Claude Noel and the Return of the Winnipeg Jets

This is not going be as long as some of my other blogs because its really late but I am just wanted to make a couple quick points on the return of the Winnipeg Jets to the NHL.  First off, I would like to applaud the organization for selecting Claude Noel to coach the team in their first year back.  I was a real fan of his when he was sort of given a chance to coach in Columbus after Hitchcock was fired.  I do not feel it was ever given a real chance in Columbus because he was just an interim coach.  The team seemed to respond well to him getting the interim job but it was too late in the season to do any real damage.  He is a great coach, and I think that if he is given time, he will make Winnipeg into a winning franchise.

The second point I would like to make, is that I applaud the organization for not choosing some other name than the Jets.  Seriously, what would have been the point to bring back a popular team from NHL past if you are not going to have the same name.  I am very glad they did not pick some goofy name that the fans of Winnipeg would have hated, its nice to see the NHL finally give something back to some of its fans.  We just need to get a team into Hartford again and we will be all set.

Thirdly, the NHL fans in Atlanta really need to be addressed.  When Gary Bettman came out and said, "we will fight to keep teams in their cities," clearly that did not apply to Atlanta.  There is a reason why Bettman is booed worse then any other commissioner and this is exactly why, he flat out lied.  Shout out to the people at keepthetrashers.com great website, and its too bad that your attempts did not succeed.  This is the second time Atlanta has lost a team to Canada (they lost the Flames to Calgary in the 1980s).  I think this is the end of the road for the NHL in hot Atlanta.

In conclusion, I think that this is great that the NHL is going back to a traditional hockey market.  I think cities like Quebec City and Hartford can only gain optimism from this move.  I think there are still teams like Phoenix with uncertain futures that might be moving back north once again.  I think this is great for the fans of Winnipeg, because seriously what else is there to do in Winnipeg besides maybe ice fishing.  I do feel for the Thrasher fans because they were lied to, but get over it, the team is gone, you still have the Braves and the Hawks or the Falcons if you like football.  All in all, great move for the NHL, we need to get more teams back North were they should be.