Despite this season's playoff run, Jets know nothing is guaranteed

WINNIPEG - As a team, the Winnipeg Jets learned a lot of lessons in 2017-18.
Some came on the ice - playing against the opposition's best, bouncing back after falling behind, and playing their game no matter what style they were up against.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs provided an even more high-pressure setting, and the lessons continued.
"I think just the way the momentum can switch, and the ups and downs of it," said Bryan Little of his biggest takeaway from the postseason. "You go through it and it's an emotional roller coaster through a series. You're on top of the world when you're up, then you lose a game and it feels like it's over."
But the biggest lesson is perhaps yet to be learned.

It was extremely difficult to get to the Western Conference Final. It will be even more challenging to get back there.
"We have to remember how hard it was to get to this point," said Little. "It takes a full 82 games just to make the playoffs and have the season we had. Then the work you have to do once you're there.
"There is no guarantee you'll be back in the same spot next year. It was good for us to see how much work it takes to get there."
While a franchise-best 52 wins and 114 points may indicate the Jets have crossed a threshold, head coach Paul Maurice believes "nothing is permanent" in the National Hockey League.
He's coached over 1,500 games in the league, and has seen previous Stanley Cup champions fail to get past the 82-game regular season grind in the next season.
But he does believe this group has what it takes to approach the 2018-19 season the right way. His reasoning begins with the leadership group in the dressing room.
"We have a very focused veteran group that is in their prime and value that," said Maurice. "The drivers of our team, Blake (Wheeler), now Mark (Scheifele), (and) Dustin (Byfuglien), are in their prime and they need to make the most of it now. So they're not looking for 'hey we're going to be a great team for six years,' they're pushing for it next year."

Second, from what Maurice heard in the exit meetings with the players, he gets the sense they all want to get back to work. The meetings were positive, but had a much different vibe than after the playoff appearance in 2015.
That year, there was relief. This year, there is a resolve to get back.
General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff heard that same message.
"This year there was a lot of 'I wish I would have scored that goal,'" said Cheveldayoff. "There's a genuine hurt. It's going to take a few days, probably more, to really come to grips with the emotion that goes into what we've just gone through. That's good. I think that's really good.
"My message to a lot of the guys was take a couple days off, or a couple weeks off. Enjoy your families, and let's get ready."
Throughout the season, each day was another step in the process of getting the Jets to where they wanted to be. While they didn't get as far as they would like, 'handling the day' became a slogan in the dressing room.
They'll need that mentality when training camp begins in September.
"There are going to be expectations coming into next year obviously with the season we had this year and the group of guys we have," said Wheeler. "But we're not going to reach our goals on day one, or in training camp. It's going to be a process.
"That's going to be the hardest part for our team next year, is buying back into that, what got us to where we ultimately got to. The playoffs don't start in October. Sometimes the hardest part is making the playoffs. We'll have to buy right back into that again."