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.