At the conclusion of the Season Finale against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, the Jets literally gave the jerseys off their backs to fans who were randomly selected during the 1st and 2nd intermission.  For those who missed the giveaway here are some sights from this end of season promotion.  Enjoy.

Fans wait for the festivities to begin following the conclusion of the game:

The Jets flight crew rolls out the mats for the lucky contest winners:

The winners walking onto the ice at the MTS Centre:

Here come the Winnipeg Jets for the final time this season:

The Jets sign the jerseys that were given to fan:

The fans also had a chance to chat and shake hands with the players:

Final centre ice salute for the 2012-13 Jets team:

And that is all she wrote as the team leaves the ice:

If you missed any of the end of the season exit interviews we have you covered:

Jets players (including Antropov, Trouba, Bogosian, Thorburn, Kane, Little, Slater, Ladd and Pavelec).

Coach Noel.

Nik Antropov

Jacob Trouba

Zach Bogosian

Chris Thorburn

Evander Kane

Bryan Little

Jim Slater

Andrew Ladd

Ondrej Pavelec

Byfuglien is a talented player—no one really debates that.  He can shoot, he can pass and he can play a versatile game.  Few players in the NHL are able to play both forward and defense and have a significant impact on the game while employed at both positions.

Dustin Byfuglien played first line right wing on the 2010 Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.  He then played defense on the Atlanta Thrashers well enough to earn an All Star nomination.

The issues with Byfuglien are well known.  He is lazy defensively, generally cannot keep his weight under control and is difficult to coach.

With Jacob Trouba on the horizon, the Jets organization has options on its hands;  with options comes decisions.

Options for Jets

Before we examine the different options that exist for the Jets organization, let’s establish Byfuglien’s contractual terms:

The Minnesota native will be a free agent at 31 years old.  His cap hit for the upcoming three seasons is actually lower than his actual salary—as the deal was slightly back-loaded by the general manager who penned the deal, Rick Dudley.

1. Play Dustin Byfuglien at Forward

The Jets recently experimented with the idea of moving Byfuglien to forward, specifically, on the right side with Andrew Ladd on the left side and Bryan Little in the middle.

Byfuglien looked out of place, but the experiment lasted a mere three periods or so, and that is not a long enough period of time to make an absolute decision in this regard.  Having said that, it is probably fair to say that regardless of the duration of the experiment, if the defenseman many call “Big Buff” is, in fact, this “big” on an ongoing basis, then he will not be able to shoulder the skating responsibility associated with played forward in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Assuming he is in relatively good shape, or even average shape, Byfuglien does fill a glaring need for the organization.  When playing forward he plays right wing and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has gone on the record as saying his team is seeking a top-6 right-winger.

Byfuglien could conceivably satisfy that right-wing need.  Even if his contract could be above and beyond what his production would warrant, the decision regarding Byfuglien as a right-wing, cannot be made in a vacuum and this option is certainly one to be taken seriously.

If the Jets do not move Byfuglien to forward then they have to address the organization’s right wing need via free agency or trade, as there does not appear to be a player in the system that fits this need (maybe Bryan Little, but that would be contingent on many other factors).

Finally, we would be remiss without pointing out that Byfuglien does not really enjoy playing forward.  Psyche is a factor in any player’s production, so this ought to be taken into account.

2. Play Dustin Byfuglien at Defense

Playing the back-end is Byfuglien’s preference—he has indicated this on a countless number of occasions.  His skill-set on the back-end is unique.  He is big, can skate, can pass, can shoot and can hit.  The quality of his hockey sense is undeniable, but his willingness to utilize that sense in his own zone is more than questionable.

It truly is that inability, or unwillingness, to apply himself in his own zone that is holding Byfuglien back from being a top-ten NHL defenseman.  This is what makes him so maddening.  The tools are there; no one really questions that.  What people question, rightfully so, is whether Byfuglien will ever take that next step.

Keeping Byfuglien on defense is probably the safest option, in the sense that with Byfuglien on the blue line they know, more or less, what to expect.  Kevin Cheveldayoff can expect offensive production at even strength and on the power play, with defensive decisions that would keep Ken Hitchcock up for a month straight without sleep.

3. Trade Dustin Byfuglien

First, let’s note that Dustin Byfuglien has a no-trade clause that came into effect this season, and allows him to provide the Jets with a five-team no-trade list.  This clause would likely not be a deterrent for the Jets, as that leaves the organization with 24 other teams with which they can make a deal.

The Jets have the following defensemen in the system right now:

Tobias Enstrom
Zach Bogosian
Ron Hainsey
Mark Stuart
Zach Redmond
Paul Postma
Arturs Kulda
Jacob Trouba
Grant Clitsome
Derek Meech

Of the above, Hainsey, Clitsome and Meech are pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs).  Bogosian, Redmond, Postma and Kulda are restricted free agents (RFAs).  Enstrom, Stuart and Trouba are the only defensemen (aside from Byfuglien) currently under contract next season with the Winnipeg Jets.

If the Jets do not trade Byfuglien, this what the team looks like on the back-end next season:

Byfuglien and Bogosian are interchangeable in terms of first and second pairing.  Trouba is listed as part of the third pairing because all accounts have him debuting in the NHL next season and he is a right-side defender.

On the left side, Enstrom’s next contract kicks in beginning in the 2013-14 season and he is undoubtedly the team’s best left-side defender.  Mark Stuart is a bottom pairing defenseman, leaving a hole in the top-four.

Filling the void on the left side of the defense with any of the aforementioned defenders may occur, but is probably not the Jets’ foremost option.

If the Jets trade Byfuglien, the team creates another hole on the back-end where one already exists (assuming they do not receive a top defender in return).

Nonetheless, the purpose of this article is to examine what precisely Byfuglien could net the Jets in a trade this off-season.

Defensemen with similar production that have been traded

What other defensemen in the NHL can produce offensively like Dustin Byfuglien?  More specifically, which NHL defensemen have produced offensively like Byfuglien, and have been traded in the past four seasons?

Since he has been playing full-time defense for the past three seasons, let’s use that period of time as our base in terms of comparing statistics.   More precisely, let’s examine the three seasons prior to the one in which these comparable players were traded.

Four players who are offensively slanted in terms of their overall value, and who have also been traded within the past few years are:

1.  Brent Burns

2.  Jack Johnson

3.  Dion Phaneuf

4.  Alex Goligoski

Here are Byfuglien’s numbers:

The ages at which each of the above defensemen were traded:

Dustin Byfuglien, at 28 years old, is slightly older than the comparable defensemen were when traded.  Defensemen, however, peek later in their careers according to many, and with his contract expiring at age 31, there is not much long-term risk associated with acquiring Byfuglien.

Trading Burns, Johnson, Phaneuf and Goligowski, garnered the following in return for their former teams:

A couple of teams have been rumoured to have interest in Byfuglien such as Detroit and Philadelphia.

Using the above trades in comparison, (and the Phaneuf trade more as an anomaly), there are two different types of trades the Jets could conceivably make:

1. Quality player for quality player; or

2. Quality player for younger players and draft picks.

Philadelphia Flyers:

The Flyers are limited in terms of prospects, so a trade with the Flyers would likely be quality player for quality player.

Something along the lines of:

Both of those players would fill a need on the Jets’ right side, but both players have also become integral parts of the Flyers team.  Then again, just how badly do the Flyers need defensemen?

(Keep in mind that the top unrestricted free agent defensemen this off-season, are the likes of Mark Streit and Sergei Gonchar.)

Detroit Red Wings:

The Red Wings, on the other hand, have more depth in the prospect system than Philadelphia.   A trade similar to the one for Brent Burns would likely be more applicable in this circumstance.

Something along the lines of:

These are not specific trade possibilities created to bring upon rumours; rather, they are just presented as a guideline for the different types of trades that may be available to the Jets if they decide to explore the trade market for Byfuglien.

Conclusion:

Overall the Jets are in a position of strength with Dustin Byfuglien.  The organization does not have to trade him, but with his versatility and the expected emergence of Jacob Trouba, Kevin Cheveldayoff could conceivably utilize the asset of Dustin Byfuglien to fill an immediate need (the Philadelphia example)—or fill a couple of needs with an eye on the future (the Detroit example).

What he will do is anyone’s guess, but his action or potential inaction should provide Jets fans with a better idea of his overall vision for the franchise.

**Thanks to behindthenet.ca and capgeek.com for the data**

Much has been made about some teams, like the Montreal Canadiens, being in tough if the salary cap does drop by just over $10.0 million from this shortened season (if it happens) to the next season thereafter.

The purpose of this article is to focus strictly on the Winnipeg Jets and the team’s salary cap situation heading into the 2013-14 season.

First, let’s examine which players are under contract for that season (as per the extremely helpful capgeek.com):

As you can see, the Jets have considerable cap space heading into the 2013-14 season.  Cap space is code for roster flexibility and something the Jets have been waiting for since the move from Atlanta.  GM Kevin Cheveldayoff cannot say it on the record but you can bet your bottom dollar he has been projecting for the contracts of Antropov and Hainsey to come off the salary cap books.

As written about in last season’s Maple Street Press Jets magazine, the Jets have had far too much money locked up in their defense corps.  In fact, the Jets headed into last season with the highest proportion of cap dollars allocated to defense in the entire NHL.

Before delving into who needs to be signed to fill the fairly bare roster (not talent-wise but numbers-wise), it is interesting to note that by the 2013-14 season the Jets will already be on the way to being Kevin Cheveldayoff’s team.  He re-signed Tobias Enstrom, Ondrej Pavelec, Andrew Ladd, Jim Slater and Evander Kane and he went out and signed Olli Jokinen.  After the 2013-14 season when Mark Stuart and Chris Thorburn’s contracts expire, Cheveldayoff will have penned all contracts on the roster save and except for Dustin Byfuglien.

Roster Spots Per Dollar

The above chart indicates that the Jets have 5 forwards, 3 defensemen and 1 goaltender signed for the 2013-14 season.

We will base this analysis on the Jets carrying 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goaltenders (assuming the 23 man roster limit is not amended in the prospective CBA).

Consequently, the Jets have 14 roster spots to fill with $26.84 million ($60.0 million minus $33.16) in cap space.

That equates to $1.91 million per roster spot.

Pending Restricted Free Agents

Heading into the 2013-14 season, the Jets will have significant RFAs such as Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Zach Bogosian.  For the purposes of this analysis we will assume all three players re-sign (personally I feel Wheeler and Bogosian will re-sign and Little will eventually be moved—but that is just my opinion and if we delve into further hypotheticals like that this article may never end).

Alexander Burmistrov is also a pending RFA, but his success, or lack thereof, will likely result in a modest second contract or trade.

Conservative estimates of these players’ respective market values are as follows:

Bryan Little

Much has been written about his talent level on Illegal Curve (click here to read such analysis).

This is not a simple contract analysis but if you compare Little to players like Antoine Vermette, Sam Gagner and Tim Connolly you are estimating a salary in the approximate range of $3.75 million per season.

Zach Bogosian

Zach Bogosian is one of the stalwarts of the Jets defense.  He is physical, can skate as well as any defensemen and his offensive game has made some strides.  What’s more, he apparently really enjoys playing in Winnipeg and appears to be more than willing to re-up with the organization long-term.

After just handing Tobias Enstrom a big-money long-term deal with an average cap hit of $5.75 million, Bogosian will be looking to cash in on a long-term pact.  The New York native will have accrued five NHL season by the time the 2012-13 season (if it ever happens) is completed.  As such, he will be a mere two seasons (and seven accrued NHL seasons) to being a UFA.  Leverage is the key here and Bogosian will have lots of it—arbitration as well.

Looking to sign his third NHL contract and cash-in long term it would be fair to estimate that Bogosian will at least make $5.0 million per on his next contract.

Blake Wheeler

Blake Wheeler made great strides last season.  The Minnesota native came into his own and carried over his strong play upon being traded to Atlanta the season prior to the Jets’ return to Winnipeg.

He can skate, is a deft passer and can put up some goals as well.  His size and speed combination make him a desirable commodity on the NHL landscape.

Wheeler has already accrued five NHL seasons and the 2012-13 season would be his sixth. Wheeler played three NCAA seasons in Minnesota and will actually be 27 on August 31, 2013.  Therefore, Wheeler will only be an RFA for the 2013-14 season and will then be a UFA.

Essentially, he will be in the same negotiation position (one year left on RFA deal) as Andrew Ladd was last summer.  The Jets have to decide whether they believe Wheeler is a number one or number two right winger—but will probably sign him regardless of that internal determination.

A salary in the neighborhood of $4.5 million is not an unreasonable expectation.

Alexander Burmistrov

Burmistrov has struggled in first couple NHL seasons.  What is apparent is that Burmistrov needed more seasoning and was thrust into the spotlight in Atlanta unnecessarily–that was a consistent trend for the Thrashers.

His cap hit this upcoming season is $1.5 million and expecting any contract figure higher than that seems unlikely.  If Burmistrov re-signs with the Jets a one-year deal in that same neighborhood is quite possible.

Updated Roster Status

Let’s examine the 2013-14 prospective roster taking into account the projections for Little, Wheeler and Bogosian:

Updated Roster Spots Per Dollar

The Jets now have 8 forwards, 4 defensemen and 1 goaltender signed for the 2013-14 season.

Leaving the organization with 10 roster spots to fill with $12.09 million ($60.0 million minus $47.91) in cap space.

That equates to $1.209 million per roster spot.

Young Players

We are assuming only one, if any (my personal opinion is they may look to keep Wellwood), of the likes of Nikolai Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood and Antti Miettinen will return for the 2013-14 season.

With that in mind, players such as Mark Scheifele, Zach Redmond, Ivan Telegin and Jason Gregoire will be counted on to play in the NHL without taking a big chunk of the team’s cap.

The main point this analysis hammers home is that you have to draft well in the NHL.  This is not baseball where a team can go out pay a boatload of money and sign another team’s best player hitting his prime.  Very few top players even hit UFA status in the NHL anymore.  In any event, such players come at a high cost—see: Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

The Jets will need their draft picks (so far Cheveldayoff and his scouting staff have appeared to have a good idea of what they are doing) to outperform their contracts.

Again, for the purposes of this analysis, let’s assume the aforementioned players make the Jets in 2013-14.

Here is the updated roster outlook:

Updated Roster Spots Per Dollar

The Jets now have 11 forwards, 5 defensemen and 1 goaltender signed for the 2013-14 season.

Leaving the organization with 6 roster spots to fill with $8.03 million ($60.0 million minus $51.97) in cap space.

That equates to $1.33 million per roster spot—which means the average cap hit availability actually goes up upon the inclusion of young talent on entry level deals (this will be the key to the Jets’ success).

Cap Team

The above demonstrates that the Jets have some room to move heading into the 2013-14 season.  But we must make note of the fact that the Jets have never indicated the organization would be paying to the ceiling of the salary cap.  Even if the minimum salary increases under the prospective CBA and the Jets fill the remaining spots like sixth defenseman, backup goalie and some third and fourth line spots (what about a first or second line right winger?) at the league minimum the team cap will be inching towards the $56.0 to $57.0 million range.

That is why this analysis has not mentioned other team’s free agents (including players other teams buyout).  There will be little funds for such a splash—unless, of course, trades are made.

Buyouts

Speaking of buyout candidates, if the league provides its teams with a period of time to buyout existing players on contracts, it does not appear the Jets have anyone worth buying out.

As mentioned above, Cheveldayoff is responsible for the majority of the contracts on the Jets’ books for the 2013-14 season (the buyouts (two of them to be correct) are allegedly going to be available after the 2012-13 season and before the 2013-14 season.

The only contracts Cheveldayoff has not signed are: Mark Stuart ($1.7 million), Dustin Byfuglien ($5.2 million) and Chris Thorburn ($0.86 million).

Stuart is a character defenseman who plays tough, blocks shots and is good in the room.  His contract is also reasonable.  The Jets almost assuredly won’t buy him out.

Byfuglien is arguably the team’s best defenseman and would make absolutely no sense to buy out.

As for Thorburn, even though he is certainly replaceable, (Note: The prospective buyouts won’t count against the team cap (only HRR-hockey related revenue)), Thorburn makes so little in NHL terms and is well-liked in the room enough to make Cheveldayoff wait until his salary comes off the books.  Plus buying him out does not provide any extra salary cap flexibility as the player that would replace him would probably make just as much money (although may be more talent—which still makes this a possibility).

Conclusion

When all is said and done, the Jets do not have a lot of money on the books when you look forward to the 2013-14 season.  A prospective $60.0 million NHL hard cap does appear to provide the Jets with more flexibility than other NHL organization.  And while that may very well be true, after taking care of their current stable of talent there is not whole lot of financial wiggle room.

The more likely scenario is that the Jets eventually pull the trigger on a number of trades (will Jacob Trouba push Zach Bogosian or Dustin Byfuglien to the market with his strong play as a right-side defender?) and continue their emphasis on the draft (Cheveldayoff has loaded up picks for the upcoming Entry Draft in New Jersey).

Developing a playoff caliber team on an annual basis does not happen overnight but the blueprint is in place to make it happen over the next few seasons.

Now we just need the players and owners to actually sign a CBA so we can wait to find out.

Well thankfully Illegal Curve is here to bring you out of the CBA/Lockout darkness.

On the one-year anniversary of last year’s groundbreaking piece, Dave and Ezzy’s Top 10 Winnipeg Jets Home and Away games (the article was actually posted August 26, 2011).   Even if there is a possibility that some of them may be cancelled due to a work stoppage we wanted to present you with our Top 10 games to look forward to.

So, without further ado, here is our choices for Top 10 Winnipeg Jets Home Games.

As always, please give us your opinions in the comments section at the bottom of the article.

Ezzy’s Top 10 Home Games:

Follow Ez on twitter:  @icezzyg

10. Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, October 13, 2012 (1:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: It is quite simple why the home opener starts off my list; this game may never happen. Jets fans have waited all summer for the return of their team and if the NHL and NHLPA can somehow come to terms on a new CBA by September 15th then the Saturday afternoon matchup between the Hurricanes and Jets will be the first chance fans will have to see the Jets play since April 7, 2012 , a home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Throw in the fact the Hurricanes have added Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin since last season and this is going to be one heck of a home-opener (if we have labour peace by then).

9. Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2012 (6:30 p.m.)

Reason: The Wild are the closest franchise to the Jets geographically (St.Paul/Minneapolis is a 7 and half hour drive from Winnipeg). To say that the Wild improved in the off-season would be a huge understatement as they spent nearly $200 million dollars to lure prize free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to the state of Minnesota. The Wild, who already employ Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, could be one of the most improved teams in the NHL this season.

8.  Boston Bruins on Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: Of all the games that were played at the MTS Centre last season, perhaps the most impressive performance by the Winnipeg Jets was on December 6, 2011 against the Boston Bruins, a 2-1 victory that snapped a 15 game undefeated streak for the Bruins at the time.  That game, which featured hundreds of Boston Bruins fans in the crowd, was one of the major highlights of December, a month in which the Jets posted a superb record of 10-3-1. The Bruins (2010’11 Stanley Cup Champions) are still one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference however, with two wins last season against the Bruins at home, the Jets aren’t being very good hosts.

7. Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, December 15th, 2012 (6:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: The Penguins visited the Jets twice last year but this year will be the first opportunity for fans to see Sidney Crosby, arguably the best player in the game today. Winnipeg lost three of four games to the Penguins last year, including two embarrassing road defeats in which they allowed 16 goals. Because the Jets will have to beat teams like Pittsburgh if they want to have a chance at making the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, this game against Pittsburgh early in the season is all that more important. Oh yeah, let’s not forget that the Penguins employ another superstar. Evgeni Malkin is the defending League MVP and Points King so yeah, fans will get to see more than just one elite player in this game.

6. Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, November 15th (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: Everyone remembers last year’s Jets home opener versus the Montreal Canadiens on October 9th. It was Sunday, it was Hockey Night in Canada and most importantly, it was the first NHL regular season game to be played in Winnipeg in over 15 years. But we would all like to forget the score in that game wouldn’t we? That’s because the Habs came into Winnipeg and smoked the Jets 4-1 in a lopsided, sloppy affair. The storied Canadiens have a huge following across the country and they seem to get loud cheers wherever they go, including visitor “unfriendly” MTS Centre. Circle this one on your calendars folks. When the Jets and Habs play, it’s always interesting.

5. Calgary Flames on Thursday, February 28, 2012 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: The Flames and Jets played once last year in Calgary (a 5-3 Flames win) but this year the Red Mile will come to the River City in late February for a much anticipated cross-conference tilt. Calgary has missed the playoffs the last three seasons but they are still a hard working team that will have lots of supporters when they make their way to the MTS Centre. Many hockey fans will remember Calgary’s run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals (Yours truly, Dave and Richy all made the trip there) and the excitement that they created with their style of play so this game should be much more entertaining than your average Thursday night game in February.

4. Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, February 11, 2012 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: Last year’s Jets home game versus the Coyotes was billed as Jets 1.0 versus Jets 2.0 and even though the game itself was a 1-0 snoozefest, the game will not be forgotten anytime soon as it was a contest filled with emotion and nostalgia.  Fast forward to this year’s game and it will be unique for a whole different reason as this may very well be the Coyotes last year in Phoenix (I know what you’re thinking- please don’t get you started). At the time this article was written, the ownership situation in the Desert was as murky as ever which means that the game on February 11th may be a fond farewell to the Phoenix Coyotes.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, December 31, 2012 (4:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: If you have ever listened to The Illegal Curve Hockey Show, you will know that I have been a big fan of New Year’s Eve games since my childhood. This year the Jets will play the new-and-improved Tampa Bay Lightning on December 31st (4 oclock start time) and as always the game promises to be one big rocking party.  The Lightning are stacked with big-time point producers like Steven Stamkos, Martin St.Louis and Vincent Lecavalier so don’t expect this game to only be about champagne and dancing. There will be two competitive hockey teams on the ice fighting tooth and nail for the two points in the win column. Then it will be time for champagne and dancing.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, November 29, 2012 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: The reason this game is so high on my list may surprise a few people but if you’ll allow me to explain myself, I will tell you why the game against Toronto on November 29 gets the Number-2 spot on my list. Leading up to this scheduled game against the Leafs, the Jets will play six consecutive games on the road in 11 days, all against Eastern Conference opponents which means November 29th will be the Jets first home game in half-a-month. The Jets are always under pressure to win at home but when the Leafs are in town, the pressure is even higher. The Jets defeated the Leafs twice at home last year so Jets fans probably won’t be disappointed.

1. Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, February 9, 2013 (9:00 p.m. CST)

Reason: My Number-1 home game to look forward to this season is the Vancouver Canucks on February 9th, which will not only be the Hockey Night in Canada late game but the first time the Vancouver Canucks ever step foot into the MTS Centre for a regular season NHL game. The 2010’11 Stanley Cup Finalists have been one of the most dominant teams in the NHL since the 2004’05 Lockout and will arguably be one of the top teams in the Western Conference again this season.  The main reason why the Jets/Canucks game gets #1 spot on my list is because of the history between the Jets 1.0 and the Vancouver Canucks (both teams used to play in the old Smythe Division) but also because of the amount of Canucks who used to play for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose (Ryan Kesler, Corey Schneider, Kevin Bieksa, etc.).

Dave’s Top 10 Home Games:

Follow Dave on twitter:  @icdave

10.  Florida Panthers on Thursday, April 11, 2013 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  While I’m not overly nostalgic to see the Jets Southeast Division rival this year, the final game of the season should/could prove to be worthwhile.  Either we will be saying goodbye to another NHL season, or Jets fans will joyously be cheering their first entry to the post season.

9.  Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, October 13, 2012 (1:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  Using a similar logic to my 10th choice, while seeing the Canes would not usually be on my wish list, listening to Jets fans welcome back their team after a summer hiatus will be well worth the price of admission.  Additionally listening to the MTS Centre chant “Marc is better” or something of that nature in derision to Thunder Bay, Ontario natives Jordan and Eric Staal should be entertaining.  Of course this game is  contingent on the negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA which haven’t been exactly urgent of late.

8.  Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, February 11th, 2013 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  While I expected this game to have been more ‘heated’ last season it fell somewhat flat.  Perhaps now that Winnipeg has seen the return of an NHL franchise, the animus directed at those in Arizona has subsided.  Of course if you read the vitriol written in the comments sections of newspapers, you wouldn’t be so sure of that.  Still the Coyotes and Jets rivalry is a fun one and could prove to be another good rival for the Jets.

7.  New York Rangers on Thursday, January 17th, 2013 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  I’m not sure what I’m more excited for; seeing Rick Nash as a member of the Blueshirts or seeing the post game presser between Ezra and John Torotrella.

6.  Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, December 15th, 2012 (6:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  Unlike back in the day when you had either Jagr or Lemieux but never both Pens superstars show up to the Winnipeg Arena, now fans have a chance to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together on the ice.  While it might not end with the best result for the Jets, you cannot help but enjoy watching two of the games superstars.  It is also an opportunity to welcome back Tanner Glass, who was an integral part of the GST line that we enjoyed so much last season.

5.  Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 (6:30 p.m. CST)

Reason:  Best opportunity for a geographic rival.  Depending on how the league realignment goes, the Jets and the Wild might be seeing a lot of each other for years to come.  If the game in January is anything like it was last year, when the Jets stopped the Wild’s win streak and sent them on a tailspin that saw Minnesota drop from 1st in the West to eventually out of playoff contention, this could be another doozy.

4.  Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, February 9th, 2013 (9:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  How can you not be excited for the only 9 pm start at the MTS Centre this season?  The Saturday night crowd is going to be rocking as the city that was formerly the Cancuks farm club welcomes back the parent organization with welcome arms.  The big brother/little brother rivalry has many in Winnipeg wanting to see the Jets lay the smack down on Vancouver.  Plus who can forget the early 90′s when the Jets finally saw the Oilers & Flames start to fade only to be beaten up by Geoff Courtnall, Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, Cliff Ronning and in a literal sense by Gino Odjick.

3.  Chicago Black Hawks on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  With the threat of the lockout looming, this game as well as the game against the Wings game are two high on my list that appear to be in jeopardy.  This would be a shame as many Manitobans want to see the local boys (Toews, Sharp) come back to Winnipeg and play.  I believe the Hawks are my final team from the Original 6 that I have yet to see live as well.

2.  Calgary Flames on Thursday, February 28th, 2013 (7:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  Perhaps it is the thought of two former Atlanta franchises playing each other for the first time at the MTS Centre.  Or perhaps it is a hearkening back to the days of the Smythe Division when characters like Lanny MacDonald, Joel Otto and Al MacInnis were beating up on the Jets 1.0.   When we went down to Calgary in 2004 for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Jets garb everyone on the Red Mile were embracing the Jets and now that the team is back, and when the Jets move back to the West, it should be a great rivalry.

1.  Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 (6:00 p.m. CST)

Reason:  Having gone to school just west of Motown in Lansing, I can attest to the power of the Detroit Red Wings in Michigan.  The games at Joe Louis Arena were always a blast and it didn’t hurt that the team was a perennial Cup contender.  Additionally, local hero Darren Helm from St. Andrews, Manitoba will have many supporters in the crowd.

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Almost as exciting as the games themselves are the story lines that happen in addition to the game.  Like the cousins from California who traveled in the heart of Winter to see the Sharks take on the Jets.  Or faithful Illegal Curve Hockey show listener AllyK journey to the Peg’ for the home opener against Montreal.  2012-13 will hopefully provide us with many new tales of fans traveling to Winnipeg to watch some NHL hockey at the MTS Centre.

It is not that Jokinen cannot pass, or is even a bad passer when he attempts to move the puck, it is that his first move is generally to put the puck on net.  We are talking about a player that has put 351 shots on net during two different seasons (Evgeni Malkin led the entire NHL with 339 shots on goal last season).

Jokinen actually has had three seasons in which he has more goals than assists.  That is fairly uncommon for point producing players–Stamkos, Gaborik, Moulson and Hartnell did that in the top 30 point producers this season.

With a player that has not been known as a pass-first player, it would be interesting to examine how he came about his assists last season and see what his strengths were and where he appears to feel most comfortable.  So, let’s do just that.

When Does Jokinen Register Assists

Jokinen registered 38 assists in 31 games last season.  Let’s delve deeper into how he registered those assists.

The former Flame logged significant power play time last season, playing 3:06 minutes per game, which was third of all Flames forwards behind only Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay.

At even strength, Jokinen logged 15:26 minutes per game, which was second on the team behind only Iginla.

Jokinen played minimally on the penalty kill with only 0:24 minutes per game.  As an aside, the Jets do need to improve their penalty kill and Jokinen and Alexei Ponikarovsky will do little to help in that regard.

In what game situations did Jokinen register his assists:

As you can tell, Jokinen excelled on the power play last season.  In fact, he led the Flames with the most first assists per 60 minutes played on the man advantage.

On the power play, Jokinen likes to set up on the right half-boards and create offense from there–him and Iginla paired up on a few power play goals that saw Jokinen make the cross-ice pass to Iginla for the one-timer.  With Jokinen generally setting up on right half boards, the Jets may look to put Dustin Byfuglien on the weak side to play a one-timer roll just as Iginla does in Calgary.  Both Byfuglien and Iginla have good one-timers (Iginla’s is arguably the best in the game) and Jokinen likes to work off the weak side (we will touch on that soon).

First or Second Assists

Next we examine whether Jokinen’s assists were first or second assists.

Jokinen is a player that has actually registered more first assists than second assists over the past two seasons.  His plays are leading directly to goals which is a positive.  If you had your druthers, you’d rather the player you are acquiring is directly responsible for set ups than not.

Mind you, playing with Jarome Iginla certainly does not hurt.  Of Jokinen’s first assists, 10 of them were to Jarome Iginla on the scoring end.  The Jets do not have a right-handed sniper, Blake Wheeler is more of a pass-first player and Anti Miettinen does not have a great shot, so it will be interesting to see which player Jokinen meshes with best at even strength.

Where Jokinen Registers His Assists From

We alluded above to Jokinen’s penchant for creating from the right half-boards on the power play.  Well, Jokinen actually likes to create from the right side of the ice, not just the right half boards.  Many left-handed shooters also have that preference because they are on their off-wing and have more flexibility and options in terms of passing lanes.

The statistics indicate that Jokinen feels most comfortable from behind the net to the right hash-marks.  So, if you can picture the offensive zone in four quadrants (as if viewing it from the offensive blue line), Jokinen likes the top right quadrant.

Olli Jokinen is not a playmaker like Blake Wheeler.  That said, he can create offense with his passing, even if it is not necessarily his forte.  The question, however, is whether Jokinen, who is in his mid-3os, can create offense without a career 500 goal scorer playing shotgun on his wing?

The 2012-13 season will help fans answer that question.  For now, it is enjoyable having a new, established forward to look forward to when the Jets enter season two of their franchise rebirth.

The 2012 Unrestricted Free Agent Class is considered to be a weak one ( with the exception being Zach Parise and Ryan Suter) but there are still plenty of value players that could help the Jets next season.

Because it is no secret that the Jets are thin up the middle and on the wings, Illegal Curve has put together a list of 5 Forwards who are set to become Unrestricted Free Agents on July 1 that the Jets could target.

*The list is in no particular order

Five UFA Forwards the Winnipeg Jets could target (The player’s last team and 2011’12 salary in parenthesis):

1.  P.A. Parenteau, Right Wing (New York Islanders, $1,250,000)- P.A. Parenteau has spent the last two seasons with the New York Islanders playing mainly on the team’s top line alongside John Tavares and Matt Moulson. The 29-year-old native of Hull, Quebec is a dynamic forward who has an excellent shot and above-average playmaking abilities. A 9th round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2001, Parenteau had to play in the American Hockey League for parts of seven years before making it as a regular in the NHL which is a testament to his work ethic and dedication to the game. As for why he would fit in with the Jets, it is quite simple. The Jets need a Top-Six Forward and PA Parenteau would be an upgrade over Kyle Wellwood as a second line right winger. Even if Parenteau is seeking a raise from last year’s salary, he would be a quality signing for the Jets.

2. Jarret Stoll, Center (Los Angeles Kings, $3,600,000)- Jarret Stoll is only two weeks from a Stanley Cup victory with the Los Angeles Kings but he is set to become a highly sought after unrestricted free agent come July 1st and the Winnipeg Jets could definitely use his services. Stoll, 29, has the right combination of size, skill and experience to be a 2nd line center for the Winnipeg Jets and although he may be coming off of a terrible offensive season (78 games played, six goals, 15 assists, 21 points) he is still a very serviceable NHL center. Consider that Stoll averaged 18 goals and 43 points the previous three seasons and it is clear that he would be an upgrade for the Jets who used Nikolai Antropov and Alex Burmistrov as their 2nd line centers last season. Stoll had a career high 68 points with the Edmonton Oilers in 2005’06.

3.  Jiri Hudler, Center (Detroit Red Wings, $2,875,000)- Jiri Hudler scored a career-high 25 goals for the Detroit Red Wings this past season but it is believed that Hudler is going to test the free agent market come July 1st. Hudler is an extremely talented centerman who has excellent hands and a very deceptive quick-release shot. There are drawbacks to Hudler’s game however as he is small (5’10”) and not very physical.  The strengths in his game, that being offensive production, skating and creativity may cause some teams to over pay for Hudler. Because Hudler made just under $3 million with the Wings last season, it is quite possible that he may command $4 million on the open market which may be too high of a price for the Jets.

4.  Olli Jokinen, Center (Calgary Flames, $3,000,000)- Olli Jokinen is an interesting case. A former 3rd overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 1997, Jokinen’s career has had its share of ups and downs. Jokinen averaged 20 goals and 57 points with the Flames over the last two seasons but it is believed that Calgary will not be offering him a new contract this summer. Even though Jokinen is 33 years old, he still has several years of good hockey left in him. One could make the argument that Olli Jokinen would be a Number-1 center on the Winnipeg Jets based on his size, offensive skill and vision on the ice. It should be noted here that Jokinen’s defensive game has improved in his later years and he was a player that did benefit from the tutelage of Brent Sutter in Calgary. Like Hudler, Jokinen may command $4 million on the open market which may be a turn-off for the Jets.

5.  Stephen Gionta, Right Wing (New Jersey Devils, $512,500)- Stephen Gionta, 28 years old and the younger brother of Habs Captain Brian Gionta, was one of the best stories of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After spending the majority of the 2011’12 season with Albany in the American Hockey League, Gionta joined the Devils late in the season and ended up being a key contributor on the team’s fourth line with Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter (24 games, three goals, four assists). Gionta made the league minimum in 2011’12 and will surely look for a raise on last year’s salary. The Jets could use some extra scoring punch on their third line and Gionta could be available for under $1 million.

We have already discussed the approximate value of contracts that both Kane and Pavelec will demand this summer, but let’s take a closer look at Kane’s game as a whole.

Last season, fans everywhere in town would dismiss Kane’s goal-scoring ability by saying he was too one-dimensional; that he could only score goals.  Well, first off, scoring goals is a talent that few have, so if Kane is going to have one talent, it is beneficial for the Jets to have that be goal scoring rather than hitting or blocking shots.

Another common complaint of Jets fans was that Kane’s moves with the puck quickly became predictable.  They lamented that he would seemingly only go down the left wing and either continue to skate wide or use the same toe-drag move on the defenseman.

While there is truth to the fact that Kane is limited in his offensive moves, frankly, he still scored—a lot.  Never mind the fact that Kane’s linemates this season were not exactly Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry (his linemates at the World Championships in the spring).

After hearing the above complaints, we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at exactly where and how Evander Kane scored his 30 goals this season.

Before examining each goal, here is a list of the games that Kane scored, how many shots he had in that specific game and how many minutes he played in that specific contest.

Listing of Evander Kane’s Goals in 2011-12

We know that Kane popped 30 goals last season at the age of 20 and that he scored more goals than any other Jet player in 2011-12. Impressive? I think so.

Consider the fact that Kane finished 25th in the NHL in goals last season and was the youngest goal-scorer ranked in the top 30.

We know the British Columbia native can score, so let’s now examine how he scores his goals.

How Evander Kane Scored in 2011-12

Goal Location

Some NHL players are hesitant to go to the net.  They prefer to hang around the periphery and avoid the physical pounding that one will face when hanging right around the top of the opposing netminder’s crease.  Evander Kane, on the other hand, seems to thrive on taking such a beating and eliciting such attention.  He consistently uses his big body to crash the net and demonstrated a willingness to incur the physical attention of the other team’s big, strong and mean defensemen.

Just where were Kane’s goals scored from last season (not counting his empty net goal from the neutral zone):

While Kane is a left winger, he does not score all of his goals from that side of the ice.  Kane often moves to his off-wing in the offensive zone, especially around the net, where he ably one-timed shots into the back of the opposing team’s net. 

The above data indicates a couple things.  Kane is certainly not shy about going to the dirty areas.  He scored many goals from just above the crease/bottom of the circles.

It also indicates that he has a terrific shot.  Kane scored nine goals from above the hash marks.  A player like Kyle Wellwood is not going to snipe a ton of goals from above the hash marks, but Kane’s shot gives him the ability to beat net minders from afar.

Type of Shot

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that Evander Kane has a terrific wrist shot.  It is not only a lethal, powerful shot, but also his release is so quick and he has the ability few players have to shoot while skating full speed.   Kane probably has a top-five NHL wrist shot and it is no surprise that 23 of his 30 goals in 2011-12 were scored, in some form, utilizing that very shot.

As you can tell below, Kane is not apt to score with slap shots—and if you watched the Jets play, you know he hardly attempted a slap shot all season long.  That is not necessarily a bad thing; some players are just like that.

Type of Play

The type of plays that Evander Kane scored on this past season contained a variety of different methods.  Many of them were based upon his blazing speed, terrific wrist shot and willingness to go to the net.

His speed creates 2-on-1 opportunities.  His willingness to attack the net results in goals that are the product of rebounds, scrums, tip-ins and cross-crease passes.  His terrific shot also allows him to score off the half boards.

All in all, people may complain about how Evander Kane plays the game—but he does one thing better than any other Jet—he scores.  In fact, he scores a lot and does so in a variety of different fashions that should lend well to scoring in the future.

The Jets have a few problems on the roster, Kane’s “predictability,” however, is quite far down that list.

*Last season the New York Rangers took the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference with 93 points, we’ll use that as a benchmark for the final playoff spot. However, due to the quality of the Eastern Conference this season, it is possible 8th place will be less than 93 points. To ensure that the Jets are all but guaranteed a playoff spot, well use 93 points. (SportsClubStats has the Jets at 99% chance at a playoff spot if they make it to 93)

Winnipeg currently has 72 points in the standings, if they want to finish with 93 points, they’ll need to earn 21 points in their final fifteen games finishing at either 10-4-1 or 9-3-3, that is a winning percentage of 66.7% or 60%, and a points earned per game of 1.4. That is greater than the team ‘s winning percentage this season of 47.8% and average points-per-game on the season of 1.07.

(Winning percentage: wins/games played, points per game: total points/games played).

From a strictly mathematical point of view, if we take their average points-per-game (1.07), and multiply it by the number of games remaining (15), they should earn 16.05 points. Well short of the 21 hypothetically required.

What is most interesting about the Jets is that they are a completely different team at home (21-10-4, 60% winning percentage, 1.31 points-per-game average) than on the road (11-17-4, 34.4%, 0.81 points-per-game average).

Unfortunately for Jets fans, nine of the remaining fifteen games are on the road. If we take their points per game at home and the road, and multiply it by the respective games (1.31 x 6)+(0.81 x 9) the Jets will finish with 15.15 points, short of the  21 required.

For the purposes of this article, the best case (but unlikely) scenario is that the Jets will perform for the remainder of the regular season at the level they have performed at home all year. In this case, they should theoretically earn 19.65 points (1.31 x 15) for the remainder of the season, close to the goal of 21, but not quite.

What is clear from the math is the Jets are going to have to play beyond the level they have throughout the season to make the playoffs.  While this is not necessarily unheard of in professional sports, teams get “hot” at the end of the season and make a run to ear a playoff birth.

The good news for Jets fans is that they could be one of those teams that gets “hot”.

Since the All Star break, the team has posted a record of 10-5-2, averaging 1.29 points-per-game. On the road the Jets have posted a respectable 4-3 record, averaging 1.14 points per game.  Conversely, at home the has posted a record of 6-2-2, averaging 1.4 points per game.

Comparing the post All Star break and total season records, the Jets are playing their best hockey right when it counts most—down the stretch. From projecting their point total based on post All-Star break performance we can project that they will earn ((9 x 1.14) + (6 x 1.4)) 18.66 points in the remaining 15 games, arriving at a total of 90.66 points.

According to the website SportsClubStats if the Jets finish with 90 points they have an 80% shot at the playoffs, if they finish with 91, they have around a 90% shot at the playoffs.

As Lloyd Christmas once said, “so you’re saying there is a chance.”

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With fifteen games remaining, the Jets have put themselves in a position to make a run at a playoff spot. Coming into the season Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said one of the goals was for the players to show progress and development. If the Jets do end up falling short of a playoff spot, they can say they have had a small victory by way of the improvement of the following players:

Blake Wheeler has emerged as the star of the Jets since the beginning of the long December home stand, averaging a point per game post December 1 (41 points in 41 games). His previous high of 24 assists and 45 points has been shattered as he is up to 39 and 54 respectively. The 25-year-old has become one of the league’s premier passers; ranking 14^th in assists and has become a force in the shootout leading the team with four goals on six attempts.

In his third season, Evander Kane has taken another step forward. His 26 goals and 46 points are already an improvement over last season’s 19 goals and 46 points. Kane has been shooting more frequently this season as well, increasing his average shots per game to 3.88 from 3.21 last season. His 3.88 shots per game rank  4^th in the league only behind superstars Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, and Ilya Kovalchuk. The future is bright for Evander Kane, and the Jets will have to make some important decisions regarding his next contract. Illegal Curve’s Richard Pollock gave his analysis on what that contract might look like (part 1, part 2).

Dustin Byfuglien is following up his breakout 2010-11 season in Atlanta, with an even more impressive one in Winnipeg. Last season he set career highs in goals, assists, and points and it looks like he will eclipse his assist and point totals this season. The 26-year-old is one of the league’s elite offensive defensemen ranking third in points among rearguards with 42, as well as third in points-per-game with 0.82.  With “Big Buff” being under contract for four more seasons, Winnipeg fans can look forward to seeing the defenseman during his prime NHL years.

Alex Burmistrov is only in his second season, but has already improved over his rookie campaign. The Russian has seen increased ice-time this year averaging 16:46 minutes per game, compared to 13:13 last season. The twenty-year-old has six more points than last season’s total and his thirteen goals more than double his rookie year total of six.

Zach Bogosian has been a steady presence on the Jets defense this season. At 19 assists and 0.41 points per game this season, he has improved on previous career highs of 13 and 0.40. In his fourth season, the 21-year-old has logged major minutes on the back end with 23:29 per game (a career high).

These five players have an average age of 22.4 and along with Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and goaltender Ondrej Pavelec form a very young core for the Winnipeg Jets hockey club.

While there is no guarantee the Jets will make playoffs this season, fans can take solace in the positive developments of individual players in the team’s first season in the Manitoba capital.

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The goaltender position is one of the most interesting positions in all of sport. Goaltenders face considerable individual pressure unique to a team sport such as hockey.  The lonely island of the crease generally results in anointing a city’s hero or looking down upon a city’s goat. The line between both hero and goat is so fine that the same netminders can find themselves in both categories in the same season.  Rarely is there a middle ground.

This season the Czech netminder, who has probably been perceived as more hero than goat, is earning a salary of $1.15 million.  Before delving into Pavelec’s value on the market, let’s first venture into the territory of a goaltender’s value in the current NHL marketplace.

The Pavelec negotiations will provide fans with an indicator of how the Jets’ brass views goaltenders and their monetary value.  Some teams, such as Chicago (Kevin Cheveldayoff’s former team) and Detroit, do not believe in paying goaltenders significant amounts of money; these teams have spent $3.26 and $3.0 million respectively on their starting and backup netminders this season.  Teams such as the Wings and Hawks have been extremely successful utilizing this method.  They make a concerted effort to spend much of their respective cap space on tremendous top-end defensive talent (Nicklas Lidstrom and Duncan Keith to name just two) and top-end offensive talent (Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Toews among many others).  Goaltending, while not overlooked, is apportioned a modest amount of the team’s salary cap.

Conversely, the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins are spending $6.25 million of salary cap space on netminding this season.   With the Bruins’ success last season and again this season, one could argue both methods work under the right circumstances.

This season the Winnipeg Jets spent $3.0 million (the same amount as Detroit, although it accounts for a higher percentage of team salary, as the Wings spend more money on player salaries than do the Jets) on the netminding duo of Pavelec and veteran Chris Mason.  Both of these contracts were signed by the previous regime, leaving us with little in the way of evidence as to how Kevin Cheveldayoff and company wish to spend TNSE’s money on the goaltender position.

With the possibility of a playoff spot being of paramount concern to the Winnipeg organization, fans will likely have to wait until the summer to find out how much the Jets intend to spend on the netminding position.  In the meantime, let’s attempt to narrow down the value of Ondrej Pavelec on the free agent market.

Comparables

Ondrej Pavelec has seen significant starting minutes in the NHL since the 2009-10 season.  Here are his significant goaltending statistics since that time:

Pavelec was a second round draft selection (41^st overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.  Here are the other netminders drafted within the first three rounds of that draft year:

1. Carey Price (fifth overall);
2. Tuukka Rask (21^st overall);
3. Tyler Plante (32^nd overall);
4. Jeff Frazee (38^th overall);
5. Pier-Olivier Pelletier (59^th overall);
6. Kristofer Westblom (65^th overall);
7. Jonathan Quick (72^nd overall); and
8. Ben Bishop (85^th overall).

Naturally, Carey Price, Tuukka Rask and Jonathan Quick serve as interesting comparables for Pavelec.  For interest’s sake, we will not strictly limit comparables to Pavelec’s draft year and will include a younger netminder in Semyon Varlamov (23^rd overall in 2006 NHL Entry Level) and an older netminder in Jaroslav Halak (271^st overall in 2003 NHL Entry Draft) in this analysis.

Leverage

Who needs a netminder?

Unlike Evander Kane, the market for netminders is not as significant as the market for a scoring left winger.  Realistically, how many teams need or want to acquire a netminder?

Let’s go division-by-division:

Southeast Division:

1. Washington Capitals: No (Neuvirth/Holtby);
2. Florida Panthers: No (Markstrom);
3. Carolina Hurricanes: No (Ward); and
4. Tampa Bay Lightning: Yes.

Atlantic Division:

1. New York Rangers: No (Lundqvist);
2. New York Islanders: Yes;
3. New Jersey Devils: Maybe;
4. Philadelphia Flyers: No (Bryzgalov); and
5. Pittsburgh Penguins: No (Fleury).

Northeast Division:

1. Montreal Canadiens: No (Price);
2. Toronto Maple Leafs: Maybe (Reimer);
3. Buffalo Sabres: No (Miller);
4. Boston Bruins: No (Thomas/Rask); and
5. Ottawa Senators: No (Anderson/Lehner).

Central Division:

1. Detroit Red Wings: No (Howard);
2. St. Louis Blues: No (Halak/Elliot/Bishop);
3. Chicago Blackhawks: Maybe (Crawford);
4. Nashville Predators: No (Rinne); and
5. Columbus Blue Jackets: Maybe (Mason).

Pacific Division:

1. Dallas Stars: No (Lehtonen);
2. Phoenix Coyotes: No (Smith);
3. Los Angeles Kings: No (Quick/Bernier);
4. San Jose Sharks: No (Niemi); and
5. Anaheim Ducks: No (Hiller).

Northwest Division:

1. Vancouver Canucks: No (Luongo/Schneider);
2. Edmonton Oilers: Maybe (Khabibulin/Dubnyk);
3. Calgary Flames: No (Kiprusoff);
4. Minnesota Wild: No (Backstrom); and
5. Colorado Avalanche: No (Varlamov).

There are arguably seven teams that may or may not be interested in acquiring a netminder in the off-season.    That number, however, could be whittled down depending on Martin Brodeur’s return for the Devils, the Blackhawks’ confidence in Corey Crawford, the Oilers’ ability to deal Khabibulin and their future plans for Devan Dubnyk, among many other factors.  The market could, in theory, be whittled down to two or three teams that truly need a goaltender.

Click here to read the 2nd part of Richard’s analysis of Ondrej Pavelec’s fair market value.

Now that supply has been set out above, let’s examine demand.  In other words, how many free agent goalies will be available to sign without giving up any compensation, aside from money (age in parenthesis)?

1. Tomas Vokoun (35);
2. Martin Brodeur (39);
3. Josh Harding (27);
4. Jonas Gustavsson (27);
5. Evgeni Nabokov (36); and
6. Ben Bishop (25).

A few of the above netminders likely won’t be relied on to start in the NHL but a couple of them may step in to log significant minutes in some team’s crease.  Never mind the fact that we have not yet taken into account quality backup netminders on certain teams like Vancouver (Schneider) and Los Angeles (Bernier).  Simply put, there is hardly a market for netminders in the NHL.

This, of course, works in Kevin Cheveldayoff’s favour.  Think about it; there is more supply than demand for netminders in the NHL.

The question then becomes, what is Ondrej Pavelec’s negotiating ploy?

He has the following options:

1. Arbitration;
2. Demand trade;
3. Offer sheet; and
4. Hold out

However, the options of demanding a trade or receiving an offer sheet are virtually remote, as the market is saturated with goaltending talent.  Also, the option of holding out is extremely rare because the player very possibly will never recoup the lost salary, never mind the risk that another netminder begins to perform and the need for the player decreases thereby hurting his market value and leverage. In essence, Pavelec’s leverage centers on arbitration.

Arbitration is an experience that both player and team generally hope to avoid, as it sometimes results in hurt feelings.  Former Devils center Bobby Holik documented just that on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show a few weeks ago.

In reality, it is in both the team and player’s interests to come to an agreement prior to an arbitration hearing.   Of course, that requires reasonable positions on both sides, which, for the purposes of this article, is an assumption we are going to rely on.

It is extremely interesting that three of the above netminders are also closing in on restricted free agent status.  Not surprisingly, these are the three netminders that were drafted in the same entry class as Pavelec.  Fascinatingly, all of Price, Rask and Pavelec signed two-year contacts after the expiration of their respective entry-level contracts.

Here were their second contracts:

On the other hand, Quick signed a three-year deal after his entry-level contract expired—a deal that appears quite team friendly at this time.  Varlamov did the same; signing a three-year deal after his entry-level contact was complete.

Halak signed a four-year deal that takes him to UFA status, but this was the Slovak netminder’s third NHL contract.  With Pavelec also looking for a third NHL contract, similarities can be drawn from their respective situations.

What had Jaroslav Halak accomplished prior to his third NHL contract?

Halak had obviously played less games than Pavelec heading into his third NHL contract, however, he also had a longer track record in professional hockey (69 games in AHL with Hamilton, never posting save percentage below .927), started for Slovakia in the Olympics and led the Habs on an incredible run to the Conference Finals after upsetting both the Penguins and Capitals in the first two rounds).

Considering Pavelec’s statistics do not really compare favourably to any of the goaltenders listed above (aside from Semyon Varlamov), his agent (Allan Walsh) has a more challenging argument on his hands.

Available Contract Options

In any contract negotiation, there are many options available for both sides.  Both the team and player will likely entertain the possibility of both short-term and long-term possibilities.

Pavelec only has two seasons after this season until he becomes a UFA.  This provides both Kevin Cheveldayoff and Allan Walsh with options with respect to term.

Players and teams generally do not opt for one-year contracts for young up-and-coming players.  Take for example the two-year contracts signed by Blake Wheeler and Zach Bogosian this off-season.  Two-year deals were determined to be a sensible middle ground for both player and team.  One-year deals, on the other hand, provide salary cap uncertainty for the team and pressure on the player to perform at exceptional levels to increase his value (something that can work both for the player and against the player depending on his makeup).

It is also important to point out that some teams may prefer a longer term deal, if it really believes the player is worth that type of term, because they can structure a deal in such a way as to keep the cap hit consistent from year-to-year.  For example, if the team signs Pavelec to a two-year contract for $5.0 million, the resulting cap hit would be $2.5 million per season.  If after the two-year contract expires, the team subsequently signs him to a three-year deal worth $15.0 million, the resulting cap hit for the subsequent contract would be $5.0 million per season.  Alternatively, if the team signed the player to a five-year deal for $20 million at the outset, the player would receive the same amount of money over the five year term ($20 million) but the team could lock in a cap hit of $4.0 million.  Obviously there is risk inherent in a long-term deal for the team, but some teams may prefer one option to the other.

Andrew Ladd signed a five-year contract with the Jets in the summer of 2011, so let’s assume for the purposes of this article that the team will not hand out a contract of greater length than that of the proverbial face of the franchise (there is also the issue/uncertainty of a new CBA this off-season, but that did not seem to deter the Jets from committing to Ladd long-term).  As a result, let’s work within the framework of a one-year contract through to a five-year contract for Pavelec.

Projected Contract(s)

Before moving further, we should also mention the highest paid NHL netminder, in terms of cap hit, is Henrik Lundqvist at $6.875 million.  Only four goalies in the NHL have a cap hit of $6.0 million and higher (Ryan Miller, Niklas Backtrom and Cam Ward.  Moreover, only seven goalies in the NHL make upwards of a $5.0 million cap hit per season.

The ceiling for Pavelec on any contract is likely $5.0 million.  Here are some interesting averages for the goaltenders that carry a $5.0 million cap hit and above this season:

Not one of the eleven netminders who carry a cap hit of $5.0 million and above have a career save percentage lower than Ondrej Pavelec’s.  That is not to say Pavelec won’t eventually reach their production levels, but the goaltenders getting paid are generally older and more seasoned—and, of course, UFA eligible. As mentioned in the Evander Kane piece, UFA years have the most value to a player because the player no longer is “restricted” from signing wherever he may choose.  A player’s UFA years are his most valuable financially and provide the player with the highest form of leverage—playing one team off against another for his services.

That digression aside, using $5.0 million as a ceiling for Pavelec’s value, then what is the floor?  Pavelec is unquestionably going to be tendered a qualifying offer this off-season, but his contract for 2012-13 will not be in and around $1.15 million.

As a starting point, let’s average the cap hits of Jonathan Quick for next season ($1.8 million) and the contract of Semyon Varlamov for next season ($2.83 million).  This total of $2.3 million seems like a reasonable starting point for Pavelec.  Quick is probably better than his contract, Varlamov is probably worse.  Pavelec probably finds himself somewhere in the middle, so a reasonable $2.3 million starting salary for his second last RFA year seems sensible.

Moving forward, using Jaroslav Halak as a barometer may fit quite well.  Halak has superior numbers but has also not logged over 45 games in a season on two occasions.  Moreover, the average annual salary continues to increase annually, so contracts signed two years later generally take that into account.  We would also be remiss if we did not point out that Halak has played in more goaltender friendly systems (Montreal and St. Louis for defensive coaches in Jacques Martin and Ken Hitchcock).  Just ask Miikka Kiprusoff how defensive coaches change your statistical output—specifically, his years playing under the offensively oriented Mike Keenan (.906 and .903 save percentages in those two seasons).

With that in mind, and with countless factors taken into account, let’s attempt to project Pavelec’s earning capacity moving forward:

Needless to say, the Jets will have an interesting off-season with Evander Kane and Ondrej Pavelec up for free agency.  Of most interest to some is the compensation these players garner from the Jets brass; however, we may learn more about the future of the franchise by observing the course of action GM Kevin Cheveldayoff takes in handling these negotiations.

**Thanks to capgeek.com for all of the contract data**

The intriguing element of Kane’s potential was the limited knowledge fans had of the 2009 fourth overall NHL Draft selection.  In usual cases, fans see their team draft a player in June and spend the remainder of the summer endlessly consuming information (both relevant and irrelevant) about him.  If the player is exceptional, the fans may luck out and catch a snippet of that particular player in the proceeding season.  If, instead, he resembles the majority of players his age, he is returned to the CHL, NCAA or Europe and followed by fans intensely for one, two or even three to four seasons.

In Evander Kane’s case, however, the British Columbia native was fairly unknown to Jets fans.  The NHL’s return to Winnipeg was only formalized at the end of May.  That left the remainder of the summer to get to know the entire Thrashers roster.  Fans did not have the luxury of two plus years to become familiar with Evander Kane; instead, they had a whole three months until training camp hit.  His goal totals, a simple yet indicative performance indicator, were more than respectable over the past two seasons (14 and 19 respectively), but just what was his ceiling?

Much has been gathered from the Jets’ season thus far; the team lacks depth and skill at forward, relies on Ondrej Pavelec significantly and has some stellar talent on the blue line.  However, one other aspect of the team has stood out most of all: Evander Kane, at 20 years old, is the team’s top forward and, arguably, top player.

So far this season, Kane has demonstrated he has a top ten NHL wrist shot, blazing speed and strength that matches up against any tough opposing defenseman.  This success (31 points in 46 games) has resulted in fan excitement but also a modicum of apprehension.  This apprehension is based upon Kane’s pending free agency.  Reassuringly, this free agency is restricted free agency which allows the Jets to match any free agent offer the former Vancouver Giant may receive on or after July 1.

While this article could point to some concern over the relationship between Jets coach Claude Noel and Evander Kane, or Kane’s reputation with the Winnipeg fan base, that is not so much the point.  Rather, the purpose of this article is to attempt to gauge Evander Kane’s value as a free agent.  More specifically, it is an attempt to estimate a realistic figure in terms of both term and salary for the potential 40-goal scorer.

(a)        Comparables

Evander Kane was drafted in 2009, as mentioned above, directly behind John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene.  Naturally, Tavares, a player who has also played just over two full NHL seasons, for a poor Eastern Conference squad serves as a comparable.  Importantly, at least from an analysis perspective is the fact that Tavares recently re-upped with the Islanders for a six-year, $33 million contract.  Of most concern is Tavares’s annual cap hit which is $5.5 million.

Now that we have seen Tavares’s extension, let’s examine his career production thus far:

By comparison, here are Kane’s numbers:

Tavares and Kane are comparable to the extent that they were drafted in the same year and have had a similar career course.  Their overall skill packages are both exceptional but particularly different.  Tavares is not a great skater (although his skating has improved significantly from his first season) but has tremendous hands, vision and passing skills.  Tavares is more of an east/west player, as opposed to Kane’s north/south style that allows him to utilize his speed to his and his team’s advantage.

It is hard to imagine Kane matching a contract both of the quantum and term of Tavares.  So, Kevin Cheveldayoff could easily reference Tavares as a far-fetched ceiling when sitting down with Kane’s agent, Craig Oster of Newport Sports Management.  Winnipeggers may find it interesting to note that Oster attended the University of Manitoba and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce prior to securing his LLB (now JD) from the University of Western Ontario.

Now that we have established a ceiling to Kane’s value, at least over a four or five-year term, that leaves other comparables who are hopefully more similar in terms of both the type of player they are and their career course to this point.  The three most logical comparisons that come to mind are:

1. Logan Couture;
2. James Neal; and
3. Phil Kessel

Couture is probably the least comparable of the bunch in terms of his style of play and the fact he is now relied on as primarily a center in San Jose.  However, for comparison’s sake, it does not hurt to include him in this analysis.

Neal and Kessel, on the other hand, seem to be very reasonable comparables; both players are shoot-first, ala Kane, play wing, skate well and have terrific shots.

Let’s examine their respective statistical output through their first three NHL seasons (as Kane is currently completing his third NHL season):

Logan Couture:

**All other advanced statistical categories included were based upon a minimum of 30 games played in that particular season.  For Couture’s first season, an exception was made for the above chart and adjusted to a minimum of 20 games to provide context (albeit limited) for his performance.

James Neal:

Phil Kessel:

Click here to read the 2nd part of Richard’s analysis of Evander Kane’s fair market value.

(b)        Leverage

Before delving deeper into the contracts of the aforementioned players, it is important to note that Kane is limited in his leverage.  Over the next four seasons, notwithstanding a possible long-term extension, Kane’s contract status will be the following:

You will notice that Kane is not eligible for salary arbitration this summer.  That is because he has not yet accrued four NHL seasons; as a result, he will be eligible for arbitration after next season.

With salary arbitration not an option for Kane he has limited options in the summer of 2012:

1. Sit out;
2. Demand a trade; and
3. Sign a contract.

This limited leverage does factor into his negotiating power and is one of the portions of the CBA intended to benefit the team over the player (something that many NHL GMs have not taken advantage of).

(c)        Contracts

We analyzed comparable players and their statistical output over the same period as Kane, so let’s now delve into their post-entry level contracts:

One point that has not yet been made is the fact that both Couture and Neal experienced one season in the AHL prior to playing full-time with the Sharks and Stars respectively.  This, of course, impacts their numbers (in a positive direction) and would play a factor in any negotiation.  Conversely, both Kessel and Tavares jumped right to the NHL from the NCAA and OHL respectively.

You will notice that Kessel’s contract does not rise significantly over the course of the deal (which is also the case with Tavares); with the final two years seeing his salary drop by just under one million dollars.  The reason for this is that Kessel’s contract extends into UFA status, meaning the numbers within the contract have no bearing on his arbitration case because Kessel will not have to head to arbitration (which requires a qualifying offer of at least 100% of the previous season’s contract) as a UFA.

It is interesting to note that Couture and Neal signed for the identical cap hit; however, Neal earns $500,000 more than Couture in the final year of his contract which will result in a higher qualifying offer.  We touched on the arbitration protocol in further length this past summer as it related to Anthony Stewart.  Click here and here for further clarification as to the process.

Now, of course, we must direct the analysis to Evander Kane.  As you can see above, the term Kane’s agent will be seeking will immediately allow both parties to narrow down their possible salary figures.

(d)        Available Contract Options

Let’s now examine Evander Kane’s approximate worth on one-year, two-year, three-year and four-year deals.  We will limit the evaluation to a four year maximum duration because Kane entered the NHL as an eighteen year-old, thus making him eligible for unrestricted free agency after seven NHL seasons, or four seasons after the 2011-12 season with Winnipeg.

Kane’s numbers are very similar to James Neal’s through their first three (or two and a half) NHL seasons.  Couture’s numbers compare more favourably to Kane’s than do Neal’s.  What is interesting about Couture is that he signed his two-year post entry-level extension prior to the expiration of his entry-level contract.  This contract was somewhat akin to the dealing of the Tampa Bay Rays in baseball.  The team signed a player prior to his contract expiring (albeit a short-term contract) providing him with the security of a second NHL contract and providing the team with possible value—which it appears will be quite significant.

Looking at how Neal and Couture compare to Kane, a contract offer of two-years, $5.75 million from the Jets seems entirely reasonable.  On one hand though, the average annual salary will likely increase (last season it was $2.3 million), something Evander Kane’s agent is surely aware of.  On the other hand, the argument can be made that Couture and Neal’s numbers have been better than Kane’s.  However, as noted above, both of those players entered the NHL after a year of seasoning in the AHL.

With the average annual salary rising and the fact Kane entered the NHL as an eighteen year old, Kane’s agent will likely seek a two-year, $5.75 million contract as a floor rather than a midway point, never mind a ceiling.

This is where Kessel and Tavares come into play—with both having entered the years at 18 years of age.  Tavares is a superior player to Kane; one could argue Kessel is as well, but Kessel is more comparable in terms of style (to a point) and production.

Here are their contracts:

(e)        Projected contract(s)

There are a variety of options for Kane’s contract, but as stated earlier, we are going to cap a projection at four years (when Kane reaches UFA status).

Overall, James Neal appears to be a very applicable comparison to Evander Kane.  As a base, we used Neal’s second NHL contract in shaping Kane’s projected deal over two years ($3.05 million).  Over the last two seasons, we calculated a figure slightly below the average cap hit of Tavares and Kessel ($5.1 million) over the final two years taking Kane into unrestricted free agency.

A total contract of four-years, $16.3 million deal seems like appropriate market value for the young and upcoming Kane.  The question now is, will Kane serve those years in a Jets jersey?

**Thank you to capgeek.com for the listed salary figures and behindthenet.ca for the listed advanced statistics.**

“You guys love trade talk, so here’s some: If you’ve got defencemen to trade, you are in position A. NHL general managers may sell their children for blue-line depth. One defenceman who appears to be available and will command interest is Carolina’s Tim Gleason. 

Anyone who has watched the Jets so far this season, is aware that one of the reasons they have had so much success is their blueline depth.

The February 27, 2012 trade deadline may be a little less than two months away, but it is important to note that  last season team’s that acted early in their pursuit of key assets.

While the Jets have been tight lipped with respect to trade rumors, there are few things more interesting than trade speculation.

Let’s take a look at the current Jets defensemen and see who fits the profile of a player who is likely to be traded. (All salary and cap numbers according to CapGeek)

Dustin Byfuglien 4 years remaining, $5.2 million cap hit per year, limited no trade clause

At the start of the year, fans were calling for Buff to be thrown out of town. His playing style was described as “roving” rather than defense. While he may be better suited as a power forward than a defenseman, he has settled down recently. His size and shot give the Jets a blue line presence that cannot be duplicated by many players around the league. His contract makes him unlikely to be traded unless it would be for another teams overpriced star.

Likeliness of a trade: Low

Tobias Enstrom 1 year remaining, $3.75 million cap hit, UFA after next season

While the Jets depth on defense limited the impact his injury could have had on the team, upon his return it was evident how much of an upgrade Enstrom brought to the lineup. The 27 year old is entering the prime of his career and is a player management should be trying to lock up for long term as he is a UFA after next season.

Likeliness of a trade: Low

Zach Bogosian 1 year remaining, $2.5 million cap hit, RFA after next season

The 21 year old is having a breakout season; GM Kevin Cheveldayoff stated many times in the preseason how much he enjoys Bogosian’s game. Under team control for the next several seasons, it’s safe to say he’ll be around for a while

Likeliness of a trade: Low

Ron Hainsey 1 year remaining, $4.5 million cap hit, UFA after next season, no trade clause to 15 teams

Hainsey has been solid on the blue line playing significant minutes, including minutes on  the penalty kill and occasionally on the power play. The 30-year-old veteran would fit in quite well as a depth defenseman on a playoff contender. Some teams may be deterred by his limited no trade clause and high cap hit; he is a more likely candidate to be traded at next year’s trade deadline than this year’s. On the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, Richard Pollock has been saying the Conneticut native would be a great fit on the New York Rangers.

Likeliness of a trade: Moderate

Mark Stuart 2 years remaining, $1.7 million cap hit, UFA after 2013-14 season

Acquired last season by Atlanta at the trade deadline, Stuart has been a defensive force for the Jets this season. A leader in the locker room, Stuart plays like he is the toughest player on the ice, dropping hits, getting in fights and ranking among league leaders in blocked shots. With the Jets defenseman decimated by injuries, Stuart demonstrated he can step up into a larger role. He receives a reasonable salary over the next two seasons which makes him attractive to other teams, but is also a reason why the cap conscious Jets would want to keep him. Stuart plays a style that is fit for playoff hockey and would look nice on the back end of a playoff roster.

Likeliness of a trade: Moderate

Johnny Oduya $3.5 million cap hit ($4 million actual salary), UFA after this season

After a dreadful first few games which caused Coach Noel to coin the term “free pizza”, Oduya has picked up his play recently. The 30-year-old Swede has played on the power play and the penalty kill and again, would be a nice fit on the back end of a team heading to the playoffs. While his large salary may be a deterrent, the team picking him up would have it pro-rated for the remainder of the season. As a UFA next season the team acquiring him would not be forced to keep him.

Likeliness of a trade: High

For those who haven’t been able to take in a game yet this season, during the singing of the Canadian anthem, the crowd of 15,004 emphasizes the words in this part of the anthem:

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

Watch/listen to this video to hear the words said by the MTS Centre crowd:

I personally love this tradition.  It is a respectful innovation that plays on the lyrics in the song to show the crowds appreciation to the True North organization.

We wanted to know what the players thought of this tradition and here is what they said:

Andrew Ladd

Tanner Glass

Chris Thorburn

Mark Flood

Chris Mason

Even players that aren’t from Canada enjoy the emphasis on ‘True North’;

Jim Slater

Zach Bogosian

Tim Stapleton

Alexander Burmistrov

So what do you think?  Are you a fan of this tradition?  Do you dislike it?  Sound off in the comments section.

Goals were picked based on the wow factor of the goal, the significance of the game they occurred in, and how they impacted the outcome of the game.

10. Blake Wheeler, December 22 vs. Montreal (PPG 03:18 in 1st)

In one of the more dominating wins of the year, this was the second of four games against the Habs. After some nice passing on the powerplay, Dustin Byfuglien picked up a rebound in front of the net, passed it cross crease to Wheeler who shot into the open cage. It was Blake Wheeler’s best game of the year, he earned the first star with two goals and one assist leading the Jets to avenge the opening night loss to the Habs.

9. Alexander Burmistrov, December 17 vs. Anaheim (00:31 in 2nd)

This game rivaled opening night in terms of fan emotion in the building. It was extremely loud all night. The Ducks were playing their second game in two nights, and the Jets got off to a quick 2-0 start. It looked like they were going to cruise to victory when the Ducks roared back (or quacked back?) late in the first. The Jets got off to a quick start in the second when Evander Kane fed Alexander Burmistrov through the neutral zone. He walked in to the top of the circle and fired a wrister that put the Jets ahead for good. This was one of the nicest snipes of the year, a well placed shot that went top left corner over the shoulder of Jonas Hiller who was later pulled from the game. The Jets went on to win on a historic night.

8. Evander Kane, November 3, 2011 @ New York Islanders (04:21 in 1st)

This was the first goal and the winner in a 3-0 win by the Jets on their long road trip that went through October and November. Evander Kane had a great individual effort beating defenseman Travis Hamonic, who was having trouble with Kane all night, and after taking a couple of wacks at the puck he beat Andrew McDonald too. Finally the puck ended up in the net and the Jets were up 1-0 and cruised to victory.

7. Bryan Little, December 6 vs. Boston (04:50 in 3rd)

The Boston Bruins came in to Winnipeg having not lost in regulation in fifteen games. This was the second night of back-to-back games, and leading point scorer Tyler Seguin was sitting after having missed a morning breakfast. The atmosphere in the building was electric. It was the first game of the season that had a significant number of away jerseys. After Mark Stuart was hit in the corner of the Jets zone, the faceoff following the play was just outside the Jets blue line. Bryan Little won over 50% of his face-off’s that night, and on this draw, he won it to himself, skated up the ice and put the puck between the legs of goaltender Tukka Rask. This was the winning goal in possibly the Jets biggest win of the season, and the crowd erupted in one of the biggest ovations of the year..

6. Evander Kane, November 26 @ Boston (09:31 in 1st)

After defeating Carolina on Friday the 25th, the Jets traveled to Boston for the match up on the 26th. The Jets got up on the defending Stanley Cup Champions early with a perfectly executed break-out that ended with a 2 on 1. Blake Wheeler had the puck entering the attacking zone, made a great pass to Kane who deked Conn Smythe Winner Tim Thomas for the first goal of the night. While Boston would eventually come back to defeat the Jets in that game, this was one of the prettier goals of the season.

5. Blake Wheeler, November 17 vs. Washington (PPG 08:31 2nd)

This was the first visit by the reigning Southeast division champions to Winnipeg. Blake Wheeler had gone eighteen games without a goal at that point, and was sick of talking about it every day with the media. Fans wondered when it would come and he was being labelled as a disappointment. The play started when Brooks Laich shot the puck on a 2 on 1, he had thought he scored, but the puck actually went over the net and wrapped around to Wheeler. Who then carried the puck with blazing speed into the offensive end, blew past defenseman Roman Hamrlik and drove hard to the net simultaneously crashing with Evander Kane. Wheeler slid the puck past Michal Neuvirth for his first of the season. He then let out eighteen games of frustration by jumping into the boards shoulder first.

4. Andrew Ladd, October 27 @ Philadelphia (18:54 in 3rd)

In what was one of the most exciting and highest goal scoring games in recent history, it looked like the Jets were going to blow two four goal leads to begin their long two week road trip. Captain Andrew Ladd came to the rescue with just over a minute to play in the third period. After some nice cycling by Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler, Wheeler fed Andrew Ladd who was moving towards the slot, who put the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky. Fans around Winnipeg rejoiced after a wild game.

3. Evander Kane, October 27 @ Philadelphia (PPG, 10:39 in 2nd)

Another goal from the crazy 9-8 Jets victory in Philadelphia. This was one of the prettier goals of the season. Bogosian had the puck at the point, went over to Stapleton at the other point, who passed to Burmistrov on the half-wall, down to Nik Antropov at the side of the net, who made the between the legs pass to Kane to put the Jets up 6-2.

2. Kyle Wellwood, vs. Pittsburgh (00:08 in 1st)

It was the first game at MTS Centre since the October 9 home opener. The Jets had just come back from a road trip that left them 0-3 on the season still searching for their first win. The MTS Centre crowd was extremely loud to start the game and the Jets didn’t disappoint. After a face-off win, and a trip by Pens’ defenseman Zybanek Michalek the Jets were on a 3 on 1 which was executed perfectly. When it looked like they would not be able to capitalize on the opportunity, Wellwood took the puck off his skate and put it into the net to put the Jets up 1-0 who were on their way to the first win of the season.

1. Nik Antropov, vs. Montreal (02:27 in 3rd)

It was a historic night in Winnipeg who hosted their first regular season game in over fifteen years. The Jets did not get off to a good start, and were down 2-0 to start the 3rd period. While the score what somewhat close, the team appeared unorganized and out of sync, and it looked liked fans would not even get to see them score. Nik Antropov ended the shutout in the 3rd period when he put a rebound off of a point shot by Mark Stuart into the cage behind goaltender Carey Price. The Jets had earned their first goal in franchise history, which would end up on it’s own postage stamp.

Those are my picks for the top ten Winnipeg Jets’ goals of 2011, if you agree or disagree, post your thoughts in the comments.

This season Winnipeg has a record of 1-2 in the shootout.  Of more concern, at least with respect this article, is the shaky play of Pavelec in the shootout. The Czech netminder has allowed four goals on seven shots for a save percentage of .429—small sample size, I know, but relevant nonetheless.

Throughout his career, the shootout has not been Pavelec’s strong suit.  He has an unimpressive record of 4 wins and 10 losses and has allowed 17 goals on 40 shots; that results in a save percentage of .575.  His .625 save percentage last season ranked 42nd among all NHL netminders.

Before further elaborating on the points above, it should be noted that while Pavelec’s shootout record this season is 1-2, he is certainly not the only player to blame.  In two of the team’s three shootouts, the Jets have failed to score a goal.  Obviously, it is difficult for any goaltender to record a win if the shooters are not scoring.

Of interest, however, is how opposing teams are attacking the Jets goaltender. Looking back at all of the shootout attempts against Pavelec this season a few patterns were apparent.

1. Seven of eight shooters have been right handed; and
2. All shooters have gone to the glove side (the shooters’ right, the goalie’s left)

Being such a small sample size, it is difficult to say if this is a coincidence, or a trend, here is a summary of all of the shots against Pavelec:

October 19 @ Toronto

1. Phil Kessel – tried to go roof over Pavelec’s left shoulder (glove side), shot from too close and was saved.
2. Joffrey Lupul – roofed shot over Pavelec’s left shoulder (glove side)
3. Matt Frattin – roofed shot over Pavelec’s left shoulder (glove sie)

All three shooters here tried the same move, no deke, just a shot over the left shoulder (shooters right, goalies left, glove side)

October 31 @ Florida

1. Kris Versteeg – deked to Pavelec’s left and saved. (glove side)
2. Mike Santorelli – deked to Pavelec’s left and missed (glove side). The puck was bouncing after stickhandling which did not allow him to get off a clean shot.

December 20 vs. New York Islanders

1. PA Parenteau – came from Pavelec’s right, deked left and scored (glove side)
2. Frans Nielsen – deked right on the backhand and roofed. (glove side)

If I have begun to notice this, I would think that other teams may have a book on the Czech netminder.

Even if you hate the shootout, the reality is that it can determine playoff seeding. Last season the Thrashers were 5-7 in shootouts. This season the Jets’ record is 1-2; the team has scored two goals on seven shots and allowed four on seven. With 49 games remaining, the Jets are sure to encounter more shootouts. This team will have to show some improvement in order to increase their chances of making the playoffs.

Before the season began, I wrote the article “Who will shoot for the Winnipeg Jets?” I took a look at each player’s career shooting percentage as well as the goalies. This article has served as a good reference point for shootout knowledge.

Feel free to post your thoughts on the Jets shootout below.

After the Jets’ 5-3 win against Anaheim on Saturday, I noticed that the Jets have been able to capitalize on their opponent’s fatigue after back-to-back road games involving travel.

Below I will examine if this is indeed a trend so far this young season.

As of December 20, 2011, the Jets had played 16 home games. In four of those games, the team has faced opponents who were on the second night of back-to-back road games.

Here are the Jets’ opponents and their back-to-back games.

Carolina Hurricanes:
October 21 – @ STL – 2-3 OTL
October 22 – @ WPG – 3-5 L

New Jersey Devils:
December 2 – @ MIN – 2-4 L
December 3 – @ WPG – 2-4 L

Boston Bruins:
December 5 – @ PIT – 3-1 W
December 6 – @ WPG – 1-2 L

Anaheim Ducks:
December 16 – @ CHI – 1-4 L
December 17 – @ WPG – 3-5 L

The Jets are 4-0 against opponents at home when the visiting team is on the second night of road back-to-back games. While the caliber of opponents may not be in the upper echelon of the league, it does include the thrilling, streak breaking victory against first place Boston on December 3.

After looking at how Winnipeg has fared against visiting opponents on the second night of back-to-back games, I decided to take a look at the Jets’ results when playing back-to-back road games.

October 19 – @ TOR – 3-4 L
October 20 – @ OTT – 1-4 L

November 5 – @ NJ – 2-3 OTL
November 6 – @ NYR – 0-3 L

November 25 – @ CAR – 3-1 W
November 26 – @ BOS – 2-4 L

December 9 – vs. CAR – 4-2 W
December 10 @ DET – 1-7 L

After examining the schedule, the Jets are 0-4 when playing back to back games. However, it is worth noting that they have faced a much higher quality of opponent in the second game of a back-to-back (DET, BOS, NYR are all top 4 in their respective conferences) than the teams who are coming into MTS Centre on the second night of a back to back.

Next time you hear a Jets player talk about their thoughts of playing back-to-back games, or playing against a team who is in their second game in two days, I wouldn’t take what they are saying too literally.  No player will ever say, “Oh yeah, I’m pretty tired we got in at 2 a.m. and I’m not looking forward to the game”.

The Jets will play their first back-to-back games this season at home on Thursday and Friday when they play Montreal and then Pittsburgh. From the small sample size collected, we can see that the odds will not be in the Jets’ favour.

When you’re visiting the MTS Centre this season for an NHL game (and arenas around the world) you aren’t just going to a game, you’re going to a hockey experience.  Not only are the players working to put out a carefully planned game, about forty employees at the MTS Centre are in charge of putting together the best possible hockey experience.

The man in charge of that is Kyle Balharry, Director of Event Production for True North.  Kyle has been working with True North since 2000, and doing event production at the Winnipeg Arena/MTS Centre since 2002.

Event production involves creating and following a script.  Everything that you see at the arena, videos on the jumbotron, the arena ring, PA announcements, off play promotions and music have all been well thought out and predetermined.

Kyle is responsible for ensuring that fans have a positive experience.  At the same time he needs to ensure that the sponsors are able to get their name out there.  He does this by finding a balance between the two.

The main goal for the production crew, is to maintain the integrity of the game, and create an awesome hockey environment.  While Kyle feels that the game itself and the crowd, are the best devices to create that hockey environment, the music and production elements play an important role as well.

I spoke with Kyle on a number of topics, but the one topic that everyone has an opinion about is the music.

Kyle on picking songs for the arena:

“It’s not about what song it is, it’s about the sound and the feeling that it gives the crowd. When it’s a powerplay, you want a song like “Welcome to the Jungle” that makes people feel like they want to go crazy.”

“When it’s a penalty kill, it will be stuff that makes you feel nervous. When the team hits the ice, it has to be something that sounds big and sounds incredible. (For the) Moose we used, (“Running Wild” by) Airbourne, and it was our signature song, it was great. Lots of that “hey hey” stuff is great for live sports.“

As for the current Winnipeg Jets intro song:

“Right now we’re using “No Money” by Kings of Leon, for the team on the ice. You can’t even hear it. That’s the interesting part (in choosing the song), we’re like ok, there’s a bunch of great songs out there, ultimately because the crowd is so loud, all we need is something that is atmosphere in the background.”

“To have a song that has a bunch of lyrics in it, nobody is going to hear it. That song is a big epic sounding song, and gives that surreal feeling. The Canucks use, “Where the Streets Have No Name” (U2), Montreal uses Coldplay’s “Fix You”. It’s all kind of just, epic, surreal sounding stuff.”

“Other teams use rock songs, or heavy metal songs. In the preseason we used Rob Zombie “Demon Speeding”, which was good too. It’s more of a “we’re going to kick your ass kind of song”. But we really liked the whole kind of “Fix You” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” just an epic, surreal feeling. You’ve got the lights moving around, the team skating around, you can barely hear it, because everyone is so loud.”

On how they selected the goal song “Hell Yeah” by Rev Theory

“The way I found it was I got a disc sent to me, from a music producer, saying “new band, new, song, have a listen, this isn’t on the charts yet, this isn’t out.” I thought, awesome song, we’ve got to use that, nobody knows who this band is but who cares, it’s about the sound of the song, not necessarily who the band is.”

“We ran with it, it worked really well, the problem was we only played two home games that playoff season, we realistically only used it for two games. We said hey, you know what, we don’t like to recycle things, but we only used it for two games. It’s tough (to hear), after goals its super loud too, so you don’t even hear it.”

On the Goal horn – the old one from the Winnipeg Arena

“That one’s now been in use for, 30 years probably. What it is; is a train horn from the old CP or CN yard. We actually increased the volume a little bit this year, we added another set of horns, but it still gets drowned out a little bit. It’s a legacy thing, it was the Moose thing, and was the Jets thing. It’s Winnipeg’s hockey staple. It’s a flashlight case, that has a button on it. I’ve blown the goal horn for every Moose goal since 2002”.

Deriving from the Jets theme that True North has emphasized this season in their marketing and branding , the song played after a Jets win is “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters.  A person in the sales department suggested it to Kyle and he liked it immediately.

“There are times; powerplay, penalty kill, end of game, where you want a signature song. Learn to Fly is great, its Foo Fighters, it’s a rock song, it works. There are a lot of other songs about airplanes, or flying, that would have sounded terrible. Learn to Fly, it makes you feel good, it’s awesome.”

While Kyle is proud of his song selection, he understands that when it comes to music, you can’t please everyone. It’s important for his team to realize that everyone has different musical tastes, and continue to try to put out the best hockey experience for Winnipeg fans.

Other music selections  for the MTS Centre:

Before the videos are played:
Young the Giant – My Body

Warm up song (selected by the players):
Eminem (not sure the song name, asking for help from readers) Til When I Collapse (thanks to those who posted in the comments)

Snoop Dogg – Sweat (feat David Guetta)

Video songs:
Smashing Pumpkins – Tonight Tonight
Foo Fighters – Times Like These
(please note that the “history of the Jets” video will no longer be played before games as we are changing our focus to the 2011-2012 season rather than remembering the past and how we got here.)

Song played immediately after the anthem before puck drop:
Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song

There you have it.  The man behind the music and how the songs were selected.  What do you think of the music choices?  What would you do differently?  Let us know your ideas/thoughts in the comments section.

While it is clearly early in the season, the Jets have played only 15 games, are there any really encouraging team signs for Jets fans to cling to?

Let’s look at how the Jets fare in some important categories:

How do you put a positive spin on the above figures?  It is definitely not an easy task.  However, context is necessary.  How did the Thrashers fare in the above categories a season ago?  That should provide us with a better idea of where the Jets stand thus far—albeit early in the season.

The Jets are significantly worse in power play efficiency, shots on goal per game and total minor penalties taken.  Conversely, the team is about the same in goals against per game, is exactly the same in the face-off circle.  The Jets have so far been slightly better on the penalty kill but worse when it comes to shots per game.

All in all, this team has a ton of work to do.  In fact, as the first chart indicates, the Jets are in the bottom third of the NHL in many important categories aside from goals per game—where they find themselves at the bottom of the second tier.

That is not to say that some progress is not being made.  Clearly players like Evander Kane and Alexander Burmistrov have flashed promise.  Other players have impressed like Jim Slater and the team’s “top” line demonstrated signs of a collective breakout in Buffalo.

On the back-end, there are strengths—skating, puck skills, but also drawbacks like horrible turnovers and poor defensive zone awareness.

The goaltending has been erratic with some strong spurts from Pavelec and some off-games.

If you followed the Thrashers closely last season much of the above will not come as much of a surprise.  This is no expansion team; we have the team’s past performance, which we can utilize to track progress.  So far, much of the team’s progress has been matched by its backwards steps.  Not without exception mind you, but most would agree much work is needed before this team talks about realistically contending for a playoff spot.

Being a first year head coach isn’t an easy task, it takes time to come in to a new team, gain the players trust, learn how to manage them, and understand what each person brings to the table. IC’s Richard Pollock commented on this in his earlier article “Noel getting to know Jets, just as fans are“.

Coach Noel has shown that the first five games were a bit of a “feeling out” process. The ice-time statstics from the last five games demonstrate that he is learning the individual skills of each player and adjusting his coaching strategies accordingly.

By examining the game-by-game time on-ice trends for each player, it is clear Noel has begun to shift players into defined roles.

For example, special teams is an area  the Jets have not fared particularly well; they rank 19^th in PP% (15.4%) and 22^nd in PK% (77.3%).

By viewing the ice-time trends, we should be able to expect more consistency in terms of the special teams unit Noel decides to employ going forward.

Here is a game-by-game spreadsheet for time on ice on the penalty kill for each player:

Note: Keep in mind that not each game is equal as the time available for special teams play depends on the number of penalties handed out–so, context matters.

Penalty Killing Notables:

-The horses on the team’s penalty kill on defense are Stuart, Enstrom, Bogosian, Oduya.

-In the last three games, Dustin Byfuglien has barely been used on the penalty kill, after getting some time in the first few games.

-After receiving some time on the penalty kill in the first five games, Blake Wheeler has been on the ice for just over a minute while shorthanded in the last five games.

-Jets forwards consistently being employed on the penalty kill have been Ladd/Little, Slater/Thorburn, Burmistrov/Antropov. No other forwards have stepped on the ice for a penalty kill in the last few games. This is compared to the first five where, Glass, Kane, Wheeler, Scheifele, Wellwood, all received some time on the penalty kill.

Here is the powerplay ice-time per game for each player

Power Play Notables

-Both games Derek Meech has been in the lineup, he has gotten some powerplay time; he didn’t get any time on the penalty kill during those games. His replacement, Randy Jones, only plays at even strength.

-The GST Line had each received some power play time in the first five games, however, the trio has been used sparingly on the powerplay since.

-Since Mark Scheifele was sent down to Barrie, Noel has spread his powerplay icetime among the top seven forwards (Little, Wheeler, Kane, Antropov, Burmistrov, and Wellwood).

-Johnny Oduya’s powerplay time has dropped in the last few games. In some games, Tim Stapleton has been used on the point, we’ll keep an eye on this going forward.

Other notes:

-In the 9-8 shootout in Philadelphia, the Burmistrov (15:53)/Antropov (13:44)/Kane (10:50) line, each received their lowest amount of ice-time of the season. Despite this lack of ice-time, they combined for 7 points.

-Evander Kane’s ice-time is steadily increasing from the first five games. He received a season high 19:36 minutes in Tampa Bay. He hasn’t been getting any time on the penalty kill, and his ice time will dip if the Jets continue to take penalties at will.

-Bryan Little’s average ice-time has increased from the first five games (18:54) to the last five (21:27).  Will he continue to get this much ice-time at his current level of production? (Only three points in ten games). The same can be said about Andrew Ladd–although he has been more impressive. Hopefully these two can break out of their slow start.

-One story that hasn’t been given enough attention is Ron Hainsey’s injury. He plays in all situations logging big minutes on the back-end, averaging just over 21:00 minutes in the three full games that he played prior to incurring his injury. While Mark Stuart has stepped up in his absence, their talents differ considerably and Hainsey’s puck-moving from the blue line has certainly been missed.

If you have any thoughts on the teams’ icetime distribution, post it in the comments.

Here’s my previous article about Jets icetime distribution

Follow me on twitter @mremis and IC at @IllegalCurve

What began as a twitter conversation between Illegal Curve’s Ezra Ginsburg and TSN 1290’s Jay Richardson has taken on a life of its own.  The name has spread to the locker room, on the radio, and in print.

Ezra & Jay were determined to find them a proper name because of the line’s work ethic and playing style. While watching the GST, it was easy to tell that they were on the same page.  Tanner Glass says that chemistry has been easy to find for them:

“We all have the same mindset out there, it’s about making easy plays and being on the defensive side all the time and being a responsible line, it’s been easy to find chemistry with those two.”

If the GST Line were a country, it would have a motto or a slogan, a motto by definition (taken from Wikipedia, obviously)

“a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization.”

Tanner Glass:

“We’re just trying to grind it out there, getting greasy, we’re not much for slogans to be honest, we’re just trying to play an honest game.”

Chris Thorburn:

“we’re just out there going hard all the time, we try not to take any shifts off”

From the beginning of the year, Coach Claude Noel has talked about each player finding their “A” game. Jim Slater says that for them, their “A” game is very simple:

“Playing great defensively, winning faceoffs, killing penalties, putting pressure on the other team’s defense and top lines, and getting pucks to the net. It’s a real simple recipe but its worked for me over the years, so I want to continue to do it.”

Jim Slater has been cleared to return from a concussion, and will hope to reunite with the rest of the GST line tonight in Philadelphia.

Puck drops at 6:00pm at Wells Fargo Center.

While there are no standard rules for selecting a curve (as long as it’s not illegal) (..sorry I had to), the rule of thumb for selecting a stick length is between the nose and chin.

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom does not subscribe to any rules regarding stick length. From watching him play, it is easy to notice the Swedish defenseman uses an unusually long stick. Listed at 5’10” Enstrom uses a stick that extends past his eyes.

Enstrom began using a longer stick at age 16 after his father suggested that he try it out, he was instantly comfortable with the long twig and added a few inches each year until it reached its current length.

Most minor hockey coaches would discourage the use of such a long stick, but for Enstrom, it’s all about personal preference. Having a long stick can be effective in the defensive zone when poke checking or blocking off passing lanes. After four seasons in the NHL, Enstrom says that his long stick catches opponents by surprise.

Offensively, the long stick allows for additional leverage on the shaft for slap shots and one timers, letting the stick flex and do the work. Enstrom scored his first goal of the season ripping a slap shot through a large crowd in front of the opposing net.

At the minor hockey level, coaches may discourage young players from choosing a long stick because of the difficulty when receiving passes close to the body. From watching Toby Enstrom, it is evident that he can play the stick like a trumpet, moving his hands down the shaft when pucks come close to his feet. He isn’t sure when he picked it up, but it is something he does to receive passes more easily and gain better control of the puck.

Enstrom has been a workhorse this year for the Jets, playing in all situations; powerplay, penalty kill, and even strength. He leads the team in average icetime per game (26:09), and leads defenseman in points (4). For the Jets to have success going forward, part of the load will rest on Tobias Enstrom and his effectively large stick.

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Here are the individual statistics for each player:

I compared each player to last year’s number to see if there was a big disparity between the current % to last year’s numbers.

• Jim Slater is the best face-off man on the team.  While he has posted a 51.9% in six games this season, last season his face-off winning percentage was tops on the team at 61.5%.
• Bryan Little is close to last year’s number of46.3%.
• Youngsters Mark Scheifele and Alex Burmistrov have not fared well in the face-off circle this season, which could be the reason for Nik Antropov switching to centre and Burmistrov taking the wing.
  

Game By Game Face-offs:

I posted the game by game face-offs to see if there has been any correlation between face-offs won and game score.  It is worth noting that the only game the Jets won was also their best game in the face-off department.  However, I don’t think we can conclude anything based on the small sample size of six games.

In the Oct 17 game vs. Pittsburgh, Bryan Little had one of his better games going 11-10 (W-L), here are his thoughts on what made him so successful that night:

“It’s kind of a weird thing faceoffs, one night you can have a good night, and the other night… I had a pretty bad night in Toronto, I was taking a lot (of faceoffs) against Steckel. I think it’s a lot to do with how you match up against a guy; some guys give you more trouble than others. For me against Pittsburgh, I was winning a lot of them, and it was coming pretty easy. Then you face a guy like Steckel who personally is my hardest guy to take them against, it’s going to be a hard night. You try and switch things up, and try different things, and it starts to get in your head a bit. It’s one of those things where one night you can be really hot, and one night you can struggle.”

Little did however go 0 for 10 against Steckel on Wednesday in Toronto although he’s not the only one who has trouble with Toronto’s newly acquired centre.  Dave Steckel lead the league in faceoff percentage last year at 62.3%

Jim Slater didn’t become a face-off leader overnight, it takes time for some of the younger players to master the art.

“It’s tough, Scheif’s (Rookie Mark Scheifele) only 18 years old, he’s young, there’s a lot of good face-off guys in this league, we’re trying to work on stuff every day after practice, little tips, it’s not going to come over night with a guy like Scheifs, he’s got to continue to work on it, it’s a big part of the game. It’s just one of those things, it’s tough, and it’s not just the centreman either you need your wingers and everyone battling for you to get those loose pucks. It’s really a 3-5 man unit on face-offs.”

While not much time is spent in practice to work on face-offs, most of the centreman always stay after to put in some extra work

“It’s usually after practice or after a pregame skate, you take about 20 to 30 face-offs against the other centreman on the team. It’s not going to happen overnight, its definitely a process for some of the young guys to learn some different skills against the other guys, but I think it’s definitely a big part of the game and something we need to improve on.”

Bryan Little continues, saying that the centremen get together and give each other scouting reports on the opposition.

 “At morning skates you practice them a bit, and go through their centreman and see what hands they are. For us, we talk with the other centremen and see what they do, and try to go into a game with a gameplan. Sometimes it’s not a good night, and sometimes it’s a good night.”

Hopefully the Jets can improve on this season’s face-off woes against Carolina on Saturday night at 6pm.

Obviously, not each game is equal because the number of powerplays, penalty kills, or overtime, may increase or decrease a players’ minutes. However, it is worth comparing who is getting the bulk of the icetime on the team.

Player Notes:

• In Ron Hainsey’s absence vs. Toronto, Mark Stuart’s icetime went up to 19:02. His previous high was 17:44 vs. Chicago. His lowest amount of icetime was 15:33 vs. Montreal.
• Alex Burmistrov received the most icetime of the season in the win vs. Pittsburgh (20:57), where he was the best player on the ice. In that game and in the Oct. 15 game @ PHX, he received the most icetime of all forwards. That is about five minutes more than game one vs. Montreal where he received 15:56. The most recent game vs. Toronto was his second highest of the season 18:32
• Evander Kane’s icetime has been between 10:34 (game 1 vs. MTL) and 14:43 (game 2 @ CHI) this season, his time on ice per game, ranks seventh among forwards. His average time on ice this season is 12:56, last season it was 17:52. With his level of talent, I would expect his icetime to increase in the future.
• After receiving only 12:37 in game 1 vs. MTL Kyle Wellwood has received an average 16 minutes per game since.
• In the Oct. 15 game @ PHX, the line of Andrew Ladd (16:52), Bryan Little (14:32) and Blake Wheeler (15:51) each received their lowest amount of icetime this season. The most recent game @ TOR was each their highest total, (overtime).
• Dustin Byfuglien’s icetime has steadily risen throughout the season, peaking at 29:26 @ TOR
• Tobias Enstrom played the most minutes in a game of any Jet this season Oct 19 @ TOR.

Game by Game Notes:

Oct 9 vs. MTL

Defense:
Most Ice: Tobias Enstrom (25:23)
Least Ice: Mark Stuart (15:33)

Forward:
Most Ice Fwd: Andrew Ladd (19:57)
Least Ice: Jim Slater (10:02)

Oct 13 @ CHI

Defense:
Most Ice: Ron Hainsey (22:50)
Least Ice : Mark Stuart (17:44)

Forwards:
Most Ice :  Andrew Ladd (20:02)
Least Ice: Tanner Glass (08:08)

Oct 15 @ PHX

Defense:
Most Ice: Dustin Byfuglien (23:24)
Least Ice: Randy Jones (14:54)

Forward:
Most Ice: Alex Burmistrov (17:46)
Least Ice: Chris Thorburn (09:58)

Oct 17 vs. PIT

Defense:
Most Ice: Tobias Enstrom (26:33)
Least Ice: Ron Hainsey (08:11) (left with injury)

Forwards:
Most Ice: Alex Burmistrov (20:57)
Least Ice: Tim Stapleton (04:17)

Oct 19 vs. TOR

Defense
Most Ice: Tobias Enstrom (31:05)
Least Ice: Derek Meech (12:39)

Forwards
Most Ice: Andrew Ladd (22:27)
Least Ice: Brett MacLean (09:32)

If there’s anything that stands out to you in the table above, or if you think someone is getting too much/not enough icetime please share your thoughts in the comments.

Many aspects of the team’s play raised cause for concern for fans who had yet to see their favourite team play against a fully loaded NHL roster.

It is that unfamiliarity with the team’s personnel, which may have set the team fanbase up for disappointment.

Plainly, this team needs work—or more specifically, more talent.   That being said, Sunday’s performance was a not a strong presentation by the team’s forwards, defenders or goaltenders.  This team is not going to play as poorly as it did last night very often.

What may have been most telling of the long road ahead were Claude Noel’s decisions behind the bench.  He was using any number of players in different situations.  In fact, every single Winnipeg Jets skater logged some time on both the power play and the penalty kill.  Think about that for a second (and a couple of those players only played a few seconds in those special teams roles), generally teams have set power play units and set penalty kill units.  Players specifically know their roles and prepare accordingly.

However, Noel knows very little about this team.

Comparatively speaking, look at Lindy Ruff in Buffalo, Mike Babcock in Detroit or Barry Trotz in Nashville.  Those three head bosses have played a significant part in the formation of their respective team’s roster.   They know their player talent on the ice better than anyone and generally use training camp and the pre-season not to evaluate Todd Bertuzzi or Daniel Cleary, but to evaluate newcomers like Ian White and youngsters like Jakub Kindl.  Their experience with the team affords them the opportunity to focus specifically on certain players knowing full well what the rest of the roster is capable of.

Claude Noel does not have that same luxury.  In many ways, he is trying to learn in a few weeks what his contemporary on Sunday afternoon, Jacques Martin, has learned in a few years.

Some may counter the above by stating that new coaches come in an out of jobs all the time.  Sure, that is the case, but this franchise has new management and new assistant coaches, not to mention a new city.  Meaning, everyone is learning on the fly.

How can Kevin Cheveldayoff tell Claude Noel the limits and psychology behind a player like Alexander Burmistrov when he is just trying to get to know him himself? Noel needs to see which players can kill penalties—as this team’s penalty kill has been awful for the past few seasons.   He needs to see who can play on the power play and whether Andrew Ladd can play the point or not.

With time, Noel will become more comfortable with his bench and shorten it to more accurately reflect each player’s talent.  For now, however, he will afford many players opportunities to play in sometimes familiar and sometimes unfamiliar roles.  This is a learning experience for everyone, making patience an important tool through the first few weeks of the NHL’s return to Winnipeg.

As of now, 38 players remain in camp; of those 38, three of those players are currently injured.

Claude Noel addressed the media after the cuts were announced; he said a few things that were telling in trying to piece together this roster.

Noel on the target number of players:

“After the next two games, we’ve got to get a workable number, which should be around 25. 25 healthy close to that, not including injured players”

“I don’t know what our roster will hold, will it hold 22, or will we be playing with 23, these things work themselves out, you at least like to have an extra defensemen and an extra forward, maybe two in one of those positions.”

Here is some useful information on roster limits, for the purposes of this article; we will be selecting 25 players who will be on the roster, before they get down to 23 for opening day.

Noel on players with one-way contracts:

“I don’t think we’re going to be an organization that reassigns one way contracts to the minors, there are some in the National (Hockey) League that do that without missing a beat, but we don’t believe that’s an efficient way to operate.”

“If a player can play ahead of a player, a contract becomes a stumbling block, at the end of the day you’re trying to find a way to maneuver things so the guy that deserves to play (gets to play)”

This quote leads me to believe that all players with one-way contracts will most likely be on the team. The only way they wouldn’t be playing at the NHL level is if they were to be traded.

Here are the 20 players on one-way contracts, or players on two-way contracts who have a 99.99% chance of making the team (Kane & Burmistrov)

Player on One-Way Contracts

G- Ondrej Pavelec
G – Chris Mason
Total: 2 Goalies

Ladd – Little – Wheeler
Kane – Burmistrov – Antropov
Glass – Wellwood – Thorburn
_____ – Slater – _______
Stapleton

F – Kyle Wellwood
F – Tim Stapleton
F – Tanner Glass
F – Andrew Ladd
F – Bryan Little
F – Jim Slater
F – Chris Thorburn
F – Blake Wheeler
F – Nik Antropov
F – Evander Kane
F – Alex Burmistrov
Total: 11 Forwards

D – Zach Bogosian
D – Mark Stuart
D – Ron Hainsey
D – Johnny Oduya
D – Dustin Byfuglien
D – Tobias Enstrom
D – Randy Jones
Total: 7 Defenseman

Total: 20 Players
Spots Remaining: 5

Making this team is going to be tough; after doing some quick math, we have started out with 38 players in camp, subtracted 20 players who are all but assured an NHL roster spot and have then taken away three injured players who may start the season on the injured list (Eric Fehr, Aaron Gagnon, Kenndal McArdle).  This results in fifteen players fighting for just five spots. Taking into account, one of those five spots is for a goalie, there are fourteen players fighting for four spots (or a 28% chance).

In order to determine who has the best shot at making the roster we’ll go by the process of elimination.

Third Goaltender

Currently the third goalie in camp is Swiss netminder David Aebischer. Aebischer signed with the Jets to a tryout contract.  As per Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press, if the Jets were to sign Aebischer, they would have to come to a financial agreement with his Swiss club Lugano—something we do not believe will be a significant deterrent in the grand scheme of things.

Players on Entry-Level Contracts

These are players who participated in rookie camp, and remain in main training camp. It is likely these players will not make the Jets roster.  Instead, they are still in camp in order to provide management with an extended look at what they can offer in and amongst players significantly older and more experienced than them.

F – Mark Scheifele
F – Jordan DePape
F – Klarc Wilson

In the case of Mark Scheifele, he has exceeded anyone’s expectations.  He currently leads the team with six points in exhibition play. While he may belong at the NHL level (skill-wise), he most likely will not start the season with the big-club. Scheifele is only 18 years old, has only played one season of junior hockey at the CHL level, and with so many players likely guaranteed roster spots due to their contract statuses, he may not get the minutes on the NHL roster that would further his development. It seems like the Jets brass will take its time sending the youngster to back to Barrie where he can hopefully improve upon his 75 points in 66 games from last season and fight for another spot next September. IC’s Richard Pollock wrote about “Scheife-ling Expectations” last week, read it here.

Players on Two-Way Contracts

The Jets have let it be known that they would prefer their younger players to get more ice-time in order to develop. This is considered in trimming down the roster.

Due to the logjam at defense the following players will likely be eliminated.

D – Paul Postma

The 22 year old won’t get the playing time required at the NHL level. It is best to let him start the season in the AHL even though he has performed admirably, especially offensively, in exhibition play thus far.

D – Derek Meech

Meech has the most NHL experience of the remaining players, it looks as if he will start the season in the AHL, but will be back and forth all year in case of injuries or ineffectiveness.

After our process of elimination, four spots remain for the following eight players.

Two-Way Contracts
F- Patrice Cormier
F – Ben Maxwell
F – Spencer Machacek
F – Carl Klingberg

Tryout Contracts
F – Janne Pesonen – has the best shot to make the team of these three
F – David Koci
F – Troy Bodie

We’ll give a spot to the player who has the most NHL experience of the group in Patrice Cormier, he also brings versatility as he can play Centre and Wing. This may allow Antropov to play his preferred position of RW.

Spencer Machacek is the next one to make the team, at 22 years old he has two years of AHL experience where he increased his average points per game from 0.62 to 0.79.

The two remaining spots should go to the more experienced Troy Bodie and David Koci. This leaves Jason Gregoire, Carl Klingberg, and Ben Maxwell to get the bulk of the icetime in St. John’s.

Janne Pesonen is the last remaining name on the list. The veteran Finnish forward is in camp on a tryout. He has shown good hands and on ice vision, of the players on tryout contracts, he has the best chance to contribute.

With two exhibition games this week, the players “on the bubble” will do their best to impress in their quest to earn a roster spot on opening day.

Two nights ago in an exhibition game, Jody Shelley of the Philadelphia Flyers drilled Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darryl Boyce from behind. Luckily, Boyce only suffered a broken nose on the play.

Jody Shelley, a repeat offender, received a ten game suspension, and will give up salary of just over $67,000.

Last year Blake Wheeler was on the Boston Bruins when Shelley ran over Bruins’ defenseman Adam McQuaid from behind. While the hit was brutal, he only received a 2 game suspension. This hit was considered when determining how many games Shelly would sit out.

Wheeler was also there when Matt Cooke came across the middle and ended Marc Savard’s career. The issue of illegal hits is something that has affected him personally.

“I was on the team when Mark Savard got hit pretty bad, obviously I’m pretty biased to (stricter suspensions). He was one of the best players in the game, and now he’s not able to play anymore. They’re doing the right things to make an example, so guys are a bit more aware on the ice. It’s a fast game, and some things are kind of tough, but it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Previous NHL Disciplinarian Colin Campbell was criticized heavily throughout the league, and on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show by IC’s Richard Pollock for the lack of consistency shown in his suspensions handed out.

With Brendan Shanahan taking the position of NHL Disciplinarian this season, the players expect to have some consistency in this year’s suspensions. So far, he has been thrown a few softballs, and has received a passing grade.

“He’s setting a precedent, that’s what you want. You want the same rules to apply to everyone, you don’t want a hit that might be questionable go unpunished, and one that looks pretty close to it earn a guy five games. You want to have consistency in the ruling, if that’s the way it is, you will know what will fly and won’t.”

Veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey says that Shanahan is communicating the definition of what is and isn’t legal.

“Matthieu Schneider and Shanny have been working together since the end of last season developing the wording of the rules. Headshots and hitting from behind are two things they are going to focus on. I know they have come up with a plan where there is going to be a staggered meaning to the suspensions. If is your first time you’re not going to get killed, but the second and third times are going to be looked at more severely, and you’re going to pay with your wallet and be away for a while.”

“What I think what was made clear from our meetings in the summer with the PA, the new wording of the rules was going to be strictly gone by, and repeat offenders were going to get hit. I know it heavily weighed that Jody was suspended twice last year, I think that played a big part in it. I think we had a good idea that in a repeat situation it probably isn’t going to be light.”

With a number of devastating headshots and illegal hits occurring over recent years, safety is a topic that has come up frequently.  Wheeler says the NHL has taken steps to educate players on what exactly is an illegal hit, and the increased awareness, should lead to some players changing their style.

“You see the video, what’s right, what’s not right, when you’re on the ice things happen so fast sometimes. Things that you don’t want to happen sometimes happen out there. I think the more awareness there is around the league, the more guys are going to start to change some habits. When you see a guy’s back, you can’t touch him, it’s pretty self explanatory now. It’s a fast moving game, but you’ve got to try as hard as you can to be aware. If we’re punishing people, I think you’re going to see some guys try to change their style a little bit.”

Shanahan has communicated guidelines on how suspensions will be handed out. We can only hope that most players now have a greater understanding of the consequences of their actions, and the amount of illegal hits will decrease this season.

Watch below Shanahan’s explanation of how he determined the suspension

After Tuesdays exhibition game, reporters huddled around the dressing room door, waiting to rush the floor, trying to get the best soundbyte. The cycle will wash, rinse and repeat daily, but Tanner Glass doesn’t mind the media scrutiny:

“I don’t mind it at all, it’s part of the job”

He went on to explain that as players move up the levels of hockey, some training and tips are given on how to handle themselves with reporters.

“When you start going to those development camps, they give a little tidbits here and there, you talk to the veteran guys and learn as you go. As you go you find your voice and how you want to be perceived in the media.”

With a few days in between games, players may be answering the same question over and over. For Glass, it gives him an opportunity to refine his craft of talking to the media.

“I tend to get my answer down, and it’s the same answer”

The Winnipeg Jets are making adjustments, not only to a new city, a new organization and new coaches, but the media scrutiny is something only seen in other Canadian cities and major hockey markets. Tim Stapleton describes the difference from last season as “crazy”:

“It’s crazy, in Atlanta, we might have had 2 reporters, after games, but here it seems like there are more reporters than players. I played a year in Toronto, I got an idea of it, it’s pretty crazy, and it’s a lot of fun.”

“(Winnipeg is) even more extreme (than Toronto), in Toronto, I was blindsided by the loyalty of hockey there, the fans, media. Here it’s even at an extra level. It’s a smaller city, and you have a lot of fans who have been waiting for this for 15 years. It’s pretty crazy right now.”

Ben Maxwell who was traded from Montreal to Atlanta in February of last season, has a similar point of view.

“I went from Montreal where we had about 40 guys traveling with the team, to Atlanta where there was only two guys. It’s a similar thing here in Winnipeg where there are more media than there are players. It’s a little more pressure on a lot of the guys, especially those who are more in the spotlight. Knowing some of these guys, I’m sure we can handle it.”

The media hype machine will be in full force leading up to October 9, as Globe & Mail columnist Roy McGregor pointed out on Saturday’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show.

 “The thing that you are going to have to deal with is the most incredible ennui you could ever imagine, the boredom that is going to set in. People are going to be screaming at the top of their lungs, DROP THE PUCK, because it gets to be an outrageous situation of wait and wait and wait. There is an 8 day gap between the final exhibition game and the home opener that will be painful.”

Rest assured, as the media hype grows in the lead up to October 9, Illegal Curve will be right there covering the phenomenon with the same intensity that you have to expect from you home for Jets Hockey.

That makes him likeable.  His play on the ice, at least thus far in training camp, makes him even more likeable.  With only one season under his belt in the Ontario Hockey League, Scheifele has surprised many with his impressive rookie tournament, solid play in the team’s intra-squad scrimmage and, of course, his four-point performance in the first NHL game (exhibition or not) in Winnipeg featuring the name Jets in 15 years.

The youngster has demonstrated excellent poise, especially off the rush.  He has soft hands, great vision and plays a mature game.  His strengths have overshadowed his weaknesses, that being strength along the boards, first step and a tendency to sometimes try a pass that may be too cute—at least for the NHL level.

All of the above is fine and dandy.  It is certainly encouraging but at the macro level there are many reasons why Scheifele should be returned to Barrie for another year playing under one of the greatest Jets of all-time, the aforementioned Dale Hawerchuk.

Quality of competition

Make no mistake; Scheifele has stood out since arriving in Winnipeg.  He has scored, he has created offense and he has done so with a certain amount of poise.  But, and this is a big but, who has he been doing this against?

Opposing team’s rookie rosters are not exactly littered with top prospects.  For every Ryan Nugent-Hopkins there are four late round draft picks looking to carve out a name for themselves before being shipped to the ECHL to pursue their battle up the chain of professional hockey.

His strong performance in the team’s intra-squad scrimmage is, well, a strong performance in an intra-squad scrimmage.  The intensity, as Ron Hainsey put it, is not exactly high.

That brings us to his brilliant performance on Tuesday evening.  The fan experience was incredible, the excitement was palpable and the celebration of the youngster’s performance, capped off by the chanting of his name was joyful.  All that said, look at the defense pairings on the ice for each of Scheifele’s four points on Tuesday.

Goal 1: Aaron Johnson-Austin Madaisky

Goal 2: Grant Clitsome-Cody Goloubef

Goal 3: Grant Clitsome-Kris Russell

Goal 4: Kris Russell-Derek Prout

Russell is a four-year NHL veteran; Clitsome has played 42 NHL games and the rest of the players few hockey people have ever heard of.  Put another way, he was not exactly playing against a defense combination of Fedor Tyutin and James Wisniewski.

Sample size is also, obviously, a factor; obvious enough that we won’t touch on it further.

Entry-level contract

Considering the team does not have Stanley Cup expectations and probably an outside chance at a playoff spot, does management want to burn a year of Scheifele’s entry-level contract (relative cost control) for a year that may be beneficial to his development but also may stunt it.  In the long haul if the team is battling for a fringe playoff spot this season, why not save Scheifele’s cost control contract for a season down the road when the team is (as the fans hope) a legitimate playoff contender.

Remember the Jets are not going to be a free spending team.  Having a certain amount of valuable cost control contracts is going to be vital to this team’s success.

World Junior Championships, another year in CHL

Scheifele has played less than 70 games in the Canadian Hockey League.  By all accounts his performance at the Canadian World Junior Camp was not anything special.  Another year under the tutelage of Hawerchuk, a full season against the opposing team’s best shutdown defenders and chance to make the Canadian World Junior team playing against the best players under 20 years old around the NHL would do wonders for his development.  If he really is that good, then his colours will show over the course of the season (larger sample size).

High expectations

Expectations are always high for a first round pick.  They are higher for a first round pick on a Canadian team.  They are even higher for a first round pick on a Canadian team that has not seen NHL hockey for fifteen years.  Catch the drift?  Can Scheifele succeed?  It is possible.  However, another season in junior will allow fans, and more importantly the Jets brass, a better idea of what true expectations should be for Scheifele.

As one fan put it on Twitter: “Scheifele: Over/under 76 goals?”

Where does he fit in?

Coach Claude Noel mentioned that the Jets do not really have size up the middle.  Scheifele is bigger than people think, but his size should not be a significant factor when it comes to whether he makes this team.  Noel said he lined up Antropov in the middle to add size and play tough matchups.  He also said he could be slid over to the right wing.  Remember the Jets have Bryan Little, Alex Burmistrov, Nikolai Antropov, Kyle Wellwood and Jim Slater up the middle.  Where does Scheifele fit in?  If it is on the top two lines, then what happens to Little or Burmistrov?  Those top two lines will result in very difficult competition.  Conversely, if he plays on the third line (even if it is employed in a scoring capacity) this will result in less ice-time and less offensive support.

Never mind the fact that the team is also poor in the face-off circle, with only Kyle Wellwood and Jim Slater proving to be anywhere above average.

All in all, Scheifele may turn into a tremendous player, if that is the case, another year of seasoning won’t hurt him.  In fact, it may help both him and the organization—a relationship fans hope lasts a long, long time.

Some said the city would never be the same without the Jets, few ever said what the city would be like if the Jets suddenly reappeared.

Maybe the Jets needed to leave for the city to realize its capabilities, for the businesses to flourish in its absence, or maybe most importantly, for the public to realize, we as a collective group, could fare without NHL hockey.

Sure we could “survive”, quite well in fact, but we always believed we could fare even better with the NHL returning to this great city.

The above paragraphs, or any words for that matter, do little justice to the feeling of excitement that took place in the MTS Centre last night.  So, here is a brief chronicle of the excitement from the moment the doors opened, to the moment the players came out for the pre-game skate.  See, if we chronicled the time from the pre-game skate to the puck drop, we at Illegal Curve would not be able to take that feeling in without distraction.  It is during those moments that no distractions apply.  No cell phones.  No Twitter.  No Facebook.  Just us. The fans of the Jets; the people of Winnipeg uniting for a common cause.

Does it get any better than this?

6:25 p.m.: The attendance is sparse but there is a feeling of excitement.  This is not the calm one feels before an NHL exhibition game, or a regular season game for that matter.

6:31 p.m.: People continue to trickle in, the visibility of old fashioned Jets jersey becomes apparent—like it was ever really going to be a surprise…

6:33 p.m.: The staff at MTS Centre enters the ice to work on the ice surrounding the crease.  Something so simple never really attracts our attention, but everything is amplified on this surreal evening.

6:34 p.m.: The television lights appear in the North End of the building.  Television lights.  TSN Jets will be broadcasting this contest.  TSN, of course, broadcasts the NHL.  This is an NHL game.  Pinch us, we’re dreaming.

6:36 p.m.: The nets have entered the ice.  The warm up nets that is.  But nets nonetheless.

6:39 p.m.: The first audible cheer emanates from the stands.  Some in the 100 section are standing, clearly unable to curb their enthusiasm.

6:40 p.m.: Warm-up time says 19:19, 19:18, 19:17.  The logos underneath are both blue and red—Winnipeg and Columbus.  As Tim Campbell said in the Free Press this morning—did anyone believe this would happen 15 years ago?

6:41 p.m.: PA announcer (Jay Richardson of Jay and Troy) welcoming everyone to the MTS Centre, the crowd of, probably 1,000 people, applauds and cheers.

6:43 p.m.: The Code of Conduct appears.  The joy will likely not lead to any incidents.  The people are too elated to cause trouble.

6:48 p.m.: People are getting acquainted with their new season seats.  The seat selection process is one thing; the real thing is a whole lot different (never mind October 9).

6:50 p.m.: The first sign appears.  A pink sign in section 222 that says “Go Jets”.

6:53 p.m.: Audio of “Go Jets Go” plays over the loud speaker.

6:55 p.m.: Sara Orlesky sets up shop on the team bench to tape her pre-game spot.

6:58 p.m.: All we can think of is that this is NOTHING compared to what October 9 will be.

7:00 p.m.: The players enter the rink in their “home” whites.  The fans can’t stop cheering.  Place wasn’t even full yet and sounded like many other NHL arenas filled to their capacity.

We hope you enjoyed the game.  We did.  It was only the first NHL hockey game featuring the Jets in 15 years…

In my previous article “Who Will Drop the Gloves For the Winnipeg Jets” I looked at last seasons’ and career fighting numbers for Jets players to see who we can expect to be dropping the gloves for the team this season.

With 33 fights in 184 games, Tanner Glass leads the team in percentage of games played, with a fight. His ten fights last season would have lead this years team.

On the Illegal Curve Hockey Show, we have had many debates about the place fighting has in the game. In the episode linked above, Ezra and Richard get into a nice argument with Winnipeg Free Press Columnist Gary Lawless about fighting.

While there may be a division of opinion among fans, Tanner Glass thinks that dropping the gloves is still a part of the game.

“I think its definitely a part of the game, I think most guys would say that. It’s not necessarily used as much to police the game as it used to be. I’d like to see it used more (to police the game). The instigator rule really changed the way fighting is used (by the players). It still plays into effect when (the opposition) run a good player, or a dirty play happens; (the opposition) know, if you have a guy on your team who’s willing to stand up for his teammates (they will have to pay the price for their actions).”

As a player who is known for his energy and grit on the ice, Glass believes that the days of the 4th liner who spends more time in the box than on the ice, are over.

“I think the days of the big heavyweight enforcer are a little bit dated now; the average player won’t fight that guy anyways, he won’t be able to jump him. But if a guy of average size who can still play, is like “hey we gotta go”, guys will have a lot harder time turning that one down.”

While the off season has been dominated by the talk of concussions, mainly Superstar Sidney Crosby’s; the Regina, SK native doesn’t think that it will deter anyone from fighting

“I don’t think so; guys do get concussions from fighting, but I think its more that hit where you don’t see that guy coming, or you don’t know where you’re going to get hit, that’s more dangerous. When two guys are going and they know what they’re doing, I don’t think its very dangerous at all.”

While Winnipeg isn’t in the Stanley Cup Final quite yet, the fans are sure acting like it. The fan response reminded Glass of the playoff run in Vancouver last spring (& early summer).

“That’s one of the things I thought of right away. The energy levels sustained here through the start of the season from what I had at the end of last season. It’s a little different, expectations were pretty high in Vancouver last year, and everyone was like “this is our year to win it.” Being different is not necessarily bad, it’s been really good here, people are excited, a lot of little kids and happy faces around the rink at all times. The energy is different, but it’s a great energy.”

Tanner Glass was one of Winnipeg’s first free agent acquisitions. He signed here because of his familiarity with the organization, and proximity to home. Glass appears eager to play for a franchise with such excitement around it, we look forward to seeing what he can bring to the Jets this season.

Listen to the audio of his press conference here

On the day the NHL Social Media Policy was announced, I felt that it was appropriate to note that several Winnipeg Jets players have been using twitter (see our full list here) to ask fans for the best Winnipeg hotspots.

A common theme among the players is asking where to have dinner. Living up to the reputation of “Friendly Manitoba”, fans & followers have been happy to help.

Read more on the story after the jump

Blake Wheeler (@BiggieFunke) started the trend on the weekend, looking for a burrito

A few days later Tanner Glass (@TGlass15) was looking for “something downtown and as fresh as possible”

When Andrew Ladd signed with Winnipeg, he spoke positively about the city, saying: “The people that are there are a big part of it, down to earth an real friendly” The Captain has followed the lead, and gotten some first hand help from the people by being the 3rd Jet to ask for a recommendation.

While the players could easily Google “Winnipeg Restaurants” or visit a site like Urban Spoon they have chosen a way that allows them to interact with followers.

It wasn’t so long ago, that the only way to talk with players, was to write them a letter, cross your fingers and hope that you would get one back. While it may not be an autographed hockey card in the mail, being @Tweeted by your favourite Twitterer (twitterite? tweeter?) is something that fans can show off to their friends.

No good deed goes unrewarded, and the players who have been asking for help, have politely responded.

As the season begins, fans hope to continue to interact with their favorite players on twitter (just not on game days).

When Andrew Ladd, Mark Stuart, Eric Fehr and Nik Antropov stepped off the Hercules plane at 17 Wing Air Force Base in Winnipeg, and unveiled the jerseys to be worn by the Winnipeg Jets 2.0, the last remaining aesthetic question had been answered, and the attention/obsession of Winnipeg Jets fans can now be squarely focused towards the on ice product being put forth this coming NHL season and the machinations surrounding Zach Bogosian’s contract status.

With the sharp navy colour scheme as the home jersey (sorry, I refuse to call it polar night blue), and the road jersey being the classic, traditional white jersey, the team will certainly look good on the ice, regardless of the talent level being put forth. While I don’t believe this will be an issue this season, the question that is sure to arise when the team is of a playoff caliber, is what will become of the legendary, often imitated, never duplicated, Winnipeg White-Out?

More on this after the jump.

Ever since 2003 when the NHL switched the colour scheme, and decided the home team would wear dark coloured jerseys, the playoff white-out has been left in limbo. In some cities fans still wear white to support the home team, even if that same team happens to be clad in dark jerseys. In other cities, they have adjusted to the times and have started wearing the darker colour jersey being sported by the home team. The “Red Mile” in Calgary is a great example of fans adapting. In Winnipeg though, where the white-out is sacred and violating it may be punishable by biblical-era stoning, will Winnipeg Jets fans be willing to accept the difference between the whites worn in the stands and that of their on ice heroes?

The answer to the question as to why the home team ever adopted dark jerseys in the first place comes down to a familiar answer, money. New home jerseys mean new jersey purchases mean new revenue. For some of the cash starved NHL franchises, that’s no small matter. Same reason why 3rd jerseys ever came on to the scene—teams saw another potential avenue for generating revenue. Unfortunately, where seeing the dark jerseys was once unique and “fun” for the home fans, like every other flash in the pan idea, it has fallen by the wayside, and now only results in the awkward white-out related dilemma teams are currently faced with.

There’s an easy solution to the white-out, dark jersey problem. Yet, because it will demand that the NHL is moderately fan friendly it probably will never see the light of day. Simply put, and I refuse to believe this is too burdensome of an inconvenience for a visiting franchise, the home team should be allowed to wear whatever colour jersey they want to wear—dark, light, or alternate. Given the amount of luggage already hauled by the visiting NHL team, how much of an inconvenience is one more set of jerseys? With this solution, the fans of a particular team who are fortunate enough to attend multiple games per season, will see their team play in any and all of their available jerseys. Maybe the Winnipeg Jets will have a tremendous record while wearing their dark jerseys at home, and the white out will naturally morph into a black out? The point is that for a league that is always trying to stand out and not be the ugly stepchild of professional team sports, they need to do everything in their power to become as fan friendly as possible. Given the void that will be in the sporting marketplace with the NBA heading toward nuclear Armageddon over their collective bargaining agreement, the NHL would be wise to position themselves as THE fan friendly sport, and reap the rewards that doing so would bring them.

If being more fan friendly means I have to stand at the MTS Centre clad entirely in Polar Night Blue because the Jets are more comfortable in their darker jerseys come playoff time, I’m confident I will stand and cheer just as loud as I did when I was clad entirely in white. If foregoing the white out is the cost of a trip deep into the NHL playoffs, which as every Jets fan will tell you is their white whale, that’s a price I would be willing to pay. For the Jets 2.0, I would prefer to have actual victories on ice, as opposed to the paper victories the Jets 1.0 were forced to “celebrate”.

The game itself wasn’t pretty, which is basically what you would expect given the fact that these kids were thrown together and have only practiced together twice. Still, there was a lot of skill (individual and otherwise) on display and the Jets acquitted themselves quite well against a San Jose team playing with one game under their belt.

My thoughts on a few selected players after the jump.

Jason Gregoire- Started the game very tentatively, but soon found a comfort level and showed his maturity and all-around game. Was very good on the fore-check with Lowry, meshed well with Klingberg and Scheifele and showed calm feet on the PK. Was rewarded with a goal on the nice feed from Scheifele and also hit the post on another chance. I still think he makes the team out of camp.

Carl Klingberg- My personal favourite prospect was doing what he does best. Making room for teammates and playing an aggressive game. Took a penalty with a dangerous hit in the 2^nd, but looked good on the “top” line with Scheifele and Gregoire. Klingberg made a nice play early in the game to take the puck from the corner to the front of the net. Has an edge to his game that I hope translates well to the next level.

Michael Kirkpatrick- I thought he looked very dangerous early on and faded somewhat as the game wore on. His compete level is very high and had a good battle with a 6’5 San Jose defender early in the game.

Ivan Telegin- He displayed a nice range of skills and was quite good on the boards. Not afraid to mix it up or take a chance to make a play.

Zach Yuen- I was impressed with the skill Yuen displayed. I knew he was a solid defender, but he has an upside I was previously unaware of. Moves very well and closes gaps effectively.

Julian Melchiori- Despite the fact that he looked a little uncomfortable with the speed of the game and rushed a few plays, he seemed to calm down later in the game and seemed to gain confidence with the puck.

Zach Redmond- As was the case with Gregoire, Redmond showed his age and poise all night. Wearing the captain’s C, he was able to control the pace of the game when needed and served as a calming influence at both ends of the ice.

Adam Lowry- I thought Lowry was very impressive in his debut, with a motor that just keeps running. He supplied energy every time he stepped on the ice.

Mark Scheifele- I would say his performance erased any doubts people had about using the 7^th overall pick to get him. He was the best player on the ice and showed very smooth hands to go with great speed. Scheifele displayed a level of patience and calm feet on the PK not often seen in players his age.

Watch for another Prospect Pulse tomorrow following the Oilers-Jets tilt tonight. Follow me on Twitter @ICKylek or leave your comments below.

I found it unusual for a defenseman to lead his team in shots, especially by such a high amount.

I began to wonder:  Where do Dustin Byfuglien’s 2010-11 shots rank among the league leaders?

Read more about Dustin Byfuglien’s historic season after the jump.

The table below shows last season’s top 10 in shots.

Dustin Byfuglien is in the top tier among the league in terms of shots.  His 347, trail only Alexander Ovechkin, now sponsored by Mr. Big.  All of the above players are classified as “All Stars”.  Additionally, no other defenseman makes the top 10 in shots.  The next defenseman on the list is Zdeno Chara (20^th in the league) with 264 shots.

Big Buff’s 2010-11 season is in elite company, but how elite?  At this point we should take a look at the season leaders for shots by a defenseman.

Single Season Leaders – All Time – Defenseman – Shots

As the song goes: “one of these things is not like the other” — all of the players are on the list are Hall of Famers, except Dustin Byfuglien.

The song continues: “these things belong together” — everyone in the top 10 has a Stanley Cup ring.

Continue down the list, available here at NHL.com of the past 30 single season leaders in shots by a defenseman, the most recent aside from Byfuglien’s previous season, is future Hall of Famer Rob Blake in 1999-2000.

Other names in the top 30 include Hall of Famers & Stanley Cup Winners, Brian Leetch and Al MacInnis.

Is this a coincidence? Or will Winnipegger’s see a similar career path from the 26 year old though his 5 year contract with the Jets?  Only time will tell…or something cliche like that.

This article was written by Michael Remis, you can follow him on twitter @mremis

Previous articles by the author

TSN Jets Faq
Who Will Drop the Gloves for the Winnipeg Jets?
Who Will Shoot for the Winnipeg Jets?
Tickets Sold in the Winnipeg Jets Secondary Ticket Market
Choosing a Goal Song for the Winnipeg Jets
The Science of an Intro Song

One would think, that an NHL Launch Party, with a live network broadcast at The Forks, including big screens showing the opening games Maple Leafs vs. the rival Canadiens at 6pm and the Stanley Cup Loser Vancouver Canucks vs. the Crosby-less Penguins at 9pm.  A party, lasting all weekend until after the Jets first regular season home game would be a great idea, who wouldn’t want to attend such a function.

(Canadian Press)

Adding to the excitement, the celebration will feature a “major Canadian concert act”.  That is just the cherry on top of what will already be a weekend to remember.  At this point, most fans must be thinking “Wow, doesn’t this celebration just sound amazing, where do I get tickets to this event? Oh what? They’re free! Wow, thank you NHL.”

Continue reading after the jump.

One would think that would be the general reaction for most fans, until, the bomb drops, the bomb that names the rumored “major Canadian concert act” as Nickelback. Naturally, this caused a public outcry against the band and the NHL. The Winnipeg Free Press even published a very comical open letter from current and former music critics Rob Williams and Bartley Kives saying “We’re begging you…no Nickelback!”

***CAUTION, IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, I MAKE POSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT NICKELBACK, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***

I’m going to be completely honest, if Nickelback did play, and only decided to play music that they had recorded prior to 2001, I don’t think that it would be a terrible thing. “Breathe”, “Worthy to Say” and “Too Bad” are still rocking arena songs that would get fans jumping.

However, it is “Too Bad” (see what I did there?), that they changed their musical style after the success of “How You Remind Me” and released the oh-too similar “Someday” and Photograph”. Here is a fan’s mash-up of “How You Remind Me” and “Someday” playing in each channel…oy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvujgcbaCF8

While I don’t think Nickelback would bring the apocalypse (Gasp!), the call has been made to consider someone else, lets take a look at some other alternative “major Canadian concert acts”. To do this, I’ll have to define “major Canadian Concert act” as a band with similar album sales and concert gross/production to Nickelback.

Believe it or not, Nickelback have sold 35 million album copies worldwide and were the 11 best music selling act of the 2000s. Just because they have sold a ton of albums, does not mean they are necessarily good.

Other “Major Canadian Concert Acts to Consider”

Rush

Also known as “The Holy Triumvirate”, Rush began in 1968 playing clubs in Toronto, Ontario. As depicted in the excellent documentary “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”, the band never received the mainstream success of a band like Nickelback, but their musical style has influenced a number of commercially successful rock acts and spawned a wide array of diehard fans. Rush have sold more than 40 million records worldwide, and their sales place them after The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band. Did I mention they were appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997?

Geddy Lee, best bass player, ever

After a 26 year hiatus of appearing in the city, Rush returned to Winnipeg in 2008, and developed a connection to the city after donating $100,000 of concert revenues to Winnipeg’s new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. They returned to the road in 2010-11 but did not make a stop in Winnipeg. There are no scheduled dates on their website, and their schedule appears wide open.

The Tragically Hip

The Kingston, Ontario band are no strangers to the city of Winnipeg or Canada’s game. Hockey, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Stanley Cup are just some idiom’s that have graced the lyric sheets in the liner notes of their classic albums. (Do people still read those?)

They have released 12 studio albums, won 14 Juno Awards, and have been inducted into Canada’s Music Hall of Fame & Walk of Fame.

The Hip have made trips here in 2009 (4 shows), 2007, 2005,2004, 2002 (2 shows), 2000, 1999, 1997, 1996 (2 shows), 1995 (2 shows), 1993, 1992, 1991 (2 shows)

While Gord Downie & co. have no scheduled tour dates for the rest of the year, they last played here earlier this summer in July at Canwest Global Shaw Park. I don’t think Hip fans in Winnipeg would be opposed to a return, but the concert organizers may consider someone who hasn’t played here so recently.

Neil Young

Winnipeggers are no strangers to “Uncle Neil”, as he was born here in 1945. After his family moved to Ontario shortly after, he returned in 1960 to attend Kelvin High School.

Young has accomplished more than anyone could dream in his 40+ years as a musician. He has been awarded the Order of Manitoba, the Order of Canada. He has released 34 studio albums, and been named to the Rock and Roll Hal of Fame twice (as a solo artist and as a member of Buffalo Springfield).

The 65 year old is a known hockey fan, being shown on CBC frequently during last year’s NHL playoffs sporting a Manitoba Moose hat.

Gotta support the team!

This decade, he has played in Winnipeg in 2006 with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, in 2008 with His Electric Band and for 2 solo shows in 2010. Young has no shows scheduled for the weekend of NHL Face Off. I remember the disappointment around the city when he pulled out of the Junos in 2005, if he made an appearance at opening weekend; I don’t doubt that he could tear the house down.

The Arcade Fire

Having never heard any music released post 1990, I will be the first to admit that I am not overly familiar with Montreal’s Arcade Fire. However, I am not completely oblivious, and am aware that this is a band on the rise. They burst onto the scene in 2004, and could be at their career peak after winning the Grammy for Album of the Year for the album “The Suburbs” earlier in 2011.

Their last played here in 2010 at the MTS Cente to rave reviews, and have no dates scheduled the weekend of the NHL Faceoff. They are no stranger to playing free public concerts, as they are playing in Monteal in September 22 as a part of the Pop Montreal Festival. An appearance in Winnipeg would surely attract more than the 5,500 that were at the MTS Centre in 2010.

Keep in mind, that the quality of these bands are of much higher caliber (cost more $ to bring in) than bands who have previously played at the NHL’s Faceoff Event.

2010 – Hedley, Down With Webster, Hey Rosetta!

2008 – Def Leppard – memorable for singer Joe Elliot’s placing The Stanley Cup on a table upside down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npwMdSWSeZI

I only named a few bands I consider to be a “major Canadian Concert act” are there any other bands or artists that I am missing that could be included? Sound off in the comments.

With that theme of Top 10 in mind, Illegal Curve decided to take a look at the Jets home schedule and try to limit ourselves to just 10 home games that most caught our fancy.  Recently, while discussing the schedule with a hockey fan, it was said “but who is going to want to see the Islanders or Hurricanes in December” and the answer was “almost anyone in Winnipeg”.

But in the interest of presenting a Top 10 list, here are Dave and Ezzy’s Top 10 Winnipeg Jets home games for this season:

Dave’s Top 10 Winnipeg Jets Home Games

#10  Hurricanes on Saturday, October 22nd

Reason:  It is the first Saturday night game and it will be featured on CBC.  As well, the Staal family is from “nearby” Thunder Bay, Ontario so it will be a homecoming of sorts for the Canes captain.  Of course with so many Staal’s in the Eastern Conference, I suspect the family might have to take up residence in the Peg’.

#9  Leafs on Saturday, December 31st

Reason:  I’m not really a Leafs fan, but you would have to imagine that the atmosphere will be quite charged for the New Years Eve game.

#’s 8 thru 1 after the jump.

#8  Bruins on Tuesday, December 6th

Reason:  The Stanley Cup champs are coming to town.  Always exciting to see the team which was last season’s cup winners.

#7  Kings on Thursday, December 29th

Reason:  I think the Kings could be a force this season, so they would be a worthwhile team to watch.  Will help that Kenora’s Mike Richards and Winkler’s Dustin Penner should have pretty sizable cheering sections.

#6  Capitals on Friday, March 16th

Reason:  Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin should make the game extremely entertaining.  Who knows perhaps we will even see Winnipeg product Jacob Micflikier suiting up in front of the hometown crowd.

#5:  Lightning on Saturday, April 7th

Reason:  Final game of the regular season.  Perhaps it will mean something, perhaps it doesn’t but should have a similar atmosphere as Game 1 did and who knows, it could have an impact on the playoff race.

#4  Penguins on Friday, December 23

Reason:  With all the concussion talk and uncertainty of his return in time for training camp I’ve bypassed the early Pens game in favour of the one 2 months later.  Hopefully by this time a healthy Crosby will be leading his Pens into Winnipeg.  I still remember having tickets with my grandfather to a Penguins game when they were supposed to be led into town by Lemieux, but Mario missed the Jets game on that road trip while recovering from injury.

#3  Coyotes on Thursday, December 1st

Reason:  I contend that the Desert Dogs could become the Jets biggest rivals due to our somewhat shared history.  As well the Internet has created a level of animosity that won’t likely be duplicated on the ice but has fans on both sides of the border salivating at the chance to stick it to the other side.  Battle of Jets 1.0 vs. Jets 2.0.

#2  Ducks on Saturday, December 17th

Reason:  Teemu, Teemu, Teemu.  This game could fall on my list if the Finnish Flash doesn’t return to the NHL but we don’t want to entertain those thoughts.  Of course long time Jets 1.0 defenceman and current Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle could bring us some nostalgia.

#1  Canadiens on Sunday, October 9th

Reason:  First official NHL regular season game in the history of the Jets 2.0.  Similar to my rational for the Leafs game on New Years Eve, this has more to do with the spectacle than who the Jets opponent is.  It is a game 15 years in the waiting, and Winnipeg is going to make this party last all season long.

Ezzy’s Top 10 Winnipeg Jets Home Games

#10  Bruins on Tuesday, December 6th

Reason:  The Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and a storied Original Six franchise so I would be remiss if I didn’t include them on this list. The Bruins have some of the best young talent in the game with Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. And of course the Bruins have 6’9’’ tower of power Zdeno Chara, who fans love to hate wherever he goes (especially Montreal, right Habs fans?).

#9  Wild on Tuesday, December 13th

Reason:  The Wild only visit the Jets once this season and as the closest NHL city to ours, it will produce a geographically friendly rivalry.  The Wild are going to be better this year with the addition of Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi but the main reason why this game makes this list is because this is the first game of a six-game homestand in December for the Jets and it comes at an important time of the schedue for both teams.

#8  Kings on Thursday, December 29th

Reason:  The Kings are one of the up-and-coming elite teams in the NHL and with the recent off-season acquisition of Kenora’s Mike Richards are now also one of the hottest tickets in the league. The Kings have always been popular in Winnipeg dating back to the early 90’s when L.A. had Wayne Gretzky so their will surely be a few Black and Silver jerseys in the crowd. The Kings also employ Drew Doughty, the best young defenseman in the NHL.

#7  Capitals on Thursday, November 17th

Reason:  Because the Thrashers were purchased by True North and moved to Winnipeg so late in the season (May 31, 2011) the Jets will actually play in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division.  That means that Winnipeg fans will get to see the Washington Capitals three times, beginning with this game in mid-November. Alexander Ovechkin alone is worth the price of admission, while Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin aren’t too bad either. I have a feeling that the Capitals are going to be Winnipeg’s biggest rivalry this season.

#6  Penguins on Saturday, October 17th

Reason: Everyone knows the reason for this one. This will be the first chance Winnipeg fans have to see Sidney Crosby in the NHL (Crosby played at the MTS Centre in 2005 for Team Canada during a World Juniors exhibition game).  Perhaps Crosby will be injured (he has been out since last January with post-concussion symptoms) but Crosby may  be healthy too. It will still be a great game without Crosby because of the presence of superstar Evgeni Malkin, two-way forward Jordan Staal and standout defenseman Kris Letang. If I knew that Crosby was in the line-up, this game would be much higher on the list, maybe even as high as #1.

#5  Flyers on Saturday, November 19th

Reason:  The Flyers seem to always be in the headlines. The last time the Jets were in the NHL, the Flyers had the Legion of Doom line featuring Eric Lindros, Mikael Renberg and John Leclair. Now the Flyers have Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk and Danny Briere.  This will be an afternoon game on Hockey Night in Canada and will be the first of two visits to Winnipeg for the Flyers (The Flyers also play in Winnipeg on Tuesday, February 21st).

#4  Ducks on Saturday, December 17

Reason: Teemu Selanne’s potentially triumphant return to Winnipeg. I say that because Selanne was unsigned as of late August due to injury concerns.  In order to avoid being a bigger buzzkill than buzzkillington, we are going to assume that Teemu will be here (I imagine he will be in Winnipeg even if he ends up calling it a career in the NHL) It’s funny, Teemu only played here for 2 and half years but he was arguably the most popular Jet of all time (and yes I’ve heard of Bobby Hull, Thomas Steen and Dale Hawerchuk)

#3  Coyotes on Thursday, December 1st

Reason:  The Jets became the Coyotes in 1996 and ever since then we’ve lived with the ghosts of Shane Doan and Dallas Drake. Because the Coyotes nearly moved here in the spring of 2010, we have followed them even closer the past two seasons. I strongly believe that this is going to be an intense emotional game for Jets  fans as some of us still view them as our team in a way (maybe not so much anymore, sorry Atlanta!). Regardless,  we just don’t like the Coyotes here in Winnipeg.

#2  Habs on Saturday, October 9th

Reason:  The Jets play their first home game in Winnipeg since 1996. The entire city will be watching this game. Heck, the entire country will be watching the game (The Prime Minister has even said he will be in Winnipeg if he can make it). This game will be the first of 22 games to be broadcast on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada this year and it will surely garner media attention from all over Canada, the United States and beyond.  It’s the first of two meetings against arguably the most popular NHL franchise of all time. Is that enough of an explanation for you?

#1  Leafs on Saturday, December 31st

Reason:  It’s the New Year’s Eve game on a Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada. Anybody who knows me knows that I like to party and this game is going to be the biggest party of 2011.  I understand that the October 9th home opener against the Habs will be #1 for most people (including IC’s Dave M) but I’m looking forward to the party at the MTS Centre when the Leafs come into a party that we’re hosting on the biggest party night of the year. Get your champagne ready!

Remember, these are just Dave and Ezzy’s Top 10 lists.  You may have a completely different list.  We always want to hear what you have to say.  Let us know in the comments section, what your Top 10 would look like and why you chose those games.

Two men going toe to toe, will always draw cheers and excitement from the crowd. In this article I will be examining which current Winnipeg Jets will be lifting fans to their feet with their fists this upcoming season.

As a team, last year’s Thrashers did not fight much. Their collective 33 fights was good enough for 19th in the league. In fact, Atlanta did not even have half the number of fights that the #1 St. Louis Blues had at 78. But they did have more than double the last place Detroit Red Wings (13).

Read more about the Winnipeg Jets scrappers after the jump.

The table below includes the fighting statistics (courtesy of hockeyfights.com) for the current Winnipeg Jets from last season. Fight% indicates the percentage of games fought in.

2010-11 Stats

Last year’s lineup also included Eric Boulton (9 fights), Ben Eager (3), Rich Peverley (1) and Anthony Stewart (1).

It appears that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was aware that he was losing some toughness in Boulton, and replaced him with former Manitoba Moose/Vancouver Canuck Tanner Glass. Weighing in at 205 lbs, his ten fights last season for Vancouver, would have been tops on the Thrashers squad. It is worth noting that the 6’1” Glass had 15 fights in the 2009-10 season (in 67 games, a 22.39%),

Notable names that Glass went head to head with were Jamal Mayers (twice), B.J. Crombeen and JF Jacques. According to hockey fights readers, his voted record was 2-3-5. While mostly drawing, one fight he did win against Matt Martin of the New York Islanders, was his highest rated of the year (video below). Glass fought in 13.70% of his games, which is actually below his career average of 17.93%. If Glass is able to suit up for a full 82 next season, he could surpass last year’s fight totals.

The next player on the Winnipeg Jets’ most likely to drop the gloves is defenseman Mark Stuart. Listed at 6’2”, 212 lbs, the Rochester, MN native was acquired in a trade with Boston that also sent Blake Wheeler to Atlanta. Stuart had been throwing down in Boston for 3 years until raising his game last season. He set a career high in fights with 7, compared to his previous high of 6 in 2009-10.

Last season he took down league pests Daniel Carcillo and Sean Avery on his way a 3-1-3 record (as voted by HockeyFights.com readers). While he won more than he lost, Stuart’s fights don’t rank very high with HockeyFights.com readers, as his highest rated fight was a 5.6 in a loss to Cody McCormick. However, the 27 year old is entering his fighting prime; the only thing holding him back is games played. He suited up for 54 and 56 games the last two seasons, if he can get into 82 with the Jets, he should be able to surpass last season’s total.

Chris Thorburn has been fighting for the Thrashers during 4 out of his 6 NHL seasons. Hailing from Sault St. Marie, Ontario the 6’3” 210 lbs forward has finished second on the team in fights to Eric Boulton for 4 consecutive seasons. Thorburns’ 7 fights last season, show he may be picking his spots more as he has had seasons with 12, 10, 9, and 9 fights. Last season he went up against tough guys such as George “the moustache” Parros, Manitoba’s Arron Asham (3 fights), and Stanley Cup hero Mike Rupp.

Thorburn’s record last season, as voted by the readers of hockeyfights.com was 4-1-2. The highest rated fight was against Travis Moen of the Canadiens scored a 6.2 (watch below). During this fight he showed he can punch equally well with both hands. His fighting percentage went down last year, it is possible we are seeing Thorburn’s last days as a brawler.

Other notable fights for the Thrashers last season

-5’11” Bryan Little had his first career NHL fight, he stayed within his weight class (195lbs) and dropped the gloves with former teammate Marc Savard (5’10” 175lbs)

-Evander Kane matched his rookie total of 2 fights, his most notable career fight was in his rookie season when he took down league goon Matt Cooke, see below for your viewing pleasure.

-Ben Maxwell’s one fight in 12 games last season gave him a fighting percentage of 8.33%. It appears that this is a product of small sample size. The 6’0” 180lbs forward is not particularly big and fought Winnipeg’s Colin Wilson who is not a known fighter. I don’t think he’ll be stepping into Glass/Stuart/Thorburn territory any time soon.

For your reading pleasure I have compiled the career fighting statistics of the current Winnipeg Jets’ players who have had at least one career fight. As expected, Tanner Glass, Chris Thorburn and Mark Stuart are at the top of the list.

Career Fights

Quick Thoughts:

-Zach Bogosian had 3 fights in each of his first two NHL seasons, Jets fans should want to see his number at around 1. Coach Noel would prefer to see his young defenseman on the ice rather than risking a broken hand or having him in the penalty box.

-In 2008-09 Dustin Byfuglien had 5 of his 7 career fights. When in Chicago, Dustin Byfuglien was more of a depth player playing behind top scorers Toews, Kane and Sharp. Winnipeg would prefer to have last years 2^nd leading point-getter on the ice, than in the sin bin.

-Jim Slater had 4 fights in 2009-2010, could he return to form in 2011-12?

-In 2005-06 Ron Hainsey had a career high 3 fights and has consistently had 1 per year since.

The author of this article is Michael Remis, follow him on Twitter @mremis