Winnipeg Jets
In 1967, Ben Hatskin tried to win a National Hockey League franchise during the league's expansion. His bid failed, which fueled his desire to participate in a new, rival league, the World Hockey Association, in 1972. Hatskin knew that the credibility of the WHA depended on getting established hockey stars to join its teams. He aggressively sought out the services of Bobby Hull for his team, the Winnipeg Jets, and eventually signed Hull to a contract estimated to be worth at least $1.75 million.
Although it was one of the more successful teams in the WHA, winning 3 Avco Cups in 1976, 1978 and 1979. Hatskin had to ask for a public subsidy to keep the financially troubled Jets alive after 1974.
The team was absorbed into the NHL in 1979 and was purchased by Barry Shenkarow. At the end of the 1995 season Shenkarow sold the team to a consortium of Minneapolis businessmen, including re-insurer Steven Gluckstern and Dr. Richard Burke, whose fortune came from HMO's, who ended up moving the team to Phoenix, where it was renamed the Phoenix Coyotes. A few years later, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky bought an interest in the team and became their head coach.
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