Michael Gobuty

President/Owner - Winnipeg Jets

Michael Gobuty spearheaded an ownership group that purchased the financially-troubled Winnipeg Jets late in the 1977-1978 season. Gobuty and his group not only kept the club in Winnipeg, but he and Barry Shenkarow engineered the purchase of the remaining players from the defunct Houston Aeros franchise in the summer of 1978 that restocked the Jets' roster after the devastating loss of Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg to the NHL's New York Rangers. Gobuty hired Vice President and General Manager John Ferguson in November and the Jets won their third AVCO Cup championship that season. Gobuty also played an instrumental role in the negotiations that led to the Jets' entry into the NHL.