‘Nobody wants to finish last’

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This article was published 05/04/2016 (3502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adam Lowry doesn’t need the reminder, but here it is anyway:

It’s been a nightmarish campaign for the big centre and his Winnipeg Jets teammates, and as they enter the bell lap of the 2015-16 National Hockey League season they are in a pack w-a-a-a-y back of the leaders.

Thanks for the news flash, right?

But as so many tank-a-thon/draft-lottery-simulator fans have been fixating on the bottom of the NHL standings for weeks now — fingers crossed for a free-fall and a shot at Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine or Jesse Puljujarvi — Lowry & Co. had but one goal in mind as they headed into the final stretch of the season: Make sure they stay out of last overall.

Which they did. Sunday’s 5-1 whipping of the Minnesota Wild guaranteed the Jets will at the very least finish ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, a team five points back with only four possible points remaining.

“We’re all competitive guys,” Lowry said Monday. “We grow up striving to be the best. It’s important.

“We’re trying to win every game. It’s a results-driven business and we don’t want to be in the basement.”

But when it was suggested many fans would have been happy to see the Jets finish 30th in the final regular-season standings to up the odds to land a Top 3 draft pick, Lowry gritted his teeth before adding: “Yeah, but they don’t have to deal with the games every night. It’s not fun to lose.”

The Jets are in Anaheim tonight, San Jose Thursday and close out the season Saturday in Los Angeles — playing against the three top teams in the Pacific Division.

The Jets roster may look like a pre-season lineup, what with Bryan Little, Toby Enstrom, Tyler Myers and Mathieu Perreault all on the shelf, but they hardly rolled over on the weekend against Central Division rivals Chicago, a 5-4 OT loss, and Minnesota, a 5-1 win.

While three of a possible four points earned has the lottery fans cursing, it’s exactly what Jets head coach Paul Maurice wants to see from his players right until the end of the season.

“It’s a different lottery system now,” said Maurice. “There’s no guarantee.

“There hasn’t been any casualness in a game. They’re competing hard. The kids are fighting for jobs. It’s almost all on the veterans to set that standard.

“You’ve got to fight the fight that’s today,” Maurice added. “We go into the game (Sunday against Minnesota) and (while) we can’t make the playoffs, we can compete as hard as you want and as hard as you can.

“Nobody wants to finish last.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPEdTait