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Winnipeg Jets (NHL, 1980-81)

1980-81 Regular Season:
Jets vs. Hartford Whalers
     The Winnipeg Jets were in their second season in the NHL, and ninth season overall, after playing seven years in the World Hockey Association. The Jets were a powerhouse in the old WHA, winning 3 Avco Cups and leading the way in signing talented European players. However, the Jets and the other three WHA holdovers were treated like expansion franchises upon entering the NHL. The Jets were forced to give up several top scorers in a "reclamation draft" and could only draft 18th overall in the NHL Entry Draft in 1979.
     As a result, the 1979-80 season was brutal for the Jets, as they finished dead last with just 51 points. The team selected Portland Winterhawks defenseman Dave Babych second overall in the draft. 1980-81, however, made the previous year's team look like a contender.
     The 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets...sucked. There's really no better way to describe that team. Winnpeg were buried deep in the NHL basement with a horrific 9-57-14 record. Their anemic 32 points were a whopping 24 behind the next-worst team, Detroit. Head Coach Tom McVie, who led the Jets to the final Avco Cup title in 1978-79, was canned after a 1-20-7 start to the season, replaced by Bill Sutherland. Sutherland didn't do much better, going only 8-37-7. Despite the awful on-ice product, Winnipeg fans still showed up, averaging 13,263 per game at Winnipeg Arena.
     The Jets were awful on both offense and defense. Their offense had all the firepower of a toy pop-gun, scoring only 246 goals. "Miracle On Ice" member Dave Christian had a decent season, scoring 28 goals and 71 points to lead the team. Morris Lukowich, a holdover from the WHA days, was the top goal-scorer with 33 goals and 67 points. Only three other players scored over twenty goals that season: Norm Dupont (27), Dan Geoffrion (20) and WHA holdover Willy Lindstrom (22).
     The 1980-81 Jets were a sieve on defense, surrendering a league-worst 400 goals, 28 more than the next-worst team, Hartford. WHA-holdover Markus Mattsson and veteran Pierre Hamel. Mattsson played in 31 games, with an ugly 3-21-4 mark and 4.50 GAA. Amazingly, he had the team's lone shutout, a 2-0 win at Toronto on January 31st. Hamel was in net for 29 games and didn't fare much better, going 3-20-4 with a 4.73 GAA. Other netminders for this season include Michel Dion, Lindsay Middlebrook and Ron Loustel. Combined, those three netminders went 3-16-6. On the blueline, rookie Dave Babych had a decent rookie year, scoring 6 goals and 44 points to go along with 90 penalty minutes, but was a team-worst -62 +/-.  Moe Mantha, future head coach in Flint and Saginaw, played in 52 games and had 25 points (2 goals).

   If there's a silver lining to such a disastrous season, it's that the Jets owned the #1 overall pick in the 1981 NHL Draft. They hit the jackpot, drafting high-scoring forward Dale Hawerchuk from Cornwall of the OHL.
     This is actually a very nice program. It's 102 pages, mostly black-and-white, on glossy paper. It's loaded with great articles and interviews. Manitoba hockey legends Terry Sawchuk and Bill Mosienko are featured, as is Whalers defenseman Mark Howe. General Manager John Ferguson, a legendary tough-guy with the Montreal Canadiens, picked the 10 toughest players in the NHL that year. Ken Taylor, a former Canadian Ambassador to Iran, talked about the upcoming NHL season, even ice rinks in Iran. There is also the updated (through January 6) standings for the Molson Cup, which was presented to the player who earned the most "3-Star" selections. Dave Christian won the award for the Jets that season.
     This program is from the January 10, 1981 game between the Jets and Hartford Whalers, another WHA expat. The Whalers had a pretty rough season themselves, finishing out of the playoffs with a forgettable 21-41-18 mark. Hartford featured a pair of future Hall-of-Famers on their roster: Mark Howe and Dave Keon. Keon was near the end of his legendary career, and had a decent season at 40 years old, scoring 13 goals and 47 points. Mark Howe was in his eighth season of pro hockey (6 in the WHA) and was on his way to becoming a star defenseman, scoring 19 goals and 65 points. On this night, the Whalers downed the Jets, 5-3, to drop Winnipeg to 4-30-8 on the year.
     Local advertisements include The Bay Sporting Goods, Chicken Delight (whose mascot appeared at all Jets home games), Garden City Shopping Center, Black Brad's Blue Jeans and CKND (home of the Jets). There are plenty of alcohol advertisements, including Canadian Spirit, Labatt's Blue, Seagram's V.O., Canadian Club Whiskey and Old Vienna Beer ("Just say ov").

Aftermath: Hawerchuk would score 45 goals in his rookie season and lead the Jets to one of the greatest turnarounds in NHL history. The 1981-82 team went 33-33-14, second place in the Norris Division and made their first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Jets would never recapture their winning ways from their WHA time and would remain a mediocre at best team in the NHL. The franchise would relocate to Phoenix, Arizona, for the 1996-97 season. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg and revived the Jets nickname. 
References:
National Hockey League Regular Season Statistics, 1980-81, from hockeydb.com
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