It feels like Winnipeg Jets’ the season ended a month ago. And now, here we are, seven days into the Stanley Cup playoffs, wondering “what if” the team had qualified for the postseason and faced the Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings-Avs series is now 3-0 in favor of Colorado. But the three-game lead doesn’t indicate how close the three games have been. In fact, after Game 2 of the series, many thought Los Angeles could have won both games in Denver. To land three Kings while the Jets are at home might give some fans some comfort. But even if it’s only four or five games into a series, there’s a valid reason to be involved in the playoffs.
Let’s face it, the Kings aren’t expected to win the series, just like the Jets would have been underdogs. But there are players — young ones — who will have learned valuable lessons about the game of hockey and what it takes for a team to win the Stanley Cup. That’s really what’s hardest to accept about this franchise (or any franchise, for that matter).
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It’s so important to put your team in a postseason position to give players like Dylan Samberg, Cole Perfetti, Morgan Barron and Brad Lambert a feel for playoff intensity; to learn what price you have to pay to win a championship. Even if you lose a first round series, the learning curve is steep and worthwhile.
So while many would argue that missing the playoffs is better than making it to the first round, there is a certain value in just making the jump. Beyond home matches, beyond a win or two, it’s the higher-intensity experience that players feel is most important. Every team in the Western Conference that made the playoffs will reap the benefits of playoff experience for its young players.
And in many ways, this is the biggest disappointment of this Jets season.
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