Jagr gets milestone OT winner, Flyers escape Jets

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

If Queen Elizabeth II had been looking down from the rafters of the MTS Centre as she had for so many years at the Winnipeg Arena, Her Majesty surely would have approved of such a heart-stopping matchup.

Jaromir Jagr's tally with 43.6 seconds left in overtime -- his NHL record 16th career marker beyond regulation -- spoiled a 50-save performance by Ondrej Pavelec and sent Philadelphia past Winnipeg by a 5-4 count on Tuesday.

Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux all posted a goal and one assist for the Flyers, who avoided a season sweep and won their second game in three thanks to a season-high in shots on net.

In fact, the onslaught matched the club record for most shots in one road game, after a 55-shot effort in a 4-3 OT win at Boston on March 1, 2007.

"We have four lines and they can all score goals. You have to make the other team tired because every line has a chance to score," Jagr said of the Orange and Black, who have tallied an NHL-best 198 times this season, three better than Vancouver. "We switched a lot on the fly because of injuries, but we can go back to the way it was now. It doesn't matter how many they score against us because we know we can score a lot."

Ilya Bryzgalov was solid enough, making 22 saves for his second victory in three starts. He seemed unrattled by the enemy fan base chanting his name throughout.

It was a fine opening salvo for a four-game road swing that continues on Thursday in Edmonton, something which head coach Peter Laviolette praised:

"I’m really proud that the guys kept coming and pumping,” he said. “It was one of those gutsy efforts that you look back on and that might have been one of our best, toughest, wins of the year. You know, we kept fighting and kept pushing to get those two points.”

Andrew Ladd netted a pair of goals and Tim Stapleton added three helpers for the Jets, whose three game win streak came to an end.

Pavelec tied a career-high for saves in defeat. He also stopped 50 in a 3-1 win at Ottawa on October 31, 2009.

The 24-year-old Czech, born in the same town (Kladno) as Jagr, preserved a one-goal margin with the save of the year -- coming across his crease and diving to make a glove stop on Jakub Voracek inside of eight minutes to play on a Philadelphia advantage. He also did the splits to record a sprawling stop on Simmonds seconds later at the opposite post.

Bryzgalov was pulled for an extra skater with just over a minute remaining, and after almost an entire shift worth of patience in the neutral zone, James van Riemsdyk decided to take matters into his own hands. He flew up the left-wing side, cut to the net and his centering feed found its way to Simmonds for a successful redirect in front 9.7 seconds to play.

On the winner, Danny Briere emerged from a battle behind the net with the puck and wheeled around for a dish into the slot. Jagr did the rest, beating a Jets defenseman and his countryman to the left post.

"Yes, I'm disappointed. I'm happy we got the point. Pavelec was by far the best player on the ice," said Jets head coach Claude Noel. "We might not have gotten a point if not for him. Did we deserve to get two? You can be the judge of that."

It looked like another long night in Manitoba's capital for the visitors, when Dustin Byfuglien slipped a right-point blast between Bryzgalov's pads on a power play with 7:29 left in the first period.

Giroux evened the score a little over three minutes later on a high backhander from the left side, then Hartnell put the Flyers up 2-1 on the advantage with 1:09 played in the second.

Ladd drew the hosts even during another power play on a shot in close at the 7:52 mark, then gave the Jets a one-goal edge just over a minute later on a backhander from just outside the crease.

Max Talbot then followed up a blocked Andrej Meszaros' point drive and beat Pavelec for a 3-3 game at 11:14.

Brayden Schenn even got in on the crease action early in the final period, as he made twin stops seconds apart on Bryan Little and Ladd with Bryzgalov out of position.

That didn't change fortune much when Winnipeg added its third power-play score of the contest to take a 4-3 lead at 4:57 of the third. Bryzgalov looked foolish when he stabbed at Evander Kane's floater from below the right circle with his glove and missed.

Notes: Philly improved to 12-15-2 when giving up the game's first goal...Pavelec's previous season-high in saves was 39, accomplished on November 8 at Buffalo and December 6 against Boston and Hartnell's tally was his league-best 14th on the power play, one better than Pittsburgh's James Neal...Ladd has scored three times in the last two games following a 13-game goal drought...The last time a team based in Winnipeg swept the Flyers was 1984-85, when the original Jets won all three of that season's matchups...Philadelphia hasn't lost consecutive games in Manitoba's capital since dropping four in a row from November of 1983 to December of 1985...Jagr had been tied with Mats Sundin, Patrik Elias and Sergei Fedorov for overtime heroics...Little added two assists in the setback...Tuesday's win marked the first time since 1984-85 that the Flyers unloaded 48-or-more shots on one club twice in one season, having done it against the Vancouver Canucks (58 shots in a 13-2 win on 10/18/84 and 50 in a 7-4 win on 12/28/84)...Philly registered 48 in a 9-8 home loss on October 27...Giroux recorded a career high 10 shots on goal...The clubs combined for 39 goals in the four-game season set.

All-Star broke: Jets slip by Flyers in shootout

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

The Philadelphia Flyers are a proud organization with a long history of tough play at all areas of the rink. But the mysteries of the shootout are apparently on par with the Riddle of the Sphinx.

In the club's first game back from the All-Star break, it was the Winnipeg Jets who managed to escape with another one-goal victory, but this time it was a 2-1 decision in the shootout on Tuesday night.

After five previous shooters came up empty, Bryan Little managed to end the game with the final shot of the third round, slipping a shot between the legs of Ilya Bryzgalov.

“I just decided to give him a little fake and see if it might open up again, so it worked," said Little. "I think you have an advantage when you go third because you get to watch the replay of what the goalie does each time the guy shoots, so I definitely made my decision based on that."

When they find themselves in times of trouble, it falls upon the chief to try and provide some answers, but none were forthcoming as Philly fell to 1-4 this year in the breakaway competition.

"We score a lot of goals every year. We're one of the highest-scoring teams and I'm not sure I have an answer for it," said Philly head coach Peter Laviolette. "I think we have enough talent."

Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr -- all capable hands around the net -- all failed to dent Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 27-of-28 shots in regulation.

"He's generated offense his whole life and I wanted to change it up, try a few different players," Laviolette said about his decision to place the 39-year-old last in the sequence.

Chris Thorburn was the only Winnipeg player to score in the first 65 minutes, but there was enough in the tank to give the franchise its sixth straight win here since January of 2009.

Bryzgalov acquitted himself well and came up one stop short, eventually a game where he halted 23-of-24 shots will go on his ledger despite the loss.

The frantic action and non-stop offense which defined the first two games in this four-contest season series was nowhere to be found early on. No shots on goal were recorded for either team through game's first 10-plus minutes.

A break for the hosts came with 6:28 left in the opening period. Scott Hartnell, fresh off his goal-scoring tear two weekends ago and an All-Star berth of two assists, goaded Thorburn into a retaliation penalty after mercilessly working him over in the right corner.

It led to the game's first score.

Matt Carle swung in from his position at the left point and ripped a shot on goal from near the boards. It hit the left post then the back of Pavelec. All he had to do was lay prone in the crease to stop the puck, but Brayden Schenn keeps digging at the left side of the crease until the puck trickled in with 4:49 to go before intermission.

But Thorburn got his revenge just 2:06 into the middle period, with a sizzling wrister that caught net just inside the crossbar at the near post from the right circle. The tally tied the score and also snapped a 59-game goal drought.

Hartnell could have sent the faithful home happy, but Pavelec slid across to stop his dead-on chance from a Giroux dish with 8:38 remaining in regulation.

The Flyers also survived an ill-advised and ill-timed bench minor taken with 4:18 to play, and received a huge dose of good luck as the clock ticked under one minute to go, as Jets captain Andrew Ladd fell down while staring at a wide open net and his shot caromed off the outside of the cage.

Breath was held once again because of Ladd less than a minute into overtime, but his blast careened off the post and kicked back out into play. Andrej Meszaros also provided a reason to hold it in during the waning seconds, but his open chance from between the circles sailed way high and wide.

Notes: Thorburn's last goal came on March 19 at Buffalo in an 8-2 loss...The last time the Flyers participated in three consecutive shootouts occurred from March 17-24 when they played in four straight shootout-decided games...Jagr picked up an assist in his first action since re-aggravating a groin injury on January 21 at New Jersey...Giroux saw his goal-less streak extended to 12 games...Atlanta/Winnipeg has gone 9-1-0 against Philadelphia since November of 2009, after the franchise snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Orange and Black...Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk took a seat for the Flyers, while Dustin Byfuglien and Evander Kane were out of action for the Jets.

Sloppy Jets outlast sloppier Flyers, 9-8

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

Rather than try to come up with a clever, or all-encompassing opening paragraph which might require the ability to stare a hole into this computer screen for an indefinite period before inspiration strikes, I will share some fragmented thoughts I had running through my mind regarding Winnipeg's mind-boggling 9-8 win over the Flyers tonight.

• A thousand monkeys tapping away at a thousand typewriters for their collective lifetimes had a better shot at creating the Great American Novel before being able to bang out a game story this bizarre.

• I laughed. I cried. I threw up in my mouth more than once.
• The riot act isn't enough for both teams. Maybe "Protect and Survive," or selections from the U.S. Constitution will do.
• No team that blows leads of 5-1 and 6-2 deserves to win.
• No team that rallies from deficits of 5-1 and 6-2 deserves to lose.
• However, if you come back from a four-goal deficit and can't hold a lead in the third period, you should be summarily executed like in some Central American banana republic complete with blindfold and last cigarette.

If you can snap out of the funk you're no doubt experiencing from a defeat which was snatched from the jaws of victory, realize that you've been a part of history for better or worse. Besides the Jets and Flyers burying themselves in an avalanche of poor defense and more consecutive red lights than Atlantic Avenue in Ventnor, the following occurred:

• The clubs combined for 17 goals, which is a single-game record between these two franchises. The previous high was 11.
• The 17 total goals also matched the most in a single game between the Flyers and an opponent. Philly won a 9-8 game in Calgary on February 27, 1982, took a 13-4 decision against Pittsburgh on March 22, 1984 and also won an 11-6 game in Detroit on February 23, 1988.
• It was the most goals any team claiming the Winnipeg moniker scored against the Orange and Black since the first edition of the Jets took a 9-6 decision at the Spectrum on October 23, 1993.
• The eight scores were the most the Flyers have ever recorded in a loss, eclipsing the seven in a 10-7 loss in Game 5 of the 1989 Patrick Division Finals in Pittsburgh, and an 8-7 loss to Tampa Bay last November 18.

Ultimately, a three-goal burst in a 1:53 span which capped a five-goal turnaround was wasted as Andrew Ladd beat Ilya Bryzgalov with 1:06 left in regulation for the deciding score.

Bryzgalov, who was the focal point of the comeback from a 6-2 hole, ended up four goals on 10 shots and did not suffer the loss. But his insertion for starter Sergei Bobrovsky -- who did get saddled with the loss after giving up five goals on 15 shots, kick-started a rally which electrified the announced crowd of 19,588.

Nik Antropov scored in front after Tim Stapleton won a right-circle faceoff just three seconds into a Danny Briere interference call and Winnipeg was up by a 5-2 count at the 4:39 mark of the second period.

Cue the goalie change, and minors to Johnny Oduya and Ladd 44 seconds apart gave the Flyers a 5-on-3 edge. Claude Giroux made the most of the two-man advantage, sliding home a cross-ice dish from Kimmo Timonen at 6:25.

Even after Evander Kane converted an Antropov pass from in close for a power-play score at
10:39, there was a sense of the storm to come.

Kenndal McArdle was sent off for hooking at 12:08 and Philly drew within 6-3 as Timonen's point shot changed direction off Scott Hartnell's stick, then Briere's arm at the left side of the crease.

It was a 6-4 game with Kane in the box for shooting the puck over the glass in the defensive zone. A moribund arena was finally shaken to life at 16:41 when Matt Read carried down the left wing and threw a shot on net which Ondrej Pavelec kicked away. A Jets defenseman quickly cleared the disc, but it caromed off the skate of the onrushing Max Talbot, hit the near post, rebounded off Pavelec's back and trickled over the goal line.

Then, the three-goal burst early in the third pushed the home team into the lead, forced Pavelec from the game, and sent fans into a frenzy.

First, it was Briere on the doorstep off a Braydon Coburn pass that once again exploited the superhighway near the Winnipeg crease to bring the Flyers within 6-5 at 1:09.

Then, at 2:23, Andreas Lilja's left-point shot was stopped by Pavelec, but the rebound popped into the air, where an inexplicably uncovered Read settled the puck and slid it home at the left post. That finally caused Claude Noel to rescue his starter from further embarrassment.

Chris Mason came on, but James van Riemsdyk netted his first of the contest only 39 seconds later as he, too, was all alone but stationed at the right post to tap in a Briere pass across the blue paint.

The crowd -- and those in the press box -- hardly had time to catch our breath and realize the Flyers were ahead 7-6 before the game was tied as Alex Burmistrov had all day to send home a spinning Antropov pass from in close just 28 seconds later.

Incredibly, the pendulum swung back the other direction only 61 seconds after the tying tally, as Mark Stuart rifled home a Stapleton offering from the left circle on a rush. And things seemed destined to fall apart around Mason with 12:18 remaining, when Jakub Voracek roared in alone down the right wing, but the 35-year-old Alberta native confidently kicked aside the opportunity.

It proved to be some kind of invisible trigger for Jets coach Noel, as Pavelec suddenly reclaimed his crease with roughly nine minutes remaining.

Nonetheless, Philadelphia kept the pressure on and forged an 8-8 deadlock with 3:39 remaining after Timonen threaded a pass from the right-wing boards at the outer edge of the circle all the way to van Riemsdyk for a tip-in on a half-open net.

But all the good feeling went for naught in the final stages. Scott Hartnell came out like his hair was afire, and Jaromir Jagr made one of his frequent falling spells look marvelous on a great lead pass for a tip-in and 1-0 lead just 4:10 into the contest.

Then the wheels fell off as Winnipeg responded with three straight against Bobrovsky. Randy Jones -- a former Flyers defenseman who is still maligned by this fanbase -- picked up his first of the season just after the midway point of the first period to tie the game, Jim Slater put the Jets ahead at 13:39 and Kyle Wellwood expertly redirected a Tobias Enstrom drive in the slot at the tail end of a Lilja interference call at 18:37.

The worse got worser in the second when Tanner Glass received an Enstrom offering and placed it past Bobrovsky at 3:39 for a 4-1 Winnipeg advantage.

Notes: A total of 28 players recorded at least one point (15 by Winnipeg)...Briere (2G, 2A) and Timonen (4A) led all scorers with four points, while Glass (1G, 2A), Antropov (1G, 2A) and Wheeler (3A) paced the victors...There were 17 goals but only 12 total penalties...Atlanta/Winnipeg has won five straight games in Philadelphia, and has won eight of the last nine meetings overall since February of 2009...The Thrashers/Jets franchise tied an all-time high for goals in one game, first set in a 9-0 win at Carolina on November 12, 2005...Zac Rinaldo, recalled from Adirondack of the AHL prior to the game after Braydon Schenn went down with a broken foot for 4-6 weeks, managed to record seven hits in just 6:45 of ice time...Erik Gustafsson also was recalled and Schenn was moved to long-term injured reserve...Stapleton, Bryan Little and Enstrom all notched a pair of assists...Van Riemsdyk added an assist for a three-point night...Both clubs are off until Saturday, when the Jets continue a seven-game road swing at Tampa Bay and the Flyers stay home to host the Hurricanes.

Flyers-Jets Preview

The last time the Winnipeg Jets graced the City of Philadelphia, they failed to score a goal.

If that wasn't enough, Bob Clarke pulled off a trade with the St. Louis Blues which netted the Flyers one Dale Hawerchuk -- then the Jets' all-time leading scorer.

The deal was necessary to replace the offense lost when "Legion of Doom"er Mikael Renberg went down with a stomach-muscle pull which cost him much of the final one-third of the season.

That was March 16, 1996.

The game was played at the now-demolished Spectrum. Ron Hextall closed the doors with 17 saves, while John LeClair, Shjon Podein and Pat Falloon provided the offense in a 3-0 victory.

Six days later, the Jets topped the Flyers by a 4-1 count in the now-demolished Winnipeg Arena. Craig Janney scored a pair of goals, and none other than discarded former backup Dominic Roussel earned the win with 25 stops.

It put the capper on the all-time series, won by Philadelphia 29-16-2, including an 18-6-0 mark on South Broad Street.

Enter the Winnipeg Jets version 2.0, formerly the Atlanta Thrashers.

Once the Orange and Black's (and Antero Niittymaki's) personal whipping boys, the new Jets have beaten Philly in seven of the last eight meetings over the last two seasons.

It's a stunning turnaround for the initerant franchise, which prevously lost 14 straight games to the Flyers and 17 of 18 from February of 2004 until February of 2009.

Included in the new run of success is a four-game winning streak in the Quaker City, a streak which will be likely to continue if the home team plays in a similar manner as their recent run of three losses in five games has indicated. Atlanta's Winnipeg comes in with a 6-13-2-1 record here since arriving in the NHL in 1999.

Thoughts on the return of the NHL to Manitoba

by Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine

It's 61 degrees, windy and drizzly right now in Winnipeg. Hardly Summer-like weather for a region known for its extremes.

But when the National Hockey League's capricious Wheel of Morality turned, turned, turned in the Manitoba capital's favor on Tuesday morning, it must have been a shock to see the clouds parted and a ray of sunshine come blazing down from the heavens, thanks to the hockey gods.

The NHL is back in a Canadian city for the first time in 15 years.

Atlanta, now a two-time loser, sees its Thrashers depart for greener and flatter pastures.

Black is white, night is day, teaching is dead. An American team in a regional, populated hub has been uprooted in favor of a smaller but infinitely more passionate regional and hub in a country with one-tenth the population.

In Atlanta, there's barely a ripple of protest. If you've looked at the comment sections of the Journal Constitution over the past month, you get the usual assortment of milquetoast casual fans who wish the departed team well with thanks for time served, wedged in between the mulletheads who believe it is a vast conspiracy among the major market teams.

In simple terms, it's the economy, stupid. That's the reason the Jets left in 1996, and why the Thrashers will take flight in 2011. A suitable owner in either city, to keep the franchise in that city, could not be found and another owner in another town provided what the NHL needed.

It also doesn't hurt that the Canadian dollar is the strongest it's been in decades. Recently worth more than American greenbacks, the Loonie is still close to a 1-to-1 rate, that brilliant balance, which makes international business proceed in the best of all possible worlds.

That, and the fact that tepid interest in Georgia's capital stood in stark contrast to the avalanche of support in the biggest city of the Canadian Plains.

When word leaked out that Atlanta's latest NHL entry was about to be hijacked to the Great White North, upwards of 200 people turned out.

In the Spring of 1995, when the Jets were about to be sold to a group in Minneapolis, 30,000 fans rallied to the cause in downtown Winnipeg. They ponied up the money to keep a season-ticket base of well over 10,000. Government and civic leaders joined the fight, one group willing to take up the mantle of saviors and purchase the club while building a brand-new arena. The Jets stayed -- but only for one more year -- before heading down to Phoenix.

Just today, at the iconic corner of Portage and Main, hundreds converged, decked out in old-school Jets paraphernalia at the big news. Rumor had it that mayor Sam Katz led fans in a conga line.

There is no name. There is no face, no uniforms. But there is hope and enthusiasm the likes of which most NHL-eligible cities in the United States can't possibly understand.

For fans of the Thrashers who invested time, money and loyalty, I can only say I'm sorry. Your fathers and grandfathers got over the loss of the Flames in 1980 if they cared at all, and that pretty much says it all about hockey's pull in the Deep South.

For fans of the Jets, who patiently waited for the NHL to return, I can only say that your loyalty and blind faith was rewarded. Many, many strange events had to occur for the stars to align properly, and you get your second shot to show the world why you deserve to get a team back. Don't blow it by being conceited or showing up as empty seats if the team sucks.

The Prospects

According to the Free Press, a non-league-mandated minimum of 13,000 season tickets have to be sold in order for things to get off the ground at the MTS Centre, which holds 15,015 spectators.
Winnipeg is inheriting one of the dozen or so mediocre clubs in today's 30-team NHL, but it is not one without players who show promise.

Dustin Byfuglien and captain Andrew Ladd are Stanley Cup winners. Evander Kane continues to grow into his young body and game-by-game, is finding his niche in the big time. Nik Antropov, Bryan Little, Rob Schremp, Blake Wheeler and Jim Slater are all solid if unspectacular players.

Chris Mason and Ondrej Pavelec are a serviceable duo in net. They're bound to be busy, because the Thrashers have sacrificed defensive posture for an up-tempo offensive mindset since their early days.

It's a far cry from what the league did to the Jets when they came over from the WHA in 1979.

Back then, rules stipulated that the four incoming clubs could only protect three players and leave the rest in a dispersal draft. That pretty much gutted the last Avco Cup champions, who suffered through the worst winless streak in NHL history at 30 games in 1980-81 before the fruits of that failure -- Number One pick Dale Hawerchuk -- helped to rebuild the franchise.

In addition, with the exception of the Washington Capitals, the Southeast Division is still up for grabs.

Atlanta used a kick of veteran talent to win the division in 2007, and has largely remained competitive as the Caps, Bolts and Hurricanes work up and down the ladder to gain supremacy. Who knows how the 2011-12 team will react to nightly sold-out crowds?

It again will be a far cry from the Jets' sojourn a generation ago. First placed in the Norris Division, Winnipeg had to contend with ascending clubs Minnesota and Chicago. Then, after taking up residence in the Smythe Division, the red white and blue were third-class citizens behind the mighty Oilers (five Stanley Cups) and Flames (one Cup), and later took a back seat to the Vancouver Canucks in the early 1990s.

In 1986, when you asked who was the second-best center in the NHL behind Wayne Gretzky, how many fans could come up with Hawerchuk as the answer?

Twenty-five years later, when you ask who is the best offensively-oriented defenseman in the division after Washington's Mike Green, it's not going to cause the gray matter much strain to guess Byfuglien.

The History

Winnipeg is not a city accustomed to NHL success. In the Jets' 17-year-stay, they won exactly two playoff series -- both over the Calgary Flames -- in 1985 and 1987. Both times Hawerchuk was injured and both years they were blitzed out of the postseason by Edmonton in the second round.

The Jets only recorded above .500 seasons in 1984-85, 1986-87, 1989-90, 1991-92 and 1992-93.

Shane Doan is the last active player in the league who suited up for the franchise's last days in Winnipeg. Teemu Selanne, who played for the Jets from 1992-96, is still currently active with Anaheim. Mark Recchi, Paul Kariya and Nikolai Khabibulin are also current NHLers who played in 1996 before the Jets left.

Among the notable players to pass through Manitoba are Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen (father of the Blues' Alex Steen), Ducks broadcaster and former goaltender Brian Hayward, current Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, U.S. Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley, Keith Tkachuk, Tie Domi, Dave Manson, NBC/VS analyst Ed Olczyk, current Canucks assistant Dave Babych and ESPN NHL analyst Barry Melrose.

The Specs

While the Coyotes franchise and the NHL own the intellectual rights to the nickname and colors of the old Jets, there's nothing that can't be fixed by throwing a little bit of money around. After all, that's how the sausage is made in relocation deals.

In the entire history of the league, only the Flames retained their full name and color scheme when moving from one city to another.

Speculation from TSN of Canada and other quarters puts the nickname at anything from Thrashers to the Manitoba Gold, to the Falcons and back to the Jets again. The league will have to weigh the prospects of franchise continuity against a powerful brand that has a special hold in the entire Jets-cheering region.

Whatever the new Winnipeg club is called, the finances on the ground will be a key factor in long-term viability.

The Free Press reported that individual tickets will range from $39 and $129 with season-ticket packages spreading out from a total of $1,755 to $5,805 per 45-game season.

With a seating capacity already the lowest in the NHL, it may behoove MTS to keep the actual number of seats low, while expanding the boxes and luxury suites. That plan stands a good chance of keeping both season-ticket interest and corporate sponsorship opportunities at a maximum.

The Upcoming Season

Barring any last-minute shenanigans, or the disapproval from the NHL's Board of Governors, Winnipeg will play in the Southeast Division for just the 2011-12 season.

It's no weirder than when the Whalers moved to Carolina in 1997 and played in the Northeast, or when the Flames moved to Calgary in 1980 and still played in the Patrick Division. Or when the NHL saw fit to stick Montreal and Los Angeles in the Norris Division for seven years.

The travel involved on a temporary basis will most likely have an adverse effect on the uprooted franchise. Winnipeg is 1,564 miles from Washington, DC; 1,728 miles from Raleigh, NC; just over 2,000 miles from Tampa and well over 2,200 to Sunrise, FL.

That means realignment is badly needed, to get Winnipeg back into the Western Conference where it belongs.

A most-likely scenario involves moving Dallas back where they should be in the Central, pushing Nashville into the Southeast, sending Vancouver into the Pacific and having Winnipeg take Vancouver's spot in the Northwest.

But with the NHL's pipe dream of expanding the playoffs, a return to a four-division system may be right around the corner. 

NHL coming back to Winnipeg

Courtesy of the Sports Network

Winnipeg is again getting an NHL team as the Atlanta Thrashers are on their way to Manitoba for the 2011-12 season.


True North Sports and Entertainment held a press conference on Tuesday to announce that the Thrashers, who began play in Atlanta in 1999, are heading to the city that hosted the Jets until their departure to Phoenix in 1996.

"I would like to welcome the NHL back to Winnipeg," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who got a round of applause after the announcement. "As is obvious by the fact that we are here today, True North reached an agreement to bring the Atlanta franchise back to this city."

The deal is still not official yet as it still needs approval from the NHL's Board of Governors, which is scheduled to meet on June 21 in New York.

"This transaction is still contingent upon the approval of the NHL's Board of Governors," said Bettman. "We don't like to move franchises, but sometimes we have no choice. We are not happy about leaving Atlanta, but it was never about whether Winnipeg was better than Atlanta."

True North Sports and Entertainment owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre, which is expected to house the NHL team.

"This venue will be a fine home for the NHL club," said Bettman. "And we get to be back in a place we wish we never had to leave in 1996."

The Manitoba Moose are the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, who will open up the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins.

It is not yet known if the Moose will remain the Canucks' minor league team, or if the AHL will restructure in light of the new situation.

"Our Manitoba Moose have been the benchmark in the AHL since they came into the league," said True North president Jim Ludlow. "They have helped us establish a confident base to move forward. We knew if we saw the right opportunity we would take the next logical step and we are thrilled with our purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers."

Winnipeg was previously home to the Jets, who began life in the World Hockey Association in 1972 before joining the NHL in 1979. The franchise moved to Phoenix for the 1996-97 season and has not hosted an NHL regular-season game since.

"We are just thrilled to have the NHL back in Winnipeg," said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger. "True North and Jim Ludlow have shown perseverance in getting a team back here and this team is a symbol of the faith we have in this province. The NHL is going to be here and it's going to be here for good."

This is the second time an expansion team has failed in Atlanta. The city first hosted the Flames from 1972 until their departure to Calgary in 1980. The Thrashers made the playoffs just once during 11 seasons in Atlanta, suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers in 2007.

During their time in the city, the team posted a mark of 342-437-123 along with winning the Southeast Division in the 2006-07 season.

"Our objective was always to find a solution to keep the team in Atlanta, and we spent a considerable amount of time, effort and resources trying to do so," said Atlanta co-owner Bruce Levenson. "This is not the outcome we wanted and it's extremely disappointing that a buyer or significant investor did not come forward that would enable us to keep the team in Atlanta."

Earlier this month, Thrashers ownership began serious negotiations with the Winnipeg group and the Winnipeg Free Press reported that the league was working on two separate schedule drafts for next season -- one with Atlanta and one with Winnipeg.

This Day in Flyers History

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

January 25, 1986: Flyers 1, St. Louis Blues 0 at St. Louis Arena...Darren Jensen puts together his finest performance as an NHL goaltender, stopping all 48 shots he faced as the Flyers escaped the Gateway City with a narrow victory.

The lone score of the contest was Brad McCrimmon's sixth goal of the season, coming at the 13:12 mark of the opening period. In an era of inflated offense, the 25-year-old rookie netminder stymied such luminaries as Rob Ramage, Brian Sutter, Joe Mullen, Doug Wickenheiser and Ron Flockhart on the night. He made 10 stops in the first, 14 in the second, and completed the masterpiece with 24 saves in the third period.

It proved to be the Flyers' first regular-season road shutout since February 5, 1983 at Los Angeles, when Pelle Lindbergh made 29 saves. Philadelphia played twice in St. Louis that season, and a team that put up 335 total goals managed just two here.

January 25, 1990: Flyers 8, Winnipeg Jets 6 at the Spectrum...The Flyers snap what was then a franchise-record 10-game winless streak thanks to a four-goal third period.

Winless since a December 30 road decision against Los Angeles which saw Tony Horacek register a hat trick, Rick Tocchet provided a nice bookend with six points -- four of those goals that included an empty-net tally with three seconds left to wrap up the victory. Ron Sutter notched the game-winner with 6:11 to play, just 74 seconds after a tying tally from Greg Paslawski, and it was enough to fend off a two-goal, one-assist game from Winnipeg's Paul Fenton.

It proved to be a season-high in goals for Paul Holmgren's squad, who would struggle for the remainder of the season with a roster reshaping that left the club out of the playoffs for the first time since 1971.

January 25, 2003: Bruins 1, Flyers 0 (OT) at Fleet Center...A goaltending duel between Robert Esche and Jeff Hackett concluded with Brian Rolston's winning goal at 31 seconds of the extra session.

Through the end of regulation, Esche made 26 stops and Hackett, in his first appearance with the B's after being acquired from Montreal through San Jose, halted 23. It was one of nine shutouts against the Flyers that season.

January 25, 2011: Flyers?, Canadiens? at Wells Fargo Center...The Flyers have been stuck on 999 home wins in franchise history, and Tuesday night is their last shot to hit four digits prior to the All-Star break. It might be a fitting present to give the Habs, in the final regular-season meeting of four between the teams.

Thanks a million to Flyers History for the stats.