'A really hard year': Disappointed Jets hope they gave fans a pandemic distraction
The Winnipeg Jets saw their season come to an abrupt end Monday.
And while bitterly disappointed, they're hopeful a surprising -- albeit short -- playoff run provided fans in a province slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic's third wave a welcome distraction.
"I never would have thought this (series) would have gone four games," Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler said at the Bell Centre after his team was swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. "That's one of the most disappointing things ... people have nothing to do and we were giving them something to do.
"We feel bad about that."
They also gave them plenty to cheer.
The Jets headed into the first round as decided underdogs against Connor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers. Winnipeg not only surprised many with a series sweep, but won three straight overtime contests, including a thrilling triple-OT decision to advance.
"After those Edmonton games, coming out of the rink and seeing our fans honking their horns and lighting up the city was ... one of the highlights of this whole season and honestly the whole last 18 months," Wheeler added. "It gave you a life again to want to do this for Winnipeg and put on a show for them and keep giving them something to watch."
Manitoba has been battered by the pandemic's third wave. Although the numbers are starting to improve, the province's chief public health officer said this week hospitals remain strained, with dozens of intensive care patients shipped to other jurisdictions to free up bed space.
"It's been a really hard year," Wheeler said. "Winnipeg is code red and everything's shut down and kids aren't in school.
"My family feels that just as much as any other family. Even the economic impacts of that in our community are far-reaching."
The Jets played without fans all season -- the province allowed 500 fully vaccinated health-care workers to attend Games 1 and 2 against Montreal inside Bell MTS Place -- while Manitobans have been under tight coronavirus restrictions during the third wave.
"If we could have gotten people's minds off what's been going on, then it definitely makes you feel good," Jets centre Adam Lowry said. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't keep this good thing going and hopefully reach some later rounds that maybe we'd have some more fans in the building.
"We know it's been an incredibly tough year for a lot of people, so we appreciate the posts -- the tweets, the Instagram posts and just seeing people wearing Jets stuff around the city. We really appreciate the support."
Head coach Paul Maurice said it's unfortunate his team wasn't able to share its success, however fleeting, with its fervent, white-clad supporters in person.
The Jets played in front of their first real crowds of 2021 for Games 3 and 4 at the Bell Centre -- at roughly 12 per cent capacity -- in Montreal, where COVID-19 rules were reduced last month.
"It's such a special place, Winnipeg," Maurice said. "It's a fantastic home building and the crowd is different there than anywhere else. So you feel like you missed out on something.
"There's been a tremendous amount of sacrifice from a lot of people over the last year and a half. It would have been nice to give something back and to have the crowd. It's not just the Jets and the coaches and the players, it's the fans, too.
"It's a painful loss, a painful thing."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.