Jets set to make their return to Winnipeg
Posted October 9, 2011 10:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – It has been a long wait for NHL fans in Winnipeg, but after 15 long years, the Winnipeg Jets are back.
Sunday marks the home opener for the new-look Jets, who will open a new chapter of hockey in Winnipeg by hosting the Montreal Canadiens.
The puck drops Sunday afternoon just after 5 p.m. EST at the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg.
If the pre-season crowd has been any indication, the atmosphere at the MTS Centre will be playoff-like, with fans in Winnipeg hungry for their first taste of regular season NHL hockey in so many years.
This new era in Winnipeg began in May when the Atlanta Thrashers, who had been struggling financially, were purchased. Soon after it became official that the Thrashers would be moving to Winnipeg as the Jets.
When the team left the town in 1996, Tim Campbell, of the Winnipeg Free Press, says it was a tough time for people in Winnipeg.
The original Jets franchise has spent the last 15 years in the U.S. as the Phoenix Coyotes.
