3 More Fun Facts About the Winnipeg Jets

Did you know the farm team for the Winnipeg Jets is the Manitoba Moose. The Manitoba Moose is named after a real moose. The team’s spokesperson explained, “The owners were at lunch trying to decide a name for the team. Just then a giant moose strolled in the restaurant. Right there in downtown Winnipeg! The press picked up the story, dubbing the hungry moose The Manitoba Moose, so the team just went with it.”

The first ever goal scored by a current Jets player was by Nik Antropov in the team’s debut against the Montreal Canadiens in 2011. When he joined the league from Kazakhstan, one Toronto Maple Leafs executive said he had “world class hands.” The term “World class” is batted around pretty easily these days. Like a restaurant saying they have “world class” pancakes. How do we know they don’t make better pancakes at some dingy diner in say, Kazakhstan.

That game featured a rock show by legendary Canadian rockers Bachman Turner Overdrive singing “We Just Got Back the Jets,” a takeoff on their hit song, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” Alternative titles they considered were “Winnipeg Never Forgets” and “At Least We’re Not the Nets.”