Winnipeg Jets All-Time Lineup

They may be long gone, but they still had many great memories -- Selanne's 76 goal rookie season, Tkachuk's 50 goal seasons, and their greatest #1 overall pick DaleHawerchuk.

Here is the Winnipeg Jet's all-time linup:

1st Line: Teemu Selanne - Keith Tkachuk - Dale Hawerchuk

We all remember the 1992-93 season - one of the last great seasons in the NHL.  Andwe all remember Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne's 76-goal seasons.  Teemu Selanne may have only played four seasons in Winnipeg before being dealt to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks before the Jets were relocated, yet Selanne left a legacy that exists even to this day in Winnipeg.  You see merchandise and people wearing shirts with either one of Selanne's #8 or #13 on their back.  

The Jets 10th overall pick in 1988 could not repeat his 132 point, 76-goal season, as he would have three 20-goal seasons in Winnipeg before departing to Anaheim.

Keith Tkachuk was known as the young-gun captain with a mean streak and an offensive upside.  Tkachuk was the Jets 19th overall pick in the 1990 and delivered immediately in his first full season with the Jets in 1992-93.  Tkachuk would score over 40 goals twice in a Jets uniform, including a 50 goal season in the Jets final season.  Despite never making it to the second round as a Jet, Tkachuk was a great playoff performer scoring 8 goals and 2 assists in 18 playoff games.

The Jets selected Dale Hawerchuk 1st overall in the 1981 draft and he paid immediate dividends, scoring 103 points in 80 games in his first season as a Jet.  That would be good enough to win the Calder Trophy as rookie of the season.  

Hawerchuk would become the leading scorer in Jets history scoring six 100-point seasons.  He would score seven 40-goal seasons, including 53 goals in 1984-85.  He was the leader and face of the Jets on and off the ice.  Hawerchuk was the face of the NHL Jets while Bobby Hull was the face of the WHA Jets.  He would be dealt to the Buffalo Sabres following the 1989-90 season to the distaste of many Jet fans.  Hawerchuk would score 929 points in 713 games as a Jet.

2nd Line: Alexei Zhamnov - Thomas Steen - Morris Lukowich

Alexei Zhamnov was one of the most consistent scorers in the Jets lineup in the early 1990s.  Selected in the fourth round, 77th overall, Zhamnov notched 25 goals and 72 points in his rookie season in 1992-93.  Along with Tkachuk and Selanne, the Jets had three very exciting players that made the Jets future look very, very bright.  

Zhamnov would go on to score three more 20 goal seasons, including 30 goals in 1994-95 season.  After the Jets were moved to Phoenix, Zhamnov went to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Thomas Steen's #25 was hung in the rafters of Winnipeg Arena for many years besides Bobby Hull's #9.  Steen's fourteen seasons in a Jets jersey were the most by any player in Winnipeg Jet's history.  Steen would help the Jets when in 1984-85 when he would notch 30 goals and 84 points as the Jets would upset the Calgary Flames in the first round only to be swept by the Oilers in the next round.

Steen would also score four 20-goal seasons and would reach a career-high 88 points in 1988-89, yet the Jets would miss the playoffs.  After an injury-plauged 1994-95 season,Steen went overseas to play in the DEL league in Germany.  Steen is one of the most well-known Jets players in Jets history.

Morris Lukowich was one of the highest scoring players in Jets history.  His career switched from the WHA to the NHL after the Jets were amalgamated into the NHL.  His career season came in the 1981-82 season when he netted 92 points in 77 games, including a career-high 43 goals.  Lukowich was a power forward in an era when power forwards were not necessarily known as much.  He would score 345 points in 431 games in the NHL.  Lukowich did score 99 points in 80 games in the Jets last season in the WHA.

3rd Line: Andrew McBain - Pat Elyniuk - Laurie Boschman 

Andrew McBain - you're going like "Who the heck?" - was one of the flash in the pans in the NHL and he did just that with the Winnipeg Jets.  After a great junior career in theOHL, McBain came to the Jets and had some mediocre first seasons with the Jets.  After four seasons of not living up to expectations, McBain exploded in 1987-88 scoring 32 goals and adding 31 assists in 74 games.  He would follow that up with netting 2 goals and 5 assists in the Jets five game elimination against the powerhouse Oilers.

McBain would net his career season in 1988-89 with 37 goals and 77 points.  After that season, McBain left for Vancouver where he would never get back to that scoring status, going through the motions from the IHL to the NHL and back around again.

Pat Elyniuk was another flash in the pan, having his best seasons in Winnipeg.  After another great WHL career in Prince Albert, Elyniuk had a breakout season in 1988-89 netting 26 goals and 51 points in his rookie season.  In five seasons in Winnipeg,Elyniuk would score two 30 goal season along with two 20 goals seasons.  

His career year came in 1989-90 when he netted 32 goals along with 74 points and added 2 goals and 4 assists in the first round against the Oilers, when the Jets squandered a 3-1 series lead to the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

Laurie Boschman's career took off when he joined the Winnipeg Jets in 1982-83.  After spending parts of his first few years with the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs,Boschman netted 28 goals and 74 points in his second season with Winnipeg in 1983-84.  He would spend parts of eight seasons with the Jets, with his career season coming in 1984-85 where he notched 32 goals and 76 points along with 180 PIMs.  Boschman's feistiness added to his offensive upside and made him a great power forward in the Jets lineup.

4th Line: Tie Domi - Ed Olczyk - Paul MacLean

Tie Domi may have only played three seasons in Winnipeg, he left an impact on many Jets fans.  His 724 PIMs in 161 games would factor into the Jets intimidation factor that they needed.  His career numbers with the Jets came out to 4.5 PIMs a game.  Domiwould add 15 goals and 40 points in his time in a Jets jersey.

Eddie Olczyk was a role player in Winnipeg with an offensive upside.  After having many great years as a Toronto Maple Leafs, Olczyk game to the Jets and added to their scoring touch.  He spent three seasons in the early 90s and returned the Jets in their final two seasons in Winnipeg.  Olczyk's best season in Winnipeg would come in 1991-92 scoring 65 points and 32 goals.  In the Jets final season, Olczyk would be a great role player scoring 27 goals and 49 points.

In seven season in Winnipeg, the little known Paul MacLean would score a career high 101 points in 1984-85 along with 41 goals.  He would have his best years with the Jets in the early 80s by scoring over 40 goals three times and 30 goals three times.  MacLean would also add a feistiness with five seasons with 100 or more PIMs with the Jets.  He would score 518 points in 527 games as a Jet.

Honourable Mention:

Scott Arniel (192 points in 406 games as a Jet)

Brian Mullen (296 points in 372 games as a Jet)

Doug Smail (397 points in 691 games as a Jet)

1st Defensive Pairing: Teppo Numminen - Randy Carlyle

In eight seasons as a Jet, Teppo Numminen would become the anchor on the Jetsblueline a long time before and after the Jets moved.  Numminen's #27 was one of the most exciting numbers to watch in the Winnipeg Arena.  The Jets 26th overall pick in 1986 would have a career season in 1995-96 in the Jets last season in Winnipeg with 54 points in 74 games.  Numminen would spend another seven seasons in the same franchise after they moved to Arizona.

Randy Carlyle was a defensive juggernaut in Pittsburgh with the Penguins with an offensive upside.  When the Jets acquired him from the Penguins halfway through the 1983-84 season, the Jets were very much improved on the blueline.  In Carlyle's ten seasons in Winnipeg, he would score 40 or more points five times.  He would be one of the great defenseman on the Jets blueline and his #8 would be one of the most watched numbers when seeing a game at the Winnipeg Arena.

2nd Defensive Pairing: Fredrik Olausson - Phil Housley

In parts of eight season, Fredrik Olausson would be one of the highest scoringdefensemen in Jets history.  He would go over 40 points five times in his career in Winnipeg including 62 points twice in both 1988-89 and 1991-92.  Olausson's offensive skills would help the Jets immensely through the transition between the Hawerchuk era of the Jets and the Selanne-Tkachuk-Zhamnov era.

Phil Housley is known as one of the greatest American defensemen of all-time.  His three seasons in Winnipeg would only help his legacy.  He would have his career season in Winnipeg scoring 97 points in 1992-93.  He also had two 20-goal seasons in his first two seasons as a Jet.  His stint was short, yet he would never duplicate these numbers again, never again scoring a 20-goal season again.

3rd Defensive Pairing: Darrin Shannon - Dave Ellett

Darrin Shannon's five seasons in Winnipeg gave him the role of a stay-at-homedefenseman.  He had two career years in 1992-93 and 1993-94 scoring over 20 goals and 50 points in both seasons.  Shannon would be plagued by injuries later in his time in Winnipeg, only playing 19 games in 1994-95 and later was part of the relocation of the Jets and would eventually retire after spending a few seasons in the AHL and IHL.

Perhaps known as a great defensmen on the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline in their glory years of 1992-93 and 1993-94, Dave Ellett got his start in Winnipeg.  His 1984-85 rookie season saw Ellett net 11 goals and 38 points.  In parts of seven seasons in a Jets uniform, Ellett would never score less than 11 goals, including a career year in 1988-89 when he would score 22 goals.  Ellett was then dealt to to the Maple Leafs halfway through the 1990-91 season and would never duplicate his numbers he did when withthe Jets.

Honourable Mention:

Dave Babych (321 points in 390 games as a Jet)

Starting Goaltender: Nikolai Khabibulin

Despite only playing two seasons in Winnipeg before they relocated, Nikolai Khabibulin put in one of the greatest Jet goaltending performances ever.  Going 26-20-3 with a .908 SV% in his rookie season as the starter, Khabibulin stood up to the test of the Jets first round opponents in the powerful Detroit Red Wings.  Despite being outplayed most nights, Khabibulin's heroics, especially in Game Five, when Khabibulin made 50 saves en route to putting the series to six games.

Backup Goaltender: Bob Essensa

Bob Essensa was one of the best goalies and most well-known goalies in Jets history.  Despite having a love-hate relationship with Jets fans, Essensa was a competitor andshowed it.  In parts of six seasons in Winnipeg, Essensa's career year would come in 1992-93 when he went 33-26-6 with a .893 SV%.  Despite a first-round exit via the Vancouver Canucks, Essensa would never duplicate those numbers again.  In his time in Winnipeg he went 116-114-32.

Honourable Mention:

Tim Cheveldae (21-42-7 as a Jet)

Head Coach: John Paddock

The second-last coach in Jets history, Paddock would lead the 1992-93 Jets to a 40-37-7 record and yet lose out in the first round to the Vancouver Canucks.  It left a bitter taste in Paddock's mouth since he had an all-star lineup for great young talent.  Yet the next season, the Jets missed the playoffs and he was replaced mid-season in their final year.  Overall, Paddock went 106-138-37 behind the Jets bench.

Assistant Coach: Dan Maloney

The second longest serving coach in the Jets NHL history, Maloney coached the Jets in the mid-1980s to impressive records including a 40-32-8 record in his rookie season in 1986-87 and led the Jets to the second round in his rookie season as bench boss.  Yet, after a 33-36-11 year in 1987-88 and a first round exit, Maloney was replaced mid-season in 1988-89.  Overall, Maloney went 91-93-28 in three seasons.