\u201cI\u2019m really excited to just get playing hockey again, playing meaningful games,\u201d Jets forward Mark Scheifele said on Wednesday. \u201cAnd\u00a0 it starts off with a big one against Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Published Oct 08, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n After weeks of mind-numbing practices and games that counted for nothing, the Jets will finally get a taste of the real thing.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited to just get playing hockey again, playing meaningful games,\u201d Jets forward Mark Scheifele said on Wednesday. \u201cAnd\u00a0 it starts off with a big one against Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Jets begin the 2025-26 NHL regular season on Thursday when the Dallas Stars come to town for a 7 p.m. puck drop at Canada Life Centre.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always great to play that team that knocked you out \u2014 anytime, whether it\u2019s the first game of the year or towards the end, down the stretch, or in the playoffs, we\u2019re going to be seeing these guys and we\u2019re going to have to go through them,\u201d Jets forward Kyle Connor said. \u201cWe know what kind of team they are, so we\u2019re going to be excited for that one and it\u2019s a great way to start the year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stars eliminated the Jets in six games in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs last May.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Connor received the lion\u2019s share of the media attention on Wednesday, as the club announced his eight-year contract extension worth US $96 million. The contract takes effect next season, paying him $12 million per year.<\/p>\n The newly signed forward says the Stars are a strong early-season litmus test for the Jets.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel we have a lot of unfinished business, as a group,\u201d Connor said. \u201cWe took a great step last year, obviously the Presidents\u2019 Trophy, but we realize that it\u2019s all about that next step in the playoffs, getting to that next round and winning and having that consistent presence in the playoffs and going as deep as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Training camp began on Sept. 18 at the Hockey For All Centre. The club played six exhibition games, and won two of them.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The head coach is happy where the club is at as he stares down the extended runway that is a hockey season.<\/p>\n \u2018I felt that training like training camp was good, everybody built their game towards (Thursday),\u2019 Arniel said. \u201cWe have checked all the boxes on all the stuff on all the stuff we wanted to present to the players and now it is (just go out there and play the game).\u201d<\/p>\n Arniel says the race for the Central Division begins on opening night. A good start is imperative.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to set the tone off right, not only your opening game, but you want to make sure in our division that we can get out in front of these guys, and we want to get off on a good note,\u201d Arniel said.<\/p>\n Last season, the Jets had the division lead well in hand after winning eight consecutive games right out of the gate. The club\u2019s first loss was to the Maple Leafs on Oct. 28. In total, they won 15 of their first 16 games.<\/p>\n The team will ice a short-handed lineup with captain Adam Lowry on the sidelines with a hip injury. Cole Perfetti is also out with a high ankle sprain, and Dylan Samberg is on the shelf with a broken wrist. All three players are either weeks or months away from returning.<\/p>\n Jonathan Toews is nursing a lower-body injury, but he did practice on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cToews had a good day (on Wednesday)\u201d Arniel said of the club\u2019s 37-year-old projected second-line centre.\u00a0\u201cWe will make that decision on Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsHockeyNHLWinnipeg Jets \u201cI\u2019m really excited to just get playing hockey again, playing meaningful games,\u201d Jets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-198743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ScheifeleOnline-e1747792862357.jpg\")
Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele in action against the Dallas Stars. The Jets open the regular season against the Stars on Thursday night at Canada Life Centre. Photo by Gareth Patterson\/The Associated Press \/Winnipeg SunArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.7.1\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-sun-headlineNews.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n