1995–96 Winnipeg Jets season

1995–96 Winnipeg Jets
Division	5th Central
Conference	8th Western
1995–96 record	36–40–6
Home record	22–16–3
Road record	14–24–3
Goals for	275
Goals against	291
Team information
General manager	John Paddock
Coach	Terry Simpson
Captain	Kris King
Arena	Winnipeg Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Keith Tkachuk (50)
Assists	Keith Tkachuk (48) Teemu Selanne (48)
Points	Keith Tkachuk (98)
Penalty minutes	Jim McKenzie (202)
Wins	Nikolai Khabibulin (26)
Goals against average	Nikolai Khabibulin (3.13)

The 1995–96 Winnipeg Jets season was the team's 24th and their final season in Winnipeg before the franchise moved to Phoenix and renamed to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Relocation to Phoenix

As the NHL expanded in the United States, operating costs and salaries grew rapidly; this development hit the league's Canadian teams particularly hard. As Winnipeg was the league's second-smallest market (eventually becoming the smallest market after the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995), the Jets were unable to retain their best players. Various schemes were devised to save the team through a tremendous grassroots effort and government funds, but in the end the efforts were not enough.

Despite strong fan support, the Winnipeg Jets were at a financial disadvantage with many American franchises. The team was sold to Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke, and in 1996, the club moved to Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes. In the summer that the move took place, the franchise saw the exit of Jets stars like Teemu Selanne and Alexei Zhamnov, while the team added established superstar Jeremy Roenick from the Chicago Blackhawks. Roenick teamed up with power wingers Keith Tkachuk and Rick Tocchet to form a dynamic 1–2–3 offensive punch that led the Coyotes through their first years in Arizona. Also impressive were young players like Shane Doan (the last remaining original Jet), Oleg Tverdovsky, and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, whom the fans nicknamed the "Bulin Wall."

Offseason

The Jets picked Shane Doan of the Kamloops Blazers as their first-round pick, seventh-overall.

Regular season

Their 36 wins was the highest since the Jets won 40 games during the 1992–93 season.

Season standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Detroit Red Wings	82	62	13	7	325	181	131
2	3	Chicago Blackhawks	82	40	28	14	273	220	94
3	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	36	12	247	252	80
4	5	St. Louis Blues	82	32	34	16	219	248	80
5	8	Winnipeg Jets	82	36	40	6	275	291	78
6	12	Dallas Stars	82	26	42	14	227	280	66

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 7, 1995	7–5	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	1–0–0
2	W	October 9, 1995	4–3	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	2–0–0
3	L	October 11, 1995	4–6	@ New York Rangers (1995–96)	2–1–0
4	L	October 12, 1995	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	2–2–0
5	T	October 15, 1995	5–5 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	2–2–1
6	W	October 17, 1995	5–2	Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	3–2–1
7	T	October 19, 1995	3–3 OT	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	3–2–2
8	L	October 22, 1995	2–6	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	3–3–2
9	W	October 25, 1995	6–1	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	4–3–2
10	L	October 27, 1995	5–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	4–4–2
11	W	October 28, 1995	4–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	5–4–2
12	W	October 30, 1995	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	6–4–2
13	L	November 1, 1995	2–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	6–5–2
14	L	November 3, 1995	2–5	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	6–6–2
15	W	November 5, 1995	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	7–6–2
16	L	November 10, 1995	2–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	7–7–2
17	W	November 14, 1995	6–5 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	8–7–2
18	W	November 17, 1995	6–3	New York Rangers (1995–96)	9–7–2
19	L	November 18, 1995	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	9–8–2
20	L	November 21, 1995	4–5	@ Boston Bruins (1995–96)	9–9–2
21	W	November 22, 1995	3–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	10–9–2
22	W	November 26, 1995	4–0	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	11–9–2
23	W	November 28, 1995	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	12–9–2
24	L	November 30, 1995	1–4	St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	12–10–2
25	T	December 2, 1995	2–2 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	12–10–3
26	W	December 3, 1995	5–2	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	13–10–3
27	L	December 6, 1995	3–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	13–11–3
28	L	December 7, 1995	3–5	@ San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	13–12–3
29	L	December 10, 1995	1–6	Washington Capitals (1995–96)	13–13–3
30	L	December 12, 1995	5–6	Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	13–14–3
31	W	December 15, 1995	9–4	Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	14–14–3
32	L	December 17, 1995	1–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	14–15–3
33	L	December 19, 1995	3–6	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1995–96)	14–16–3
34	L	December 21, 1995	1–6	@ Florida Panthers (1995–96)	14–17–3
35	W	December 23, 1995	2–1	St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	15–17–3
36	L	December 28, 1995	3–4	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	15–18–3
37	W	December 29, 1995	5–3	New Jersey Devils (1995–96)	16–18–3
38	L	December 31, 1995	3–5	Boston Bruins (1995–96)	16–19–3
39	W	January 3, 1996	5–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	17–19–3
40	L	January 5, 1996	4–5	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	17–20–3
41	W	January 8, 1996	6–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	18–20–3
42	W	January 10, 1996	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1995–96)	19–20–3
43	L	January 12, 1996	2–3	Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	19–21–3
44	L	January 14, 1996	4–6	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	19–22–3
45	T	January 16, 1996	1–1 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1995–96)	19–22–4
46	W	January 17, 1996	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	20–22–4
47	L	January 24, 1996	5–6	St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	20–23–4
48	L	January 27, 1996	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1995–96)	20–24–4
49	W	January 29, 1996	2–1	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	21–24–4
50	L	February 1, 1996	4–6	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	21–25–4
51	L	February 4, 1996	2–4	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	21–26–4
52	W	February 8, 1996	6–2	Ottawa Senators (1995–96)	22–26–4
53	W	February 10, 1996	3–2	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	23–26–4
54	L	February 13, 1996	4–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	23–27–4
55	L	February 16, 1996	0–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	23–28–4
56	L	February 18, 1996	0–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	23–29–4
57	L	February 21, 1996	3–5	Vancouver Canucks (1995–96)	23–30–4
58	W	February 23, 1996	1–0 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1995–96)	24–30–4
59	W	February 26, 1996	4–3	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	25–30–4
60	W	February 28, 1996	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	26–30–4
61	W	March 1, 1996	5–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1995–96)	27–30–4
62	W	March 3, 1996	7–5	@ New York Islanders (1995–96)	28–30–4
63	L	March 5, 1996	4–9	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1995–96)	28–31–4
64	W	March 7, 1996	5–3	Florida Panthers (1995–96)	29–31–4
65	L	March 9, 1996	2–4	New York Islanders (1995–96)	29–32–4
66	L	March 10, 1996	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	29–33–4
67	L	March 12, 1996	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	29–34–4
68	T	March 13, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1995–96)	29–34–5
69	L	March 16, 1996	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	29–35–5
70	L	March 20, 1996	1–7	San Jose Sharks (1995–96)	29–36–5
71	W	March 22, 1996	4–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1995–96)	30–36–5
72	L	March 24, 1996	2–5	Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	30–37–5
73	W	March 26, 1996	8–2	@ Dallas Stars (1995–96)	31–37–5
74	W	March 27, 1996	3–1	@ Colorado Avalanche (1995–96)	32–37–5
75	L	March 29, 1996	2–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (1995–96)	32–38–5
76	W	March 31, 1996	4–1	@ Calgary Flames (1995–96)	33–38–5
77	W	April 3, 1996	3–1	Dallas Stars (1995–96)	34–38–5
78	W	April 6, 1996	4–3	Calgary Flames (1995–96)	35–38–5
79	T	April 8, 1996	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1995–96)	35–38–6
80	L	April 10, 1996	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1995–96)	35–39–6
81	W	April 12, 1996	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1995–96)	36–39–6
82	L	April 14, 1996	2–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1995–96)	36–40–6

Playoffs

Lost the first round series 4–2 to Detroit Red Wings. The Winnipeg Jets played their last-ever game on April 28, 1996, a home playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 4–1. Norm Maciver scored the last goal in Jets history.

Date	Away team	Score	Home team
April 17	Winnipeg Jets	1–4	Detroit Red Wings
April 19	Winnipeg Jets	0–4	Detroit Red Wings
April 21	Detroit Red Wings	1–4	Winnipeg Jets
April 23	Detroit Red Wings	6–1	Winnipeg Jets
April 26	Winnipeg Jets	3–1	Detroit Red Wings
April 28	Detroit Red Wings	4–1	Winnipeg Jets

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Tkachuk, KeithKeith Tkachuk	LW	76	50	48	98	156	11	20	2	6
Selanne, TeemuTeemu Selanne	RW	51	24	48	72	18	3	6	1	4
Zhamnov, AlexAlex Zhamnov	C	58	22	37	59	65	-4	5	0	2
Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen	D	74	11	43	54	22	-4	6	0	3
Korolev, IgorIgor Korolev	C	73	22	29	51	42	1	8	0	5
Olczyk, EdEd Olczyk	C	51	27	22	49	65	0	16	0	1
Drake, DallasDallas Drake	RW	69	19	20	39	36	-7	4	4	2
Turcotte, DarrenDarren Turcotte	C	59	16	16	32	26	-3	2	0	2
Manson, DaveDave Manson	D	82	7	23	30	205	8	3	0	0
Maciver, NormNorm Maciver	D	39	5	25	30	26	-6	2	0	0
Eastwood, MikeMike Eastwood	C	80	14	14	28	20	-14	2	0	3
Stapleton, MikeMike Stapleton	C	58	10	14	24	37	-4	3	1	0
Shannon, DarrinDarrin Shannon	LW	63	5	18	23	28	-5	0	0	1
King, KrisKris King	LW	81	9	11	20	151	-7	0	1	2
Janney, CraigCraig Janney	C	13	7	13	20	0	2	2	0	1
Quint, DeronDeron Quint	D	51	5	13	18	22	-2	2	0	0
Doan, ShaneShane Doan	RW	74	7	10	17	101	-9	1	0	3
Shannon, DarrylDarryl Shannon	D	48	2	7	9	72	5	0	0	0
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	31	0	8	8	6	-7	0	0	0
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	73	4	2	6	202	-4	0	0	0
Finley, JeffJeff Finley	D	65	1	5	6	81	-2	0	0	0
Gilhen, RandyRandy Gilhen	C	22	2	3	5	12	1	0	0	0
Kilger, ChadChad Kilger	LW	29	2	3	5	12	-2	0	0	0
Wilkinson, NeilNeil Wilkinson	D	21	1	4	5	33	0	0	1	1
Muni, CraigCraig Muni	D	25	1	3	4	37	6	0	0	0
Doig, JasonJason Doig	D	15	1	1	2	28	-2	0	0	0
Fraser, IainIain Fraser	C	12	1	1	2	4	1	0	0	0
Mills, CraigCraig Mills	RW	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Malgunas, StewartStewart Malgunas	D	29	0	1	1	32	-10	0	0	0
Thompson, BrentBrent Thompson	D	10	0	1	1	21	-2	0	0	0
Chasse, DenisDenis Chasse	RW	15	0	0	0	12	-4	0	0	0
Cheveldae, TimTim Cheveldae	G	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Draper, TomTom Draper	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eakins, DallasDallas Eakins	D	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Grosek, MichalMichal Grosek	LW	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Gusmanov, RavilRavil Gusmanov	LW	4	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	G	53	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0
Langkow, ScottScott Langkow	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murray, RobRob Murray	C	1	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Ronan, EdEd Ronan	RW	17	0	0	0	16	-3	0	0	0
Roussel, DominicDominic Roussel	G	7	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	2914	53	26	20	3	152	3.13	2	1656	1504	.908
Cheveldae, TimTim Cheveldae	1695	30	8	18	3	111	3.93	0	948	837	.883
Roussel, DominicDominic Roussel	285	7	2	2	0	16	3.37	0	134	118	.881
Draper, TomTom Draper	34	1	0	0	0	3	5.29	0	14	11	.786
Langkow, ScottScott Langkow	6	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	2	2	1.000
Team:	4934	82	36	40	6	282	3.43	2	2754	2472	.898

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Manson, DaveDave Manson	D	6	2	1	3	30	0	0	1
Zhamnov, AlexAlex Zhamnov	C	6	2	1	3	8	0	0	0
Janney, CraigCraig Janney	C	6	1	2	3	0	0	0	0
Olczyk, EdEd Olczyk	C	6	1	2	3	6	0	0	0
Tkachuk, KeithKeith Tkachuk	LW	6	1	2	3	22	0	0	0
Korolev, IgorIgor Korolev	C	6	0	3	3	0	0	0	0
Kilger, ChadChad Kilger	LW	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
Maciver, NormNorm Maciver	D	6	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
Shannon, DarrinDarrin Shannon	LW	6	1	0	1	6	0	0	0
Eastwood, MikeMike Eastwood	C	6	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
King, KrisKris King	LW	5	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
Muni, CraigCraig Muni	D	6	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Doan, ShaneShane Doan	RW	6	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
Drake, DallasDallas Drake	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Finley, JeffJeff Finley	D	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Fraser, IainIain Fraser	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	G	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Mills, CraigCraig Mills	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen	D	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Stapleton, MikeMike Stapleton	C	6	0	0	0	21	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Khabibulin, NikolaiNikolai Khabibulin	359	6	2	4	19	3.18	0	214	195	.911
Team:	359	6	2	4	19	3.18	0	214	195	.911

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Transactions

Trades

September 20, 1995	To Philadelphia Flyers 7th round pick in 1997 - Andrew Merrick	To Winnipeg Jets Andre Faust
October 6, 1995	To Hartford Whalers Nelson Emerson	To Winnipeg Jets Darren Turcotte
December 28, 1995	To Pittsburgh Penguins Neil Wilkinson	To Winnipeg Jets Norm Maciver
February 7, 1996	To Anaheim Mighty Ducks Teemu Selanne Marc Chouinard 4th round pick in 1996 - Kim Staal	To Winnipeg Jets Chad Kilger Oleg Tverdovsky 3rd round pick in 1996 - Per-Anton Lundstrom
February 15, 1996	To Buffalo Sabres Michal Grosek Darryl Shannon	To Winnipeg Jets Craig Muni 1st round pick in 1996 - Daniel Briere
February 15, 1996	To Washington Capitals Stewart Malgunas	To Winnipeg Jets Denis Chasse
February 27, 1996	To Philadelphia Flyers Tim Cheveldae 3rd round pick in 1996 - Chester Gallant	To Winnipeg Jets Dominic Roussel
March 18, 1996	To San Jose Sharks Darren Turcotte 2nd round pick in 1996 - Remi Royer	To Winnipeg Jets Craig Janney
March 20, 1996	To Chicago Blackhawks Ravil Gusmanov	To Winnipeg Jets 4th round pick in 1996 - Vladimir Antipov

Waivers

October 1, 1995	From New York Islanders Jim McKenzie
March 20, 1996	From St. Louis Blues Dallas Eakins

Free agents

Player Former Team Parris Duffus Undrafted Free Agent Jason Simon New York Islanders Stewart Malgunas Philadelphia Flyers Chris Govedaris Detroit Red Wings Mike Stapleton Edmonton Oilers Iain Fraser Edmonton Oilers Ed Ronan Montreal Canadiens Tom Draper New York Islanders Player New Team Oleg Mikulchik Anaheim Mighty Ducks Stephane Beauregard San Francisco Spiders (IHL) Draft picks NHL entry draft Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club Team 1 7 Shane Doan Centre  Canada Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 2 32 Marc Chouinard Centre  Canada Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL) 2 34 Jason Doig Defence  Canada Laval Titan Collège Français (QMJHL) 3 67 Brad Isbister Defence  Canada Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) 4 84 Justin Kurtz Defence  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 5 121 Brian Elder Goaltender  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 6 137 Sylvain Daigle Goaltender  Canada Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) 7 162 Paul Traynor Defence  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 8 188 Jaroslav Obsut Right wing  Slovakia Battlefords North Stars (SJHL) 8 189 Fredrik Loven Defence  Sweden Djurgardens IF (SEL) 9 214 Robert DeCiantis Centre  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OHL) References Jets on Hockey Database Relocated and Defunct NHL Teams Relocated Atlanta Flames · Atlanta Thrashers · Colorado Rockies · Hartford Whalers · Kansas City Scouts · Minnesota North Stars · Quebec Nordiques · Winnipeg Jets Defunct Oakland / California (Golden) Seals · Cleveland Barons · Hamilton Tigers · Montreal Maroons · Montreal Wanderers · New York/Brooklyn Americans · Ottawa Senators (original) · Philadelphia Quakers · Pittsburgh Pirates · Quebec Bulldogs · St. Louis Eagles