"If the question is, 'What do I want to see happen?' I want to see the '19-20 Winnipeg Jets play," the coach said Monday during a videoconference arranged by the Jets.
Maurice said he was sensing confidence in the locker room when Winnipeg won four games in a row before the pause. The Jets (37-28-6) are fourth in the Central Division, two points behind the third-place Dallas Stars, and hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"Some of the most enjoyable moments of my career, I think, have been here (this season), knowing the hardship that this team faced and got itself to a point that it was feeling good," he said. "So I want the season played. I want this group back together, and I want to see what they can do. I don't care what format it is. I want an opportunity to compete for the playoffs, and I want a fair opportunity to do that."
Many options and timetables for the playoffs have been discussed as possibilities if the NHL season resumes.
"I want it at home in Winnipeg, but we just want to play," he said. "It'd be a wonderful maybe partial distraction for some people that are dealing with tough times to watch a game. There'd be lots of energy. God, it'd be playoffs with fresh hockey players, and it'd be pretty darn exciting. We'd play anywhere."
That the Jets were in the hunt for a playoff spot, let alone holding one, was somewhat surprising.
They went 6-7-0 in October to start the season while adjusting to a major overhaul at defenseman. Four of the Jets' top five defensemen from last season, including their entire right side, were gone. Jacob Trouba was traded, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot left as free agents, and Dustin Byfuglien was granted a personal leave of absence.
Injuries also have been a problem. The Jets have lost 324 man-games, not including Byfuglien. Nine players have missed at least 16 games (forwards Bryan Little, 64, Mark Letestu, 64, Mathieu Perreault, 22, Adam Lowry, 20, and Mason Appleton, 19; defensemen Nathan Beaulieu, 33, Carl Dahlstrom, 22, Dmitry Kulikov, 19, and Tucker Poolman 16).
"With the injuries that we did have, and it forced some players maybe out of their comfort zone, but that's what I thought I started to see, especially when you got into that time just before the All-Star break (in late January). We were banged up, we were hurting, and we were exhausted from it, and then they stayed in the fight. And that was the big flag for me that these guys were going to stay in it, and that was something to be proud of."
Winnipeg got back Beaulieu on Feb. 6 and Poolman on Feb. 14, each from a lower-body injury, and Perreault on March 6 and Lowry on March 9, each from an upper-body injury, contributing to its 12-5-2 record from Feb. 1 to the pause.
The will to stay in the fight, right from the start of the season, was finally yielding a payoff, Maurice said.
"I thought they bonded very, very quickly and held on to each other through adversity," Maurice said. "So there's some pretty darn good heart here, and that's important because we're not going to win without that. And the other thing I think is we saw some players develop. Now this team was so young, and it still is, but so young, and over the last couple years now you're starting to see some players turn the corner for me."
