'We still have more to give': Jets not coasting after Presidents' Trophy win

WINNIPEG — Dylan DeMelo couldn’t beat around the bush any longer.

After alluding to it when asked about the Winnipeg Jets winning the Presidents' Trophy, DeMelo eventually spelled out the ultimate goal.

The 32-year-old was asked if there was a sense of pride in the Jets becoming the first Canadian team to win the Presidents' Trophy since the 2011-12 Vancouver Canucks.

“No, not really, to be honest,” he said after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. “I think we want to be the first Canadian team since ’93 to win the Cup. That’s what we’re here for.”

Those matter-of-fact comments represent what has been the engine of their league-best regular season.

All year long, the Jets' internal benchmark has extended beyond regular-season success. Or winning a single playoff round.

After back-to-back years ending in first-round exits despite strong regular seasons, Winnipeg has focused daily on developing a style of play that gives it the best chance to win a Stanley Cup.

“Right from the very beginning, we have just bought into the way we have to play. Maturity of the group, just growing together and understanding that we can get success by playing good defence. While maybe in the past, we were trading chances and being a little more run-and-gun and realizing when it mattered the most, it wasn’t working for us,” DeMelo said. “But we’ve got a good handle on it now and we’re comfortable in situations, (those) tight games. We’re not beating ourselves often. It’s just been a totality of all those things and we’re still building. We’re not a finished product. We still have more to give, and we’re going to have to give more in order to get to where we want to get to.”

The last two years were about rebranding the way the Jets played. This year, it’s about executing it at the highest level. The training wheels are off. And nobody’s shying away from it.

The latest episode of Runway,  — team-produced documentary series — is aptly titled, "We want the Stanley Cup." 

When a team strives toward Game 83 all year, fans take notice. And that’s why those inside Canada Life Centre gave a rousing standing ovation when it was announced the team had clinched the Presidents' Trophy despite past playoff disappointments.

“We're still going to be judged on what happens from Game 83 on,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “There's still lots to happen and hopefully there's a long story to go with that and it gets to be a two-and-a-half-month-long story.”

And for all the bad-luck vibes that surround the award — with no Presidents' Trophy winner hoisting a Stanley Cup since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks — there’s undeniable perks.

“If and when we get to the Stanley Cup Finals, we get home-ice advantage as well,” Arniel said. “There is something to it."

Crisis averted?

Arniel said Dylan Samberg is "OK" after a Connor McDavid slapshot to the knee forced him to exit the game.

Had the update on Samberg been less encouraging, it would’ve swept the Presidents' Trophy under the rug.

Being without Samberg would force the Jets to play either Logan Stanley or Haydn Fleury in a top-four role — a situation that’d make any coaching staff uneasy, considering how they each fared alongside Neal Pionk when Samberg broke his foot in November. 

‘AL’ day

Alex Iafallo has filled in admirably since filling in for Gabriel Vilardi on the first line and top power-play unit. 

Iafallo, who teammates affectionately refer to as "Al," has seven points in 10 games since his promotion and has averaged 18:05 minutes a night in that span. For context, he averaged 12:31 minutes a night in his first 71 games. 

Granted, Iafallo is no stranger to top-six deployment. 

“He did it day in, day out when he was playing in L.A.,” Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said of Iafallo, who was a top-six staple for the Kings before arriving in Winnipeg. “So, I mean, we all know what he's capable of. He's a great two-way player. He always goes out there and does his best possible (job). Doesn't matter what line he is on. And I think he's a terrific player for us.”

Stoller says 

• A lot of fans online were enraged with the referees for not blowing the whistle as Samberg winced in pain for nearly 20 seconds before Edmonton scored to make it 2-1. According to the NHL rulebook, the play is stopped in those situations — when a player is injured and cannot play or go to the bench — only when the injured player’s team has possession. The Jets never had possession. 

"It's a tough one because if we're sitting on the other side and it's a really big game, big moment and you have the puck and you're standing in the slot with it ... exactly that, you want him to not blow the whistle,” Arniel said. 

• The Jets’ first-round playoff opponent is still to be determined. It could be sorted out Tuesday if the following scenario occurs: Calgary loses in regulation, St. Louis wins in regulation and Minnesota gets at least a point. If Calgary wins on Tuesday, it’ll have to wait until Thursday, when the Flames play their final game, to find out how the Western Conference wild-card spots shake out.