Winnipeg Free Press https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/soaring-season-a-jets-oral-history- 483642323.html The soaring season A look back at the Jets' most successful year in franchise history – from training camp to 'garbage-bag day' – told by the voices in the locker room, behind the bench and the team office By: Mike McIntyre They talked the talk before the season began, making it clear the status quo wouldn't be accepted. Failing to make the playoffs for what would be a sixth time in seven seasons since returning to Winnipeg was not an option. And then they walked the walk once the puck dropped, putting together the best campaign in franchise history and taking fans on a wild journey that nearly ended with an appearance in the Stanley Cup final. There's no denying the 2017-18 season for the Winnipeg Jets was one for the ages. But don't just take our word for it. Training camp begins in mid-September. A clean slate to begin another campaign. Expectations are high. CONNOR HELLEBUYCK: "I'm very excited about how this team comes together. You can kind of feel in the locker room that we're excited to play this season and we expect to win." DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN: "Everyone is that much older, wiser, a little bit more experienced. That's all we can go on from right here. It's just a couple days into training camp and we haven't done nothing yet. There's a lot of steps we've got to go forward to. We've just got to keep working." Winnipeg goes 2-3-2 in their seven exhibition games as roster decisions are finalized. Of note, Kyle Connor begins the year with the Manitoba Moose, Nic Petan makes the big club out of camp and free agent signing Steve Mason is awarded the No. 1 goalie job. BLAKE WHEELER: "You've got one shot at having a career in this league. At a certain point in time you want to win. I've been trying to win for six years here. I think we're at the point now where you see some young guys blossoming into impact players. Some of our veteran guys, some of our young guys have kinda come together to create a pretty good nucleus." PAUL MAURICE: "To be honest with you, I have lots of faith and confidence in the direction that we're going. I know you look at the playoffs as a miss and that's a failure for any team. But we made the decision to do what we're doing. I've got lots of confidence in my ability and the team's ability to get it done." Opening night. The hockey spotlight is on Winnipeg as the Jets host the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL's season-opener. The hype is huge. And Winnipeg comes up very small, getting pounded 7-2. PATRIK LAINE: "It wasn't the way we wanted to start the season. But it's done. That's good news that we have still 81 games left. We just have to be lots better." STEVE MASON: "It wasn't what we were looking for. Especially from my standpoint, it just wasn't good enough." Coach Paul Maurice puts his troops through what appears to be a bag skate at the end of practice, clearly not happy with what he witnessed the night before. JACOB TROUBA: "We gotta be better. I know I have to be better. We know the team has to perform better. I think we got that message." PAUL MAURICE: "Oh, that wasn't even close to a bag skate. Nobody puked... if we had spent 20 more minutes at 'er..." A sigh of relief. Winnipeg beats Edmonton 5-2 for their first win of the season, coming off back- to-back clunkers against Toronto and then Calgary. NIKOLAJ EHLERS: "It was big. We all knew what we needed to do. We knew what we were capable of. We didn't do that the first two games but we showed it (against the Oilers)." A surprising development. Steve Mason's struggles mean he's parked on the bench while Connor Hellebuyck takes over, rattling off three straight wins as the Jets are finally on track. CONNOR HELLEBUYCK: "I've been working all summer for this. I wanted to start with getting my confidence back and getting my poise back in the net. Then I got a new trainer and he was teaching me about the biomechanics and how the body moves and all that, so I was really learning how to become faster and more set, more square. It fit perfectly for my game." Mathieu Perreault goes down with an injury – and Kyle Connor is summoned from the Manitoba Moose. PAUL MAURICE: "Now he gets a chance. And it's a top-six chance and he's going to have to work really hard to keep that. We've got other players there that want that opportunity, too. So he has to perform." Steve Mason gets another opportunity, and is shelled again in a 5-2 loss on home ice to Columbus. JOSH MORRISSEY: "A lot of those goals are defensive errors on our part. He's a professional, he's been around, a veteran guy, he handled those first couple of games awesome and there's no issue there. We know that Steve can play and the type of goalie he is, we just need to do a better job of helping him out." Winnipeg routs two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh 7-1 in their most dominant performance to date, including five first-period goals. PAUL MAURICE: "Real good jump, real good pace, good start and it was enough to win a game." With the Jets on a roll in early November, Dale Hawerchuk is inducted into the team's Hall-of- Fame just before Winnipeg beats Arizona to improve to 10-4-3 on the season. DALE HAWERCHUK: "For me, this was a special place. I would have loved to have won a (Stanley) Cup here. I've won Memorial Cups, Canada Cups. But if I was going to win a Stanley Cup, it would have been here. This would have been the place to do it. I hope I see it here one day." Winnipeg keeps things rolling with a dramatic rally, scoring in the final minute of the third period to tie the game, then pulling out a shootout win over Philadelphia. ADAM LOWRY: "I think that's a real good sign of a good team. You need to find ways to win in this league, especially when you don't necessarily have your best game." Winnipeg climbs to the top of the Western Conference with a 7-4 victory over Vegas, improving to 16-6-4. BLAKE WHEELER: "It's the first of December, we're obviously pleased to have a good start, we're pleased with the direction we're headed. But I think the thing that's given us success, it's a cliché, but we have taken things day by day at practice to get better, each game to get better in certain areas. I don't think we've peaked." The good times hit a bit of a skid on the road, as Winnipeg loses for a sixth straight time away from Bell MTS Place with a 2-0 loss in St. Louis. PAUL MAURICE: "There's a change in gears here that happens in December. Pressure starts to weigh pretty heavy on some teams. That's all part of that learning process with the grind. This is the real NHL now. You got through the easy part and you're into that heavier area where teams are fighting and you've got to learn how to do it." Winnipeg gets back on track a few nights later with an impressive 6-4 win in Nashville, who are looking every bit like a Stanley Cup favourite. BLAKE WHEELER: "This is a huge win, I mean, we just gutted it out." No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele suffers a serious shoulder injury in their first game back after a brief Christmas break, a 4-3 win over Edmonton. BRYAN LITTLE: "It's never something easy to see - one of your best players on the ice like that." No Scheifele, no problem. Winnipeg goes on a 6-0-1 run into early January with Blake Wheeler filling in admirably up the middle. MATHIEU PERREAULT: "It honestly kind of reminds me of the years in Washington where every time we stepped on the ice, we kind of had that feeling, that confidence, that we were just better than the other team. That hasn't been here since I've been here and it's a good feeling to have. It comes with confidence." Winnipeg hits their league-mandated bye week with back-to-back losses in Chicago and Minnesota in the midst of a road-heavy portion of their schedule as injuries continue to pile up. PAUL MAURICE: "Our challenge and adversity is still ahead of us." Winnipeg kicks off a franchise-record 10-game homestand with a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay at the end of January despite losing top defenceman Jacob Trouba to an ankle injury days earlier. Michael Hutchinson, banished to the minors to start the year, makes his season debut with Steve Mason once again injured. MICHAEL HUTCHINSON: "You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder with the way the season's been going.