Winnipeg Jets struggling to come to terms with playoff-less season -NHL Special
Winnipeg was back in the playoffs not too long ago, but now, it is pretty safe to say that the newly formed Jets are out of the race for good with only five games remaining on their 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
The players might not be new to the situation of not making the playoffs, but being part of a team that is officially in its first major league season, being unable to live up to the huge expectations set in the past is definitely difficult to come to terms
with.
Jets were expected to boom right from the start as the Atlanta Thrashers team was announced to become the new Winnipeg based team after financial failure in the American city. Setting such high standards from the beginning might have been a good marketing
tactic but not living up just washed it all away.
Entering the month of March, Winnipeg was on a roll up until the 16th as they had won four of six matchups but after that, it was all downhill for the Jets team. They failed to win the next five of six contests that has now mentally begun to affect
the team, but they will sooner or later have to cope with it in a mature way.
Seeing the way Winnipeg has begun playing these past few weeks certainly has earned them a standing ovation to finish off the season at least not in the bottom, but it is definitely emotional for the players who gave it their all for a final push.
"The one thing that we really have done is put it all on the line," Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, said. "We've played our hearts out for the last few games, and it seems like no matter what we do, it just hasn't gone our way. Sometimes that is the way it
works."
At one moment in February of this year, Winnipeg was leading the South Eastern Division, a feat which they should certainly be proud of and even though it did not work out perfectly in the end, Jets have a lot of momentum to work on for next time.
Winnipeg still has an extremely small window of opportunity as they currently stand at number 10 in the East with 78 points, nine below eighth place Buffalo Sabres, but seeing how those teams will also be fighting for the final spot, it seems highly unlikely.
Whether they make it or not, Jets are determined to continue playing with every last bit of hope they have.
"No matter if you're in a playoff spot or not," Jets defenseman, Zach Bogosian, said, "you're playing in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people, and you don't want to get embarrassed. Whether you're in a position to be in the playoffs or not, you still have to
come out hard."
According to head coach of the Winnipeg team, Claude Noel, his players are proud people and they do not need any sort of external motivation to get them going, but he also has a lot of plans set up for the remainder of the season and offseason as well.
What would be exciting to see if whether Jets are big players in the free agency market after the season comes to an end and whether they invest heavily in further building a great team to make them not only playoff contenders but Stanley Cup fighters as
well.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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