NHL stats through the first 10 home games of the 1980-81 season; Winnipeg ranks 10th
in attendence at 13,136 ahead of such cities as LA, STL, BOS, DET, CHI despite being 21st in the standings.
Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg all rank in the top 10. Quebec plays in an
arena with a capacity of just over 10,000, Calgary in an arena with a capacity of around 7,000.
When Jimmy Mann was 14 he was invited to Moscow with an all-star midget team
from Quebec. Their game ended in a bench clearing brawl, with word that Mann was of course right in the middle of it.
The Jets had suffered a record breaking 30-game winless streak, which was broken
when they beat Colorado Dec 23rd.
Mike Smith was promoted by John Ferguson from head coach of farm team Tulsa
to assistant coach in Winnipeg. Tom McVie had just been fired and Bill Sutherland been appointed to take over. As Jets fans
will know Mike Smith would later become General Manager of the Jets. Even back in 1981 the Jetstream noted Smith's fascination
with the Soviet system.
A trend of bashing Don Cherry in the Jetstream has become apparent, as has an overly optimistic "homer"
attitude in dealing with the status of the Jets.
