Response to Florida debacle shows Jets are for real

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This article was published 20/11/2024 (315 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lengthy and rather quiet plane ride home. An eye-opening video session. Some candid conversations and soul-searching, the big stars rising to the challenge and shining bright.

That, in a nutshell, describes how the Winnipeg Jets were able to shake off a season-high losing “streak” and quickly get back to their winning ways.

Head coach Scott Arniel and several players have pulled back the curtain a bit to provide an inside look at how they rebounded from back-to-back defeats in the state of Florida by a combined score of 9-1. Any concerns this could snowball into something bigger were put to rest with Tuesday’s impressive 6-3 triumph over the Panthers at Canada Life Centre.

In the process, we’ve got a glimpse into the mindset and culture of the now 16-3-0 hockey club, one which has significantly raised the bar internally to chart a course straight to the top of the NHL standings.

“That is part of our identity and what we’re building: Don’t get comfortable,” Jets forward Kyle Connor told the Free Press on Wednesday following the team’s practice to prepare for a season-long six-game road trip which begins Friday in Pittsburgh.

“Listen, we got a really competitive group here. We know we want to win here, and everybody is striving for that goal. I just think it’s part of how we approach things every day here. It’s a real identity kind of mentality switch for that. We can feel that coming and put a stop to it right away. Grab the guy next to you and realize we’ve got to turn this thing around.”

Dropping two consecutive games is typically no big deal for a hockey club. The 82-game season is a marathon, not a sprint, and you’re not going to be at your best for every outing. You get the sense this version of the Jets took the flop in Florida rather personally, beginning with the 3,500-km charter flight home following Saturday’s 5-0 setback in Sunrise.

“Our players weren’t real happy with what happened. Coming home, that was a long flight home for us from Florida,” said Arniel, who opted to listen to some calming music rather than immediately go through the video as he normally does.

Connor admitted the normal card game at the back of the plane didn’t have the same joy level.

“It felt like a loss, put it that way,” he said.

The Jets took Sunday off to clear their heads away from the rink, then came back Monday for a spirited practice and a fairly revealing look at what went wrong as the coaching staff broke down film in front of them.

“Everybody was involved in the video. Every guy got to be a star,” said Arniel.

How bad was it?

“I think every one of us got called out on something that we did wrong, whether we were out of position or mismanaged the puck,” said defenceman Neal Pionk.

“But that’s good. That’s good for us to hear, and you’ve got to reset that once in while.”

Arniel also had some individual conversations with his star players, who admittedly weren’t very good in the losses to Tampa Bay and Florida and wanted a chance to respond.

It’s why he took the unusual step Tuesday night of starting the line of Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi, rather than the traditional shutdown trio of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton.

“They wanted the challenge,” said Arniel.

“I love the way they went out and went after it. They knew we weren’t at our best in Florida. They wanted to turn that script around. I just thought starting those guys would be a way to get them into it right away.”

Make no mistake: A little thing like that can go a long way in the world of pro sports. And Scheifele (three goals), Connor (one goal, one assist) and Vilardi (one assist) all responded with fantastic efforts, along with plenty of other teammates.

“(Scheifele) is one of our most dedicated players off the ice when it comes to eating, when it comes training. I mean he’s a machine, whether it’s getting ready prior to practice,” said Arniel, noting how the No. 1 centre literally went down swinging on Saturday night by dropping the gloves with Aaron Ekblad in the third period of the lopsided loss.

“Even at the start of practice, in practice. Him and KC drive our practice, they want it to be hard, they want to be pushed, and they push themselves to be good in practice. He’s just a true pro. He’s easy to coach in the sense that you know that he’s coming every night.”

Scheifele and Connor are currently tied for the team scoring lead, each with 24 points (12G, 12A) through 19 games, putting them on pace for career bests offensively.

“After a loss like that, we look internally and how we can improve and not have that happen again,” Connor said of rising to the occasion.

“Listen, we want to make a difference every single night, our line. The type of minutes that we play, the type of impact we believe we can have. When it doesn’t go your way like that you’re pissed off. Lucky enough we were able to play that same team again, and I think there was a lot of motivation behind it to prove that going up against a team like that, the Stanley Cup champions, that we could play with them.”

There will be more losses on the way, and likely streaks of two defeats or more down the road. That’s life in the NHL, even for the best teams in the league. The Jets believe they’re better equipped than ever to weather whatever storms come their way, put everything in perspective and keep the focus on the ultimate prize.

“This is all building to the playoffs for us,” said Connor.

“Moments where we can look back on and how we handled that. Lessons that everybody can learn in our room here. It’s about building your identity, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that over the last couple years. We know what it looks like. We go into Florida and for whatever reason it wasn’t there that night. We knew exactly what to do it and turned it around with a really good effort.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg