Craig Heisinger Craig Heisinger ( born October 16 , 1962 ) is a Canadian ice hockey executive . He is the assistant general manager and director of hockey operations for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League and senior vice president of True North Sports and Entertainment . Heisinger is also the general manager of the St . John ' s IceCaps , the American Hockey League affiliate of the Jets . Equipment manager and trainer . Junior hockey . Heisinger began his career in hockey as the equipment manager of the Fort Garry Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League ( MJHL ) in 1978 – 79 . After two season with the Blues , he spent four years ( 1980 – 1984 ) with the Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League ( WHL ) and another four years ( 1984 – 1988 ) with the Brandon Wheat Kings , also of the WHL . Professional hockey . Heisinger made the jump to the NHL when he joined the Winnipeg Jets as assistant equipment manager . Two years later , he was promoted to equipment manager and served in that capacity until the Jets left for Phoenix , Arizona in 1996 . Heisinger , who had a young family at the time , decided not to move with the team . Instead , he was accepted an offer to be the equipment manager for Winnipeg ' s new International Hockey League team , the Manitoba Moose . Heisinger served as the equipment manager of the Moose for three seasons . International . Heisinger ' s first international stint came in 1988 , when he served as a trainer for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Moscow , where Canada won the gold medal . In 1997 , he was a member of Team Canada ' s training staff at the World Ice Hockey Championships , where Canada also won gold . In his most prominent international role , he was selected as the Equipment Manager for Canada ' s men ' s ice hockey team at the 1998 Winters Olympics in Nagano , Japan , the first Olympics in which NHL players were allowed to compete . Executive career . In 1999 , after three seasons as equipment manager , the Moose promoted Heisinger to assistant general manager under Randy Carlyle . On July 15 , 2002 , Heisinger was promoted to general manager when Carlyle left to join the coaching staff of the Washington Capitals . Heisinger spent nine seasons as general manager of the Moose , the longest tenure of any Moose general manager . He was also named senior vice president after True North Sports and Entertainment ( TNSE ) acquired the team in 2003 . With Heisinger as general manager , the Moose made the playoffs eight of nine seasons . In 2008 - 09 , the Moose had their best season in franchise history , winning 50 games and finishing first overall in the regular season . The team went all the way to Calder Cup finals , but lost to the Hershey Bears in six games . Heisinger was named the winner of the James C . Hendy Memorial Award as the most outstanding executive in the AHL that season . In May 2011 , TNSE purchased the NHL ' s Atlanta Thrashers and relocated them to Winnipeg less than a month later , renaming them the Winnipeg Jets . Heisinger was named the director of hockey operations and assistant general manager of the new Jets on June 8 , 2011 , working under new general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff . He continues to hold the titles of senior vice - president for TNSE and general manager of its AHL team , which was relocated and rechristened as the St . John ' s IceCaps in June 2011 . Personal life . Heisinger and his wife Vickie live in Winnipeg with their four sons : Jake , Mack , Tucker and Zachery . Jake plays for the Winnipeg Blues of the MJHL , the team his father started his career with .