Winnipeg Jets defenceman Luke Schenn’s phone began blowing up Tuesday evening, mere moments after a cloudy Western Conference playoff picture had become crystal clear.

A couple of texts were from his sisters, Madison and Macy, which essentially said the same thing: “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Mom, Dad and younger brother Brayden — the captain of the St. Louis Blues — quickly followed with similar stunned sentiments.

“I think everyone’s got the same opinion, just how the heck did this happen?” Luke said of a first-round playoff matchup between the Jets and Blues.

FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets’ Luke Schenn (5) said he and brother Brayden would roughhouse when playing street hockey growing up in Saskatoon.

A great question with a fascinating answer.

At the start of March, Luke was a member of the Nashville Predators while Brayden was the subject of trade rumours with his Blues outside a playoff spot at the time.

There were rumblings the two can ultimately be a package deal and end up on the same team, the way they were for three seasons in Philadelphia including a playoff run together in 2013-14.

Only one ended up on the move — twice, in fact.

Luke was shipped to Pittsburgh 48 hours before the trade deadline, with the Penguins then flipping him to the Jets at the last minute. Meanwhile, Brayden stayed put as his Blues went on an incredible run, which included 12 straight wins at one point.

“It’s kind of worked out where the team kind of got hot down the stretch, and he ended up being a huge part of that,” said Luke. “I was cheering for him down the stretch, realizing it could be a possibility of playing against one another.”

A possibility, for sure.

But not locked in stone until a series of events played out Tuesday night. St. Louis was 22 seconds away from facing the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round, only for the Minnesota Wild to tie their game against Anaheim at 19:48 of the third period and change the playoff hopes for five teams.

By staving off a regulation loss, the Wild clinched a playoff spot, eliminated the Calgary Flames and jumped over the Blues, which means they would instead head to Winnipeg and Vegas would instead draw Minnesota.

“You (wouldn’t) draw this up, even a month ago,” said Luke. “So a lot had to happen in order for this to happen. It’s not in our control.”

Whether it was fortuitous or fate, the fact is this series is going to be a family affair for the Schenns.

“It’s a strange one,” admitted Luke, who talks with Brayden daily but admits that the schedule is likely going to be altered.

“We both agree it’s game on.”–Luke Schenn

“Probably not chat much, or at all, once the playoffs start. Which is good. He doesn’t need to know what’s going on with our team, and vice versa. I would say we’re pretty in the know and in the mix, in terms of what’s going on with each other’s teams, for the most part. And this is just going to be a totally different scenario.”

The brothers spoke by phone on Wednesday morning.

“I was joking around with him that if I was still in Nashville I’d be cheering for the Blues right now. Obviously things have totally changed,” said Luke.

“We both agree it’s game on. When we play each other, we’ve both got the same goal in mind. Opposing teams, so it’s going to be a huge battle out there. He’s a huge part of what they’re doing in St. Louis, their leader and been there a long time and he has Stanley Cup winning experience. And I’m going to do whatever I can to help our team win.”

Luke admits this might be even more difficult on their parents, sisters and other family members and friends who might have all kinds of conflicted feelings once the puck drops.

“My dad always says, when we play during the regular season, he says he just wants us to take it overtime and then it’s up to us to figure it out. And now, I don’t know,” he said.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn was the subject of trade rumours with his Blues earlier this year.

“Either way, they’re going to have someone walking away into the second round, so I guess that’s a positive. But yeah, I don’t even know what to think or what they’re thinking. They’re probably just cheering for us individually and they’ll be supportive any which way.”

The sibling rivalry is just one of the compelling storylines in this series, which is a rematch from their 2019 first-round meeting, which St. Louis took in six games on their way to a first-ever Stanley Cup.

The two starting goaltenders, Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington, went head-to-head in February at the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Hellebuyck’s American squad losing in the final to Binnington’s Canadian club.

There’s also the fact that the Blues seem to be following an eerily similar script from six years ago.

In 2019, a struggle out of the gate led to head coach Mike Yeo being replaced by Craig Berube, which triggered a surge in the standings. This year, bench boss Drew Bannister was fired after a rough start and replaced with Jim Montgomery.

“We’ve been through a lot, both of us, throughout our careers and this one just adds to it,” Brayden told reporters on Tuesday night following their victory over Utah HC to punch their playoff ticket.

“It’s going to be — I don’t even know how to describe it. We’re both physical guys, and we both play physical in the playoffs, so anything can happen and we might get some screaming by Mom and Dad at us if we go too hard.”

TOM MIHALEK ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Brayden Schenn (left) and Luke played together for three seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers, including a playoff run in 2013-14.

Luke shared a story Wednesday of growing up in Saskatoon and playing street hockey with Brayden and some friends which would occasionally include some roughhousing on his part.

“Me being the bigger, older brother, I’d throw him into the snowbank a few times and we’d get into some scraps along the way,” he said.

“Brayden and I were with each other literally every day growing up. To this day, we still train together in the summertime. We skate together. We live five minutes down the road from each other.”

And now they’ll battle each other with a trip to the second round of the playoffs on the line.

The NHL has not yet released its playoff schedule with the last wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference still to be decided. Game 1 is expected to be either Saturday or Sunday at Canada Life Centre. Winnipeg went 3-1-0 in their head-to-head games this season, with St. Louis going 1-2-1.

Luke’s wife and three young children, who have remained behind in Nashville, have now joined him in Winnipeg for a few days and will take in the first two playoff games.

“It means a lot to have them here. Obviously, three kids at home and a lot of stress that goes onto my wife trying to juggle everything with the kids. Her family’s been there to help quite a bit, too, and we have a big support system,” he said.

“My kids are excited. I had my two boys out on the ice skating after practice (Tuesday) and yeah, they’re fired up. They’ve got their Jets jerseys all done up. They’re fired up for the whiteout and they’re pumped to see some games here.”

Of course, they’ll also get to watch Uncle Brayden in action, too.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg