Winnipeg Is Waiting For The NHL.

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

Gary Bettman News Conference
The NHL commissioner talks about the Coyotes' situation in Glendale and the team's future plans.
http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip430033#clip430033

[BMac]

It would be awesome to see the Jet's back

[cog]

They don't really have a big enough fan base,but who else is ready?

[#8]

youre gonna be waiting for a while lol. its not coming back any time soon

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTwh9zE1dYg

[Prisoner#22]

They don't really have a big enough fan base,but who else is ready?

I stopped being a hockey fan when the Jets left. I think I would get season tickets if they came back. That just says a lot right there. When the Jets left our dollar was 60 cents to the US buck, and we had an old decrepid arena. Things have changed!

[Talo]

I still see Jets T-shirts every where.

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYXnKdt7Zyo

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX2nEeGBzO8

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLAeXdhKeVw

[Talo]

Bettman's dink !

http://www.firebettman.com/

[UkrainianGuy]

This much we know about NHL hockey in Glendale, Arizona.

The sport as a straight cash-in, cash-out business doesn't work, or at least the NHL hasn't been able to find anyone who believes it can work without a whopping subsidy from somewhere.

That reality doesn't change whether the team wins or loses, or even after it cashes a sizeable revenue-sharing cheque at the end of a season.

Hence the fact that the City of Glendale wants to pay Matthew Hulsizer $197 million to finance a $170 million purchase that would keep the team from abandoning Jobing.com Arena and thus endangering all those bars and restaurants that surround it.

All of that would have been fine had the tax payer advocacy group known as the Goldwater Group not got involved. But by suggesting the city's plan to pay Hulsizer may violate Arizona law, and by threatening to sue to back that up, the Goldwater folks have effectively put the breaks on the city's efforts to raise $116 of the money by selling municipal bonds.

All of which has put NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in a very difficult spot, something he fully acknowledged Tuesday night in Glendale when he addressed the Coyotes future before a game against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

This was Bettman as we've rarely seen him. There were no promises of a resolution, no calling out members of the media for wrongly speculating that the deal could go down in flames.

No, on this night, Bettman laid out the facts as simply as possible.

The only way the Phoenix Coyotes can be sold to Hulsizer is if the City of Glendale can sell its municipal bonds. The bonds aren't selling because of the chill put on them by the Goldwater Institute. And unless Goldwater backs down, there is grave doubt that the bonds can be sold.

Goldwater, however, isn't going away. In fact, its leaders seem more emboldened each time the NHL or the city of Glendale bemoans its tactics as obstructionist and unfair.

Which almost assuredly means that with no other way to close the sale to Hulsizer, the Phoenix Coyotes are going to need a new home, presumably Winnipeg, the city from whence they came.

So, the critical question becomes does the NHL have another card to play or is the end of this saga finally at hand?

Barring the bonds somehow being sold, there appears only one way this story can have another chapter. And that is for someone to replace the money that was supposed to be raised through those municipal bonds by writing a cheque.

But just who might that be?

Not likely the City of Glendale which only passed its plan to sell municipal bonds by 4-3 vote and which is in no position to empty its coffers of an extra $100 million dollars as a handout (which would undoubtedly become the subject of a Goldwater Institute lawsuit).

Not Matthew Hulsizer, who suggested this week he isn't willing to pay one cent more than what he agreed to pay the NHL for the team.

And presumably not the NHL, which only agreed last May to keep the team in Glendale for the 2010-11 season after the city agreed to pick up the tab for up to $25 million in losses if the team can't be sold, and whose owners have no appetite to throw good money after bad at a team will apparently lose $40 million this season alone.

That doesn't leave a whole lot of options.

Maybe Gary Bettman was just being coy Tuesday night. Maybe the NHL knew there would be difficulty selling those bonds and has been cooking up an alternative plan which Bettman will unveil when the time is right.

Maybe, maybe not.

Canadian hockey fans haven't always given Bettman the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his take on financially distressed teams in Southern markets.

But if they believe what he said Tuesday night, that there is no plan B in the works, that this is now an all-or-nothing situation resting on the sale of those bonds, then the path back to Winnipeg has never been so clear.

[cog]

Balsillie was ready with the cash.My dad and I were discussing what it was Bettman was scheming to do...you should always pick the best man for the job.

[physique]

Balsillie was ready with the cash.My dad and I were discussing what it was Bettman was scheming to do...you should always pick the best man for the job.

cant agree more with this post. bettman is suck a ****ing dipshit. u had a guy ready and willing to pay top dollar for the team. its the fact he wanted to move them to canada that didnt sit well with bettman. Is Bettman retarded? he must be. as who in their right mind would buy a team struggling at the gate, and struggling as a franchise. what owner wants to take 40million dollar plus losses a year? u go into business to make money!!!!!

its obvious Bettman hates Canada. If he had his choice there would be zero canadian teams! Guy is a total dipshit, and the owners should turf this dumbass already.

Bring back the jets, then move the rest of the southern teams that draw poorly to places like hamilton and quebec.

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDFQITrSs-k

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

:beer

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSRFroWIwgs

[cog]

The scenery is better in Arizona.

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[physique]

by next friday we should know something. **** u bettman! bring back the jets!

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0TWSR46G84




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MCnIl90c1o






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_uKMKSB8DI

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvk1wopO0ho

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nghpKuQP9Ig

[Talo]

Looks like the Phoenix tax payers are going to pay 25 million to keep the team. Hopefully Atlanta moves :)

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reLrkfwatHs

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XOubKMtJ-Y

[MuSuLPhReAk]

Looks like Winnipeg is getting the Jets back. A few news stories are confirming the deal went through.

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0D9K3X21N8

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Q2lgoD_6s

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMByKP-z_TA

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cebrGYfhRI4

[Talo]

Can't wait to see this happen.

Last I heard the name will not be the Winnipeg Jets - They will go with Manitoba ______

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EvRU7nhZ4w

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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I was there Portage and main, I'm going ape shit!!

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Thrashers' sale and move to Winnipeg is not yet official, but Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed already is talking as if losing the team is inevitable.

Reed said Tuesday losing the Thrashers "is going to hurt the city but we will withstand it just fine."

Reed said the city was willing to work to keep the team, but had no success in its search for a buyer to keep the team in Atlanta.

The ownership group, led by Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr., are in talks to sell the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which would relocate the team to Winnipeg.

Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz told the National Post in Canada on Tuesday he expects the sale to be final this week.

The rumoured announcement that Winnipeg, Man. will again be home to a National Hockey League franchise may not be happening Tuesday, but the city's mayor says fans needn't cool their jets yet.

Responding to reports that negotiations to relocate the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers are ongoing, but not yet set for a public announcement, Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said his belief is unshaken.

In an interview with CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday, Katz insisted a deal remains "imminent."

"Maybe later on this week or, if they decide, maybe after the Stanley Cup playoffs. But one way or the other we're quite confident the deal will be finalized and all the I's and T's will be dotted and crossed," he said, proudly sporting a vintage Jets' away jersey.

Winnipeg hockey fans could hardly contain their excitement last week, amidst a swirl of reports suggesting the Atlanta Spirit Group and True North Sports and Entertainment were set to announce a deal for the team.

But in an email sent to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said "it's safe to say there will be no announcement on Tuesday."

The NHL Board of Governors, 75 per cent of whom must approve any sale and relocation, are reportedly in favour of keeping the team in Atlanta. But according to the Journal-Constitution, the final prospective buyer who might have kept the Thrashers in Georgia is "probably, but not completely" out of the running.

Hockey fans in Manitoba bid farewell to the Winnipeg Jets in 1996, when the team moved to Phoenix, Ariz. and rebranded themselves the Coyotes.

"When the Jets left it had nothing to do with fan support," Katz said Tuesday, instead laying the blame on "lack of leadership and not getting a new building built."

Winnipeg is now a "very different city," he said, pointing to various construction projects in the city, including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a new CFL stadium, an Ikea development and a new international airport.

"Last fall, Winnipeg was voted the best city in Canada to invest in, so there's a lot of wonderful things happening and phenomenal momentum in our city," he said.

Besides fans' appetite for the return of NHL hockey to Winnipeg, the city does have a modern arena. The MTS Centre and the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose are both owned by True North.

The group controlled by Mark Chipman and David Thomson is reportedly offering up to US$110 million for the Thrashers, not including a $60 million relocation fee to the league.

It's expected that in the event a deal is announced, it will be contingent on season ticket sales.

If the deal goes through, Atlanta will have the dubious distinction of being the only city to lose two franchises since the NHL expanded in 1967. The first was in 1980, when the Flames moved to Calgary.

With files from The Canadian Press

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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I WAS THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[mouth]

Worst kept secret in professional sports? haha

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYfbNXuVlDU

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYl1XiqyhU

Partying is still going on, everyone is all SMILES, city is ELECTRIC!!

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pMBcJ1D24Y

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

celebrating 3500 posts as only a Winnipegger could.... posting about the JETS!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZPTosyyW8c

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ZKIeJtFAc

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY8I0a9Tu68

[UkrainianGuy]

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[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmxCeiOVTZk

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G56ITkamYjk

the partying still going on...

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQG_POQ69o

[UkrainianGuy]

the arena got sold out in 17min!!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lmpfwMM3us

[UkrainianGuy]

SO besides ppl gobbling up the tickets and then scalping them and cops calling these ppl trying to catch them, people are wondering why someone who had ONE season ticket to the AHL team was allowed 4 tickets?!

8000 people paid $50 to be on a waitin list, nonrefundable.

Many fans are sad and upset. Happy but po'd about how fast the tickets went. True North Management admitted they had no clue how high the demand was (error #1).

Do they make error #2 and make Winnipeg get use to the Winnipeg... Polar Bears, Moose, Gold, Blizzard, White Out for the next 5 years?

Or do they make all those fans who feel left out cause they couldnt get tickets, happier and name the team the JETS. There has been a huge cry for the Winnipeg NHL franchise to be called the Jets, which is growing louder and louder as time goes by.

True North claims to be in touch with its community, hence why Winnipeg even has a franchise... guess we will find out!

Here are some new logo's floating around town...

[UkrainianGuy]

Here are the previous logo's...

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHtdMPqFK4I

[UkrainianGuy]

All of us fans of the Winnipeg Jets hockey history and tradition can finally breath today. We have been told, off the record, by multiple sources inside True North Sports and Entertainment and the NHL that a team name for Winnipeg’s new NHL franchise has been decided on, and that name is the Jets.

What no one would, or could, tell us, is whether the team will be called The Winnipeg Jets, or The Manitoba Jets. Both WinnipegJets.com and ManitobaJets.com seem to be hosted with the same hosting company as MTSCentre.ca, however both still appear to be owned by outside groups.

Our reliable sources have told us that the Jets name announcement is “imminent“, that it could come “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… or Friday morning“. “It will be the Jets“ is an exact quote from multiple sources, who have proven nothing but honest and reliable in the past. The announcement will almost certainly be made at the MTS Centre, by Mark Chipman, much the same as the announcement of the return of the NHL to Winnipeg on May 31st. Once source told me that “the fan reaction left us little choice“ but to revive the Jets moniker, and that the mood inside True North is one of “pure excitement, pure joy“ that the organization will be announcing the naming of the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise as the Jets.

I will be horribly disappointed if they go with Manitoba, simply for the fact that the Winnipeg Jets brand is so well known and respected around the world. However… Manitoba Jets is the one name compromise I can possibly live with. It doesn’t sound like we will know which one it will be until True North makes the official announcement… which we have been assured will take place this week.

As soon as I was able to confirm this story early this morning, I sat down with our editor Barb to decide whether or not to publish this information. Our sources were either sworn to secrecy, or overheard things they were not supposed to hear. There is no doubt that our franchise and ownership group do not want this leaked, as they have a well thought out plan for their new brand launch.

We have more respect and love for the entire True North Sports and Entertainment organization, especially for the visible ownership, than a journalistic organization should ever really have for anyone they are reporting on… but it is impossible not to. Everyone in Winnipeg, and Jets fans around the world, owe these men and women a huge round of applause and eternal gratitude. From the outset, Mr. Chipman and company have acted in the most respectable, professional manner possible. While other ownership groups, potential owners, and city councils around the league butted heads privately and publicly with the NHL and each other, our True North team sat back and worked hard to show legitimately and conclusively that Winnipeg was the right market for the NHL to move to, if and when a franchise became available. In true Canadian fashion they operated in a polite, respectful way toward every party they worked with. We certainly do not want to burn our bridges with the official, on the record, spokespeople of this model organization.. but Barb and I came to the only conclusion we could really come to while still retaining our independence and integrity… our loyalty has to be first and foremost to our readers. We had no option but to publish this news.

We certainly hope we will not spoil the Jets’ brand roll out, but I don’t think we will. This announcement is coming soon and when they make it, the sports world will EXPLODE as it did after the sale of the team and season ticket drive were announced. As we witnessed unprecedented demand for tickets to the new NHL team, we will witness even more unprecedented merchandise and jersey sales for the new look Winnipeg Jets. Less if they make the mistake of using The Manitoba Jets.

We have been working on this story diligently since the day we found out that the deal had been made to bring the Thrashers to Winnipeg. Until yesterday, everyone we have talked to had said that a name had not been chosen… a story that changed across the board over the past 24 hours. For those who are rightly skeptical about today’s announcement here on YourWinnipegJets.com, since we are the first to report this news and it won’t appear in the Free Press and other sources for a couple more days, let me point to the fact that our inside sources were the first to leak the news that the Thrashers deal was complete. We were a day ahead of other publications in reporting when and where that announcement would be made. TSN and the other major sports publications following this will not report on it until they get their invitations to be at the MTS Centre… as we saw during the sale announcement.

This publication exists to support the NHL in Winnipeg, and by extension the team’s owners, True North Sports and Entertainment Limited. To date, we have had nothing but overwhelmingly positive things to say about the organization… that is because in our collective opinion, they have acted absolutely perfectly from day one. However, if we ever don’t see eye to eye, we will not hesitate to criticize the club when we think it is deserved. We would not be very good sports writers if we did not. Unlike less partisan publications, however, our commentary will always come from a love of the Winnipeg Jets, and a desire to see our club be as successful as possible both on the ice and off. Speaking for myself, I am extremely confident that we are watching True North build an organization that will be the envy of the league for years to come. They have proven themselves again with this decision on the name. I could not be more happy to have confirmed that the name will be the Jets… the idea of watching our great hockey players in Manitoba Falcons jerseys while the crowd chants “go Jets go“ had been keeping me up at night. Last night I had the best sleep I have had in a month, and it is my absolute pleasure to be able to share this news with fellow Jets fans this morning. This is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life, and I know it will be the same for many of you more traditional fans who have been hoping we would see the name revived. Congratulations, Winnipeg! After 15 long years, our Jets are finally home.

Unfortunately, we have no solid information as to when the announcement will be made, which leads me to believe that they are still in the process of making that decision. Speculation and common sense point to either immediately after the board of governors approve the sale and relocation tomorrow, June 21st, in New York, or shortly before or during the 2011 NHL entry draft on Friday, June 24th, in Minneapolis. The only thing we know for sure is that the announcement will be made before the Jets make their first selection, 7th overall, in Friday’s draft. Our sources were unanimous in that regard… so we will beyond a doubt have the name Jets made official this week.

Whether or not they will unveil a team logo, colour scheme, and set of jerseys at the time of the announcement, or at the draft, is also unclear and apparently still undecided. What is nearly certain is that True North will not hold a contest or anything like that to pick them. They are almost certainly choosing between a number of concepts created for them. What is certain; I can hardly wait to see them, and for my first couple jerseys to arrive!

I would like to personally thank everyone who signed the Winnipeg Jets name petition, and everyone who supported saving the name in their own way… from posting about it online to talking about it in bars and everywhere else.

Thanks to the brilliant management of our team by True North and Entertainment, we can finally sit back and celebrate the return of the Jets… what we have been praying and begging for for the past 15 years.

Remember where you are when you first read this, and remember where you heard it first… on YourWinnipegJets.com. Ladies and gentlemen, your Jets are back in Winnipeg!

If you would like to support this site, please purchase your new Winnipeg Jets jerseys and other Jets merchandise through our link to Shop.NHL.com! We thank everyone for their support this past month, we could not have expected the response we have received from you readers! I realize the site and forum are still somewhat ugly, but we are waiting to see the new Jets colours and logo before we upgrade our design. I hope you will continue to enjoy our reporting, commentary, and general fun Winnipeg Jets stuff! Good luck to all of you in our first (hopefully Winnipeg) Jets ticket contest!

Finally, below is the rest of that excellent Winnipeg Jets brand concept created by Fraser Davidson and Brian Gundell. This was brought to my attention by our friends over at WinnipegJets.info. As I mentioned, True North will likely be selecting between concepts created for them, so there is not much chance that this one will be in contention. We will of course report on it as soon as they announce anything… but until then, it’s fun to look at these and imagine what our team might look like next year. Click on the images to view them full sized.

Go Jets go!2672226723

[UkrainianGuy]

drop the puck!!

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAEQylT5Qn0

[UkrainianGuy]

The other shoe dropped to close the book on the great name debate. The approval felt like True North Sports and Entertainment brass could've heard the roar all the way to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul's, Minnesota.

"Mr. Kevin Cheveldayoff will make the first pick of behalf of the Winnipeg Jets."

When team owner Mark Chipman, in true Winnipeg fashion, understatedly declared the nickname "Jets", the thunderous cheer felt like a physical blow from where I was standing on the floor of the MTS Centre. I've covered four seasons of Montreal Canadiens games at the Bell Centre, so trust me on this one. It was a deafening roar that rivaled any which I've experienced at a live event.

It was like a joyous release from four thousand fans, sounding like a capacity crowd. I'm guessing it was a preview of what the atmosphere will be like at the MTS Centre when more than 15,000 fans will pack the building for every Jets home game starting this fall.

It also was a seminal moment to cement the relationship between Chipman and the fans. He gave his blood, sweat and tears (and substantial dollars) to bring the NHL back to Winnipeg. The fans repaid his largesse by selling out the season ticket base of 13,000 seats in a heartbeat. What was left for Chipman to give in return? He gave the people what they wanted.

The symbol, the identity, the calling card of the pulse of hockey beating within Winnipeggers' hearts.

An aside to the "official announcement of the name": In the moments leading up to the Jets' pick, the buzz in the crowd was like a gathering storm -- noise and energy waiting to explode. When we came out of the commercial break it was so loud in the building, TSN had to scrap my live hit because I couldn't hear James Duthie in my earpiece, who was trying to link up with us from St. Paul's. When you can't hear James Duthie shouting in your ear, you know it's loud around you.

Seconds later when the Jets VP & GM Kevin Cheveldayoff again uttered "Winnipeg Jets" to preface the pick, his announcement of the player's identity was almost drowned out. Subsequently, the reaction was muted when Mark Scheifele went at Number 7. You got the sense that fans in the building were asking, "Mark Who?".

However, because of the way Cheveldayoff described the Barrie Colts centre -- as a player possessing the character and values the organization wants to foster within the team -- my guess is that Winnipeg fans will quickly warm to a young man who evidently reflects the humility and sincerity of the community which he will make his first NHL home. Plus, it can't hurt that Scheifele's junior coach, Dale Hawerchuk, gives his glowing endorsement. If you can't trust a Hall of Famer and icon in Jets history, whom can you trust?

You can understand the fans' initial confusion/disappointment, no disrespect to Scheifele. Two picks earlier they lustily booed Islanders' GM Garth Snow when he chose Ryan Strome. Jets fans, dazzled by Strome's viral YouTube double dangle goal and enthusiastic hype built by the Winnipeg sports media, coveted the Niagara Ice Dogs product.

That visceral reaction simply said that these fans, and thousands of their brethren around the city and country who were watching the draft, are truly plugged in. They know their hockey and they love their Jets.

Here's another example of how plugged in they are. Even though a large portion of the fans in attendance would've been infants or had never seen an NHL game in Winnipeg when the Jets left in 1996, they let it be known that the old Smythe Division rivalry is alive and well in The Peg. When the Edmonton Oilers were called to the podium to make their first overall pick, Steve Tambellini received the second loudest boo of the evening. Realignment, anybody?
The loudest boo of the evening? One hint: He opened the evening's proceedings.

Commissioner Gary Bettman is forever doomed to be a villain in Winnipeg. No matter how many times and ways he explains why the team left in the first place, most Winnipeggers refuse to cut him slack. I found it interesting that in an interview with Tim Campbell published in last Saturday's Winnipeg Free Press, he described the typical reaction he gets from the city's fans as "a routine" rather than criticism. Hmm.

No matter. The fans shortly thereafter cheered Bettman loudly when he welcomed Winnipeg and its fans back to the NHL fold. Is all forgiven over that little relocation thing from 15 years ago? Let's find out when Winnipeg hosts its first All Star Game or Entry Draft and the Commissioner is back in town.

As memorable as the cheers, boos and buzz from the crowd were, I was once again reminded of how inviting and friendly Winnipeggers are from my interactions with them throughout the evening. Unfailingly polite, scores of them sought pictures with TSN's Draft Day representative and a few moments to talk hockey. I even ran into a couple of friends from Red Lake, Ontario as echoes of my former career. I've always said that Winnipeg demonstrates one degree of separation.

I met Dancing Gabe Langlois, the holdover from the first Jets era who is a local legend for entertaining Winnipeg crowds with his self-styled gyrations in the stands. Gabe is the classical paradoxical performer -- a wildman when the adrenaline of the crowd is fueling him, but normally a soft-spoken, cordial gentleman with a self-conscious handshake who looks like a financial advisor.

Come to think of it, he looks like my financial advisor.

But to borrow from TSN's vernacular, my Highlight of the Night came at the request of a young fan who asked me to tape a video greeting to his friend Tyson who is fighting cancer.

People in the sports media are greatly privileged to be a part of the public's everyday lives. I've always felt we're ordinary people who are blessed with extraordinary careers. For that reason it was an honour to be asked to give encouragement to a young man whose battle will be as singularly challenging as Mark Chipman's was to bring the Jets back to Winnipeg.

My fervent hope is that Tyson will be adding his voice to those boisterous crowds of more than 15,000 fans who will cheer their Winnipeg Jets at every home game starting this fall.

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkKNbK-h83c

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnbt5osluU

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Shh6cJIEw

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE5TlzU4GFU

[UkrainianGuy]

JETS!

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSdcuFwRTXs

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghDlBX7l6O8

[UkrainianGuy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XplaITagdVI#!