First signs of cracks in the Winnipeg Hockey Empire last week or so. Paul “Red” Friesen, pretty much the only beat media boy with a semblance of honesty has amplified his call for “lynchings” at Jets Central . . . . . he doesn’t specify whether its GM Chevy Chevyldayoff, Coach Scott “No Excuses, Just Excuses” Arniel or the stick boys.
But even some of the regular Jets boot-lickers like TSN analyst Kevin “Shilly” Sawyer, radio hosts Jim “Dull” Toth and his scattered co-host Stutterin’ Cam Poitras have donned life jackets and appear poised to dive off the Titanic with every mounting loss and feeble Jets effort.
When you’ve lost the shoeshine brigade, you in deep doodoo!
One trade I thought of - Kevin Chevy GM seldom does trades, he’s terrified of losing on the exchange is getting rid of that dwarf-like deadbeat Cole Perfetti. Last season - you prolly could have got a #3 or #4 shut-down d-man for Cole, or even a strong 3rd line power forward. Now, you won’t get a pail of hockey pucks for Perfetti. The young man has lost his confidence and has been assigned a short to medium length injury (high ankle sprain) to save shame of taking him out of the lineup.
However, with the Jets in free fall the ultimate nuke is Perfectti & Wpg’s #1 draft pick. At this point, Jets seem to have at least a 20% ping-pong ball chance of winning Gavin McKenna (if they win the draft lottery). I think a ton of teams would love to trade for Winnipeg’s lowly position in the standings and a crack at McKenna. Besides, even if Wpg got McKenna the kid and his advisers would prolly recommend stiffing the Jets. Its a place where careers go to die. . . .. and coaches turn over more than apple tarts.
Trouble for Jets over last 10-15 years they’ve never been horrible enough to get a #1 loto-pick. Yeah, they got Patrick Laine, but the big Finn turned into a dud after a sensational rookie season. “Where careers Go to Die!” Jets usually get mid to late first rounders like Perfetti and that other dwarf d-man Ville Heinola.
Jets also got saddled with a career mope in Blake Wheeler when they bought the farm in Atlanta many moons ago. Wheeler was an ego-tripper, a one-way player and a goal suck. Great captain’s combo, huh? Jets also lost 2 guys prematurely to career ending injuries. The monster, Dustin Byfuglien and a solid power forward (1st or 2nd liner) named Brian Little. Jacob Trouba and others also told Jets mgmt. to pound sand after their first contracts ended.
Well you might have a point with some of the other players you mentioned, but Laine was the architect of his own misery.
Lack of discipline, video game addiction, whatever. He has never returned to form, no matter what organization gave him a chance. (Jets, Habs, Blue Jackets)
On that trade I agree. Pepe had expressed displeasure at staying in Winnipeg, even Chevy knew there was little chance. He got a 10-10 guy in Iafolla who can play on any line, a veritable Swiss Army knife. Vilardi now Wpg’s 3rd highest scoring player. Not a superstar by any means but serviceable 1st line guy, solid 2nd liner. Dubois has degenerated into an injury-riddled head case. Kinda like Laine, only more on=ice tools.
Back to good ‘ol Jets. No question the team was shaft-schooled vs. Minny on Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg. Jets held a 3-2 lead with under a minute to go. In a frenzy, a Wild forward shoved star Jet’s D-man Josh Morrissey into the boards head first. No call. Then with only 28 seconds remaining Jets d-man Dylan DeMelo applied a soft cross-check on Eck (the guy who rammed Morrissey into the boards) and was assessed 2 minutes for “retaliation stuidity” (my term but it may as well be an officialNHL term). Minny scored with 20 ticks left on the clock as they sported a 6-4 man advantage and having a deluxe power play unit, the tying goal was inevitable. Even mighty King Kong Helleybuck could stop a shot from 20 feet out.
Now here’s my problem. Yes, DeMelo’s penalty was stupid, no question. He was trying to send a message to Ek for damaging his teammate Morrissey. But heck, don’t do it with 30 seconds left in a 1-goal game, man. If anything wait until the game is over and then head over to Ek and give him some glove-smack (or a hard slash).
Trouble is, in addition to being stupid, DeMelo is also selfish. He knows that if he waited until the buzzer blew, he’d not only been given a match misconduct but probable fine and even risk suspension.
The times of hard-boiled bench coaches like Punch Imlach or Toe Blake or Al Arbour dispensing bench justice (aka - a hit on another player) are long gone. Scott Arniel whimpered like a baby after the game about how injustice had cost his club a point. He was right. But don’t cry Scotty, DO. If you’re that aggrieved by the awful hit your star d-man took without penalty get revenge. But wait til the friggin’ game is over and then ask DeMelo (or a fringe player like Nyquist, Koepke or the like) to take a hard run at Erickson-Ek. But Scotty is too cowardly to have done the right thing - executing a hit order.
Stupidity and cowardice are now conspiring to cost the Jets a chance for the playoffs.
But on a positive note - the Jets now are lead contenders for the #1 draft pick (consensus Gavin McKenna) in the spring draft. WOWZERS!
PS. While Arniel was a decent and fair grinder during his NHL career he shows much the same tendencies as CFL coaching legend Mike O’Shea. O’Shea, once known as the CFL’s dirtiest player now plays by Marquis of Queensbury rules. When Zach Collaros is fouled beyond recognition, O’Shea holds back fire. Thats both cowardly - and unacceptable. Goons should face consequences - even if the coach faces fines or suspension. Sometimes, you have to break more rules than were broken against you to achieve the equilibrium of justice.
Both Mike O’Shea and Scott Arniel are coaching cowards.
If you listened to the colour guy on the Prime broadcast tonight you would believe the Jets were solid Stanley Cup contenders…..as they slide to 2-11 in December.
And Arneil - stop yelling at the ref when your idiot defence keep piling into the front of the Oilers net after the whistle blows. They must have cost themselves a dozen O-zone face offs tonight.
Very poor discipline that costs a team having trouble putting the puck in the back of the net scoring chances.
Your comments on Arniel spot on. When you don’t have the horses in front of you (or the goal-tending) you tend to let your team degenerate into wild, undisciplined, me-too hockey. Tonite was a bit better as the Jets somehow managed to outshoot a very good hockey team, that appeared tired and fed up, having to play a near end of year game in -30 weather in frigid Winnipeg.
Kept Connor McSuperstar off the scorecard and made Leon Draisitl cough up puck a few times.
However, another outing where Jet shooters made a career backup goaler (Cal Pickard) look like George Vezina.
And then there’s the Jet’s biggest trait - an obvious lack of on-ice discipline. (mostly explained by being an inferior hockey club)
Now, 31 points behind Colorado Avs. . . . a team they bested in the race for the President’s Choice trophy last year.
The best explanation for Jet’s precipitous drop in standings - - -
There’s way more to it than that. Ehlers averages about 25 goals per year over the course of his career. He’s not Pastrnak or Ovechkin.
As a matter of fact Ehlers only has 8 goals in 38 games this year on a pretty stacked Carolina team.
There’s way more going on in that dressing room. Players are likely not buying into Arneil’s system or can’t get in synch.
As a comparison, my Kings are boring the hell out of me this year. Can’t buy a goal when they need one. Can’t hit the net. Can’t score on the Powerplay. Virtually the same roster from last year but every single player’s production is way down. It’s like all the players collectively decided that they don’t like the coach or something. For whatever reason, the effort is not there.
Likely what is happening in Winnipeg, as well as Toronto. Those primadonnas over there in TO don’t want to play a tough defensive system. Berube is not the right kind of coach for a guy like Nylander.
Good analysis Kris - but I can’t let go of the Ehlers situation yet.
Ehlers may only be a 25 average goal scorer (I think he had 29 last year) and he’s not near the top 5 Winnipeg players (1. Helleybuyck, 2. Conners, 3. Morrissey, 4. Schiefele, 5. Lowry or Sandberg) but he was one of their best support pieces, right up there with Gabe Vilardi.
And don’t sluff off 25 goals/yr either. This year 25 is more than Jonathan Toews, Gus Nyquist, Lowry, The Coles (Perfetti & Koepke), Neiderreiter have accumulated all of this year. I think these mopes have only 11 goals between them, near the all-star break. Unacceptable by any standards. Neidereiter appears to have ground himself to a halt, Koepke is a mid-tier AHL’r, Perfetti should be placed in the AHL, Toews made a valiant comeback but its sickening how badly he’s failing. Lowry is just a rugged forward who supposedly is the clubhouse leader (and captain) of the team. But 3 goals is paltry production. Perfetti has been their most notorious bust (right in there with VIlle Heinola). Dylan Demelo and Hayden Fleury appear to be suspect, too.
NOT PAYING THE PRICE? Exactly - not many dropdown blocked shots by Jet forwards this year. Appleton was notorious for inserting his body between the puck and his net. He bolted for greener pastures. Other than acquiring Iaffola and Vilardi for deadweight Pierre-Luc Dubois, Chevy’s pickups have mostly been scrap heap acquires or waiver wire mopes.
I was critical of Nik Ehlers last few years - but that was based on his dreadful defensive skills. But compared to some current Jet “stars” Ehlers would be a veritable Bob Gainey or Bobby Clarke. (only by comparison). Jets don’t have anyone close to guys like Gainey, Clarke, Mike Richards or even Dave Keon. But few teams do.
However, Ehlers was one of the fastest forwards (if not the fastest) in the league. The Danish Delight could break out of his zone and other teams had to be wary of extended passes that would set Ehlers in all alone on their goalers. Thats not happening anymore. Conners is a jitterbug but he doesn’t have sprinter’s speed. Mark Schiefele? Prolly the #1 reason he won’t make the Canadian Olympic team - lack of speed. Nifty, shifty, decent scoring touch, average face-off man, slightly below average defensively. Canada would be foolish to place Schiefele on their team. If Conor Bedard was still alive (physically) there’d be no doubt. Doubt will be elminated tomorrow morning.
So who did Chevy bring in to replace Ehlers? The slowest guys in the league - Toews! Nyquist! (all over 35). They have Parker Ford in the minors but deem Ford too inexperienced. Same for their recent high drafts, too. Just not ready for prime time. Chevy appears to have all but given up on another high draft pick - named Lambert.
The Jets could be in need of a mid season good old hockey trade to shake things up. I think they have a good team but something has gone stale and it’s just not because of Nik Ehlers moving on. I’m sure there is a market and other GM’s that want to shake things up as well, they just need to find a willing partner and the right fit.
Jets went down again. 2-1 in Detroit. Fell behind 2-0 early and couldn’t recover. In fact, only goal Jets scored was by emerging star Loogan Stanley, his 7th of year. Jet stars Mark Schiefle, Cannon Conners & Josh Morrissey were nowhere to be found. In fact, Morrissey’s early game penalty (for stupidity) allowed the Wings to open scoring. Both Detroit goals also pretty scuzzy as it apears Connor Helleybuyck no longer George Vezina. More like George ‘The Animal’ Steele playing net.
As far as Mark Schiefele not making the Canadian Olympic team. That was my easiest prediction. Schiefele is amongst the top Jets, yes. But that’s akin to being the tallest midget. He just doesn’t have the 180 foot game other selections have. His average speed also will hinder him on big Olympic surface. Finally, he’d be separated from his rink mate Kyle Connor. Seems Schiefele can’t play with other guys. Doug Armstrong made a solid move keeping Schiefele off Team Canada. On a separate note, selecting a guy from a chronically losing, dismal organization isn’t always the best move either. Its often the worst move!
While Scheifele would have been a worthy selection as an extra the fact is Team Canada is stacked at the center position. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Celebrini, Suzuki and Horvat all play center. I did see today that Horvat was hurt in the Islanders game against Utah, no idea how serious so we’ll see. There’s also another month of NHL hockey to play so there could be other injuries.
I would have had zero problem if they added (or add) Scheifele to Team Canada. 2G + 1A in 6-5 loss to Leafs. Jets found a new way to lose - up 4-1 in the 2nd period. Arniel the goat this game - he refused to pull his obviously weak, disinterested and loose-brained backup, Eric Comrie. Very bad move but Arniel knew pulling Comrie would have destroyed him. So what? Aren’t coaches paid to win? Gabby Boudreau, former Stanley Cup winning coach called Jets GM the most patient GM in NHL history. Thats a nice way of calling Chevy a mind-paralyzed freak who’s unable to pull the trigger on anything. Chevy has to go. But who wants a job managing prima donnas and AHL discards? OK, OK. Maybe 30 guys?
But nobody will be as patient as Kevin Chevyldayoff. Nobody!
Not this season it seems but i admit i don’t watch too many Jets games. If i’m going by their record i would say no but it seems to me to be a team wide malaise. They were Presidents trophy winners last season, Nik Ehlers can’t be that much of a loss can it?
