from Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun,

A season ago, all seven Canadian NHL teams missed the playoffs.

This past weekend, there was a time when six of them were back in playoff position.

The Winnipeg Jets were the lone holdouts.

The Jets will face a couple of those Canadian teams on home ice this week and a couple of wins would go a long way toward putting them back in the playoff conversation.

First up are the Calgary Flames, who hold down the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 46 points, five more than the Jets.

That makes Monday night’s game at MTS Centre as important as any the Jets have played this season.

“We all know how important this is if we want to get to where we want to be,” Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba said after Monday’s gameday skate. “They’re a team that we’re going to have to beat and it’s pretty much a four-point game for us. It’s a big one.

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