My first thought about the Winnipeg Jets creating a Hall of Fame, and making the three members of the Hot Line the first inductees, is this: It’s about time.

It’s great to see the Jets are finally honouring the history that is attached to their team name and the city they play in.

Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, three players who put Winnipeg squarely on the hockey map, will take their rightful places in the new shrine in October and surely I’m not the only person to ask “What took you so long?”

It seemed like for the first five years of Jets 2.0, the organization wanted little or nothing to do with the original Jets, who played in the city from 1972 to 1996 before becoming the Arizona Coyotes.

Hull, who legitimized the franchise and the entire league the Jets played in (the World Hockey Association) by signing at Portage and Main in 1972, was almost an outsider for five years as the new Jets tried to establish their own footprint in the city.

The same goes for former stars like Hedberg, Nilsson, Dale Hawerchuk, Teemu Selanne and Thomas Steen.

The hockey fans of this city idolize those players, grew up watching them, identify them as the most significant contributors to a rich history in the sport.

Their names are synonymous with the Winnipeg Jets and it shouldn’t have taken this long for the organization to cement it with official recognition.

However, all those names will be part of the franchise forever in the new Hall of Fame, and good on the Jets for getting it right.

This is definitely a case of “better late than never.”

All three members of the Hotline will be on hand for a Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Oct. 19 before a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at MTS Centre, just three days before the Heritage Classic Alumni Game and four days before the big outdoor game between the Jets and Edmonton Oilers at Investors Group Field.

They’ll be celebrated at a luncheon on Oct. 20 at the Fairmont (which fans can attend for $72 a plate) and will surely be part of the Heritage Classic festivities all weekend.

In the coming years more players, coaches and builders – who were involved in the Jets, not the Atlanta Thrashers -- will be added to the Hall of Fame, which will have a permanent display in the MTS Centre. Fans will have a chance to celebrate the past along with the present on a regular basis, not just every time the team holds an outdoor game.

Until now, fans of the original Jets had to go to Glendale, Ariz., to look up into the rafters and see some of the team’s history. Hull’s number is there, and Steen’s and Hawerchuk’s and Teppo Numminen’s and even Keith Tkachuk’s.

It just wasn’t right that in the MTS Centre, the only place you could see No. 9 was on Evander Kane’s back, or Andrew Copp’s.

It was hard to find any mention of Bobby Hull’s name at all. There’s a Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame display in the arena, but it has nothing to do with the Jets organization.

Back in 2014, when I was returning from a Jets road trip, I met up with Hull on a flight to Winnipeg from Chicago. He told me he still felt snubbed by the Jets and had never had so much as an invitation to a game.

All that should be in the past now.

The Jets said all along they would eventually honour the history associated with their name and they are coming through.

It’s the right thing to do.

THE INAUGURAL INDUCTEES

BOBBY HULL

One of hockey’s greatest players, Hull signed with the Jets of the WHA in 1972 and went on to score 303 goals and 638 points in 411 games while leading the team to two Avco Cups and being named league MVP twice.

QUOTABLE: “It was so fabulous playing here, but to be remembered and honoured, it is quite an accomplishment that I am thankful for. I have held my friendship with Anders and Ulf in such high esteem. Going back over the years when we played together, it was one of the happiest times of my life.”

ANDERS HEDBERG

Scored 236 goals and 458 points in 286 games over four seasons with the Jets, helping them win two Avco Cups. He had more than 100 points in each of his seasons in Winnipeg and was rookie of the year in 1975.

QUOTABLE: “It wasn't just the line that was good, we had a team that was good. Winnipeg and the Jets opened their arms for me and made me part of a changing hockey world that is today much more international. We lived in Winnipeg for only four years, but I still to a certain extent, feel like a Winnipegger.”

ULF NILSSON

The playmaker on the Hotline, Nilsson had 344 assists in 300 games with the Jets over four seasons. He added 140 goals and was named WHA playoff MVP in 1976. He averaged 121 points per season with the Jets and helped the team to two Avco Cups.

QUOTABLE: “It’s such an honour to be recognized. I will probably be very emotional during the ceremony, it’s so nice to come back to Winnipeg. I probably had four of my best years in this city, it was amazing to play with Bobby and Anders and I am so happy Winnipeg has a team back. It’s a great place to play hockey.”