The Montreal Canadiens spoiled the NHL's homecoming party in Winnipeg Sunday, quieting a boisterous sell-out crowd by blowing out the reborn Jets 5-1.
Nik Antropov scored early in the third period to give the new Jets franchise its first goal, but the Habs walked over a Winnipeg team that seemed to be suffering from some opening-night jitters.
Despite the result, all 15,000 fans in attendance sent the hometown team off the ice with a standing ovation that forward Mark Scheifele called "incredible."
"In Barrie when we'd lose, people would be leaving halfway through the second period. Definitely to hear that, to get a standing ovation when we lose, it just shows that we're going to have fans behind us regardless."
NHL hockey made its official return to Winnipeg Sunday 15 years after the original franchise left town for dubious fortunes in the heat of the Arizona desert.
Sunday's tilt against the Habs marked not only the first-ever league game for the reborn Jets, but also the team's home opener.
After the teams were announced, the national anthem was sung by Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy and Chantal Kreviazuk, accompanied by members of the Winnipeg Symphony.
Afterward, a tribute to Rick Rypien, who signed with the Jets in the off-season but passed away in August, played on the arena's screens.
And in a moment that showed Winnipeg hockey fans to be a classy lot, they clapped politely when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's name was announced and he took to the ice alongside members of the Rypien family for the ceremonial face-off.
The crowd roared after the puck dropped to start play, but a bit of air was sucked out of the arena three minutes in when Montreal's Mike Cammalleri found the back of the Jets' net.
Then, with about five minutes left in the second period, the Habs' Tomas Plekanec put his team up by two.
Antropov finally got the Jets on the board at 2:27 into the third period, briefly reviving the crowd at the MTS Centre.
But the Habs' Yannick Weber took the wind out of the crowd's sails at 4:51 with a power-play goal. That was followed by another Montreal goal halfway through the third, a wrist shot from Travis Moen.
Two minutes later, Max Pacioretty put the game away with a wrist shot of his own.
While many in Manitoba viewed Sunday's game as the continuation of the original Jets franchise, former players who were at the game, including Dale Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen and Keith Tkachuk, were not be part of the simple pre-game ceremony.
And two players on the new team were wearing the only numbers retired by the previous franchise: Evander Kane had on No. 9, which once belonged to Bobby Hull, and Brett MacLean donned Steen's old No. 25.
Before the game, CTV's Jill Macyshon said fans who weren't fortunate enough to get a ticket converged in a few areas around the city, including The Forks, where 100,000 spectators were expected to watch the game on a large screen.
Fans also watched the game at Portage and Main if they weren't at one of the city's sports bars.
"There's a pent-up demand," Macyshon told CTV News Channel Sunday afternoon. "There's a lot of money to be made. And the fans are going crazy, they're eating all this up."
The city has been in a frenzy since the league announced on May 31 that the Thrashers would leave Atlanta and relocate to Winnipeg. It wasn't long before team officials confirmed what most Canadians already suspected: the new franchise would take the old Jets name.
Days later, it took the team just 17 minutes to sell 13,000 season tickets.
The demand for tickets to Sunday's game was so high that Prime Minister Stephen Harper only secured two seats for the game. The second ticket went to his daughter Rachel.
During the game, he tweeted a photo of himself with his arm around Rachel, saying: "Extremely happy to celebrate @NHLJets' first game since their return to #Winnipeg. A historic day for Canadian #hockey!"
Macyshon said a wait list for tickets now numbers 70,000, and the team is expecting at least three years of complete sell-outs. The team is playing in the MTS Centre, former home of the Manitoba Moose, which only seats 15,000 fans.
Before the game, Bettman responded to a reporter's question about the long-term viability of the team by saying: "We have no reason to believe anything other than this team will be a huge success."
Team owner Mark Chipman said he was "glad" the city has responded so enthusiastically to the team's arrival.
"It is a great city and it has been for a long time," he said. "I think it became an even greater city, to be honest with you, after the NHL left in '96. Rather than sort of wallow in self pity and roll up the sidewalks, I think the community really dug in."
Harper unveils Jets coin
Before the game, the prime minister unveiled a new collector coin to commemorate the NHL's return to Winnipeg.
The Royal Canadian Mint has produced a 50-cent coin featuring the new Jets logo, as well as the year of their inaugural season. The coin is on sale now, as is a separate silver coin.
"I am extremely happy to be here tonight to celebrate the Jets' first game since their return to Winnipeg. This is a historic day for Canadian hockey," Harper said in a statement. "I am certain that this new team -- whose logo is captured on the commemorative coin -- will provide fans from across the country with great hockey moments for years to come."
