With the 4 Nations Face-Off break officially beginning this morning, most of the Jets players will have a much earned week+ off before they return to play on February 22nd. Players won’t “formally” return to the ice in Winnipeg until February 18th for an optional skate. Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck will be members of team USA, while Josh Morrissey will represent Team Canada. Mark Scheifele remains on “alert” for Team Canada as the “next man up” if an injury substitution is required prior to final team rosters being finalized and submitted this afternoon, two days before the games begin.

Hopefully this “new” tournament lives up to all the hype the NHL hopes it delivers, but in the meantime it doesn’t mean we can’t keep talking about the 2024-25 Jets regular season thus far. The Jets continue to sit at number 1 in the league standings through 56 games played with a 39-14-3 record. Friday night, the Jets defeated the Islanders 4-3 to extend their current league best win streak to 8. The Jets improved to 22-5-3 at home this season, and this game was extra special to me as it was the 1st time I got to see the Jets live in person at Canada Life Centre. Before I get into my experience surrounding the Jets on my 2 1/2 day trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg, I just have to rattle off some thoughts on what I like about this team heading into this mid-February break.

It’s not much of a “surprise” what my 3 favourite things about the Jets have been up until this point. My 1st thought is about the Jets 1st line, because wow have they ever been good so far through 56 games. The trio of Scheifele, Connor and Vilardi have combined for 183 points this season, and as you’ll see later when I talk about watching this line live, they are a legitimate threat every time they hit the ice.

The 2nd big “thought” I have about the Jets through 56 games is the shear brilliance of Connor Hellebuyck. A 34-7-2 record with a 2.06 GAA and a .925 save percentage are all easily bests in the NHL. Unless a major fall off happens in the next 20+ games, Hellebuyck is set up to win his 3rd career Vezina, which would put him tied for top 10 in NHL history.

A final thought that’s been on my mind about the Jets has to do with the roster moves they’ve made so far this season. Despite some injury troubles, the Jets have stayed within their organization for replacements, recalling players from the Manitoba Moose when needed. At first, I was wondering to myself “when are they going to make a real move”, but then I realized that the approach they’re taking now is just fine. I’m certain that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has some trade targets in mind prior to the deadline, but with how good this team is playing, there’s no need for any “panic” moves. I still think the Jets should add one “significant” player at the deadline, but I’m confident the team can make this move at the right time prior to the deadline.

Moving on to my trip to Winnipeg, and surprise, if you didn’t know already, I live near Vancouver. Over the past few years, I’ve been doing short trips to different Canadian cities with NHL teams. I’ve been to Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton, and next on my list (in no set order) was Winnipeg. I arrived in Winnipeg on Thursday early in the afternoon and left on Saturday morning, so I didn’t have too much time to explore the city, but the main reason why I was there was to see the Jets.

Other than the “main event” which was the Jets game, I went to the Human Rights museum and the Forks Market (and the general area around there) prior to the game. One of the 1st things I did after checking in to my hotel (which I didn’t plan before) was go to the Jets team store. As a hockey jersey collector, I knew it was time to get another Jets jersey, as the only 2 I had were old Laine ones. As I explored around Jets Gear (the team store), I saw that Adidas jerseys were 25% off, and I couldn’t help but get a 3rd jersey of Connor Hellebuyck, plus a Fanatics t-shirt of Kyle Connor. As a fellow Connor, I couldn’t help but support the Jets’ Connors, who also happen to be my favourite 2 players from the team.

Fast forward to Friday night, and it was finally time to see the Jets live at Canada Life Centre. I arrived just before gates opened, and I kind of liked how their were little “waiting rooms” inside the arena before the gates. I assume they do this because of how cold it gets in Winnipeg (I’m not used to that kind of cold), but nonetheless it was cool to see various entries points like that around the arena.

Entry into the arena was very quick and easy which I liked, and the 1st thing I did was walk around the lower level, which took less time than I thought it would have. I also noticed that there were some unique and interesting food options at Canada Life Centre, which was a nice change from seeing the same “typical” stadium foods that you see at most other NHL arenas. One thing that confused me was how to reach the 300 levels. I didn’t really see any signage for it, but I think the only ways up were from either outside or from the staircases, but it didn’t really matter since I was in section 111.

After some exploring, I took my seat, and the 1st thing I noticed was how small the jumbotron was compared to the new one here in Vancouver at Rogers Arena. I guess I didn’t realize how spoiled we are to have that thing, but the Jets still did a good job of displaying all the necessary info with limited space. I was seated halfway up section 111, so I got to see the Jets shoot towards my side twice. 1 minute into the game, the Islanders opened the scoring, but I wasn’t worried one bit that the Jets wouldn’t be able to battle back. Iafallo tied it up 3 minutes later, before the Islanders got a bit of a weird one to take a 2-1 lead into the 1st intermission.

Something I noticed throughout breaks and intermissions was the lack of “entertainment” for the fans compared to other arenas I’ve been at. I’m always at a hockey game for the game itself, but there were parts of the game (when the game wasn’t on) where it looked like some fans were “out of it”, but perhaps that’s just because of how the game was going at the time. The 2nd period was when the Jets were shooting on the opposite side of where I was seated, but it was their best period of the night. The top 6 looked amazing throughout this game, but in the 2nd period Vilardi scored twice separated by one from Ehlers.

The Islanders made it 4-3 with 9 minutes to play, and after that point the intensity in the arena picked up. The Jets weren’t able to get a last minute empty-netter to seal the win, but they still managed to hold on for the 4-3 win. My overall impressions of my gameday experience at Canada Life Centre would be “somewhere in the middle”, compared to the NHL arenas I’ve been to prior to this one.

I would need a more in-depth ranking to explain my full experience more in detail, but it was still a great night of hockey where I got to see the Jets become the first team to reach 80 points on the season. I left Winnipeg the following morning very satisfied with my short stay, and my overall impressions of the downtown area were better than I originally expected.

The fans (including myself) were hoping that they could have seen Scheifele score his Jets franchise record breaking 329th goal, but that will have to wait now until at least February 22nd. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation, as I will break down each of the Jets performances during their 3 (or 4) games at the 4 Nations-Face off tournament, which begins on Wednesday night with Morrissey and Team Canada taking on Team Sweden at 7:00 PM CT, on MAX, truTV, TNT, SN and TVAS.