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Jets Prepare For Biggest Home Game in Nearly 50 Years

The Winnipeg Jets have their backs against the wall as they return to Canada.

Jon Alfano

Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor is congratulated by his teammates on his goal against the St. Louis Blues.
Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor is congratulated by his teammates on his goal against the St. Louis Blues. / Terrence Lee-Imagn Images
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The Winnipeg Jets probably never expected they'd be in this position when the Stanley Cup Playoffs began.

After a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night, the Jets, who won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular-season team, now face elimination in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday night. The home team has won every game in this series so far, but while Winnipeg has won games that were largely close, St. Louis has simply dominated on home ice. With how volatile this series has been, anything can happen in Game 7.

For the Jets, however, they're entering uncharted territory. Sunday's game will be the Jets' first home Game 7 since 1977, when they defeated the San Diego Mariners in the WHA (World Hockey Association) Division Semi-Finals.

Furthermore, that Jets team is not the same as this one.

The original Jets joined the NHL as part of a merger between the two leages in 1979, relocated to become the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes in 1996 and then suspended operations in 2024 (the Utah Hockey Club is technically a different franchise). The current Jets, meanwhile, began life as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999 and took on the original team's name upon relocating in 2011, but did not inherit the records and history.

This iteration of the Jets has only played in one Game 7 in franchise history, which came in the second round of the 2018 playoffs against the Nashville Predators. The Jets won that game 5-1 in dominant fashion, but fell to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference Final.

If the Jets want to win this Game 7, then they need to be significantly better than they have been throughout this series.

The struggles of Connor Hellebuyck, who will win the Vezina Trophy and possibly the Hart Trophy as well, have taken center stage. The 31-year-old has a dreadful .815 save percentage and 4.42 goals against average in the series, and he was pulled in all three games in St. Louis. However, the Jets have done him no favors with their play in front of him, so the blame falls on everyone.

Even with a shaky performance in this series, though, there's no doubt that Winnipeg fans will be rocking for possibly the team's biggest home game in half a century.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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