It was tough to not get excited for the return of the Jets and I really, really tried to temper peoples’ expectations by pointing out that even though you, dear readers, projected them to miss the playoffs, they’d be even worse than that. I tried to keep expectations low for Mark Scheifele too…But I understood the excitement nonetheless.
If the texts and emails I got from people after Saturday night's game are any indication, the worst metaphor ever has come to pass: the luster has worn off the love affair. There was no difficulty selling all of this season's tickets, but I was wondering what things are going to look like if this team continues to stink.
I went back to the vault to get (home) attendance figures for the 1979-80 and 1980-81 teams, when Winnipeg was demonstrably the worst team in the league:
| Opponent | Games | Attendance |
| Montreal Canadiens | 3 | 15705 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | 15236 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | 15137 |
| Boston Bruins | 3 | 14548 |
| New York Rangers | 4 | 13852 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 4 | 13510 |
| Minnesota North Stars | 3 | 13436 |
| New York Islanders | 4 | 13276 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 4 | 13192 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 4 | 13172 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 4 | 12927 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 2 | 12840 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | 12806 |
| St. Louis Blues | 4 | 12519 |
| Atlanta Flames | 2 | 12496 |
| Washington Capitals | 4 | 12423 |
| Colorado Rockies | 4 | 12350 |
| Hartford Whalers | 4 | 12186 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2 | 12166 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 | 12137 |
| Calgary Flames | 2 | 11684 |
* seven games are missing: two Quebec, two Edmonton, one Boston, one Montreal and one Minnesota
I found this list fascinating – Edmonton and Calgary were awful draws (how could Calgary draw worse than when they were in Atlanta?) and the Islanders seem pretty far down for a team that was about to rout the league for four years. Attendance by day of the week is not surprising:
| Day | Games | Attendance |
| Wed | 13 | 12434 |
| Fri | 22 | 13428 |
| Sat | 7 | 14297 |
| Sun | 29 | 13317 |
Where was I going here? Winnipeg was 10th overall in the league in attendance in 1979-80 even though the upper deck of the Winnipeg Arena wasn't ready until December sometime. (Tickets averaged $10 per game, which was actually less than what people had paid to see them when they were in the WHA.) Attendance declined only slightly in 1980-81 even though the Jets at one point had won only one out of their first 33 games.
Memory is a funny thing. In the early days, they had 11,000 season ticket holders. But I remember the Jets having awful attendance, even in the playoffs – that didn't actually come until later, when the team was actually good. So I guess there's nothing to worry about…This team will not do well this year, but before the end of those five-year season ticket commitments, it'll be worth watching…So hang tough!
