Unlike the case during the WHA years, for the most part, the NHL Jets didn’t have a lot of proud moments. There are a lot of stains on their legacy.
But perhaps the NHL Jets’ greatest claim to infamy is The Streak.
No, not the 30-game winless streak in 1980. That was bad. Legendary, in fact. Heartbreaking. But bless their hearts, that team gave it all they had. Things just snowballed out of control. And they just weren’t very good. At least not yet.
The streak that really defines the NHL Jets’ infamy is when they lost 16 straight postseason games to the Edmonton Oilers.
Beginning in 1983, the Jets would meet Edmonton in the playoffs for five of the next six years, dropping 16 straight games in the process until finally beating the Oilers 6-4 at the Arena on April 9, 1988.
That losing streak does not get its infamy because Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers were so much better than the Jets. Yes, they were better. On the surface, there was no shame in losing to them. But the Oilers weren’t that much better. Even the lowly Los Angeles Kings, a perennial doormat and the league’s dumping ground, managed to pull off an upset victory over Edmonton. Not just one game, but a whole series. And the Jets, for all their faults, were a lot better than the Kings.
What really makes that streak so embarrassing is the fact that so many of those games were not competitive. Most times, the Oilers barely had to break a sweat. Centerman Ron Wilson even described one of those games as a pillow fight. There was one game in 1985 when the Oilers were practically laughing at their bench.
The Jets of that era weren’t world-beaters, but they had good teams. They busted their balls to beat the Calgary Flames, Edmonton’s top rival. Even when the Jets lost to the Flames, it sure wasn’t due to lack of effort. But that same intensity and drive were nowhere to be found when the Oilers were on the docket. And anyone who has ever watched a Stanley Cup playoff game knows that, whatever the result, those games don’t lack intensity. They’re ultra-competitive. Every stride is contested.
That’s why this is one of those records that will never be broken.
And naturally, it all leads to further questions.
Were the Jets even really trying? Were the games thrown? Was this the price the Jets had to pay for the considerations they got from the league for moving to the Smythe Division? To lay down and roll over for a budding superstar the NHL wanted to market and eventually place in a major center like Los Angeles?
Food for thought.