Loss be danged, Jets have well-earned confidence

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This article was published 08/11/2015 (3681 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THEIR record says it, even if they won’t.

With an 8-5-2 mark through 15 games, the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 are off to their best start in five seasons here — eight seasons if you roll time back to the days in Atlanta.

But even though they’ve had some memorable moments this year — a stretch that includes a win at home over the defending Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks and another on the road against the New York Rangers, a team threatening for a consecutive President’s Cup Trophy — the Jets aren’t ready to celebrate anything.

“I think there’s a confidence… if you put the two years together (this season and last season), I think they believe they’re a good team,” said head coach Paul Maurice prior to Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

For Maurice, being able to walk with a bit of “swagger” doesn’t come from brief stints of success, but something that is earned over “years of being a good team and deep runs into the playoffs or championships.”

The Jets haven’t been able to do either since their return in 2011. Last year they were able to post a franchise-best 99 points, earning their first trip to the playoffs as the Jets 2.0. But they too were swept, losing in four games to the Anaheim Ducks. Unable to earn that pivotal win in the post-season still sits in the back of their minds, and at the forefront as a reminder that sometimes good just isn’t good enough.

“I think (we’re) more experienced and that just leads to more confidence,” said defenceman Tyler Myers, who was acquired last February as part of a trade that sent Evander Kane to Buffalo. “I’m sure what happened in the playoffs last year is in the back of everyone’s mind and I think it only made us better.”

For now, it’s simply about keeping a balance between the highs and the lows. The Jets believe they can beat any team in any building on any given night. They also know they can’t take anyone lightly. It’s a confidence certainly present in that room, even if it is a silent one.

“You don’t want too much swagger yet,” added Maurice.

The journey this season, though a bit bumpy at times, has finally turned in to an enjoyable ride. Under Maurice, the Jets have structure — a proper blueprint to achieve the potential many on the team believe has always been there.

“If you look at our team we’re fast, we’re big and we got some big guys at the back that can move the puck,” said Jets captain Andrew Ladd. “I think Paul has come in here and kind of given us the recipe for success, and that is playing hard and playing physical and playing tight defence.”

And if anyone on the Jets knows what it takes to build a winner it’s Ladd. Twice he’s hoisted the Stanley Cup, as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, and most recently with the Blackhawks in 2010. He also knows you don’t become a contender overnight, but he likes the direction the team is headed.

“It takes a while,” he said. “But we know the way we need to play to be successful.”

Consider that on the record.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton