The Thrashers were Atlanta’s second foray into the National Hockey League and were established 17 years after the city’s former NHL team, the Flames, had departed for Calgary. The Thrashers spent 12 seasons in Georgia before moving to Canada, just as their predecessors did.
The Detroit Cougars were established when the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL) relocated to Michigan and joined the National Hockey League (NHL).
The New York Americans hockey team played in the National Hocky League from 1925 until 1941. Just before the start of the 1941-42 season, they were renamed the Brooklyn Americans in name only, still playing their games in Manhattan, at Madison Square Garden. They folded in 1942.
After some controversy, Montreal was awarded a second team in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1924. The eventually became known as the Montreal Maroons. In 1938, the team suspended operations. After attempts to move the team to St. Louis and later Philadelphia failed, the NHL cancelled the franchise in 1947.
The original Winnipeg Jets were charter members of the WHA in 1972. They moved to the NHL in 1979, along with three other WHA squads. In 1995, they were sold and moved to Phoenix for the 1996-97 hockey season. The name was revived when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Manitoba in 2011 and assumed the Jets name but not their history.
