(Winnipeg) The common feeling among Winnipeg Jets players after a quick elimination from the NHL playoffs was disbelief.
“I really don’t understand why it didn’t work because I was sure we had a very good group,” defenseman Dylan DeMelo said Thursday during the end-of-season review.
The Jets finished fourth overall in the NHL and second in the Central Division after tying a team record with 52 wins (52-24-6). They won their last eight games of the regular season.
Then after winning the first game of their series against the Colorado Avalanche, the Jets lost the next four games. They were outscored 28-15 in the series, including four empty-net goals.
We were on a roll going into the playoffs. Then in the blink of an eye, it’s all over. I can not believe it.
Kyle Connor
“I’m sure we’ll reflect and try to understand what we should have done differently. But I am dejected,” he admitted.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff met with players throughout the day, then called the way the season ended “incomplete.”
They should be proud of reaching 110 points, but all they talk about is how much they hoped for more.
General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff
PHOTO JOHN WOODS, THE CANADIAN PRESS
General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff
“That’s all they’re going to think about and it’s the same for us. The entire organization will try to find ways to improve. »
The Jets were also eliminated in the first round last spring, losing in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights after also winning the first meeting.
Head coach Rick Bowness signed a two-year contract with the team. The contract comes with an option at the Jets’ discretion for a third season.
Bowness had to go to his partner’s bedside twice, in October and March, due to health problems. Bowness, 69, said he would speak with his family, then with Jets co-owner Mark Chipman and Cheveldayoff.
“I know what I’m going to do. I know what I want to do. You will know. We’ll tell you eventually,” Bowness said with a smile.
He spoke like a man who wished he was back with the team.
“I take full responsibility for this performance in the playoffs. I do. Our team didn’t play well,” Bowness said.
“The bar I set for this team and for me, we didn’t reach it. It’s up to me to make sure this never happens again. »
The players agreed to focus a little more on defensive play this season and the result was visible during the campaign. However, too many mistakes sank the team against the Avalanche.
The Jets had a streak of 34 consecutive games in which they allowed three goals or fewer. Connor Hellebuyck won the William-M. -Jennings awarded to the goaltender of the team having allowed the fewest goals in the circuit and having played at least 25 games.
Hellebuyck is also one of the finalists for the Vezina Trophy this season.
“I think I need to understand that it’s a team sport and maybe that will give me some peace of mind,” he said after admitting that he had perhaps being put too much pressure on your shoulders.
Jets captain Adam Lowry said the loss to the Avalanche should serve as a reminder that the intensity is different in the playoffs.
“It’s not a lack of effort on our part, but rather a desire to win every battle, to tell ourselves that the other guy in front is not going to beat us,” Lowry said.
“This is what takes us to take the next step,” he concluded.