Note: The Jets season may have come to an end but Saturday was as busy as day in Jetsland as this guy can remember. There were a total of 14 players who spoke (see Note II) as did head coach Rick Bowness who spent some time walking back his post-game 5 comments. Today we hear from Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff at noon, who we learned last night will be returning for his 13th season as GM of Winnipeg. We will have it covered so stay tuned for that.
Note II: Here are all the media availabilities from Saturday. Hellebuyck & Wheeler | Connor & Niederreiter | Ehlers & Pionk | Appleton & Lowry | Schmidt & Dillon | Morrissey & Scheifele | Perfetti & Dubois |
Note III: The Moose took a bit of a beating in game 1 of their series with the Admirals. They hit the ice for a practice on Saturday morning as they prepared for game 2 this afternoon in Winnipeg. Puck drop is at 2 PM CDT.
Note IV: The Winnipeg Ice are cruising as they won game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final with the Saskatoon Blades by a final score of 6-2 on Saturday night. Gives them a 2-0 series lead. Series shifts to Saskatchewan for game 3 on Tuesday.
Note V: Jets prospect Brad Lambert had an assist in Seattle’s 5-1 win over Kamloops in game 1. He’s tied for 2nd overall in assists with 15 (although he’s played five fewer games than Winnipeg’s Ben Zloty who is 1st with 16).
Jets news:
Sportsnet: Jets part for the summer with questions swirling about the future. So many questions and normally we’d say so little time. But with spring here and summer approaching there will be plenty of time to get it all figured out long before training camp in Winnipeg. Wieber breaks down a wild day in Jetsland.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets’ Hellebuyck not ready to unmask his future. Not a real surprise given he cannot yet sign his extension and if he is uncertain as to the path forward, I don’t really blame him for holding his cards close to his vest.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Winnipeg Sun: Jets show thin skin in dispute with coach Bowness. Paul was front and centre for yesterday’s media availabilities with the Jets players and he gives you his thoughts on how they reacted to the comments from their bench boss.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets’ leading scorer Kyle Connor doesn’t want to hear talk of rebuild in Winnipeg. Why is anyone asking a player if he wants to be around for a ‘rebuild’? Seriously. What is he supposed to say ‘Yes I want to be part of a team that might suck for the next few years. Sign me up’.
Winnipeg Sun: Dubois not saying much about future with Jets but would like to have right to choose where he plays. I suspect had his agent not gone on Montreal TV and started yapping things would have been a lot quieter for him this past season. Their camp reaped what they sowed with those shenanigans.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets’ Mark Scheifele non-committal on future in Winnipeg. Similar to Hellebuyck there really is no advantage to his committing to the city long term unless he knows they are chasing a Stanley Cup. Of course he would be well advised to spend his summer training with Patrice Bergeron or Anze Kopitar if he wants to help an NHL team achieve that goal.
Winnipeg Sun: Bowness wants to be back behind Jets bench. His love for the city and this team was pretty clear as day.
Winnipeg Sun: ‘Gave it everything I had here:’ Jets’ Blake Wheeler ponders legacy with future uncertain. There is no question he brought intensity to the rink every single night.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets wonder what future may hold. (Paywall). Mike was also inside the Matt Frost Media Centre on Saturday and he filed this report on all the questions ahead for the organization.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets veterans unhappy with Bowness’s blunt comments. (Paywall). It is interesting that the players seemed unified in their position.
The Athletic Winnipeg: What comes next for Jets Hellebuyck, Dubois, Wheeler and Scheifele? Here’s our best guess. (Paywall). Murat tries to predict the future with his latest column.
CBC: Jets head coach admits blunder after players disagree with playoff elimination comment. I wasn’t surprised to hear him dial his comments back a little bit.
Jets video:
Sportsnet: Jets’ end-of-season media availabilities only added uncertainty to the future in Winnipeg. Sean Reynolds and Ken Wiebe discuss the Winnipeg Jets’ end-of-season media availabilities, what they took away from the players’ responses to Rick Bowness’ post-series assessment of the team and what might be next for the pending free agents.
TSN: Dreger on Bowness: ‘Questioning the top players pride was over the top’. The Jets had a very ugly exit in the first round of the playoffs, James Duthie and Darren Dreger break down what the future will look like in Winnipeg and what moves they might make to avoid a possible rebuild.
Jets audio:
Illegal Curve Hockey Show: Saturday Podcast. Topics we discussed on the show included: Jets 2022-23 season/playoffs post-mortem. Further reflection on the comments from head coach Rick Bowness following game 5. Reaction to the media avail comments of Blake Wheeler, Connor Hellebuyck and Kyle Connor. Where do the Jets go from here?
