The Arizona Coyotes (5-4-1) will face-off against a team that share a mass amount of similarities with them in the Winnipeg Jets (4-4-2) inside Mullett Arena at 1 p.m. today.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Whenever these two teams play, the history of each franchise is brought up every time since they are intertwined with one another.
The Coyotes were known as the “original” Winnipeg Jets from 1972-96.
Then, the Jets relocated to the valley in 1996 and played at America West Arena, now known as the Footprint Center, in Phoenix.
While looking at stat sheets of all-time leaders in certain categories, former players may still have franchise records set when the Coyotes were still in Winnipeg.
As for the “New Era” of Jets hockey, their existence was resurrected after relocating from Atlanta to Manitoba in 2011.
Now, both teams are Central Division foes that are competing against each other in the Western Conference.
Here is all you need to know before the Old vs. New Era of the Winnipeg Jets clash at “The Mullett” this afternoon:
Pregame Notes
Today, Arizona will be in the middle of a three-game home stand in Tempe.
Previously, the ‘Yotes narrowly scraped by the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Nov. 2.
Furthermore, Arizona right wing Nick Schmaltz scored twice against Montreal.
In doing so, Schmaltz became the ‘Yotes leader in points with 10 (4 goals, 6 assists) so far this season.
Additionally, “Mullett Magic” has continued off of last season as the Coyotes are 3-1 in Tempe.
On the other hand, Winnipeg are 0-2-1 in their last three games.
Two days ago, the Jets were trounced by the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.
Leading the way, Winnipeg left wing Kyle Connor and center Mark Scheifele both have 9 points in 10 games.
Last season, Connor led all Jets in points after he scored 31 goals and recorded 49 assists for 80 points in 82 games.
Also, Scheifele eclipsed the 40+ goal mark for the first time in his career by netting 42 in 81 contests.
Contrarily, Arizona were 0-2-1 against the Jets in three games last campaign.
In the first ever NHL game at Mullett Arena, Winnipeg came back from behind to beat the ‘Yotes 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 28, 2022.
Moreover, Jets won both games at home 2-1 on Jan. 15 and Mar. 31, respectively.
As for injuries, Coyotes right wing Jason Zucker lower-body) remains out week-to-week on injured reserve.
Winnipeg center Gabriel Vilardi sprained his MCL on Oct. 19 and will be sidelined on the IR for 2-4 more weeks.
Nick Schmaltz scores twice in Coyotes 3-2 victory over Canadiens
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
