Hockey
Winnipeg has a storied hockey history and has been home to several top amateur and professional hockey clubs.
The Winnipeg Victorias were three-time Stanley Cup champions (1896, 1901 and 1902). Prior to the founding of national hockey program, three Winnipeg-based clubs won gold medals representing Canada: the Winnipeg Falcons at the 1920 Winter Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, the Winnipeg Hockey Club at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, and the Winnipeg Monarchs at the 1935 World Ice Hockey Championships
Winnipeg teams dominated the early years of the Allan Cup, Canada's senior amateur championship. Between 1909 and 1918, when the Allan Cup was decided through challenges, the Winnipeg Victorias, the Winnipeg Hockey Club, the Winnipeg Monarchs, and the Winnipeg 61st Battalion each won at least one championship.
Memorial Cup champion teams from Winnipeg include the Winnipeg Junior Falcons (1921), Elmwood Millionaires (1931), Winnipeg Monarchs (1935, 1937, 1946), Winnipeg Rangers (1941, 1943), St. Boniface Seals (1938), and Winnipeg Braves (1959).
The old Winnipeg Arena, built in 1955, was originally home to the Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League (minor professional) from 1955 to 1961. The Warriors were World's Minor Professional Champions in 1955-56, winning the Edinburgh Cup. The arena was also home to the Winnipeg Warriors of the WHL from 1980 through 1984, and the Winnipeg Monarchs of the same league from 1967 to 1974.
The Winnipeg Jets were founded in 1972 as one of the original teams of the World Hockey Association and went on to won three Avco Cups in eight years. After the WHA folded in 1979, the Jets entered the National Hockey League. The Jets featured such Hall of Famers as WHA coach Rudy Pilous and players Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk, and (briefly) Serge Savard, as well as other popular players such as Teemu Selänne and Phil Housley. Jets fans were known for creating the Winnipeg White Out, a tradition in which fans dressed in all-white for playoff games. In 1996, the team was sold to an ownership group based in Phoenix, Arizona, and were relocated, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes.
From 1996 to 2011, Winnipeg was home to the Manitoba Moose. The Moose played in the now-defunct International Hockey League, before joining the American Hockey League in 2001. The Moose were the top minor league affiliate to the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. In 2004, the Moose moved from the Winnipeg Arena to the new MTS Centre. During their tenure in Winnipeg, the Moose appeared in one Calder Cup final (2009).
In 2011, True North Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Moose and MTS Centre, purchased the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, and relocated the team to Winnipeg. In response to public pressure, the team was renamed the Winnipeg Jets. The team plays out of the MTS Centre.
Current Winnipeg-based amateur teams of note are the University of Manitoba Bisons and the Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Hockey Winnipeg, the local branch of Hockey Manitoba oversees minor hockey in the city.
Major international hockey events played in Winnipeg include Game 3 of the 1972 Summit Series, various Canada Cup games, and the 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Winnipeg has produced Hall of Fame hockey players Andy Bathgate, Bill Mosienko, Art Coulter, Ching Johnson, Frank Fredrickson, Jack Ruttan and Terry Sawchuk. Beyond that, 183 major league professional hockey players were born in Winnipeg.
Read more about this topic: Sport In Winnipeg