With NHL Season Winding Down, Here Are Four Teams to Look Out For

Winnipeg Jets 

Ondrej Pavelec
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The Jets have won five out of their last six games as they look to claim the first wild card spot. Winnipeg has been the surprise team of the NHL this season. They were predicted to finish in the bottom third of the league by many pundits and started off the season 2-5. Since then, the Jets are 37-19-12. The success of the Jets has been due to the Winnipeg netminders  Goalies Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson have been great. Pavelec, who led the league in goals allowed in each of the last three season, has rebounded this year. He has a .919 save percentage and 2.35 goals against average. Hutchinson, a rookie, has put up great numbers as Pavelec's back-up. He has a .913 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average. With seven games left, the Jets need to win a few more games to secure their playoff spot. They play the current #7 seed Minnesota Wild on April 6 and the Calgary Flames, the team right behind Winnipeg in the Wild Card race, on April 11 in the last game of the season. The Jets have upper hand in the playoff race and should be able to clinch a playoff spot. While there have been hiccups (Most notably, the Evander Kane track suit incident), the Jets have surprised the hockey world by being a playoff team that will be a tough out in the playoffs. 

Boston Bruins

Boston has struggled this season. Yesterday, they snapped a six game losing streak (that included an shootout loss to 20-46-8 Buffalo) with a 4-2 win over the Rangers. The Bruins are currently in the eight spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Ottawa. Tuukka Rask has been good, but not as good as he was last season. Team leaders Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara have also been worse this year than in previous seasons. There have been some bright spots on the squad; most notably defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Loui Eriksson. The Bruins have seven games left to clinch the final spot in the Eastern Conference. With games against Toronto and Carolina, Boston has some easy games; but, the Bruins also play the Red Wings, the Lightning, and the Capitals. All three of those teams are in the playoffs. The playoff teams may sit their starters, but that does not mean those games will be shoo-ins. If Boston misses the playoffs, the teams in the East will breathe a sign of relief because a high-quality team will be watching the playoffs from home.

Nashville Predators

After two consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs, the Nashville Predators have the best record in the Central Division, the best division in the NHL. After missing a good chunk of the 2013-14 season, goalie Pekka Rinne is having a great season. He has 41 of the team's 47 wins and has a .926 save percentage and a 2.10 goals against average. The Predator offense is led by Rookie of the Year candidate and 2015 All-Star Filip Forsberg. Forsberg has 23 goals, six of them game winners, and 36 assists. Forsberg along with defenseman and fellow 20 year-old Seth Jones are two of the most promising players in the NHL. The Predators mix of young talent and seasoned veterans has led them to become one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup.

New York Islanders

John Taveres
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In their final season on Long Island, the New York Islanders are giving their fans a season to remember. The Isles are 44-27-5. The last time a Islanders team had more than 44 wins was the 1983-84 season when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. This year's team has the potential to go farther than the 1983-84 team. John Taveres is having another fabulous year. He has 34 goals, 40 assists, and averages just under one point per game. While Taveres is the team leader in all of those stats by a large margin; however, he is not the only player who is playing well on offense. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo, and Ryan Strome are all playing extremely well, just not earning as many points as Taveres. In net, Jaroslav Halak is having a very good first season as an Islanders goaltender. He has been a stabilizing force New York has been missing recently. The Islanders have the potential to make a run to the Stanley Cup Final, but it will depend on its young stars living up to their potential. 

Four Teams To Watch Out For In The NHL Postseason

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin
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The Alexander Ovechkin led Capitals are known for their postseason struggles and falling short of expectations. This years team is looking to loose that label. Ovechkin, who struggled in the last few seasons, has been on fire of late. He is the regular season league-leader in goals with 32, goals created with 23, and was third in points with 56. In April, Ovechkin had fourteen goals and eighth assists while the Caps went 11-1-1. Their March and April hot streak clinched the division and the three spot in the playoffs. Niklas Backstrom may have not scored many goals, but he had 40 assists on the season. One of their best qualities is their success on the power play. They are first in the league in power-play goals and power play percentage with 44 and 26.8% respectively. 

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has been great on D this season. The Senators are outstanding on the penalty kill. Their penalty kill percentage is 88.5%, which is number one in the league. Netminder Craig Anderson is number one in the league in Goals Against Average with 1.69 and a save percentage of .941. He has been great this year. While the goaltending and defense has been great, the offense has struggled. They only average 2.3 goals per game, which was 27th in the league. They will need to get more goals to try to upset the powerful.

Los Angeles Kings

The defending champs are back in the playoffs and are ready to bring the cup back to Hollywood. Like last year, they are a lower seed in the first round.  This time, they are a five seed against the fourth seed St. Louis Blues. The King's offense is led by center Anze Kopitar, who had 32 assists and ten goals on the season. Jeff Carter led the team in goals with 26. Goalie Jonathan Quick has been good, but not great. They need him to be great to advance in the playoffs. They have done a very good job on the penalty kill, which was a success in their playoff run last season. The key will be the production of their top front line and if Quick can be the star he was last season.

Antti Niemi
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San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are a good team that has the potential to go far in the playoffs. Captain Joe Thornton led the Sharks in points with 40, 33 of them assists. Center Logan Couture had 21 goals and 16 assists. Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski both had 31 points on the season. Goalie Antti Neimi has been excellent this season. He has a record of 24-12-6 with a 2.16 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Neimi also had four shutouts. Their special teams are also good. San Jose is 20.1% on the power play and 85% on the penalty kill. The Sharks have a tough first round match-up against Vancouver, but they have a good chance of making a good run. 

NHL Season Preview 2013

The NHL is back. After a 119 day lockout, the league is coming back after only a week of training camp. The season will only be 48 games and with only conference opponents facing  each other. That means the Stanley Cup will have two teams that have never faced each other during the season. That should make for a very interesting season. Here are some things and teams to look for when the first puck is dropped on Saturday.

Top Form

During the lockout, Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk
went to play in the KHL
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Unlike after the NBA lockout, the players have been playing in other leagues, putting many of them in mid-season form. Ilya Kovalchuk is one of the players who should be firing on all cylinders. He played for CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He captained the West in the KHL All-Star Game over the weekend and had a hat trick in the game. Kovalchuk had 42 points on 18 goals and 24 assists during the regular season. I  expect a lot for the hot Kovalchuk and the Devils this season. Same with Evgeny Malkin who played with the KHL's Metallurg Magnitagorsk during the lockout. He had 65 points on 23 goals and 45 assists. Malkin should be dominating in the first few weeks as Sidney Crosby will try to get back in the swing of things. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had a bad season last year after coming into the season with high expectations. There were some bright spots and the Bolts. Steven Stamkos was the league leader in goals with 60 and 37 assists. Martin St. Louis had 49 assists and 25 goals. While the frontline was playing very well, the back line struggled. They averaged 3.39 goals against per game, worst in the league. They signed Andres Lindback to compete with Mathieu Garon for the starrting goalie spot. No matter what who starts, they need to keep the opposing players from scoring. If they can do that, they will be in good shape.

Vancouver Canucks

Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo
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The Canucks were the number one team going into the playoffs and lost in the first round to the number eight seed Los Angles Kings. The big controversy of the playoffs was over the goaltender situation, where starter Roberto Luongo in favor of Cory Schneider. It looks like Schneider will be the starter, as Luongo might be traded soon. One thing that worries me is that they only had three players who played in Europe during the lockout. I know some of their stars are getting older, but more players should have played during the lockout. With only a week to get ready for the season, the Canucks will need time to get into a rhythm. Vancouver has a chip on it's shoulder after last year's playoffs. Expect them to start slow and finish the season strong.

NHL Lockout

NHL Lockout
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For the 2nd time in 8 years there is an NHL Lockout. It is also the 4th time in 20 years there is a labor dispute. The last lockout lasted an entire season. That doesn't give many people much hope that this lockout will be any different. The 1992 strike lasted 10 days during the middle of the season. The 1994-95 lockout lasted a little more than 3 months and cut the season from 84 games to 48. History isn't in the NHL's favor. The NHL is not the only league that has had labor issues in recent years. The NFL had a lockout last year but didn't miss any regular season games.  The NBA had a shortened 2011 - 12 season due to a lockout. Let's not forget the NFL Referees that are currently in a lockout. Recently the MLB, however, has not trouble getting a deal done.

The big issue looks like the revenue split. The players got 57% of the Hockey Related Revenue in the last agreement. The league's 1st offer had that percentage decreased by 14% to 43%. They have since moved that offer up to 49% in year one, then 47% for each of the final four years. 

If the NHL Lockout ends up going into the regular season, like the NBA Lockout, the best time resume the season would be on New Year's with the Winter Classic. It would be great timing, like the NBA coming back on Christmas last year. It is one of the league's main days and would  pump up the fans. Since it will be played in Michigan with two Original Six teams will face off.  Toronto will face Detroit. That will make it even better because both teams have loyal fan bases that will be excited for the game. With that said,the owners and the players should resolve the differences quick and try to start play as soon as possible.

Evgeni Malkin with Metallurg
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Players are already making plans to play overseas. The 2011-12 Hart Trophy (MVP) Winner Evgeni Malkin has already agreed to play with his former team in Russia, the Metallurg Magnitogorsk.  They play in the Kontiental Hockey League (KHL). Joining him on team are former Penguins' teammate defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Nikolai Kulemin. Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk is joining AK Bars Kazan, also of the KHL. Ilya Kovalchuk will sign with the KHL's SKA (Saint Peterburg) soon. KHL's HC Dombass of Ukraine signed forwards Ruslan Fedotenko and Alexei Ponikarovski. The KHL is a top hockey league in Europe, with most of it's team's in Russia, but the countries of Belarus, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Slovakia, and Ukraine have 1 team in the league.  During the lockout, each team in the KHL is allowed to have a maximum of 3 players that are currently signed with NHL teams. Jaromir Jagr will play for the team he owns in Czech Extraliga, HC Klado. Forward Tomas Plekanec will join Jagr in Czech Republic. This is just the start of what is expected to be many players from the NHL moving to play this year in Europe.

If I am the NHL, I would be the most worried about losing fans and their support. The 2012 - 13 season is planned to start October 11th. This probably won't happen based on how little the sides are talking. The NHL had a great postseason last year, that definitely got the league more fans. Those new fans aren't going to wait around for the lockout to end. They may go back to watching what they did before coming to hockey. Then, there are the die-hard fans and they don't deserve this. They stayed loyal to the NHL through the 2004-05 lockout. These fans are being shoved out of the way because of money issues. If there are no fans, there will be no money.

NHL Playoffs To This Point

The Playoffs in the NHL have been fantastic. There has been so much drama in the match-ups. All of the games have been exciting. This might be the beginning of the greatest playoffs in NHL history. I think it has all the characteristics of a great playoffs, nail biters, great goaltending, outstanding play, and a little edginess and fighting. 

Pittsburgh and Philly played some intense games
Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI

In every playoff game, you want to see the players wanting to win, anyway they can. Just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3. Captain Sidney Crosby made some attempts to get his team pumped. The result, a couple a fights and brawls. Pittsburgh may have done better in the fights, but they lost the game 8-4. The intensity didn't help the Pens as they lost the series 4-2.


The best series is definitely the 7 game series between the defending Stanley Cup champions Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. This series was one for the ages. In every game, the points differential was just 1 goal. Four of the games went into overtime, while 1 went into double OT. Every game seemed to keep the fans on the edge of their seat seeing who will take the game. Game 7 was a exciting game. Only 4 penalties throughout out the game really showed they were there to play. And when the power play showed up, there was so much pressure to either stop any shot there is or not to waste the advantage. When the game went into overtime, the drama intensified. The game ended when after Boston failed to clear the puck, Mike Knuble took the puck down the ice and took a shot. Tim Thomas saved the shot, but Joel ward got the rebound and put in the back of the net for the game-winner.


Two other series went to a 7th game, the New York-Ottawa series and the Florida-New Jersey series. New York was the best team in the East in the regular season. They had some trouble with the Senators. They were down 3 game to 2, but came back in Game 6 and won, 3-2. In Game 7, the Rangers went up 2-0 and didn't let the lead go, winning 2-1. The Game 7 of the Florida-New Jersey was a real thriller. The Devils took a 2-0 lead going into the 3rd period. But, Florida didn't die and tied it up. The Game went into OT and then Double OT, where Adam Henrique scored his 2nd goal of the game to send Florida packing.


The big upset series was no doubt Los Angeles over the President Trophy winning Vancouver. Los Angeles won the series surprisingly in 5 games. Starting goalie Roberto Luongo was replaced by Cory Schneider after Game 2 and didn't return. Like in the Stanley Cup last year, Luongo didn't come up clutch. However, Kings G Jonathan Quick played exceptionally well in goal. The Kings might be the sleeper team of the playoffs.

Pekka Rinne making a save vs. the Red Wings
Photo by Dave Reginek/NHL

In the other Western Conference games, the main story was the play of the goalies. Mike Smith of Phoenix was superb, stopping 43 shots in Game 1, 46 in Game 2, 35 in Game 3, 30 in Game 4, 36 in Game 5, and 39 in Game 6. In Game 5, he shutout the Blackhawks after playing 4 straight OT games. The Coyotes won the series 4-2. Nashville's Pekka Rinne played really well, as he did all season. D Francis Bouillon had a +/- of 6 in the 1st round. The Predators beat the Red Wings 4 games to 1. The San Jose Sharks won Game 1 against the Blues. However, that's how many they would win. The Blues then beat the Sharks in the next 4 games to win the series. 


The Conference Semi's start tonight with Nashville and Phoenix. The West is wide open this year with #1 Vancouver out. All 4 teams have gotten great production in net. The East is just the same. The Rangers may be the favorites but they struggled vs. Ottawa. Philadelphia played their hearts out against Pittsburgh and I expect them to do the same. New Jersey has the greatest goalie in history in net. Washington has that chip on their shoulder that cannot perform in the playoffs.

New Year's Day Sports: College Football or Hockey

New Year's has historically been a day of celebration, Dick Clark, and important college football bowl games. This year is a little different due to New Year's being a Sunday, the bowl games are moved back a day so the NFL games can be played. These games include the Rose Bowl Game, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and others. However, the NHL has a new New Year's game, the Winter Classic, that is really gaining attention and views. So can the NHL and Winter Classic take over College Football as New Year's sport?

The Rose Bowl Game is a New Year's Tradition
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First, lets look at the reigning champion, college football. We looked at the history of all the games played yesterday and games that were mostly played on New Year's Eve, Day, and January 2nd. I consider January 2nd part of the New Year's celebration because the bowl games are usually not played on New Year's if New Year's is on a Sunday. 

The Rose Bowl Game has been played on January 1st and 2nd every time in the bowl's 98 game history except twice. Both times were when the Rose Bowl was also the BCS National Championship. 


The Sugar Bowl was played on December 31st, January 1st and 2nd every time from 1935 until 2000. Since the 2000, 6 games have been played on dates other tha the 1st and 2nd of January. 


The Orange Bowl was been played on December 31st, January 1st, and 2nd from 1935-2000. Since 2001, the Orange Bowl has switched dates during the 1st weeks of January. Only 5 of the games since 2001 have been played on the 1st or 2nd.


The Fiesta Bowl was first played on various dates in December from 1971-1980. Then, starting in 1982, the Fiesta Bowl was played on New Year's Eve, Day and the 2nd until 1997. Since 1999, 4 games have been played on different dates.

The Cotton Bowl was a New Year's Classic
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The Cotton Bowl Classic was played on December 31st, January 1st, or 2nd every time except once from 1935-2010. It was played on January 7th last year and will be played January 6th this year.


The Gator Bowl was played on the New Year's Eve, Day, and the 2nd 24 times from 1946-1994. Since 1996, January 1st and 2nd has been the date of the Gator Bowl.


The Outback Bowl has been played on January 1st or 2nd every time except in 1986, the 1st ever edition of the bowl.


From 1947-1986 The Capital One Bowl was played on the 1st 13 times. Since 1987, the bowl has been played on the 1st or 2nd every time.


The TicketCity Bowl has only been around for 2 years and was played on January 1st in 2011 and January 2nd in 2012.


The reason for the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Sugar Bowl have not played all their games on January 1st or 2nd is because of the BCS. They like to spread out their games more. I think this is taking away from college football's tradition of New Year's games. 


The Winter Classic does not have as much history as some of the bowl games, but does have as much intrigue. The first regular season outdoor game was not a Winter Classic. It was on November 23, 2003 and it was between Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens in Edmonton. The idea for the game, called the Heritage Classic, came from an outdoor college hockey game between Michigan and Michigan State called the "Cold War" that attracted 74,554 fans two years prior. There has only been one other Heritage Classic, last year, in Calgary, between Calgary and Montreal in which Calgary won 4-0.

NHL Winter Classic 2011 in Philly
Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images

The idea of an outdoor game on New Year's was brought up by Executive VP of NBC Sports Jon Miller. He got the idea in 2004 and was finally approved in 2007. Buffalo hosted the first ever Winter Classic on January 1st, 2008 between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium and had and attendance of 71,217. The game was tied at 1 when it went into overtime and then the shootout. In the shootout, Sidney Crosby scored the goal that won it for Pittsburgh. Next, came the 2009 Winter Classic played at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings won 6-4. The next year, the Boston Bruins faced off against the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park in Boston, with the game going to Boston 2-1. 365 days later, Heinz Field in Pittsburgh hosted the 2011 Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, won by the Caps 3-1. And, finally, the 2012 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia. New York won 3-2.


There is a lot that is appealing about the Winter Classic. The game being played outdoors, the retro sweaters, the star players, great games, are just a few of many reasons the Winter Classic is one of the best sporting events of the year. These reasons are helping the Winter Classic become more of a tradition and more popular each year.


The 4th of July has pro, minor, and independent league baseball, Thanksgiving has the NFL, Christmas has the NBA, March has college basketball, and what does New Year's have. I think that right now college football has the edge, but, I believe hockey will soon be on par with college football. However, I don't think hockey can take over New Year's due to the number of bowl games it is up against. 

NHL Premiere in Europe

NHL Premiere Logo
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For the last 4 years the National Hockey League has played some of it's preseason and early season games in Europe. This year was no different. There were 7 preseason games and 4 regular season games played this year.  4 teams made the trip, the Anaheim Duck, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers. The games were played in Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. For the preseason games, the NHL teams faced a local pro team. For the regular season, the NHL teams faced another NHL member.


The preseason games were called the NHL Premiere Challenge. The Rangers played the first 4 games. The first game was in Prague, Czech Republic between New York and HC Sparka Praha. The Rangers won 2-0. New York played in the next game in Gothenburg, Sweden, defeating the Frolunda Indians 4-2. In Bratislava, Slovakia, New York faced and beat HC Slovan Bratislava 4-1. For their final game, New York was dominated by EV Zug, 8-4 in Zug, Switzerland.


Anahiem played their only European preseason games in Helsiniki, Finland vs. Jokerit. They won in overtime 4-3. The Kings then played in Hamburg, Germany and beat the Hamburg Freezers 5-4. The last preseason game in Europe was played between Buffalo and the Adler Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany. The Sabres won in a blowout, 8-3. The NHL went 6-1 in the preseason games.


The first regular season games was between Anaheim and Buffalo from Hartwell Areena in Finland. The Sabres dominated from the get-go, with Thomas Vanek scoring on a power play within 5 minutes and then a goal a little later by Ville Leino. In the 2nd period, the Ducks started to rally when Nate Guenin scored. However, Buffalo countered the game with a Jason Pomiville goal and a Thomas Vanek PP goal.

A Fight for the Puck in Stockholm
AP Photo/Niklas Larsson

In the other game, the New York Rangers faced the Los Angeles Kings in Stockholm, Sweden was an overtime thriller. The first goal of the game was scored by LA's Anze Kopitar in the first period. The Rangers countered quickly with a goal, 5 minutes later, by Ryan Callahan. After a scoreless 2nd period, New York's Marian Gaborik broke the tie with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period. Then the Kings' Mike Richards scored the equalizer to put the game into OT. With less then 1 minute left in OT, Jack Johnson of Los Angeles scored the game-winning goal.


One night passed and then Anaheim and the Rangers faced off in Stockholm. Anaheim started off hot when Andrew Cogliano scored at the 9 minutes mark. But then no one could score for more than 2 periods. New York tied it up with less then 3 minutes left in the 3rd period with a Brad Richards goal. With everyone going cold again, it went into a penalty shootout, where again, scoring was scarce. After each team missed their first 3 goals, the Ducks' Bobby Ryan beat New York's goalie, Henrik Lundqvist to take the lead. New York couldn't tie it back up and Anaheim won 2-1.

Berlin's 02 World
Stuart Franklin/Bongarts/Getty Images

For the final game in Europe, Buffalo and Los Angeles played at the 02 World in Berlin, Germany. Both teams didn't score in the 1st period. Early in the second, Buffalo's Luke Adam scored to make it 1-0 and then scored again 3 minutes later to make it 2-0. Sabres' Paul Gaustad scored later in the 2nd. Los Angeles finally got on the board with 2 minutes left in the 2nd period with an Anze Kopitar goal. Drew Stafford of Buffalo put the game out of reach with an early 3rd period goal. Kopitar scored late in 3rd but it didn't matter. Buffalo won 4-2.

The New Winnipeg Jets Logo

The New Winnipeg Jets released their logo on Friday. True North Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the Jets, decided they wanted a new logo. With a new logo there would be no chance of having one of the 4 logos the original team wore. The color scheme was also in question. Would it stay the same or would their be new colors?

Well the logo was worth the wait for Jets and Hockey fans. The logo is easily one of the better ones in the NHL. The logo starts with a small gray circle. Then inside of the gray circle is a big blue circle. A gray jet is in the middle of that with the top of the jet heading north. Part of the blue circle at the top is cut-off to fit the jet. Underneath the jet is a maple leaf in red.

On the left is the Jets Primary Logo, on the top right is the secondary logo and the bottom right is the script logo.

The new Jets logo is much better then the 4 original Jets logos. Their original logo, which was used from 1972-1974, was not very well made and is easily the worst one of the Jets logos. The 2nd and 3rd primary logos are pretty much the same. The only difference is the 2nd Jets logo's red is lighter then the 3rd logo. I like the 3rd logo as the best of the original Jets 4 logos. The last logo was is a fine logo that had no flaws but does not have any interesting and exciting features either.

The 4 Original Jets Primary Logos

In conclusion, the new Winnipeg Jets have a great new logo that is superior to those of the past and shows the Jets are ready to play.