Winnipeg supporters give Jets the fan advantage

There’s a unique connection between the Winnipeg Jets and the community that can’t be easily explained.

But you could see and hear it on Thursday night, for example, when thousands of fans stood outside Canada Life Centre in the pouring rain holding signs with slogans such as “We Believe” and “Jets in 7” while dressed in their most creative costumes as white paint ran down their smiling faces.

Inside the downtown rink — which was sold out for the 15th consecutive game — the roaring crowd seemingly willed the local hockey club to its most important win of the season, a dominant 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars that loudly staves off elimination and keeps their collective Stanley Cup dreams alive.

It felt, at times, like the Jets had too-many-men on the ice — approximately 15,225 of them, in fact.

“These playoffs, believe me, we can feel it. We can really feel it,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said following the game. “There’s another wave that comes into this building and it kind of pulls you along. Our guys were riding on it tonight.”

Nobody seems more impacted by it than goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who appeared genuinely moved at the ear-piercing “MVP” chants that followed his pre-game introduction. Hellebuyck, who is nominated for both the Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy, certainly hasn’t played like one at times in these playoffs — especially on the road where he’s 0-5.

But Hellebuyck is now 6-1 in his own backyard and went on to post a second straight shutout on home ice.

“You know what? I believe in this group, I believe in myself and I believe in all of our fans,” said Hellebuyck. “So we’re going to continue to compete and leave it all out there, and that’s all we can ask for.”

This is already the second-deepest playoff run the 2.0 Jets have ever been on, and there have already been plenty of memorable highlights. If you’re coming up with a list of motivating factors for Winnipeg heading into Saturday’s must-win Game 6 in Dallas, don’t discount the desire to keep the party going back home.

“These fans have been…” began Nikolaj Ehlers, his voice trailing off. “It’s been so special to play here in front of them. And we want to repay them by coming back and playing a Game 7 here.”

Ehlers is a pending unrestricted free agent this summer. If Thursday turns out to be his last home game with the team that drafted him ninth-overall in 2014, he certainly went out in style with a pair of goals. A guy who began the series with just four career playoff goals in 40 games already has five through the first five games of this series.

The Danish winger, like Hellebuyck, understands how much hockey means around here, as do other core players such as Adam Lowry, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey. It’s not a coincidence that, with their season on the line, they all came up big.

As Arniel explained post-game, the Jets not only feel they owe it to their incredible fans, but to each other as well.

“Man, there’s a few things. Our leadership in our room is a big one. Our guys, you could feel it, you could hear it, from (Thursday) morning to (Thursday) night. Guys just knowing they had to be at their best,” he said.

“We’d love for a chance to come back and do it in Game 7, but we’ve got a lot of work to ahead of us in Game 6. To reward our fans and to give them a chance to see another game, that’s what we were looking to do.”

Those who lived through the 1.0 era, who experienced enough playoff heartbreak to fill a lifetime and then watched their team disappear to the desert, certainly get it. They relish a second chance to show that hockey truly belongs here, along with a new generation of fans who now eat, breathe and sleep the sport. This spring, so far, has been very good for them.

Those who enjoy taking pot shots at the league’s smallest market, who love to repeat the tired narrative that nobody wants to live or play here, generally do not get it. They pick apart attendance, mock player moves and ridicule the organization’s overall track record.

They don’t have as much material these days, not with the sights and sounds being beamed around the hockey world out of this godforsaken place.

The giant Canadian flag being passed around at the street party during the anthem and the joyous scenes that have become a staple.

The creative chants going on inside the building — “Should Have Kicked It” on Thursday, after a goal by Scheifele was waved off because he batted the puck into the net — might have been the most brilliant yet, an incredible throwback to the controversial Game 3 winner by Dallas defenceman Alex Petrovic.

The acknowledgments before, during and after Game 5 about the wildfire situation in the province provided some much-needed perspective.

“I’m glad it’s raining, that helps the fire situation,” Arniel said post-game. He understands the community connection better than anyone in the organization, given his deep roots in Winnipeg that go back to the early 1980s.

And, of course, the never-say-die approach of a hockey club that is now 2-0 this year when facing elimination. Opponents are seeing, hearing and feeling it, too.

“We felt like we needed to win this one. You don’t want to give them any life at all,” veteran Stars forward Matt Duchene said Thursday. “We don’t want to come back here for Game 7 obviously up 3-1 at one point.”

There’s no guarantee the Jets can bring this series back to Winnipeg. Hellebuyck and company are going to have to slay a bit of a personal dragon and snap a nine-game playoff losing streak in enemy territory that now spans three years and four different opponents.

It defies explanation, especially this year when the Jets were the best road team during the regular season. It’s too bad the Jets can’t simply pack every one of their fans on the charter with them Friday and bring them to Texas to emulate the home-ice experience. Instead, they’re going to have to find a way to get this done on their own.

But just imagine the fun around here if they force a winner-take-all showdown on Monday night back at home, sweet home, with a trip to the Western Conference Final on the line.

Might we get another Manitoba Miracle On Ice, such as the one the Jets pulled off in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues that incredibly, improbably kept their season alive? This time, it would mean becoming just the 33rd team in NHL history to erase a 3-1 series deficit by rattling off three straight wins.

There have already been seven Whiteouts in Winnipeg this spring. Why stop there?

“Playing at home, in front of our crowd, is special,” said Ehlers. “We don’t want to be done playing hockey.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg