WINNIPEG – For 11 days, the anticipation built.

From the time the Winnipeg Jets clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs late on the night of April 9 to just before the drop of the puck for Game 3 of their Western Conference First Round series against the Anaheim Ducks on April 20, this city prepared to unleash its unique brand of postseason fury.

It had been 19 years since there was NHL playoff hockey in Winnipeg, but those 11 days between a Los Angeles Kings road loss to the Calgary Flames clinched a playoff spot for the Jets and the actual drop of the puck on Monday might have seemed even longer to these fans.

But after all that waiting, the whole experience lasted a little more than 48 hours.

And it was over.

The 15,016 fans at MTS Centre would have had every right to be bitterly disappointed when the Jets' sweep by the Anaheim Ducks was sealed by Sami Vatanen's empty-net goal at 19:33 of the third period Wednesday -- but they weren't. They probably knew even before the game that the Jets weren't likely to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, and that even if the Jets won Game 4, there was a good chance it would be the final home game of the season.

When Vatanen's shot from his own faceoff circle hit the back of the empty net, the celebration of this special Jets season began.

The fans began their ovation with 27 seconds left in the game, continued it through the handshake line, and culminated into a thunderous roar as the Jets waved their sticks in acknowledgment for one final time before leaving the ice.

"It's almost tough to describe what that means to us as a group," forward Blake Wheeler said. "I think as the year has gone on, our play and our crowd, we've really come together as one. I think they really appreciated the effort we put forth every night and the results we've gotten, and at the same time we've fed off their energy every night.

"It's becoming a really special place to play every night and to see what they brought at the end of that game, it feels so good."

Wheeler is well-placed to speak to how those fans feel. He was once one of them.

Wheeler was 7 when his Minnesota North Stars left his home state to become the Dallas Stars in 1993. He was 14 when the Minnesota Wild played its first season as an expansion team in 2000, and he was 16 in 2003, when the Wild made the playoffs for the first time.

The Wild reached the Western Conference Final in that first playoff season and faced this same franchise, then called the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The Wild, like the Jets, were swept out of the playoffs. But the appreciation the Winnipeg fans showed Wednesday is something Wheeler understands, because he's lived it.

"I'm a human being. I cheer for teams too," Wheeler said. "I remember what it's like, even as a kid growing up and the Wild come back and they go into the playoffs. It's a different feeling. It's a difference being in the NHL; you get your team back to being competitive and playing in the playoffs. It's a different level. So I know the fans really appreciate what we've done this year, and that feeling's definitely mutual."

That Wild team did not reach the playoffs in either of the next two seasons, but there is reason to believe that won't be the case with these Jets.

There are a number of young players on the roster who had their first taste of the playoffs and should only get better. Jacob Trouba, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and others will benefit from the lessons they learned from the Ducks, a team that is ready to win and that has already experienced the disappointment the Jets feel now.

There are other players on the way for the Jets, the brightest of whom, forward Nikolaj Ehlers, was in the building and witnessed the scene at MTS Centre. He'll likely be on the ice the next time the Jets play a playoff game.

Coach Paul Maurice wasn't very willing to look at that bright future Wednesday, and no one can blame him. This wound was still too fresh. But the man who compared himself earlier this week to a teacher caring for Winnipeg's children also felt his students learned a lot from the time school began last fall.

"We don't have it perfect," Maurice said. "We've got room to improve, we've got areas where we can upgrade. But we've got the foundation — and I'm not going to say 'set,' because next year when we come back, we've got to do that whole thing over again.

"But we took a step forward."

School's out for summer, but the Jets will be a year older and a grade higher in the fall. And the city of Winnipeg will be more than willing to send their kids back to learn under Maurice's tutelage, hoping he brings back a feeling the city waited 19 years to feel, and can hardly wait to feel again.