Great Lakes Division 1st Seed

38-4-1-0 (77 points)

The Jets clinched the Great Lakes Division title again with a few weeks to spare but continued to battle for the overall league regular season title, which the Jets also collected with a single point margin on the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings.

One of the perks of finishing among the top two in its division was a first-round bye, and the organization’s GM Justin Quenneville said the rest came in handy.

“We approached the bye week with the best approach for our group. Balance between getting back to 100 percent and touching on details to prepare for our next opponent,” said Quenneville in an email interview. “We make necessary adjustments once our opponent is determined, but we ultimately don’t stray away from our model of practice and preparation.”

Quenneville said preparing for playoffs began in the final month of the season.

“Even though we clinched our division several weeks before playoffs, we approached each weekend set with playoffs on our minds. Our guys did a great job of continuing to buy in down the stretch and were rewarded with a series win against the Mavericks. Columbus is a hard-working team that play a structured style game. They just won a big three game series against Lake Erie and that confidence can be dangerous for an opponent sitting around waiting.”

When a team wins all but five games, there are no real low points or turning points on a season, but a tough schedule at the Chicago Showcase just before Christmas allowed the team a chance to test its mettle against some tougher competition.

“It was our first opportunity to play more out of division games against tough opponents in a difficult format,” said Quenneville. “Our guys did a great job taking that next step as a group to not take any game for granted. We had some big character wins against Wisconsin and Northern Colorado that gave us drive to come back from break with more purpose. We are fortunate that our scheduled opponents throughout never allow us to take a night off. So, every week presents a new challenge, and we focus on that task one game at a time.”

The team will continue to be prepared when it takes the ice at Chilled Ponds Thursday, said Quenneville adding the time for teaching is over.

“With a short work week, we will touch on some in-game habits and situations,” said the coach. “But this time of year, every team at Nationals is prepared and fired up. Our job now is to get our guys to Virginia for Game 1.”

Metro Jets 2021 USPHL Premier Nationals Schedule

(All games at Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex, Chesapeake, Va.)

Thurs., March 18, vs. Elmira Jr. Enforcers, 8:10 a.m.

Fri., March 19, vs. Northern Cyclones, 6:40 p.m.

Sat., March 20, vs. Charleston Colonials, 1:20 p.m.