when did the winnipeg jets come into the nhl
The Jets began play as the Atlanta Thrashers in the 1999 -- 2000 NHL season. True North Sports & Entertainment then bought the team in May 2011 and relocated the franchise from Atlanta to Winnipeg prior to the 2011 -- 12 season (the first NHL franchise to relocate since the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997). The team was renamed the Jets after Winnipeg's original WHA / NHL team, which relocated after the 1995 -- 96 season to become the Arizona Coyotes.