Why not?
The vast majority of Winnipeg fans would like to proclaim Jets NHL history to include the 1979-96 Winnipeg Jets.
I think the vast majority of
ALL TRUE NHL FANS would like to see the Jets get their rightful history back.
When the Browns left to become the Baltimore Ravens, THEY didn't take the history with them...the NFL realized hey, this legacy that's been a cornerstone franchise since the 1950s and 60s should probably be preserved.
And frankly that was a win-win--the Browns kept their rightful history, and the Ravens, after winning two Super Bowls (one against my 49ers, sadly, damn,
so close!) have their OWN history and legacy and identity...
Which has ALWAYS been my point on Expansion Done Right vs. Expansion Done Wrong on here.
When you think of the Ravens (if you watch the NFL) you probably think of great defenses...they've worked to craft that legacy and identity (and frankly BRAND) for themselves via their on-field product and off-field marketing/identity making.
Same applies in the NHL. From 1967 onward, as a general rule, if you can name any given team's stereotypical "identity"/some significant/HOF players from that team, chances are they're a team that's still around and NOT one that's constantly been the subject of relocation rumors and the old refrain of "Why Do They Even Exist?" ...
Because with an identity, they HAVE a league-wide reason to exist...That's one way you grow a sport--by getting fans to watch games BESIDES those played by their own team, and one of the easiest ways to do that is by way of having easily-accessible, immediately understood icons and figures and identities associated with said teams.
The NFL's really good at this:
Think of the Steelers and it's "the Steel Curtain" and that idea of a steel-tough team, not always based on reality, but branded identity.
Think of the Packers and it's "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" and Vince Lombardi and the QB lineage of Starr, Favre, and now Rodgers.
Think of the Raiders and it's "Just Win Baby" and "The Silver and Black" and the rules-bending rebellious Hell's Angels of the NFL.
Think of the 49ers (hey, my team, I've gotta do it!) and even with recent defense-led teams, you think Montana/Young/Rice/Offensive Greatness.
The NHL does this too:
Think of the Original Six and you get regaled with alllll the endless stories of Original Six-ness (and mythical Maple Leaf Cup winners!)
Think of the Flyers and it's the Broadstreet Bullies/more recent iterations/variations thereon, in short, a tough "Philly-esque" team.
Think of the Islanders and it's the NHL's Mets--an Orange and Blue New Breed vs. NY's Old Guard, 80s Greatness, a circus now, and Howie Rose.
(
Dear GOD what happened to my Mets this year...every...LAST...INJURY...are they made of GLASS, and OWNERSHIP, I swear to--ahem, sorry.)
But the Coyotes? The Panthers? The Hurricanes (even with their Cup win?)
And newness/relocation out of older hockey markets doesn't spell immediate death here:
Sure, in 1995 the Coyotes and Avalanche were both new teams ripped from older markets and that was their big identity...but 20 years on?
The Avalanche HAVE made an identity of their own, you think of those great Red Wings/Avs brawls and two Cups and Roy/Sakic/Forsberg/etc.
(You can argue Cup #1 especially would've happened if they'd have stayed the Nordiques, just saying, they're not JUST the ex-Nordiques anymore.)
And the Coyotes...are still playing the "Will They Exist?" and "Why DO They Exist?" Game year after painstaking year.
The Predators and Thrashers started a year apart in the American South with equally-violent-because-90s names...and now?
One of those teams has "Smashville," and we'll see if it lasts, but it's a definite distinct identity, and the Predators are on the right track.
And that other team...what happened to them...I think they moved North, or something?