WINNIPEG — There is a life-size poster of the Stanley Cup in one’s direct line of sight before turning right and out of the Winnipeg Jets’ dressing room.



The framed picture came here with the Thrashers, according to a team official, when the franchise moved here from Atlanta seven years ago.



Never before has the poster looked so real.



Let me first say that the President’s Trophy-winning Nashville Predators are going to swing back in this series. These are two heavyweights trading punches and counter-punches. This baby has many more twists and turns to come.



And yet, there is an unmistakable feeling you get when you start to hang around a team at this time of year, that moment when you start to see a championship squad burgeoning before your eyes, flexing its muscles and finding its path.



Erasing a 3-0 first-period deficit to the No. 1-ranked team in the overall NHL standings en route to a jaw-dropping 7-4 win is the...