Game 7 touchstone moment for Winnipeg Jets franchise
Win or lose, this game will be important part of team’s history, writes Paul Friesen.
One by one, they strolled through the international departure level, many stopping to shake an eager fan’s hand or pose for a photo.
The odd cheer, the occasional “Go Jets Go” and a common “Good luck” sent them on their way.
The Winnipeg Jets left for Nashville on Wednesday through Gate 4, with Air Canada charter flight 7017 carrying them — and they, in turn, carrying the hopes of a city and province.
The first Game 7 for this new version of the Jets will have ramifications beyond the final horn in Music City on Thursday.
We will talk about what happens in this game next year, for sure. We might even talk about it years from now.
The immediate impact will be huge for players and coaches.
Continue the chase for the Stanley Cup or go home. Get ready for Vegas and the Western Conference final or pack up the equipment for the summer. Talk about two extremes. This is a franchise with a thin history, having reached milestones you only need one hand to count.
Selecting Mark Scheifele as its first draft pick was the first.
The draft lottery win that brought Patrik Laine, another.
That first playoff series win over Minnesota checked off another box that was dearly in need of checking off since the day the NHL returned to Winnipeg seven years ago this month.
And now this, a touchstone moment, the most pressurepacked moment pro hockey can produce.
For youngsters like Scheifele, Laine, Kyle Connor, Nik Ehlers, Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck, it’s the first chapter of whatever playoff legacy they’ll leave.
Either they’ll begin to build reputations as big-game players, or they won’t.
“You can’t think about that,” Laine said before leaving town. “Then you’re going to be scared on the ice, scared to do a mistake.”
Laine has a history of coolness under pressure, of scoring big goals in big games in international hockey and in the pro league in his native Finland.
He has just one goal in this series, three in 11 playoff games. “I’m not nervous,” he said. “It’s just a great opportunity. Just try to enjoy this game as much as I can. It’s probably going to be nerve-racking — well, not for us, but for the fans.”
If there’s some contradiction there, attribute it to the fact this is all new to the 20-year-old. He’s probably not sure how he’ll feel gripping his graphite Thursday.
This moment can’t feel the same for Laine as it does for long-suffering vets such as Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault and Toby Enstrom.
They’re running out of chances to get their names engraved on the Cup.
Head coach Paul Maurice, who drew the most cheers at the airport, has worked longer and harder than any of his players without receiving the ultimate recognition of a job well done.
Faced with this team’s marquee moment, Maurice isn’t expecting to produce a burst of motivation for his players on Thursday.
“There’s no big speech or departure from our game,” the coach said Wednesday.
“The important one that was delivered all year was enjoy what we do ... the whole part. The nerves before the game, the tension of the game, the excitement of the game. You can’t be on pins and needles.”
Even if the rest of the province is.