Welcome back, Winnipeg Jets!

I am not sure how much less I can care about professional hockey (I know the Bruins and Canucks are playing for Lord Stanley’s cup, which is a testament to an inkling of interest), but this pulls my NHL 96 heartstrings.

Today the NHL announced that the Atlanta Thrashers have been sold to True North Sports and Entertainment, which will move the franchise to Winnipeg, a city that has been hockey deprived since its beloved Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996.

Back in fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, I flirted briefly with a love for hockey. It was the other winter sport, so I took an inquisitive interest in it. I remember seeing ESPN National Hockey Night games on Friday nights, the Blackhawks on SportsChannel, and the super puck’s red glow bouncing around the boards when Fox broadcast games. (I do not think I have ever watched a whole hockey game, except maybe for Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup.) But what really drew me to hockey was EA Sports’ NHL series of video games. I rented them (from Hagen’s) all the time despite the fact I had no clue what the rules of the game were. (It took me until a couple years ago to figure out why a player is offsides, and still have no clue about icing.) The main attractions of the game were the vicious body checks and fistfights that broke out. True to the old cliché, for a few moments the game would switch sports from hockey to boxing.

As seems to be my nature, I fell in love with the league’s little market minnows. The Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the Winnipeg Jets. They were all decent teams, but their logos and jersey’s were classic. I fell for the Jets especially hard because in NHL 96, the only NHL series game I ever bought, they were probably the best team along with the Calgary Flames. Teemu Selänne was a beast.

Needless to say, I must have cursed the Jets and each one of the small market teams I fell in love with. The North Stars headed to Dallas in 1993. The Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995. (They were still the Nordiques in NHL 96 despite becoming the Colorado Avalanche.) The Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes. And the lowly Jets packed their bags and became the Phoenix Coyotes.

However, though the soon-to-be Winnipeg franchise has no name, it seems the Jets are back.