The Winnipeg Jets Are Finding Their Way Back to Themselves

For a while, the Winnipeg Jets didn’t just look like a team losing games. They looked like a team that had misplaced its sense of identity.

An eleven‑game losing streak will do that. Leads disappeared. Support scoring dried up. The Jets stopped playing with confidence and started playing not to make mistakes. That’s usually the first sign that something deeper has gone missing. When a team hesitates, it’s not tired legs — it’s doubt.

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Not Long Ago, the Jets Were Dead Last in the NHL

A couple of weeks ago, they were dead last in the NHL. That wasn’t bad luck. That was a team playing without its bearings.

The recent four‑game win streak doesn’t erase what came before, but it does explain it. The Jets didn’t suddenly get healthier. They didn’t catch a soft stretch of schedule. What changed was how they played the game again.

Last season’s Jets ground teams down. They trusted that if they stayed connected long enough, chances would come. That was the Jets’ identity. They were a team that didn’t overwhelm anyone with flash, but they slowly pulled the game away from you shift by shift.

During the Jets’ Losing Streak, Last Season’s Identity Vanished

During the losing streak, that identity vanished. The Jets lost leads because they stopped attacking with purpose. They defended instead of dictating. They waited for plays to happen rather than forcing them. The support scoring that once insulated their stars went quiet, and when that happens, everything on the ice tightened.

What’s stood out in this stretch is Jonathan Toews finding his legs and, just as importantly, his appetite for the moment. This is what the Jets were banking on when they brought him in — not nightly dominance, but composure and timing. Big shifts and big touches. A calming presence when games tilt. Mark Scheifele has also been playing lights-out hockey.

The Jets Need to Go on a Run to Have a Postseason Chance

That doesn’t mean the road ahead is easy. The math is unforgiving. The Jets likely need something close to a 24‑10 run to seriously enter the playoff conversation. That’s a tall order for any team, especially one digging out of a hole it created itself.

But hockey seasons aren’t only decided by spreadsheets. They’re shaped by belief, and belief comes from recognition — from seeing yourself in the mirror again. And for the first time in weeks, the Jets look like the Jets of last season.

They are hard to play against. They’re connected and making games uncomfortable again.

Whether they can sustain it remains the question. But for now, Winnipeg has found its footing — and sometimes that’s how seasons turn back toward relevance.

Next: Rangers Tell Fans They’re Trading Away Key Players During “Retool”