from Damien Cox of Sportsnet,

Just as the Jets and Ducks were taking to the ice, Ottawa was finishing off a 1-0 victory at home over Montreal to stay alive after, like the Jets, losing the first three games of the series. It was as though one Canadian team was setting the example for another. “See, do it like this.”

Inside the MTS Centre, the crowd at game time was just a shade less noisy, less subdued than spent by the frustrating results 48 hours earlier and the bleak scenario. The lungs seemed willing, but the spirit was flagging, and the emotion of the first playoff game on Winnipeg ice in 19 years earlier in the week was no longer fuel for the fans. Similarly, the players were so battered by the sheer effort it took to get to the post-season they seemed to have nothing more to give.

And so it was, in this mixture of hope and acceptance, of never-say-die fandom and a keen understanding that what was required of this team was too much to ask, that the Jets season ended with a definitive 5-2 loss to Anaheim. These last two games were needed to close the circle on Winnipeg’s lost-and-found NHL story, and within that context, getting swept by the Ducks probably won’t sting quite as much.

But that’s for the locals to decide.

“I do believe they appreciate the effort,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “We’ll try to make things better next year beyond the effort.”

Winnipeg has proven something, the Jets have proven something, and now a promising future beckons. But the Ducks also showed that Winnipeg isn’t close yet, that more building needs to be done by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and his crew before the Jets can truly be viewed as a contender in the Western Conference.

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Below, the handshakes take place...