Jets Avoid Arbitration, Sign Frolic to One-Year, $3.3M Deal

Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the Winnipeg Jets brass avoided a potentially sticky club-elected arbitration hearing with forward Micheal Frolic on Tuesday by signing him to a one-year contract worth $3.3 million.

NHL Draft and Free Agency Bonanza 2014

The Winnipeg Jets didn't do much at this year's draft  (again) except perhaps selecting a very good Nicolaj Ehlers from the Halifax Mooseheads with the ninth pick in the first round.  Ehlers just happened to lead all QMJHL rookies with 49 goals this year.  But as General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff gas repeated said, it's all in the plan to draft and develop.  Remember, Nic Petan, Joshua Morrisey, Eric Comrie, Adam Lowry and Austen Brassard are yet to come, plus the already invaluable Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba that are already their weight in gold.



The other Jets selections this year were:

• Nicolaj Ehlers (1st round/9th)   video
•  Jack Glover (3rd round/69th)    video
• Chase De Leo (4th round/99th)   video
•  Nelson Nogier (4th round/101st)   
• C.J. Franklin (5th round/129th)   
• Pavel Kraskovsky (6th round/164th)  
• Matt Ustaski (7th round/192nd). video

Alas, with every trade and free agent signing, we lost a couple of guys.  Mostly IceCaps that really never caught on with the parent club like Andrew Gordon who signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and Zach Redmond with Colorado.  Roster players lost are center Olli Jokinen who signed a deal with the Nashville Predators and goaltender Al Montoya who decided to sign a contract with the Florida Panthers.  IceCaps goaltender Eddie Pasquale was also traded to the Washington Capitals for picks in this year's draft.

The re-signing of restricted free agents include:

Forward Chris Thorburn, goalie Micheal Hutchinson, Will O'Neill (with the Icecaps), and defenceman Adam Pardy.

 As for picking up any free agents themselves, the Jets were able to pick up Mathieu Perreault from the Anaheim Ducks for three years at $9 million per.

Contrary to rumors of the "imminent" trade of Evander Kane, no deal was reached to send the underachieving forward packing.  But, this is still just a matter of time.

IceCaps Fall to Texas in Calder Cup Finals

For the second time the St. John's IceCaps/Manitoba Moose franchise has reached the American Hockey League's championship round-the Calder Cup finals and for the second time they came up short, losing to the Texas Stars (Dallas' AHL affiliate) in five games, including the last three in overtime.

IceCaps Advance to Calder Cup Final

In only their fourth-and last-season in the Newfoundland capital, the Winnipeg Jets American Hockey League affiliate St. John's IceCaps ave advanced the AHL's championship round by claiming the Eastern Conference championship against the WIlkes/Barrie-Scranton Penguins in six games.  The IceCaps will battle the Western Conference champion Texas Stars, who defeated the Toronto Marlies, in the Calder Cup Final.

This is the second Calder Cup final appearance for the IceCaps franchise.  In 2009 when the team was still located in Winnipeg under the Manitoba Moose moniker, the team advanced to their first championship round only to lose to the eventual champion Hersey Bears in six games.

Setoguchi, Thorburn Trade Bait

According to the Winnipeg Free Press's Gary Lawless, the Winnipeg Jets have put Devin Setoguchi and Chris Thorburn on the trading block.  Apparently they have been dangled in front of Seto's old team, the San Jose Sharks.

Mo Speaks

Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice speaks to the media after signing a four-year extension to keep him on as the Jets bench boss through the 2017-2018 season.

Listen to part 1 here.



Part 2 to be released soon.

Jets Sign Maurice to Extension

He's staying put.
Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets have signed head coach Paul Maurice to an four-year extended contract that will see him coach the team through the 2017-2018 season.

Cheveldayoff spoke to the Winnipeg media about the signing of Maurice, this past season and what he expects from the team in the coming seasons.

Maurice Reiterates His Wanting to Stay in Winnipeg

When asked about it yet again by the Winnipeg media, Jets head coach Paul Maurice said although he still has to discuss it with his family, he wants to be coaching the team next year

I personally hope he returns.  He's a good coach.  A smart coach.  A knowledgeable coach.  He seems to genuinely like the city, like the players and he's been shown to be able to get results, as limited as he was with the time he had.  I'm not saying just having Mo behind the bench will make the Jets instant contenders, but he knows what it takes to get to the final.

Trade Bait

When the Winnipeg Jets hit the ice next season, they might look either a little different or lot different; depending on who you speak to.  I personally of am the opinion that both Evander Kane and Ondrej Pavelec will be in different jerseys come next year.  The people at The Fourth Period website tend to agree.

Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Blake wheeler and Brian Little have all been mentioned at one time or another this season as being on the trading block.  Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has always maintained that no player is safe if it would help to improve the team.  Byfuglien will probably be back next season as will the rest of the original "core" that came over from Atlanta.  But Pavelec, as a regular starting goaltender in the NHL is ranked 65th at last look.  Sixty-fifth!  There are 30 teams.  There are 30 regular starters.  How can one be ranked 65th!?

Rumors are starting now (at least in Winnipeg) that the Jets may swap Pavelec with the Toronto maple Leafs for James Reimer.  Evander Kane was brought up repeatedly during the trade deadline and may be on his way out of town due to not only the Jets needs, but the perception-if only that-of his character has not been a favorable one since he arrived in Winnipeg.

Chris Thorburn, Toby Enstrom, Mark Stuart are also the subject of hard-working players that other teams could use to boost their rosters.  Although I think Jets management would be hard-pressed to let a hockey player and leader Stuart go without a substantial return in a seasoned veteran.

It may be a different looking Winnipeg Jets roster when the opening face-off rolls around October 2014.

Jets End Season With A Victory

The Winnipeg Jets not only made their fans happy with a win over the Boston Bruins in their final home game of the season, they ended the season on a good note with a victory over the lowly Calgary Flames tonight, 5-3.

Evander Kane scored his 200th NHL point with a goal in the first period, his 19th of the season, Blake Wheeler ended this campaign with another goal; his 28th and 69th point to lead the team for the second consecutive year, Patrice Cormier garnered two assists and rookie goalie Micheal Hutchinson earned his second NHL win.

Jets Battle Back Against Bruins, Hutchinson's First NHL Win

Winnipeg Jets/St. John's IceCaps goaltender Micheal Hutchinson got his first NHL victory last night and it was against the big, bad Boston Bruins.  The Bruins scored in the first period and held the lead until a Blake Wheeler solo rush dished off to Evander Kane in the slot with 1:57 remaining in the third tied it up.
Overtime solved nothing and Bryan Little was the lone scorer in the shootout, as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Bruins 2-1 in the last home game at the MTS Centre for the 2013-2014 season.

Hutchinson made 36 saves for the win.

The Jets close out their season tonight at the Saddledome in Calgary against the Flames.









Also at the last home game, the Jets gave out their annual year-end awards:



Also, here is the Jets season recap from JetsTV:

Jets Flat in Loss to Minny

The Winnipeg Jets have missed the 2013-2014 NHL playoffs for the third consecutive year.  Seven years if you count the last time this franchise made it during their time in Atlanta.  You would figure the Jets would want to give their loyal fans something to enjoy until next season.  But no.  The Jets came out flat against divisional rival Minnesota Wild and couldn't generate enough offense to light the lamp behind Wild goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, losing 1-0 at the MTS Centre.

This was Evander Kane's first game back after being a healthy scratch against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He didn't convince anyone he shouldn't have been scratched again.
This was also Jim Slater's 500th NHL game.  It would have been nice if his teammates would have honored that better.

Goalie Michael Hutchinson saw his first NHL game in the loss and he saw what Ondrej Pavelec and Al Montoya have seen on most nights.  For the record, Hutchinson will be given another look.

Hellebuyck Signs Entry-Level Contract with Jets

The Winnipeg Jets have signed goaltender prospect Connor Hellebuyck to a three-year, two-way contract and he says he is excited to start a new chapter in his career.

Jets Play Spolier, All But Eliminate Maple Leafs from Playoffs

The Winnipeg Jets' season may be over, but that didn't stop them from helping to reduce the chances of the Toronto Maple Leafs from entering the post season playoffs, beating the Buds 4-2 at the ACC.

Other than a goofy give-away by Ondrej Pavelec, he was pretty solid, but the Leafs were just that much worse.  Even though they opened the scoring early, the allowed the Jets to come right back and tie it up.
If the Leafs had a hope of reaching the post-season, they certainly had to beat non-playoff team like the Jets. But, as would a play in the third period that saw the Jets maintain possession of the puck for nearly two full minutes would attest to, the Leafs are also a non-playoff team.

Doesn't the sting of not making the playoffs again seem just a little less painful knowing we helped stop the Leafs before they got going?

Mo Wants the Gig

Paul Maurice wants to be back next year behind the bench of the Winnipeg Jets; if it were solely up to him.  He, as a family man with a wife and two daughters, has to discuss it with them and to decide if the family wants to uproot from Columbus, Ohio.  If they do, you can expect Maurice to be the Jets new bench boss for the foreseeable future.

Jets Officially Eliminated from Playoffs After Loss to Pens

After last night's loss to Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 4-2 score at the MTS Centre, the Winnipeg Jets have officially been eliminated from the 2013-2014 NHL playoff party.

They Jets say they are disappointed and frustrated.  Does next year begin now?

New Jets Beat Old Jets in SO

In a road game that was heavily populated by Jets fans, Winnipeg's hockey club was able to get the ridiculous loss by the Ducks out of the way by defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 in a shootout as Andrew Ladd scored the winner, as well as the Jets only other goal.  Ondrej Pavelec picked up his first win since March 1, a stretch of 15 games.  More importantly, the Jets grabbed five of a possible seven points on this five-game road trip.  They now head home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Ducks Comeback to Beat Undeserving Jets

In about 18 minutes, a 4-0 third period Jets lead turned into a 5-4 Ducks come-from-behind-win.  The word choke doesn't even describe the debacle that went on at the pond in Anaheim.  The Jets take a meanigless point out of the game, but they have all but shown that even though they are still mathematically still in the hunt for a playoff spot, they've officaly given up.  Yes, even though they had one of the premier teams in the league down four goals; they also managed to sit back and watch that lead crumble and burn not less than a period later.

Even still, the Jets were just 23 seconds from victory.  Something that they do do well this season is break losing streaks for other teams, or in this case, allow a record setting season (40 wins in a season for the Ducks in club history) from the victory they just handed out.  But they're the absolute best at allowing goals in the first minute (or less) or the last minute (or less) of a game.
It seems the Jets indeed are writing their own book on losing.

Jets Down Sharks to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

Although not too likely, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Pacific division-leading San Jose Sharks 4-3 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.  I realize this is a little contradictory from the last post that stated the Jets near impossibility of making the playoffs, as they still are, but being a life-long Jets fan (yes including the 15 years in between-we Jets fans are a hardy bunch) but with every win, I still have the fire of hope burning; even if no one else does.  Of course even that's dwindling with every loss and every remaining game comes and goes.

Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien scored for the Jets and Toby Enstrom scored late for the winner.  This still leaves the Jets seven points out of the last wild card spot with eight games left.  That's an available 16 points on the table.  However the Jets have four games remaining on this five-game road trip and they are against some of the NHL's elite teams.  So the Jets have quite the hill to climb.

The Winnipeg Free Press's take.

Loss to Stars Pretty Much Seals Jets Fate for Season

With last night's 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Winnipeg Jets playoff hopes are now, although not yet officially, dead in the water as it pertains to this season.  This will mark the seventh straight season the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers have missed the NHL's post-season party.  That's only second behind the woeful Edmonton Oilers, who have missed the post-season the last eight years, including this one.  While that last sentence fills me with sheer delight to write, as I still personally hold great resentment towards the Oilers, stemming from their complete domination of the Jets 1.0 in the 1980s.

So, the obvious question is, what to do to make this a playoff team and beyond?  Keeping interim head coach Paul Maurice is a good start.  Maurice did the annual "Coach's Summit" with local Winnipeg media and said he likes this young squad and would like to be around to see this club grow into its potential and eventually become a Stanley Cup contender.  Maurice is a good fit and has shown he can improve this club, but he has to have a "dinner table" discussion with his family about moving to Winnipeg full time.  I can't really get a good read on Maurice's intentions, as he has spoken about his potential future in Winnipeg quite vaguely.  He may recieve other, more palatable offers from other teams witnessing the turn-a-round Maurice has done with the Jets.  As this article notes, Maurice is a good fit for the Jets.  My feeling is he'll be back next season.  As for some Jets players, that's another story.

Jets Begin Playoff Death Spiral

With last night's 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Winnipeg Jets pretty much now have to go undefeated through the last 10 games to have any semblance of hope in making the 2014 NHL playoffs.  But even with at, they would have to have some almost impossible help from other teams collapsing in the same stretch.  That's more closer to actual impossibility given the amount of games left, points available that may not be enough anyway, the recent play of the Jets and the ongoing better play of the teams that they're pursuing in the Central division.

It looks like the best the Jets can hope for for the rest of 2014 is a couple of decent draft picks.

With Buff, Bogo Out Jets Down Avs in OT

They're still alive.  With all the odds against grabbing the last wild card spot and making the NHL playoffs, the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in overtime at the MTS Centre tonight, frustrating teams like the Vancouver Canucks (who the Jets leap-frogged over tonight by a point) Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars; who thought the little team from River City would roll over by now.

The Jets now have 73 points and sixth place in the Central, just four points out of reach of that second wild card spot currently held by the Coyotes with 77 points.  The Jets need to go about 9-3, at minimum, in these last 12 games to hopefully garner enough points to sneak in the NHL's post-season.  As mentioned before, they also need those aforementioned teams to falter quite a bit to make up any points lost in March's collapse of six straight losses.

The Jets were without Dustin Byfuglien tonight who suffered a lower-body injury against St. Louis and defenceman Zach Bogosian was injured during the warm-up tonight and did not play.  Byfuglien is expected back Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Andrew Ladd had another chance to score the Jets first hat-trick since 2010 as he had two goals tonight and was all over Avs goaltender Reto Berra in the third period trying to notch that elusive third goal.  Al Montoya made 23 saves for the win.

Jets Back in Loss Column After Battle with Blues

Their no the NHL's number one ranked team for nothing.  The St. Louis Blues showed why they have kept opposing teams to two goals or less this season and the acquisition of Ryan Miller will just extend that ability.  Even though the Jets Eric O'Dell scored on St. Patty's Day, it wasn't enough as The Blues beat the Jets last night 3-1 (with an empty-net goal) as they continue their dominance of the Central division and put the Jets in even more of a pickle to make the last wild card spot.

The good news is the Jets competitors vying for that same playoff spot also lost their respective games with Vancouver, Minnesota and Phoenix all dropping their chances to improve on the Jets.  The Dallas Stars were idle.



Post-game comments upcoming.

Jets Own Stars

In their first blowout of another team this season, the Winnipeg Jets dominated the Dallas Stars 7-2 last night at the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg.

Dustin Byfuglien scored twice and was just inches away from the Jets first hat trick as Al Montoya stood fast and held the fort.  The Jets are now two points richer and move to within four points of the Central division's second wild card spot currently held by these same Dallas Stars.  However still standing in the Jets way are the Phoenix Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks with 75 and 72 points respectively.

With the win the Jets stop a merciless six-game losing streak that has almost put them out of the playoff picture. 

Injury Report

A couple of Jets went down Friday night against the New York Rangers and will miss action based upon their individual injuries.

Ondrej Pavelec is out for at least the next two games with a non-descript lower-body injury suffered in a goal-mouth scramble and Chris Thorburn is out with a bruised foot after blocking a shot against the Rangers.  Jim Slater is also out, again, indefinitely with a fractured talus, the heel bone between the tibia and fibula.

Coach Maurice, the injuries and what he expects from his own players and the Stars when Dallas visits the MTS Centre tonight:

Jets Fall to Rangers, Playoff Hopes Fizzle

Now that the Jets have lost to the New York Rangers 4-2 and are now on their longest losing streak of the season at six games (they acquired two out of a possible 12 points in that time with losses in overtime and a shootout) a streak that has not happened since February 13 until February 25, 2011  while the team was still in Atlanta.  To put it into perspective, this is even a longer drought than what Claude Noel was fired for back in January.  A five-game losing streak has happened twice this year and around the same time last season (a streak that killed their playoff chances after either leading the South-East division or being just a few points out of the wild card spot this season.)

There certainly is no "mo magic" when it comes to the Winnipeg Jets now.  Unless a complete miracle happens in which the Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks all slide in the standings dramatically.  In other words, although mathematically, they are barely still in the hunt, it's pretty obvious without an extreme bit of luck, the Jets are done for this year.  Especially since starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec suffered a lower-body injury late in the first and Chris Thorburn is out with an injured foot.  Pavelec is expected to miss at least the next two games.  The Jets have called up Michael Hutchinson from the St. John IceCaps to be the back-up to Al Montoya.

This was Andrew Ladd's 600th NHL game and he added a beauty off of the left post coming down the right wing on Henry Lundquist, his 19th of the season.


POST -GAME Mar. 14

No Mo Magic

The magic that first accompanied Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice (affectionately known around Jetland as "Mo Magic") when he took over the bench-boss duties from Claude Noel has apparently used up its pixie dust.  The Jets are the reluctant owners of a spanking new five-game losing streak.  Their second such streak of the season.  This one courtesy of the supposed sinking Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in a shoot-out.

This was supposed to be a must win for the Jets.  One that was supposed to be easier than this against a club that had won only one of their last seven before last night.
Canucks' Alexandre Burrows had not scored all season until last night's contest versus the Jets.  He scored the two Canucks regulation-time goals.  Leave it to the Jets to snap a season-long goal-less drought.

The Jets are fading fast, but are still in it by a thread.  However, it will now take a considerable amount of sliding by the other teams hunting for the last playoff spot in the Western conference for the Jets to even begin to start thinking about praying.

The Jets are now 30-28-9 for 69 points and sixth place in the Central division.  Just three points up on last-place Nashville and now five points behind Dallas for the last wild card spot.  The Phoenix Coyotes have 73 points, one point behind Dallas, while Vancouver is one point ahead of the Jets with 70.

Jets Lose Fourth In a Row: Downed by Avs in OT

A great effort for the Jets, indicated by their 6-0 penalty kill, but it wasn't enough as Winnipeg lost their fourth straight, going down 3-2 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche.

Jets Go Down to Senators, Find Themselves in Three Game Slump

Although the Winnipeg Jets are mathematically still in the playoff hunt for the second and last wild card spot in the NHL's Western conference, with the loss today to the Ottawa Senators, it just may be over for this season.  The Senators won 5-3.

It seems the Jets are back into their pre-Paul Maurice ways and are finding ways to lose once again as this game was over in the second period with the Sens scoring three unanswered goals.
Time is quickly running out on their playoff chances if the Jets don't put some wins together fast.  That of course has to be augmented by divisional rival losses.  But with the way Nashville, Dallas and even Pacific division teams like the Phoenix Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks, who are also in the hunt for that same wild card draw, are playing, the Jets will be hard-pressed to make up any ground.

In hindsight, maybe Kevin Cheveldayoff should have made a move or two at the trade deadline.

Streaking Kings Thwart Jets

For the fifth consecutive game, the Los Angeles Kings have tasted victory and are undefeated since the Olympic break after defeating the Winnipeg Jets 3-1.  It rightfully should have been worse as Ondrej Pavelec made saves to keep the Jets in it when he had no business doing so.  Pavelec was peppered with 41 shots in the game; a pattern is forming as Pavs had had to endure the target on his chest shots during the night just as he has the last three contests. 
One hundred eight pucks have come Pavelec's way in the last three games and he's still given the Jets a chance to win in all of them.  That's six juicy points stripped down to two because of sots against and quality shots at that.

Even though the Kings dominated, the score would have you believe that the game was closer than it was. If it was close for any amount of time, it was only because of Pavelec Ondrej Pavelec. Olli Jokinen opened the scoring for the Jets, but after that the Kings opened it up and shut it down, scoring three unanswered goals and putting on a clinic on puck control and possession.  The end was never in doubt after 15:51 of the third period.