NHL hockey returns to Winnipeg
Posted May 31, 2011 11:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NHL hockey is returning to Winnipeg after a 15 year absence with this morning’s announcement that the Atlanta Thrashers are heading to the frozen north.
Dawning their Winnipeg Jets jerseys fans are bursting with excitement over the news they will have a team to go and watch during the 2011-2012 NHL season.
Chuck was at Portage Avenue and Main Street for the celebrations and tells 660News, he got a little emotional when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the official announcement
Winnipeg lost the Jets, a team that dated back to early days of the World Hockey Association when the upstart league lured Chicago Black Hawks’ superstar Bobby Hull to the league in 1972.
Tuesday morning, True North Sports and Entertainment said an agreement has been finalized that will see the Thrashers move to the Manitoba capital in time for the 2011-12 season.
The move still needs to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors, but that’s considered a formality.
It’s the second time Atlanta has lost an NHL franchise to a Canadian city. The Atlanta Flames moved here to Calgary in 1980.
Winnipeg lost the Jets to Phoenix, Arizona, where they became the Coyotes, in 1996.
