Things have been a little different around Winnipeg this fall.
For one, it’s warm. Like, uncharacteristically warmer than normal. With temperatures hovering closer to +10 degrees than the typical zero, the standard bitter October and unbearable November have been no where in sight.
In fact, Winnipeg just set a record dating back to 1879, for the longest stretch of days in a calendar year with no recorded snowfall. The Manitoba capital is now at 209 days (previous record was 201 days in 1998.
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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers recently hosted another CFL West Final, to which the boys in blue and gold prevailed – despite atypical playing conditions. The Bombers will take on the Toronto Argonauts indoors from Vancouver in Winnipeg’s fifth-straight Grey Cup appearance this coming Sunday.
But despite the balmy fall, talk of whiteout conditions has returned, thanks in large part to that of the play of the Winnipeg Jets.
Winnipeg got off to a sensational start, winning its first eight games of the season.
After dropping a near-comeback loss to Toronto, the Jets have won another seven-straight and currently sit at 15-1-0 through 16 contests – AKA the very best start by any NHL club all-time.
Who knew?
In beating the Dallas Stars 4-1 on home ice this past Saturday, Winnipeg one-upped the record set by the 2007-08 Ottawa Senators, which was unable to get to 14 wins in 15 games.
No, an NHL season is not just 16 games, but most were naysaying the Jets’ legitimacy after three games, and then again five, and then eight – and so on.
Fifteen out of 16 is certainly something.
Sixteen out of the full 82-game game schedule is roughly 20 percent.
So, Winnipeg is approximately one-fifth done its 2024-25 calendar.
At this point, if the Jets play just .500 hockey (win one game for every game they lose) they will finish up with another 66 points on top of the already amassed 30 standings points, for 96 total.
Historically, 96 points would be enough for a playoff spot – not a top postseason position, but likely a spot, nonetheless.
Not that anyone within the Jets’ organization is pushing for .500 hockey here out, the idea of banking points off the bat certainly comes with some rewards.
Should the Jets somehow continue their scorching pace, a league-topping mark of 65-12-5 was set by the Boston Bruins in 2022-23. At this point, Winnipeg is on pace for just five or six losses. That, of course, will change.
But for now, folks in the Canadian prairies’ only worry is that of Argonauts’ backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who is set to get the start opposite Zach Collaros in the championship final after starter Chad Kelley went down with a broken leg last weekend.
Without worrying about scraping windshields, shovelling driveways or lackadaisical play from their beloved NHL club, Winnipeg sporting fans will have another big week ahead, beginning with Thursday’s game in Tampa Bay, followed by an elongated home-and-home with Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers.
Maurice – who remains a beloved character in Manitoba – very memorably wished his feeling of joy upon clinching last spring’s Stanley Cup upon the Jets.
Was he onto something?
It sure seems that way.
Again, playing .500 hockey would likely get the Jets into the postseason. And that could be all they need.
But if history repeats itself, that would not be an ideal situation for the club that now recorded the very best start in history.
Those aforementioned record-setting Ottawa Senators? They fell off a cliff in the second half of the season, putting up a seven-game losing streak, and narrowly missing the playoffs altogether, before being swept 4-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round.
Moral of the story? Keep winning.
