Every so often, a sporting event takes place that has eternal written all over it.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman watched firsthand when the Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in double overtime in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round and put that magical game in historic perspective.
"Moments like that will be in people's minds for a long time," Commissioner Bettman said. "You see the connection to the hockey club and to hockey and to the city. Sports brings people together and the Jets brought the people of Winnipeg together."
The Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets trail the best-of-7 second round 3-1 to the Dallas Stars after a 3-1 loss in Game 4 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday, when Miro Heiskanen had an assist in 14:52 of ice time in his return from a knee injury that sidelined the defenseman since Jan. 28.
"I hope we can keep everybody in a healthy place," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "We knew that the Jets were going to push. They pushed hard and played hard all night."
Stars forward Mikko Rantanen had a natural hat trick in Game 1 and three points (one goal, two assists) in Game 3, a 5-2 win that included a goal by Dallas defenseman Alexander Petrovic that bounced in off Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck's stick at 3:51 of the third period, a goal upheld by video review.
"It was a pretty lucky goal," Petrovic said, "but it was a good timely goal."
There was nothing lucky about Mikael Granlund's first NHL postseason hat trick that put the Jets on the brink entering Game 5 at Canada Life Centre on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).
"But the job is not done," Granlund said. "We have a lot of work to do. We have a tough game ahead of us in Winnipeg."
The Jets are still in pursuit of their first Stanley Cup championship since Winnipeg played a strategic role in NHL expansion via the World Hockey Association, which was founded in 1971 and opened for business a year later. By luring future Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull from the Chicago Black Hawks to play for the newly formed Jets, owner Ben Hatskin turned the hockey world upside down.
"Hull would become the WHA," wrote Ed Willes in "The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association."
"He was its star, its face, its drawing card and its goodwill ambassador."
The WHA also bolstered itself by adding Gordie Howe, Dave Keon and Frank Mahovlich, and several younger players who eventually became NHL stars. By 1977, NHL president John Ziegler and his WHA counterpart, Howard Baldwin, began negotiations leading to a merger with the NHL for the 1979-90 season, the League expanding into Hartford, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Quebec City.
"It was Winnipeg that made it happen," Baldwin said, "If it wasn't for Bobby Hull and the WHA's 1972 Jets, Edmonton and Winnipeg wouldn't be in the League today."
The original Jets endured a lean expansion draft. They won 20 games in 1979-80 and only nine a season later before their first playoff appearance, a 3-1 loss to the Blues in the best-of-5 Norris Division Semifinals. The state of the 2025 playoff run is yet to be determined, but this much is certain: They have come a long way since Tom McVie's understaffed team struggled to win games. One day after McVie was asked about the pressure of coaching the Jets, he shot back: "What pressure? I sleep like a baby."
Then, a pause: "Every two hours I wake up and cry."
