The buzz in Utah about the new National Hockey League franchise is that owner Ryan Smith, who made a most Herculean effort to successfully relocate the Arizona Coyotes to Utah, said several days ago on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the name of the team has been narrowed down to four possibilities. However, the most compelling statement about Utah’s entry into the NHL was made by the squad’s left wing Lawson Crouse who stated that the team is looking forward to “making history” in Utah. Crouse’s statement may turn out to be the biggest understatement in the history of the new Utah NHL team because hockey fans in Utah should be paying attention to the fact that the Edmonton Oilers are currently in the Stanley Cup finals and could win their sixth championship.

In 1979 when the NHL agreed to admit four of the remaining teams in the rival World Hockey Association — the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers, the Quebec Nordiques and the New England Whalers — many in the NHL were not pleased and turned their noses down to those four teams. However, three of the four WHA teams that transplanted into the NHL in 1979 have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. Of course, as is well known, the Edmonton Oilers have five Stanley Cups, in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. The Quebec Nordiques franchise moved to Denver in 1995 and as the Colorado Avalanche have won three Stanley Cups, in 1996, 2001 and 2022. Upon joining the NHL, the New England Whalers changed their named to the Hartford Whalers, moved to North Carolina in 1997 and as the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006. To complete this impressive “Revenge of the WHA,” all that is needed is the historical Winnipeg Jets of the WHA, the missing puzzle piece to this dynamic equation, to win the Stanley Cup. It must be fate. The Utah franchise, whose roots as a franchise started as the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA in 1972, should embrace their unique roots in the WHA and get the ball rolling toward the Stanley Cup as the three other former WHA franchises in the NHL have done.

Superstar Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks was the first major NHL star to sign with the WHA and gave the new rebel league automatic legitimacy. He was a powerhouse for the Winnipeg Jets for the first six years of the league, playing for four years on the famed “Hot Line” with imported Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, which some critics credit as the top line in the history of pro hockey. In 1989, the NHL Jets retired his number 9 and, subsequently, the Arizona Coyotes retained the retirement of Hull’s number upon the franchise’s move to Phoenix in 1996. Undoubtedly, the new Utah franchise will also retain the retirement of Hull’s esteemed number 9. That would be a positive recognition of the franchise’s roots in the WHA and its quest to be the fourth WHA heritage team to win the Stanley Cup.

Furthermore, the new Utah franchise should realize that recent history is on its side in terms of chances of winning a Stanley Cup in that movers have definitely been shakers in the last 38 years in the NHL. The first example is the Calgary Flames who won the Stanley Cup in 1989 nine years after relocating from Atlanta when they were the Atlanta Flames. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver in 1976 to become the Colorado Rockies, who then became the New Jersey Devils in 1982, winning Stanley Cups in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

As was previously mentioned, the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 to become the Colorado Avalanche and won Stanley Cups in 1996, 2001 and 2022. Nine years after the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina in 1997, the Carolina Hurricanes won Lord Stanley’s Cup in 2006.

The most storied example of a relocated franchise winning a Stanley Cup is the Dallas Stars in 1999. The Oakland Seals entered the NHL in 1967 and changed their name to the California Golden Seals in 1970. The Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 for two unsuccessful seasons. Not wanting the Cleveland Barons to fold, in 1978 the NHL allowed the owners of the last-place Minnesota North Stars, a franchise that also joined the league in the original 1967 expansion, to purchase the Barons and merge the two teams. The North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993, meaning that when the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999, not only did the former Minnesota North Stars win the Cup, but also one half of the old Oakland Seals franchise were winners. The Utah franchise represents two relocations as the NHL Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996, which puts them in a higher pool of probability for this Stanley Cup phenomenon for “travel teams.”

It must also be noted that when the Ottawa Senators entered the NHL in 1992 as a new franchise, the new team proudly displayed the banners for the eleven Stanley Cups won by the first Ottawa Senators team that disbanded in 1934. The WHA may have had a couple of tumultuous seasons early on, but later the Winnipeg Jets could have played against the top teams in the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets won three Avco Cup championships in the seven-year history of the WHA and it might be a positive signal for the new Utah franchise to display those Avco Cup banners of the franchise’s history.

Most fans who will be following the new Utah NHL franchise that will start next season will follow the current NHL Stanley Cup finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. With Edmonton in the finals, these prospective fans of the yet unnamed Utah franchise should be aware of the legacy of the four former WHA teams in winning Stanley Cups and know that their team is the missing puzzle piece to complete the “Revenge of the WHA” by winning their own Stanley Cup. It seems both history and fate are on its side.

John Horan, a public relations strategist in Avon, Connecticut, is the blogmaster of BeatlesHistorian.com.

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