Sherbrooke Jets

American Hockey League (1982-1984)

Background

In the winter of 1982-83, the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets decided to get into the minor league hockey business.  Suffering Winnipeg fans might have presumed they were already in it. During Winnipeg’s first three seasons in the NHL after joining in the World Hockey Association merger of 1979, the Jets were a lowly 62-139-39.

After three years of farming out prospects to the Tulsa Oilers of the dying Central Hockey  League, Winnipeg decided to directly operate their own American Hockey League farm club in Sherbrooke, Quebec.  The Sherbrooke Jets would play at the 5,300-seat Palais des Sports, a building which hosted the team handball competition at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

The Jets tabbed a French-speaking former minor league journeyman named Ron Racette to be Sherbrooke’s Head Coach. But Racette missed the 1982-83 season to due brain surgery.  The team’s 28-year old center Rick Bowness handled dual duties as player/coach in his place.

Sherbooke finished the 1982-83 season with a league-worst 22-54-4 record.  The Jets averaged 2,688 fans per game in Sherbrooke, which was the second lowest draw in the 13-team AHL.

Racette returned for the 1983-84 season and Bowness went back to playing duties.  The Jets finished their second season much like the first with a virtually identical 22-53-5 record. It was the worst mark in the AHL for the second straight year.

Shortly after the 1983-84 season ended Racette went in for another round of surgery. It turned out the coach had a malignant brain tumor.  Racette passed away later in 1984 from the illness.

Notable Players

Sherbrooke featured a couple of notable players during these years.  Goaltender Brian Hayward played 22 games for the AHL Jets in 1982-83 and spent brief time in Sherbrooke again in 1983-84.  In the late 1980’s, Hayward teamed with future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy to form the best goaltending tandem in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens.

One of Hayward’s roommates during the 1983-84 season was Kirk McCaskill, a two-sport star in hockey and baseball out of the University of Vermont.  Drafted by both the California Angels and the Jets, Winnipeg lured McCaskill to the NHL with a four-year $350,000 guaranteed contract.  He saw his first (and only) pro hockey action with Sherbrooke in 1983-84.  McCaskill found his AHL experience demoralizing. The rookie saw action in 78 games, but often found his playing time limited by Racette.  McCaskill signed with the Angels and went on to win more than 100 Major League games. A 1985 Los Angeles Times profile of McCaskill suggested that his unhappy experience in Sherbooke was due in part to Racette’s erratic behavior from his undiagnosed brain tumor.

The End

By the end of Sherbrooke’s second season, Winnipeg management decided they could no longer afford run the money-losing club on their own.  Sherbrooke’s attendance plummeted to an AHL worst 1,499 fans per game during 1983-84 campaign. In June 1984, Winnipeg took part in a three-way barter of AHL franchises with the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. The Sherbooke Jets franchise ceased to exist.  The Canadiens moved their AHL club, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, from Halifax to Sherbrooke, where they were renamed the Sherbrooke Canadiens.  The Oilers abandoned their affiliate in Moncton, New Brunswick and took over Montreal’s lease at the Halifax Metro Centre.

AHL hockey remained in Sherbooke until 1990, when the Montreal Canadiens moved their farm club to Fredericton, New Brunswick.  The Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League plays at the Palais Des Sports today.

Sherbrooke Jets Shop

Links

A history of Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliates on Curtis Walker’s Winnipeg Jets Memorial site

American Hockey League Media Guides

American Hockey League Programs

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