Jets Beat Caps in OT, Win Sixth Straight, Are Alone Atop the NHL

THE jets beat the caps in a thriller to claim top spot in NHL

There were three things that I found especially interesting while watching the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

First, some quick background. The Jets and Capitals were battling for first-place overall in what might have been the biggest mid-season game of the 2024-25 season. And in the end, it was a dandy. The Jets were great from the start, built a two-goal third-period lead, squandered it and then bounced back to win 5-4 in overtime. It was a tremendous game to watch -- real hockey entertainment.

The game was also being played just as the President of the United States was declaring war on Canada. It’s a Trade War, mind you, but it’s still a war. Our closest neighbor and forever ally and friend was now our enemy and the hockey team from the smallest market in Canada was on the way to defeating the team representing the capital city of the United States. That didn’t really mean anything, but one can always hope it will become a metaphor someday.

In the meantime, the Jets victory gave the little team from the middle of Canada a record of 37-14-3 and sole possession of first place in the National Hockey League. The team that is on the no-trade list of hundreds of NHL players is, currently, the best team in the game.

Thanks to a remarkable general manager who has made the absolute best of the most difficult situation in the league and the total dedication of the top players – especially Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Dylan DeMelo and Connor Hellebuyck, who made long term financial commitments to the team -- the Jets have a chance to win the President's Trophy and maybe even take a run at a Stanley Cup.

Granted, that isn’t new. In fact, it’s something we’ve come to expect from our two Toronto sports networks. Neither TSN nor SportsNet really give a drip about the NHL. It’s Leafs, Leafs, Leafs and the rest of the league is virtually meaningless. And isn’t likely to change.

I was also intrigued about the response to the Jets win. It was Winnipeg’s sixth in a row; the third straight on a road trip through Montreal, Boston and Washington. Only the Islanders are on a more impressive streak (seven straight) and it left Winnipeg with the most wins in the league and a nine-point first-place advantage in the West.

However, there was absolutely no reaction to those numbers, at least not that I heard, saw or read anywhere in the so-called national media. Instead, the Jets victory was secondary to Vladimir Putin fan-boy, Alex Ovechkin, closing in on Donald Trump fan-boy Wayne Gretzky’s scoring record. A thrilling overtime victory in a battle for first place played second or even third fiddle to a mythical scoring race that has nothing to do with the season at hand.

Now, don’t get me wrong, that race deserves recognition, but it wasn’t more important or more fun than a 5-4 overtime victory by David over Goliath. Sorry, it just wasn’t.

Which also makes me wonder about something else. Now that we are at war with the United States – no deadly weapons yet, but Americans are a strange gun-loving lot – will the 2024-25 NHL season actually conclude in mid-April as scheduled?

Trump, who is as full of baloney as any Miller’s Meat Shop in Winnipeg, said the reason for his trade war with Canada was the “fact” that the Canadian border was allowing illegals and fentanyl to flow into the United States unchecked. His vacuous, googly-eyed press secretary said that fentanyl from Canada "killed tens of millions of Americans every year."

We know that’s a big fat lie because you can actually check the numbers. Figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that the agency seized only 19.5 kilograms of fentanyl at the Canada-US border. If enough to kill “tens of millions of Americans” was seeping through, then US Customs and Border Patrol would be the most incompetent organization on the planet. And while I do not, in any way, believe that to be true, I also wonder why it would be Canada’s responsibility to fix an obviously enormous U.S. problem.

Again, Donald Trump and a meat shop full of baloney go hand in hand. There is no leader on earth who dumps on his own professionals as much as Trump and if I were a Border Patrol agent, I’d be mighty offended.

So, I wonder. Does the National Hockey League have a plan if the border is closed? Will the 2024-25 season actually play out until its conclusion?

Originally, I was critical of Team Canada brass for not selecting the Jets Mark Scheifele to the national squad for the Four Nations Face-Off. After all, he is the 10th leading scorer in the NHL (fourth among Canadians behind only Nathan McKinnon, Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid) and he leads all Canadians in goals scored this season. And I’ve already seen what happens to a Canadian team in international play when they leave their top scorers at home. See: the 2025 World Junior Championship and the Top 4 eligible scorers in the WHL NOT in Canada’s lineup on a team with 14 players from the OHL.

'However, I’m glad Scheifele won’t go now. It will give Winnipeg's top goal scorer two weeks to rest any bumps and bruises and keep him out of a potentially needless injury situation. His absence on that team will be good for the Jets.

It will also keep him out a political situation that is very likely to get uglier and uglier as we move forward.