Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets represent Manitoba's capital and the heart of Canadian hockey passion, playing at Canada Life Centre where the whiteout playoff atmosphere has become one of the NHL's most iconic sights. The Jets returned to Winnipeg in 2011 after the Atlanta Thrashers relocated, reuniting the city with the NHL and creating an outpouring of support that has never wavered. Winnipeg's fanbase is among the most passionate in hockey, with the entire city embracing the Jets and creating an atmosphere that rivals any market in the league. The Jets play a fast, skilled style built around their core of Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, and Kyle Connor, maintaining competitiveness in the tough Central Division. Canada Life Centre provides an intimate, thunderous home where Jets faithful create the whiteout—fans wearing white for playoffs—that has become synonymous with Winnipeg hockey.

The modern Jets trace to the Atlanta Thrashers, founded in 1999, who relocated to Winnipeg in 2011 and revived the Jets name that had belonged to the city from 1972 to 1996. The original Winnipeg Jets were a WHA powerhouse featuring Bobby Hull and Anders Hedberg before joining the NHL, eventually relocating to Phoenix in 1996 and becoming the Coyotes. The Thrashers' relocation to Winnipeg brought the NHL back to a city that had mourned the loss of its team for 15 years, with the return celebrated as a triumph for Canadian hockey. The Jets reached the Western Conference Finals in 2018, their deepest playoff run, led by Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Hellebuyck's Vezina-caliber goaltending. Winnipeg's small-market challenges have tested the franchise, but the city's devotion to the Jets remains unwavering.