Articles in Winnipeg Jets

from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

You can blame the winters if you want.

But that’s not the real story here.

After all, nobody is clamouring to get to Arizona to play for the Coyotes.

Dubois, like most players, just wants to win. Sunny California is simply a bonus.

When you don’t have the weather or low taxes on your side, you’d better have the team and the culture.

In the space of five years, the Jets have gone from a team on the cusp of Cup contention to one on the brink of implosion.

One year the head coach throws up his hands and walks out, the next key players start looking for the exits.

Today it’s Dubois, tomorrow perhaps it’ll be Connor Hellebuyck.

Both see a team that reached its peak and is looking at the down-side of the hill. No doubt they watched the Vegas Golden Knights week-long championship celebration with envy.

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updated 4:51pm, LAK press release in the comment section.

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

As an unrestricted free agent in 2024, does he want long term on his next contract?

“I'm gonna be honest. I really haven't thought a whole lot about the future, because it's out of my hands. I still have another year left on my deal, and the only thing I can do is do my best every single day,” Hellebuyck said Sunday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena, where he could win a second Vezina Trophy Monday.

“I know there’s a lot of rumours and a lot of speculation going around. But, for me, it doesn't really matter what happens. I’m in the fate of someone else’s hands. And as of now, I just got to make sure that I play my best and show up every day my best. And that’s what I'm doing.”

He’s not wrong.

Hellebuyck has zero trade protection heading into the final season of his six-year, $37-million pact with GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets.

The only control Hellebuyck has is to not re-sign an extension prior to free agency, which appears to be the same strategy as fellow stars Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele (also UFA in 2024). The onus falls on Cheveldayoff — reluctant to go full scorched earth — to manage some of his most critical assets.

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from TSN,.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports Wheeler wants a "fresh start" and next Friday's buyout window represents a deadline for the Jets to trade their former captain or exercise a buyout on him.

"We’ve talked about the fact that a buyout has been a possibility all along for the former Jets captain, which tells you a lot about how hard it is to move money in this frozen cap system," LeBrun said on Insider Trading.

"I think there’s been some confusion about what’s going on here. This isn’t about the Jets desperately trying to get rid of Wheeler, this is two sides working together. Wheeler wants a fresh reset just as much as the Jets are trying to make that happen for him. So, his agent and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff are really working together.

"So that could come in a few forms. First, it could come in a natural trade. Second, a buyout. Third, it could be a trade to a team where that team buys him out, as we’ve seen in the past.

"The bottom line is the buyout window closes next Friday and the decision has to be made by then. Wheeler will not be playing for the Jets next year."

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from Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun,

“I don’t think anybody in their mid-20s in this organization is at a point in their career where they’d want to be part of a rebuild,” Connor said Saturday as the Jets held their season-ending media availability.

“I don’t think anybody in that locker room wants to be part of a rebuild. Or anybody, in general. Everybody wants to play for a Stanley Cup contending team. So yeah, that’s how I feel about it.”

Connor, 26, is one of the few Jets stars with lots of term (three seasons) left on his current contract.

Along with defenceman Josh Morrissey, centre Adam Lowry and winger Nikolaj Ehlers, he could be part of the core in Winnipeg for a long time.

But other key members of that core face uncertain futures, people like top goal scorer Mark Scheifele, all-time leading point-getter Blake Wheeler, pending restricted free agent Pierre-Luc Dubois and star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck....

“My main goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and I’m starting to run out of time and can feel it,” said Hellebuyck, a 29-year-old perennial Vezina Trophy candidate, who was named the NHL’s top goalie in 2020.

“Wheels talks about this all the time. It just flashes by. And I’m starting to understand. You do need to be in the hunt every single year. You’ve got to make the most of your years. But I’m going to make the most of whatever my situation is, and give my all and give everything I can in the spot or the team that I have.”

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from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

Watching Rick Bowness’s 60-second knife-job on what went wrong with his Winnipeg Jets in Vegas on Thursday, I couldn’t help but wonder if those will be his parting words as the Jets boss.

His public disgust with some of his best players was almost John Tortorella-ish in its no-holds-barred candidness....

One season, five playoff games and an early exit later, Bowness was “disgusted” at some of his players coughing up “the same crap” that dragged this team down the standings after the NHL all-star break.

“Their better players were so much better than ours, it wasn’t even close,” Bowness nearly spat out, before walking out on reporters in Vegas.

Yes, he acknowledged, he’d been holding back the words since January-February, no doubt well aware how they’d play, not only in the dressing room but also in the offices of his higher-ups.

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By defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 tonight, the Golden Knights have advanced to round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They defeated the Jets in five games.

Below watch handshakes and highlights.

from Jesse Granger of The Athletic,

Deafening chants rained down from the sold-out crowd, taunting Laurent Brossoit as he stood in the Golden Knights’ crease.

“You’re a backup,” Jets fans screamed at their former goalie, “You’re a backup!”

The boisterous crowd repeatedly reminded Brossoit of his time in Winnipeg, where he backed up Connor Hellebuyck, but Brossoit had the last laugh.

He stopped 24 shots Monday night and earned his second-straight win in his old barn 4-2. It extended the Golden Knights’ lead in the first-round series to 3-1 and pushed his former team to the brink of elimination.

“He looked like a starter to me tonight,” Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo quipped with a smile in the dressing room after.

Brossoit was strong from start to finish on Monday. He needed to be stellar from the opening puck drop, as the first shot he faced was a breakaway by the Jets’ leading scorer Mark Scheifele. The center raced into the Vegas zone alone and deked to his backhand, but Brossoit waited him out and pounced on the shot with his blocker to turn it away. One of the strongest aspects of Brossoit’s game is his patience, and it was on full display early to prevent Canada Life Centre from erupting in the opening minutes.

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Watch the highlights below.

from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

While the Winnipeg Jets were preparing to fight for their playoff lives down in Minnesota, Tuesday, the team’s marketing department launched its own Hail Mary.

Perhaps that’s too strong a term, as it implies survival is at stake.

Then again, given the comments of Jets co-owner Mark Chipman at a business luncheon, and the wording used in a new advertising campaign, it might not be too strong.

Billed as the largest season-ticket drive since the team returned in 2011, the Forever Winnipeg campaign kicked off with a 90-second promotional video which was to get full airing during Tuesday night’s TV broadcast.

It was first played at Tuesday’s Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Luncheon, followed by some stark words from Chipman, at the helm of a franchise last valued by Forbes at some $650 million.

His team has lost 3,000 season-ticket holders since COVID-19 erupted, and it needs their help, Chipman reportedly told business leaders.

“That challenge has become far more daunting now that the effect of the pandemic is fully understood,” the Jets chairman, quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press, said. “After 10 years of consecutive sellouts, we now find ourselves in a very different world.

“You’re now figuring out why we are here today.”

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from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

This is what having your opponent on the ropes looks like.

It’s also what allowing your opponent to rise up off the mat looks like.

With a golden opportunity to place the Calgary Flames on life support, the Winnipeg Jets stumbled in what became a 3-1 loss on Wednesday night, setting the stage for a drama-filled final week-and-change of the regular season.

Moments after the final buzzer sounded, the Jets were already putting a positive spin on the situation, which includes these two teams in a virtual tie at 89 points in the Western Conference standings, separated merely by percentage points.

“A loss is a loss. But like I said, we could be in a worse position. We could be on the outside looking in,” said Jets centre Pierre-Luc Dubois, who seemed to be in the middle of a lot of melees on Wednesday night as he brought an incredibly high level of engagement. “We could be the team that played one more game right now and is still tied. The tiebreaker for us is better and we have a game in hand.

“We are obviously disappointed, like I’m not going to stand here and say that we are happy and thrilled, but we’re still in a good spot being on the inside. We just have to look forward to the next games here.”

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Catch the game highlights below.

“Some of these guys think they’re giving us everything in their tank, they’re dreaming. We have a lot of guys in there giving us everything they can. We just need a few more guys to jump on board. It’s not over. We’re still in eighth spot. We’re going to find out what we’re made of over the next little while.”

-Rick Bowness, head coach of the Winnipeg Jets after a 3-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet has more on the loss.

from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press,

It was late in the third period of Saturday afternoon’s game in Los Angeles, with the Winnipeg Jets down by a couple goals and showing no signs a comeback was in the cards, when Mark Scheifele slowly skated toward the bench following another lengthy shift in which he barely touched the puck.

He slammed the gate behind him, hard enough that the sound carried up to the press box at Crypto.com Arena. It would be the first — and only — time Scheifele made any impact on the day.

As head coach Rick Bowness and his staff, team management and ownership, and frustrated fans far and wide search for clues about why the Jets season has gone into a prolonged tailspin, look no farther than the play of the team’s top centre for the smoking gun.

Scheifele, 30, is nowhere to be found.

Consider this: Just 13 days ago, Bowness sent a strong message to his troops by sitting Scheifele and his linemates at the time, Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter, for the majority of the second period in what would ultimately be a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. It wasn’t a move the veteran coach made lightly, but one he felt was necessary. Scheifele’s stat line that night was ugly: No goals. No assists. No shots (for just the third time in 68 games). Minus-four.

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from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff may as well put down his phone and silence it for the rest of the week.

Because there isn’t a player on the trade market who can fix what ails his hockey team.

It needs a heart transplant, not a roster tweak.

What other conclusion could you come to after watching how the Jets responded to their lifeless Friday performance on Sunday afternoon?

Challenged by head coach Rick Bowness to respond to Friday’s 5-1 sleep-fest against Colorado, the Jets instead brought their soothers and pillows back into Sunday’s contest against the New York Islanders.

Out-shot 12-1 out of the gate, out-scored 4-0 in the game – that’s not a response, it’s an afternoon nap.

“Every once in a while this game’s going to test your character and it’s going to test your pride,” Bowness had said, late Friday night. “And that game on Sunday will be an example.”

The character and pride test results are in: a flat line.

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WINNIPEG, February 25, 2023 - The Winnipeg Jets announced today they have acquired forward Nino Niederreiter from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Niederreiter, 30, has played 56 games for the Predators this season and has 28 points (18G, 10A) and 16 penalty minutes. The Chur, Switzerland native was originally drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft and he has played 788 games for the Islanders, the Minnesota Wild, the Carolina Hurricanes, and Nashville and has recorded 396 points (199G, 197A) and 368 PIMs. Niederreiter has also played 82 playoff games and recorded 30 points (15G, 15A) and 56 PIMs.

from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

Well, it turns out the most important game of the year turned out to be the biggest no-show of the season for the Winnipeg Jets.

For a team coming off a disappointing 1-3 road trip, the Jets were expected to come out and play an inspired game against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Instead, they gave up a breakaway goal to Nathan MacKinnon 19 seconds after the opening faceoff and laid an egg in what was a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at Canada Life Centre.

Considering the circumstances -- with the Jets well aware that the Avalanche, Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames are chasing them down and eliminating what used to be a solid cushion -- an effort like this one was inexcusable.

Rather than being up for the challenge, the Jets looked more like a team searching for answers as the stretch run is ramping up.

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Game highlights are below.

from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

There are formulas, numbers and plenty of other important evidence that suggest it’s a bad idea – under most circumstances – for the starting goalie to start on consecutive days.

A growing number of coaches are leaning on that data and leaning on the backup more often, but Monday was one of those nights when the Winnipeg Jets felt it was best to ride the No. 1 guy.

First and foremost, Connor Hellebuyck didn’t have an overly taxing night on Sunday against the New Jersey Devils and, secondly, the commute from Newark, N.J., to Manhattan is pretty easy compared to most other situations when a flight is involved.

When you consider the Jets had lost consecutive games and needed a lift, it was no surprise that head coach Rick Bowness decided to go with No. 37 between the pipes in Monday’s game against the New York Rangers.

Hellebuyck did his part with a virtuoso performance, finishing with a season-high 50 saves as he essentially willed the Jets to a 4-1 victory.

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Watch the game highlights below.

from John Matisz of The Score,

The NHL season has passed its midway point, and lost in the sea of first-half surprises and disappointments is one player who always seems to be hiding in plain sight, both on the ice and in our minds.

That player is Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets.

In Manitoba, where they know him best, Connor is celebrated as a superstar. Elsewhere, the 26-year-old's exploits tend to be overlooked. Connor has scored the sixth-most goals since 2017-18 - his first full NHL season - but you'd probably be surprised to see his name among hockey's elite offensive dynamos.

Consider this: Connor's 197 goals in that span are 19 behind David Pastrnak, 17 ahead of Nathan MacKinnon, and 19 ahead of Steven Stamkos. From a name-recognition standpoint, Connor is the relative nobody of that group of snipers.

This season, Connor has 53 points in 44 games, tying him for 10th in league scoring. Winnipeg's coaching staff relies on him for 20 minutes a night, three of which are spent on the right flank of the top power-play unit.

"Hey, maybe it's a good thing. Maybe teams are taking him and us lighter than they should be," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "He's a fantastic player. And it's not just the last couple of years, right? He's been doing this for a while. Maybe we'll try to keep him under the radar."

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“Regardless of who you are, you’re going to go through adversity throughout your career. You find out what you’re made of and you keep trying to push through, it makes these moments that much more special.

“I’ve had my ups and downs, for sure. Getting sent down by Vancouver and then the following year by Edmonton again, you question how your career is going to end up. But you keep pushing along, keep trying to adjust to the modern game. It certainly feels good to get there. I wasn’t sure where the number would end up, you just want to keep playing and [I'm] certainly happy to get there.”

-Sam Gagner of the Winnipeg Jest on playing his 1000th game tonight. Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet has more.

from Carol Schram of The Hockey News,

The Winnipeg Jets have the best points percentage in the Western Conference.

Two days after losing forward Blake Wheeler and defenseman Nate Schmidt to injury, the undermanned Jets skated out of Rogers Arena with a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Winnipeg improved to 9-4-1 on the road and, overall, to 20-9-1 for 41 points in 30 games. Rick Bowness's squad sits one point behind Central Division-leading Dallas, but has two games in hand. And the Jets' .683 points percentage is a hair better than the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, who fell 5-2 at home to the New York Islanders on Saturday and now sit at .682.

"Every single guy brought their 'A' game tonight," said goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who picked up his 16th win of the year. "Our details were right, they were battling so hard, and we were controlling the game."

The 2020 Vezina Trophy winner, Hellebuyck is in a familiar position — leading all goalies in minutes played, shots faced and total saves.

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from Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet,

The confusion was real, though the reactions weren’t quite as raw as they might have been had the Winnipeg Jets not been able to find a way to squeeze out the extra point after another bizarre and entertaining finish.

The 5-4 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on Friday night represented an impressive bounce-back effort after a 6-1 shellacking to the Minnesota Wild two days earlier, but by allowing two more extra attacker goals, there’s clearly an area the Jets are going to need to clean up in short order as they’ve given up five of those goals in two games over a three-game span.

That the game even required overtime was a point of contention for the Jets, who couldn’t believe the fourth goal by the Stars was allowed to count, as it came with goalie Connor Hellebuyck sprawled out on the ice with his mask knocked off and taking cover after a collision with Stars captain Jamie Benn.

After a video review that was initiated by the NHL situation room, the goal was allowed to count as the officials deemed that the actions of Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey led to Benn’s contact with Hellebuyck.

The NHL said in a statement that "the decision was made in accordance with Note 2 of Rule 38.11 (ii) which states, in part, that the goal should be allowed because 'the attacking Player was pushed, shoved or fouled by the defending Player causing the attacking Player to come into contact with the goalkeeper.'"

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from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press,

Every win is worth the same two points in the standings, but some victories are more valuable than others.

That’s certainly the case with the Winnipeg Jets and their most recent triumph on Sunday night in Seattle.

The way in which they rallied to solve the Kraken — a game-tying goal in enemy territory with five seconds left, then the overtime kill-shot less than a minute later — speaks volumes about the current state of the club.

It also furthers the growing belief — inside the room, but externally, too — that this squad might just have something special going on.

Sometimes, they DO ask how, not just how many. And Winnipeg’s latest answer is a doozy.

The good vibes started flowing during the team’s retreat in Banff to wrap up training camp, an event that saw them create and sign a unique mission statement now hanging on their dressing room wall.

And they haven’t stopped flowing since, despite a healthy dose of early adversity thrown their way.

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from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

An 8-3-1 record, the best 12-game start in their rebooted history, good for first place in their division.

It all seems a little too good to be true for the Winnipeg Jets.

So is it?

Part of this job is to poke at nice, shiny things to find out if they’re real.

I wasn’t about to poke defenceman Brenden Dillon – did you see what he did to Dallas forward Ty Dellandrea, Tuesday night? – so I just asked him.

Thankfully, he laughed.

“I don’t know,” Dillon began. “As much as we’re excited about the start, we’re only 12 games in. There’s a lot of runway left. Every team talks about it, though. A start is really important.”

Over to Kyle Connor, a safer choice. I don’t think he’s thrown a punch in his career, yet.

Is this team this good?

“It seems that way, doesn’t it?” was his reply.

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