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Monday, December 2, 2019

The Original Six and The Next Six

The Original Six and The Next Six

A reader was great and mentioned via Facebook the other day that he quite liked "The Next Six" poster that we created some years ago (I'm fairly certain we first published The Next Six in 1999) and it occurred to me that I don't have The Next Six poster properly displayed anywhere.

So without further ado, here are the companion posters we created called "The Original Six" and "The Next Six". They were created to be displayed together.

The Original Six jerseys NHL poster

The Next Six jerseys NHL poster









Allow me to share a little bit of hockey history...

As many people know, the NHL began play in 1917, but in that first 1917-18 season, the NHL was made up of only four teams: Toronto Arenas (aka Torontos, later known as the St. Patricks and then the Maple Leafs), Ottawa Senators (disbanded in the 1930's), Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Wanderers. The Wanderers rink burned down just six games into the season, so the NHL finished its first season with just three teams.

What isn't so well known is that the NHL's "Original Six" teams  - Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers - didn't actually play together as a six team league until the 1942-43 season, a full 26 seasons after the NHL's first season.  So in a sense, the name "The Original Six" is actually a bit misleading since these were neither the NHL's original six teams nor the first time that the NHL had six teams.

From 1917-18 to 1923-24, the NHL had either 3 or 4 teams, and it wasn't until the 1924-25 season that the NHL had six teams, yet they weren't "The Original Six" teams. For the record, the first time the NHL had six teams (1924-25), the teams were (in order of how they finished that season):
Hamilton Tigers
Toronto St. Patricks (St. Pats)
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Montreal Maroons
Boston Bruins

It might be a bit of a stretch, but if you were asked to name the NHL's "Original Six" teams, the most accurate answer would be: Hamilton Tigers, Toronto St. Patricks (St. Pats), Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins.

As for "The Next Six", I'm not trying to blow my own horn, but I think I was the one who first used that name/expression/tagline, but if I'm wrong, forgive me for taking credit (and let me know who you believe first coined that phrase with respect to the NHL's 1967-68 expansion teams) and I could at least qualify my statement by saying that I am fairly certain I was the first person to commercialize "The Next Six" expression.

And who were the NHL's Next Six teams/franchises? They were - in order of how they finished that first 1967-68 season:
Philadelphia Flyers
Los Angeles Kings
St. Louis Blues
Minnesota North Stars (now known as the Dallas Stars)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Oakland Seals (the franchise lasted until 1977-78 when they were known as the Cleveland Barons, at which point they merged with the Minnesota North Stars, effectively marking the end of the franchise)

The "Original Six" and the "Next Six" played for three full seasons (1967-68 to 1969-70) as two six team divisions - the Original Six teams played in the East Division, and the Next Six teams played in the West Division. In 1970-71, the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL, making it a 14 teams league, and it's been growing ever since - the NHL will have 32 teams in 2021-22.

Thanks for allowing me this quick stroll down memory lane! As always, feedback welcome!

Thanks -
Scott

PS from Fall 2022: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Original Six Jerseys poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.




Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Winnipeg Jets - Franchise, Team, Arena and Uniform History



Almost all of the actual original watercolor paintings used in this poster are available for sale – see Section 5 of this blog.

Fall 2022: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Winnipeg Jets poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff. Please note that with this Jets poster, we actually removed the Arizona Coyotes jerseys from the poster (previous versions showed Arizona and Winnipeg on the same poster) so we could focus exclusively on the Jets jerseys as if it had been one continuous franchise.

1. Winnipeg Jets – The Franchise History
This original Winnipeg Jets franchise was established (by established we mean the year of the franchise’s first game) in 1972 as a founding member of the WHA and joined the NHL in 1979. That franchise has been known as:
Winnipeg Jets (WHA) 1972-1979
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) 1979-1996
Phoenix Coyotes 1996-2014
Arizona Coyotes 2014-Present

But the current Winnipeg Jets franchise was established in 1999 when the team was known as the Atlanta Thrashers.
Atlanta Thrashers 1999–2011
Winnipeg Jets 2011–present

So if we were thinking of the Winnipeg Jets as just one franchise, we could say they operated as follows:
Winnipeg Jets (WHA) 1972-1979
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) 1979-1996
Winnipeg Jets (NHL) 2011–present

For the purposes of our poster as shown above, we have merged the two franchises and just shown the Winnipeg Jets jerseys as if the "Winnipeg Jets" was one continuous franchise.


2. Winnipeg Jets – Championships/Great Accomplishments
Three time Avco World Cup Champions (WHA Champions)
1975-76, 1977-78. 1978-79

NHL Team Records in Winnipeg the first time around (1979 - 1996):
Most points in a season: 96 pts in 1984-85 (43-27-10)
Most wins in a season: 43 wins in 1984-85
Most goals in a season: 358 in 1984-85

NHL Team Records in Winnipeg the second time around (2011 - Present):
Most points in a season: 114 pts in 2017-18 (52-20-10)
Most wins in a season: 52 wins in 2017-18
Most goals in a season: 277 in 2017-18


3. Winnipeg Jets – Home Arena History
The Jets have played in the following home arenas in Winnipeg:

1. Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg
1972 – 1996


2. Bell MTS Place / Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg
2011 - Present

4. For more information on the Jets, you should visit/bookmark these great websites:

A. I personally think Wikipedia keeps getting better and better with each passing year – here is the Coyotes Wikipedia site that traces the history of the Coyotes franchise:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Coyotes
and this site traces the new Winnipeg Jets franchise when it began in Atlanta in 1999 and then moved to Winnipeg in 2011:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Jets

B. For a great season-by-season summary of each Coyotes season:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arizona_Coyotes_seasons
and for a great season-by-season summary of the Jets since they moved back to Winnipeg in 2011, visit here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Winnipeg_Jets_seasons

C. These guys do a great job of team (and player) stats for all active and defunct franchises
http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/

D. For some good info about arenas past, present and future, visit this site (and don’t be fooled by the their name – even though it’s ballparks dot com, they do a good job on hockey arenas too):
http://hockey.ballparks.com/

E. For great stats on past and present players and prospects, these guys do an amazing job:
http://www.hockeydb.com/

5. Celebrate the Jets' jersey history by owning a famous piece of jersey artwork:
If you love the Winnipeg Jets and the history of the Jets franchise, you might really love to own an original piece of artwork celebrating the team's historic jerseys as seen in the poster at the top of this blog - you can actually own one of those original pieces of art! There are only 12 pieces of original art available for sale, and when these 12 are sold, that's it, they're all sold out.

These original watercolor paintings would make a great gift (birthday gift, anniversary gift, retirement gift, Christmas gift, etc.) for someone you love or even a great gift for yourself (one of these framed pieces would look fantastic in your home or office). Each piece can be bought one of three ways:
1. As unframed art that you could have framed or mounted yourself (the one on the left)
2. Framed in our "Classic" framed version (the middle version)
3. Framed in our "Deluxe" framed version (the version on the right)



If you would like more information about this great artwork including the three ways you could purchase each piece, please go to the artwork website where you can see and purchase the artwork.

And if someone you know loves the history of sports uniforms (but maybe another team) and loves great art, please let them know that we have over 1500 pieces of great original artwork for sale at www.heritagesportsart.com (all NFL teams, all MLB teams, all NHL teams, all CFL teams, select NCAA football teams) or check out each team's video at the Heritage Sports Art YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/user/ssillcox

6. The original pen and ink drawings of the arenas shown above are also for sale.
Please note that the actual original, highly detailed, hand-drawn pen and ink sketches used for the arena images shown above are available for sale as a complete collection to one Jetss fan. If you are interested in being the one and only owner of this complete and original collection of Winnipeg Jets arena images, please contact me by email ssillcox@rogers.com and I can explain how they can all be framed in one beautiful piece.

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This text was written by Scott Sillcox and was last updated in November 2019. I have tried to ensure the accuracy of the information, but I am human and can make mistakes. If you believe I have made a mistake, please let me know by email at ssillcox@rogers.com !

Many thanks!!!
Scott