Mark Scheifele was doing his best, politely answering the string of questions that were coming his way on the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Winnipeg Jets’ top centre was speaking in measured tones, bouncing between expressing genuine excitement about the best-of-seven series with the St. Louis Blues and the even-keeled nature that will be required to navigate the roller-coaster ride that begins in earnest on Saturday when the puck is finally dropped.

Scheifele kept the same tone when talking about the value of past experiences, whether good, bad or ugly.

But when the subject of scar tissue was broached, Scheifele perked up and attacked the question head-on.

“That’s for the science nerds out there. That’s what brings it all back together,” said Scheifele. “And that’s what makes something that’s broken or injured heal. So, scar tissue is important.”

“You first have to learn how to lose before you get to learn how to win.”–Mark Scheifele

It seemed fitting that Scheifele relayed a lesson learned from Jets’ 1.0 legend and Barrie Colts head coach Dale Hawerchuk as he worked to tie it all together.

“I remember Dale told me this (after) my first year, we were the worst team in the CHL, and he said, ‘losing isn’t a bad thing. It’s something that you get to learn from,’” said Scheifele. “You first have to learn how to lose before you get to learn how to win. So, I remember that all the time, and those scars are something that make you who you are. And if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.”

Some of those scars have run deep for Scheifele and the core group of this Jets team, dating back to losing Game 5 of the Western Conference final to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018.

This isn’t a history lesson, and the Jets don’t need to be reminded that they’ve won just one playoff series since eliminating the Nashville Predators in the second round in 2018 — that coming in 2021 when they swept the Edmonton Oilers 4-0.

They’ve lived through each of the heartbreaking moments, which include getting swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round in 2021 after Scheifele was suspended for his hit on Jake Evans.

During the past two springs, the Jets won the series opener against the Colorado Avalanche and Golden Knights, only to lose the next four games to be ousted in five games.

FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets’ Logan Stanley (64) levels St. Louis Blues’ Mathieu Joseph during their December contest.

“I don’t know if I look at it as scar tissue, it’s more experiences and things to draw upon. Obviously, they’re not fond memories of the last two playoffs,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry.

“You want to be able to draw upon those negative experiences and use them to your advantage. Use those trials and tribulations that you went through in order to help better you in the future.”

Those trials and tribulations ran deep, but you could argue that they were the impetus for making the improvements required to produce the most successful regular season in franchise history.

Of the many accomplishments the Jets have already celebrated are a first Central Division crown, a Western Conference title and a Presidents’ Trophy for finishing first overall in the NHL with a record of 56-22-4.

“I’m not saying that because of our past failures, you need to make amends or anything like that, but it definitely has driven us to be a better team overall and to be better individuals, just trying to get better at our craft,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “The core of this group has grown together and matured together. We’ve brought in pieces to help that. There’s just a maturity factor with our overall game from two years ago and even last year.

“We’ve got a clear understanding of what we need to do to be successful and, overall this year, we haven’t wavered from that.”

“The core of this group has grown together and matured together. We’ve brought in pieces to help that. There’s just a maturity factor with our overall game from two years ago and even last year.”–Dylan DeMelo

Dating back to training camp, the Jets have recognized that this season will be judged by what happens in Game 83 and beyond.

That time has arrived and the final exam begins with a duel against the team that inflicted a painful memory in the opening round of 2019, when the Blues bounced the Jets in six games.

The Jets entered that season as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and seemed to be on cruise control until a late-season stumble knocked them into second place in the Central and a date with a team of destiny.

Although the Jets have a clear appreciation of where they came up short in the past, they don’t seem to be carrying a heavy burden from those past disappointing losses.

“We’re done with last year. It’s behind us, in the sense of we’re not thinking about Colorado and what we should and shouldn’t do,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We just went through the 82 games of building our brand, like I said, getting scars, growing callouses, doing all the things that when you get into this moment that you’ve been through.

“These are all sort of learning curves that we’ve kind of talked about in October, we’ve talked about in December and then even last week there’s things that we came across that we knew that we were going to have to make sure that if it comes up in (the) playoffs, that we’ve experienced (it), we know how to handle it.”

Now it’s time to show it when the stakes are highest.

FRED GREENSLADE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets captain Adam Lowry (right) shoots at St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer when the teams met in December.

The regeneration Scheifele referenced seems to be at the forefront for a group that has lofty aspirations, but has also been able to navigate the treacherous terrain which brought them to this point.

That includes a 15-1 start that was the best record in NHL history, a franchise record for points, winning streaks of eight, seven and 11 games.

It also included staving off a late push from the Dallas Stars (who ended up 10 points back in the Central) and leaving the Washington Capitals in the dust in the Presidents’ Trophy battle.

In short, this group has tackled whatever challenge was in front of them.

“We really are just staying in the moment and having a singular focus,” said DeMelo. “I’m not saying it wasn’t there in years past, but it feels like this year, we clinched the Central after the Chicago game and you wouldn’t have really known. It was like ‘sweet, we got it.’ We got the Presidents’ Trophy and it was kind of like ‘cool, we got it.’ We’re really focused on the task at hand and you’ve got guys that are really hungry this year.”

The hunger can only be quenched by a deep playoff run and, with that in mind, let’s dig into some of the juiciest storylines for this series:

CENTRES OF ATTENTION: Scheifele is someone the Jets will be leaning on, not to carry them by himself, but as someone to lead the charge — much like he did in 2018, when he produced 14 goals and 20 points in 17 games.

Scheifele’s personal scar tissue includes several injuries to go along with his suspension that contributed to early exits.

Scheifele has 38 points in 42 career post-season games and he’ll need to connect often with Kyle Connor, who had 40 goals and set a career-high with 97 points.

The chatter surrounding the Jets’ second-line centre job hasn’t really subsided all season long, but that’s of little concern to Vladislav Namestnikov.

Namestnikov has done a solid job, picking up 38 points in 78 games, but he knows he’ll need to supply some complementary offence to go with his feisty play and defensive awareness.

JEFF ROBERSON / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES  Winnipeg Jets’ Vladislav Namestnikov misses the puck while attempting a shot during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in 2023, in St. Louis.

When it comes to the men in the middle, Morgan Barron is playing with renewed confidence and could end up being an X-factor in this series.

For the Blues, Robert Thomas is a force to be reckoned with and is the clear guy who drives the engine, even with Jordan Kyrou playing a rejuvenated game and leading the team in scoring with 36 goals.

Thomas, who is one of five Blues that were on the roster in 2019 when the team won it all, is a strong two-way player and finished with 81 points in 70 games.

Had Thomas not fractured his foot in a game with the Jets back in October, he might have eclipsed 90 points.

He’s got great vision and a great shot, so you can expect Lowry and his line will be tasked with trying to contain him.

Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Brayden Schenn also figures to be someone to keep an eye on, given his propensity to go to the hard areas and deliver in big moments.

THE WALKING WOUNDED: There’s no shortage of top-end talent in this series, but both teams are missing significant pieces up front, at least as the series starts.

The Jets will likely be without speedy winger Nikolaj Ehlers (week-to-week, lower body) for the entire series, while right-winger Gabe Vilardi (day-to-day, upper body) continues to skate on his own and figures to join the main group in the near future.

Given the number of two-day breaks on the horizon, the best guess is that Vilardi could become an option to return to action around Game 5 or 6, which means the Jets will be without their third and fifth-leading point producers for the foreseeable future.

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS  Gabe Vilardi jams the puck past Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault (35). The Jets forward could return during Round 1.

The Jets have leaned on their depth all season and that won’t change when the post-season begins.

“They’re both fantastic players, obviously guys that are missing in your lineup,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “At the same time, one of the reasons we had such a good season is our depth and our ability to have players step up in injury cases, illness, all those things, and that’s something we’ve really taken a lot of pride in as a group is our ability to have guys step up when someone’s out.”

The Blues are without talented winger Dylan Holloway, who was third in scoring with 26 goals and 63 points in 77 games. He’s got game-breaking speed and quickly established himself as a top producer in his firsts season with the Blues after being signed to an offer sheet by general manager Doug Armstrong — who also got defenceman Philip Broberg from the Edmonton Oilers in identical fashion.

The exact nature and severity of Holloway’s injury hasn’t been revealed either, though it would be surprising if he forces his way into this series.

The addition of 2023 first-rounder Jimmy Snuggerud has helped mitigate the loss of Holloway, but the Blues would be more dangerous if both guys were in the lineup.

THE COACHES: Arniel has ample playoff experience from his time as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach in the minors, but Saturday will be his first Stanley Cup playoff game as an NHL bench boss.

As a player, Arniel won a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, a pair of Memorial Cup championships with the Cornwall Royals (1980 and 1981) and a Turner Cup with the Utah Grizzlies in 1996.

Behind the bench, he was an associate coach when the New York Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup final before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, and was the head coach of the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League when they advanced to the Calder Cup final in 2009 before losing in six games to the Hershey Bears.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity that I’ve been handed,” said Arniel, noting he received a bunch of well-wishes in recent days but no advice from friends and former colleagues. “The players helped me get here this year, just (with) the way they’ve played throughout the season.

“For me, really I’m going to try to stay out of the way as much as possible and let those guys go out and do what they do best.”

JOHN WOODS / The Canadian Press  Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) listen to head coach Scott Arniel during their NHL training camp practice in Winnipeg in 2024.

As much as he downplayed it, there’s no doubt Arniel will be feeling plenty of juice when he walks down the tunnel and the game begins.

For a guy who waited more than a decade for his second chance as an NHL head coach, Arniel has pushed almost all of the right buttons so far this season, but he wants to follow that up with a lengthy playoff run.

Standing in his way is a team led by former Manitoba Moose centre Jim Montgomery, who has the Blues wondering if it might be 2019 all over again.

Since taking over from Drew Bannister, the Blues have gone 35-18-5 and they were the hottest team in the NHL coming out of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Montgomery has helped the Blues restore their structure and identity, but he’s looking to exorcise a few playoff demons of his own, including the loss in Game 7 of the 2023 playoffs to the Florida Panthers when he was the head coach of the Boston Bruins team that posted the best regular season in NHL history.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesksy: @WiebesWorld