labatt50 is correct, jets would have played the leafs. what i wonder is how many playoff rounds the jets would have won had they stayed in the old Norris division with Minnesota, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Toronto
(snore)iss...
Had Minnesota been in the Smythe, and the Jets in the Norris..... (just for fun)
1982-83 -> 74 pts, 4th in Smythe (Rd. 1 vs. Edmonton, lost 3-0)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 2nd (Rd. 1 vs. Toronto)
1983-84 -> 73 pts, 4th in Smythe (Rd. 1 vs. Edmonton, lost 3-0)
Had we been in Norris, we would have won the division (Rd. 1 vs. Chicago)
1984-85 -> 96 pts, 2nd in Smythe (won Rd. 1 vs. Cgy 3-1, swept by Edm in Smythe final 4-0)
Had we been in Norris, we would have won the division (Rd. 1 vs. Detroit during their "Detroit Dead Things" era
)
1985-86 -> 59 pts, but 3rd in Smythe (Rd. 1 swept by Cgy 3-0)
Had we been in Norris, we would have finished 3rd (Rd. 1 vs. St. Louis)
1986-87 -> 88 pts, 3rd in Smythe (Rd. 1 beat Cgy 4-2, Smythe final Edm swept 4-0)
Had we been in Norris, we would have easily won the division (Rd. 1 vs. Chicago)
1987-88 -> 77 pts, 3rd in Smythe (Rd. 1 lost to Edm 4-1)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 2nd (Rd. 1 vs. St Louis)
1988-89 -> 64 pts, 5th in Smythe (out of playoffs)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 4th (Rd. 1 vs. Detroit)
1989-90 -> 85 pts, 3rd in Smythe (Rd. 1 vs Edm, lost 4-3)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 2nd (Rd. 1 vs. St Louis)
1990-91 -> 63 pts, 5th in Smythe (out of playoffs)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 4th (Rd. 1 vs. Chicago)
1991-92 -> 81 pts, 4th in Smythe (Rd. 1 lost vs. Van 4-3)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 4th (Rd. 1 vs. Detroit)
1992-93 -> 87 pts, 4th in Smythe (Rd. 1 lost vs. Van 4-2)
Had we been in Norris, we would have been 4th (Rd. 1 vs. Chicago)
So, had the Jets played 11 season in the Norris,
- we would have made the playoffs all 11 times, and we would have finished at the top of the Norris twice (1985 and 1987) and would have had a very good chance of not only getting to the second round, but hanging a Norris Division banner and making it much, much farther.
Our record would not have changed, our players would not have changed, simply the division. I firmly believe that some people's perception that Winnipeg was not a very good team was very influenced on the fact that we were in a hopelessly competitive division. Look at how much more we would have accomplished with a switch from Smythe to Norris.
The team was not half-bad for the most part.... just buried deep underground by Edmonton. Any other division and we would have kicked a$$.
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