known) in Jacksonville.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 25-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Texans, 25-20 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans, 38-17 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-24 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 28-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Denver Broncos, 29-24 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* On ESPN Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 24-13 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* And the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins each had a bye week.