Robert Marvin Hull was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot the puck at very high velocity all earned him the nickname "the Golden Jet". His talents were such that an opposing player was often assigned just to shadow him.
The Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They began play in the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. The club joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979 after the NHL merged with the WHA. Due to mounting financial troubles, in 1996 the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes. The team played their home games at Winnipeg Arena.
The 1979–80 NHL season was the 63rd season of the National Hockey League. This season saw the addition of four teams from the disbanded World Hockey Association as expansion franchises. The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers, and Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL, bringing the total to 21 teams. The other two WHA teams were paid to fold.
Ronald Lee Wilson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centreman and current assistant coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. Wilson's professional playing career spans twenty seasons, including fourteen in the National Hockey League. Following his retirement, he turned to coaching and held assistant and head coach positions for various American Hockey League teams. On August 9, 2011, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they had hired Wilson as the assistant to the Hamilton Bulldogs' coach Clément Jodoin.
Sébastien Ives Bordeleau is a Canadian-born French former professional ice hockey forward, who played in the National Hockey League. His father is former NHL player Paulin Bordeleau.
Jay Harrison is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.
Dustin Byfuglien is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, and Winnipeg Jets. Drafted as a defenseman, he played both forward and defense in his career, though he generally played defense in his later seasons. Byfuglien helped Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 2010. Byfuglien was the first Black American-born player to win the Stanley Cup. Byfuglien became a professional fisherman after his hockey career.
Michael Frolík is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger who is currently playing with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec in the Czech Extraliga.
Lawrence Morley Hillman was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. One of the most travelled players in hockey history, he played for 15 different teams in his 22 professional seasons. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1973, and then in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1973 to 1976. After retiring he spent parts of three seasons as a coach in the WHA. Hillman had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup six times during his playing career.
William Fraser Sutherland was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and a National Hockey League (NHL) coach. He played in the NHL for five teams between 1963 and 1972, and then in the World Hockey Association with the Winnipeg Jets between 1972 and 1974. After his playing career he briefly coached the Jets between 1980 and 1981. He scored the first goal in Philadelphia Flyers history in 1967 in a 1–0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Daniel Michael Lawson was a Canadian ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1968 to 1972 and the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 to 1977. He led the WHA in goal scoring in its inaugural season.
Daniel Douglas Johnson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who spent three seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and another three seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) during the 1970s. He was a member of the Vancouver Canucks' inaugural NHL team in 1970.
Joseph Lawrence Zanussi is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 149 games in the World Hockey Association and 87 games in the National Hockey League. Zanussi's skating ability and agility earned him the nicknames 'Crazy Legs' and 'Tazmanian Devil' and although small for a pro hockey defenseman, Zanussi was a good bodychecker and possessed a big shot.
Ronald "the Beast" Ashton is a former WHA left winger for the Winnipeg Jets. In the World Hockey Association, he played 36 games and registered 1 goal, 3 assists, and 66 penalty minutes. He was best known as a fourth-line player and enforcer. Ashton's stint with the Jets included him playing with the likes of hockey superstars Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson.
The 1972–73 Winnipeg Jets season was their first season in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Jets' first player signed was Norm Beaudin and their first major signing was Bobby Hull.
The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.
The 1979 NHL expansion, popularly referred to as the NHL-WHA merger, was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA). The result of the negotiations was that the WHA and its six surviving franchises folded, and the owners of four of the teams – the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets – were granted expansion franchises, which commenced play in the NHL in the 1979–80 season. The agreement officially took effect on June 22; it ended the seven-year existence of the WHA and re-established the NHL as the sole major league in North American professional ice hockey.
The 1980–81 Hartford Whalers season was the Whalers' second season in the National Hockey League.
Kevin Fiala is a Swiss professional ice hockey left winger for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He spent one season with the Malmö Redhawks junior team, then joined HV71, splitting a season between their junior team and their senior team in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), being selected by the Nashville Predators 11th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Fiala started the following season with HV71 before moving to North America halfway through, splitting two seasons between the Predators and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
