Winnipeg Jets Are Off To Their Most Successful Start Ever -- But Will It Matter in the Long Run?

Alex Iafallo of Winnipeg celebrated his opening-period goal against Dallas Stars while being joined by members of his bench and teammates James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images This modern NHL has seen unprecedented parity within divisions; one example being Atlantic Division. Just three points separate the Boston Bruins from Detroit Red Wings for third place; on top of that, backup Eric Comrie has won all three starts he made this season with remarkable numbers. Winnipeg continues its high scoring output across many sources, led by players with all types of scoring prowess. They currently boast the most total points among defensemen (46), and 11 players have reached double digit points through 15 games – so things couldn’t possibly get any better, especially since last season was so strong for them! Winnipeg proved itself as one of the NHL’s premier teams last season, finishing fourth overall with 52 victories and 110 points to claim fourth-place status overall and set up an exciting first-round matchup against Colorado Avalanche as 2022 champions. Even given their daunting draw, it was stunning to watch Winnipeg falter after just five games under new coach Scott Arniel; clearly showing they’ve embarked upon an extraordinary mission unlike anything we have witnessed previously. The Jets may challenge Boston Bruins’ 2022-23 NHL record of 65 victories and 135 points; after already earning 28 points through 28 wins already this season, Winnipeg still has 67 games left to gain another 107 if their winning percentage increases beyond 80 percent from here on out. However, does any of this really impact on the Jets’ Stanley Cup aspirations? With that question in mind, let’s examine other teams with strong starts in NHL history through 15 games, as well as their playoff successes. Only another team managed 13 wins out of 14 contests early – 2007-08 Ottawa Senators returning after their heartbreaking Stanley Cup Finals loss with 13-2-0 record! However, following Christmas the team fell on hard times and just barely made the playoffs; eventually placing seventh in East. In their playoff matchup they became cannon fodder against an upstart Pittsburgh Penguins side who went on to become Cup finalists themselves. Ottawa was never able to recover from that season after inheriting that core of players, while Colorado surprised everyone by posting an impressive 13-2-0 record following Nathan MacKinnon being selected first overall this summer. Although their pace slowed slightly, Colorado still secured their Western Conference championship and went onto defeat Minnesota Wild in seven games of playoff action. Colorado eventually captured the Cup in 2022 after another rebuild. A rare example of foreshadowing future success, Quebec Nordiques found themselves racing out to an impressive 13-2-0 start during 1994-95 that seemed to justify their slow and steady accumulation of future Hall-of-Famers. However, their attempt was too soon as they fell in six games to New York Rangers that spring in round one. Denver would quickly reap the benefits of Quebec’s brilliant rebuilding effort by winning their inaugural Stanley Cup championship just one season later, showing this hot start was no fluke. And in 2005, no one could have predicted how impressive Detroit Red Wings’ start in their new era was going to be — their 122-1 start made no one take notice! Motor City had just won their inaugural Cup championship back in 2002 and looked poised for repeated triumph with Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Nicklas Lidstrom at their core. But the determined Edmonton Oilers sent shockwaves through hockey with their stunning six-game win against Detroit in Round one. Red Wings had one final run to win it all though and eventually lifted their second-straight Cup championship in 2008. While similarly experienced as those Red Wings were 1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins who started off 12-1-2 and earned another title back-to-back were similar. Unsurprisingly, that victory came without Mario Lemieux serving as captain – instead it was led by Jaromir Jagr. After an impressive regular season finish, however, things quickly unraveled for the Penguins when they suffered an embarrassing five-game defeat at the hands of eventual Cup finalists New Jersey Devils. Of all five teams listed here that started record seasons such as these five do, four fell early into round one; three fell to eventual Cup contenders and won their division respectively – not ideal news for Jets fans yet another team has experienced such initial losses before! As Winnipeg has demonstrated so far this season, winning 14 games between October and November won’t get them anywhere near 16 victories in April, May, and June – although that goal lies just around the corner! But getting there first remains important. Underneath it all lie numbers that could prove worrying: 5-on-5 numbers like expected goals percentage, Corsi and Fenwick show weak performance by both Corsi and Fenwick for expected goals percentage and expected goals percentage, as well as Corsi being above Fenwick at times. Furthermore, New Jersey currently have one of the highest PDO numbers at 107.16 (which will likely decrease over time). However, they also boasted the NHL’s second-highest PDO last season – so what gives? Overall, however, the Jets are an outstanding regular season team who simply have not shown that they can come through when it matters most. Since 2018 alone, they’ve amassed seven victories in the NHL but only made one conference finals appearance – an unlikely start-to-finish dominance not usually found in professional sports. If this continues into 2019, their season may prove tough indeed. Subscribe to The Hockey News newsletter here, get updates straight to your inbox with trending stories delivered directly, share thoughts by commenting below each article or by joining one of our forums here – it all makes for exciting reading and discussions on THN!com itself or our forum THN forum can come alive again with energy!