So… Now What?!

And just like that, the Winnipeg Jets are done playing hockey. For now anyway.

The threat of COVID-19 has effectively shut down almost all hockey. Not just the National Hockey League and the Winnipeg Jets, but also the American Hockey League and the Manitoba Moose. Ditto that for the WHL and the Winnipeg Ice. For how long? No one truly knows. We could be looking at weeks. We could be dealing with months.

And if that wasn’t enough uncertainty for you, we also have no idea what the plans are for the leagues when and if they resume.

Currently the Winnipeg Jets sit in a playoff position, holding down the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. The league could decide upon their return to just skip right to the playoffs, but how would they determine who is in? If you go by straight up current standings, the Jets are in. If you were to go by points won percentage, the Jets narrowly miss out of the playoff cut.

But all of that is speculation and guessing. We can’t even say for sure if the NHL will return in a timely enough fashion to complete the current season.

So… Now what?

Obviously in the last couple of days, it’s a question myself and some of us at JetsNation have been thinking about. There is no actual hockey to write about, but we still need your clicks to keep the lights on around here, and don’t think you’re interested re-reading game recaps. We also can’t quite go into off-season mode just yet with player reviews, draft profiles and free agency wish lists because we’re technically still in a current season that has just been paused and again, it’s hard to know at this point if we’re going to be talking about a team that will have had it’s third playoff appearance in a row, or if we’re discussing a draft lottery pick.

In the next few days, we’re going to have some fun “simming” the balance of the Jets season on the video game NHL20 as it would have played out in real time, meaning that starting on Saturday you can expect a recap of what would have happened had the Jets gone on to play the @Calgary Flames in the Saddledome.

With this unexpected downtime upon us, we suddenly have more time for TV and movies… As it turns out, I’ve never really watched Letterkenny save for episodes here and there, so now may be a good time to start with season one, episode one and share my thoughts and feelings with you all.

Also, chances are pretty decent that the sports networks here in Canada will turn to airing vintage hockey games and if any of those involve the Jets – be it the current Jets or the 1.0 version – we’ll be all over that as well.

These are just some of my own personal ideas, but we are also open to any of your ideas and suggestions. Feel free to hit us up on Twitter @NHLJetsNation, on our Facebook page, or even e-mail us at JetsNationNHL@gmail.com and we’ll work on making it happen. Want us to run a March tournament? Re-live some past Jets memories? Call out @Patrik Laine every day on social media to take one of us on in Fortnite where he will no doubt crush us repeatedly? We’re open to anything!

Because as it turns out, we all just found ourselves with a little bit more time on our hands.