Winnipeg Jets show class by honoring 2 Blackhawks veterans playing in final NHL game

The Winnipeg Jets could have easily left the ice after picking up a 5-4 shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks to celebrate clinching the Central Division title and the best record in the Western Conference.

Instead, they stayed on the ice to show respect to two Stanley Cup-winning veterans skating in their final NHL game.

That show of respect by the Jets is what makes hockey great.

A playoff series is not officially over until everyone shakes hands, and guys know that you honor those who came before you.

Pat Maroon already announced this was his final NHL game, but Alec Martinez announced his retirement before the puck was dropped.

Maroon decided he was hanging up the skates after the season when the Hawks were in his hometown of St. Louis.

Martinez told Blackhawks television analyst Darren Pang that this would be his final game in a career where he hoisted the Stanley Cup three times during the pregame show on CHSN.

You might be wondering why was that their final game since the Blackhawks have two games left.

Both have agreed to not travel with the team to Canada when the Hawks finish out the season in Montreal and Ottawa.

It makes sense to cap off a championship career, Maroon also won three Stanley Cups, in front of a home crowd rather than on the road.

Even though both only played one season for the Blackhawks, their contributions to this year's team will be felt for a while.

Even though Martinez broke the Blackhawks' hearts in the 2014 Western Conference Finals when he scored the series-clinching goal in overtime of Game 7, he provided veteran guidance to a young blueline core.

Maroon provided the veteran leadership that this team's young forwards needed. He ensured that all the youngsters understood the team still needed to win when Alex Ovechkin was attempting to break Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record against the Hawks.

Lukas Reichel always seemed to play better when paired with Maroon on the ice.

Both are not bound for the Hall of Fame, so that is why it was even classier for the Jets to show the respect they did.

However, Maroon and Martinez will have some form of hockey immortality with how many times their names have been engraved on Lord Stanley's Cup.

Being such key role players for so many great teams will earn a man respect. It was nice to see just how much respect those two veterans earned when the Jets chose to shake their hands rather than immediately celebrate winning a division title.