WINNIPEG SHOULD GET THERE FRANCHISE BACK

Possible Jets Logo If they Get a Team

          Winnipeg should get there NHL franchise back. As all hockey fans know, Winnipeg had a team called the Jets from 1972-1996. There team was moved to Phoenix in 96 due to financial trouble. Now I’m here to tell you why they should get it back. First of all, two teams in the NHL are going bankrupt due to lack of attendance from the Fans. Second of all, the city of Winnipeg has an NHL standard arena. Last but most important, the people of Winnipeg want the team back.

           Two teams in the NHL are going bankrupt at that moment and those teams are the Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Phoenix Coyotes make tax payers pay to keep the team where it is. That is not far to the tax payers. The Tax payers should be paying for free health care not an NHL team that has on average 12,188 people going to a game when the arena can fill 18,000 people. As for the Atlanta Thrashers, they get on average, 13,469 people attending when they can fit 18,545. So with the lack of attendance in both these cities, one team should be moved.

             The MTS centre in Winnipeg is the home of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL (minor league), it could be the home of an NHL team once again. According to TSN and Rogers Sportsnet, the NHL has said that the MTS centre can be fit for a home of an NHL team in Winnipeg. It can fit over 15000 fans, which would make it the NHL’s smallest arena but it works. Night after night in the AHL, the MTS centre sells out. This is for a minor league team, not even an NHL franchise. So imagine what it would be like if it was for an NHL team. It would make for a great attendance, a great atmosphere for hockey and most of all an NHL team in Winnipeg which would really excite the fans.

         It’s been a full 15 years since there’s been an NHL team in Winnipeg. 15 years to long for the hockey fans in that city. If Winnipeg did get a team again, it won’t just be good for Winnipeg it would be good for Canada. As of now, there are 30 teams in the NHL and only 6 are Canadian. That’s a little surprising for a Canadian sport. Don’t you think? A sign of the fans wanting a team back in Winnipeg was not too long ago. When it was rumoured that Winnipeg had got an NHL team, 750, 000 fans stood outside of the MTS centre in Winnipeg Jets jerseys. That’s more fans than what could fit in the arena.

        Overall, with teams being bankrupt, the City having an NHL arena and the fans wanting a team, there’s no doubt that they shouldn’t get it. Everyone wants it so why deprive them of it? If teams can’t afford to stay where they are, then move them to a place that can afford a team. If 750, 000 fans in the city of Winnipeg, keep in mind that, that is more than what they can fit in an arena, than give them a team. That’s why Winnipeg should get there franchise back.

Written By Andrew Di Pardo