Pavy Staying Put

Whew!
Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff signed young goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to a five-year contract worth $19.5 million.
In Pavelec's own words he never wanted to leave Winnipeg even though he was offered "really good money" to play in the KHL in Russia.
“Everybody knows I had an offer from the KHL, it’s not a secret, but I always wanted to stay in Winnipeg,” Pavelec said in a conference call from the Czech Republic. “It’s a process and another side of the business, it’s never easy to make a deal but this is a really good feeling. It was easy to sign a five-year deal. You always want to stay as long as you can in a city you like. As long as I can stay in Winnipeg, it’s better for me.”

If the Jets had let Pavy go (and it seems as more is revealed about the negotiations with him, that never was a reality) they would have been screwed.  Although they do have Gustavsson (who had pretty much the same numbers as Pavelec last year-although in 20 less games played) who does have his rights owned by the Jets since Saturday and may have had to battle with Chris Mason for the starter spot since the Jets have no other NHL calibre goalies going.  They do have Peter Mannino but he may be a few years beore he's a regular in the show.  However I'm sure Mannino would have had a crack at the big time to battle against Monster and Mase for the number one spot.

Now the spotlight turns on trying to ink 30-goal scorer Evander Kane as he and up and comer Spencer Machacek were offered qualifying contracts to ensure the Jets could retain their rights and be able to match any offer from other teams. 

In other (sort of) news, although the Jets didn't offer Eric Fehr a qulifying contract due to his very poor year last season which makes him a unrestricted free agent on July 1, they may still have use for him, but at a much lesser price. 

Fehr Out with the Jets

As expected, Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has decided  not to offer forward and Winkler native Eric Fehr an extension contract after Fehr's disasterous season in 2011-2012 wherein he only managed five points in 35 games with the Jets.

Fehr came to the Jets last summer in a trade with the Washington Capitals for ECHL winger Danick Paquette and a fouth-round pick in this years draft, in which the Caps used to select center Thomas Dipauli from United States national developmental system.

Scheifele to Play for Canada Versus Russia

Winnipeg Jets forward and 2001 first round draft pick Mark Scheifele has been selected to play in the four-game challenge series against Russia in August.

NHL Entry Draft: Day Two

In the second through seventh rounds that comprised day two of the NHL Entry Draft for the Winnipeg Jets, the team selected five more youngsters , including a potential prodigy from the famous Canadian Sutter clan in Lucas Sutter, that they hope will help build the team into a contender for Lord Stanley's mug.

Also on the afternoon, General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff obtained the rights to goaltender Jonas Gustavsson from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2013 draft.  The Winnipeg Free Press's Gary Lawless sees this move as a bargaining chip in the Onjdre Pavelec contract negotiations., although Cheveldayoff denied it.  "[That's] totally separate from this," Cheveldayoff said. "We're going to sign two guys and get that done."
"This is more an opportunity to be able to talk to a UFA person before the July 1 deadline."


2012 draft picks

1 (9) Jacob Trouba, D, 18, US NDT
2 (39) Lukas Sutter, C, 18, Saskatoon (WHL)
3 (70) Scott Kosmachuk, RW, 18, Guelph (OHL)
5 (130) Connor Hellebuyck, G, 19, Odessa (NAHL)
6 (160) Scott Olsen, C, 18, Saskatoon (WHL)
7 (190) Jamie Phillips, G, 19, Toronto (OJHL)

Draft Day

For their first pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the Winnipeg Jets selected Jacob Touba, a six-foot-two, 196 pound bruising defenseman from Rochester, MI.
The Jets are slated to select ninth again with their first pick in the second round tomorrow.

Cheveldayoff Talking with Agents for Pavelec, Kane

Winnipeg Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff is in contract extension discussions with agents representing two key players for the Jets, Ondrej Pavalec and Evander Kane.

Pearn Returns to Jets After 16 Years

Perry Pearn, who started his NHL coaching career with the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 on former Head Coach
Terry Simpson's staff as an assistant for the Winnipeg Jets in 1995-96, has returned to Winnipeg after 16 years after being fired early last season by the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL Entry Draft: Up the Middle

Part four of what the Winnipeg Jets need at this years NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh.

Jets Re-Sign Slater

The Winnipeg Jets have signed GST line member Jim Slater and longest serving Atlanta Thrasher/Winnipeg Jet to a three-year $4.4 million extension

2012 NHL Entry Draft: Defensemen

Part three of what the Winnipeg Jets need in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh.

2012 NHL Entry Draft: What the Jets Have and What They Need-Part 2

The Winnipeg Free Press's Ed Tait continues this week's series of the Jets and the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

2012 NHL Entry Draft: What the Jets Have and What They Need-Part 1

The NHL Entry Draft is right around the corner and the Winnipeg Free Press disects what the Jets need in comaprison to what they have in terms of needed positional players on June 22 and 23.

One Year Ago Today

It was year ago today that the NHL returned to Winnipeg and hockey fans of the Manitoba capital, and especially Jets fans of the past, have had their own to watch once again. Sometimes it was joyful, sometimes it was frustrating, but it was always awesome just to cheer on a team in Winnipeg playing in the NHL named the Jets again.

I'm still reeling from the news and am still in party mode about the return.  I can't tell you how happy it made me.  Really.  Even after a full season back in which I threw my hat across the room whenever they took a stupid penalty, got scored on or just generally played bad.
May 31, 2011 will forever be a day in Winnipeg sports history that will remain in infamy.  I say that with no sensationalism intended.  You may have seen the pictures on television of rowdy, passionate Jets fans lining the Portage and Main where it all started 40 years ago with the signing of Bobby Hull and then later, Dale Hawerchuck, breaking into impromptu street hockey games.  That spontaneous reaction was just the beginning of the passion the rest of the hockey world would bare witness to during the 2011/12 NHL season.  This a club of class, talent and yes, again, passion.  That word cannot be reiterated enough.
When True North Sports and Entertainment CEO Mark Chipman stepped up to that podium on that wonderful Tuesday morning and uttered those words that would be remembered in Winnipeg for years to come, "I am excited beyond words to announce our purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers," I teared up.  And again at the draft when he announced the team was indeed going to called the Jets, and yet again when October 9 rolled around and the sold out crowd at the MTS Centre broke the decibel meter before during and after the puck dropped at center ice to make it official.

When the original incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets left for Phoenix in 1996 to become the Coyotes, the reasons were many (a perfect storm of finances, lack of ownership, no self-sustaining arena and a weak Canadian dollar is a term a couple of sports writers accurately chose to describe the awful tragedy that was the Jets 1.0 departure) but with solid ownership, a state-of-the-art arena and a rabid fan base, this team will be here for the long-term and I predict within seven years, a Stanley Cup parade will be planned for Portage Avenue.

The return in pictures:


You see that last guy who smiled tearfully and proudly as he closed his eyes and took it all in?  That was me when my Jets officially returned against the Montreal Canadiens.  Not physically me.  But I mean I knew exactly how that guy felt and what he was thinking, as I suspect so were thousands of other Winnipeg hockey fans did.

Thank you to Mark Chipman and David Thompson for making Winnipeg Jets fans' dreams come true.

Go Jets Go!

Canada Falls to Slovakia in IIHF Semi-Finals

For the third straight year, Canada has failed to medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.  This time falling to Slovakia in the quarter-final round, thus making the tournament trip all for not for our supposed Kings of Hockey nation.

Ryan  Getzlaf took a undiciplined and stupid five-minute major and a game misconduct with two minutes left in regulation to allow Slovakia to score for a 4-3 win.  Winnipeg Jets teammates Evander Kane and Andrew Ladd finished the tournament with  four goals, three assists for seven points and one goal, four assists for five points, respectively.

Jim Slater's team USA also lost to Finland in another semi-final, 3-2.  He finished with two goals and one assist for three points.

The St. John's IceCaps have advanced to the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference Final against the top-ranked Norfolk Admirals by defeating the Wilkes-Barrie Scranton Penguins in game seven 3-2 in Eastern Semi-Final on Saturday. 

Kane & Ladd Doing Their Part at World Championship

It seems Winnipeg Jets Evander Kane and captain Andrew Ladd didn't get enough scoring done during the regular season and maybe their disappointing first year in Winnipeg (at least at not making the playoffs) has spurned them on enough to become integrable cogs in the Team Canada machine that has jumped to first place in their group at the IIHF world hockey championship with, as of this writing, a 5-0-1 record (one overtime loss) for 16 points.  Three points are awarded for a win, one point for an overtime loss.  Host team Finland is in second with 12 points.  As for their contributions in the scoring department, Kane three goals and two assists for five points in six games including the winner against Finland, while Ladd has contributed one goal and one assist for two points in six games.

Jets GST member Jim Slater has two goals and an assist for three points for team USA.

Jets Progress at the World Championship

Here's a report via jets.com of the progress of the Winnipeg Jets that are participating at this year's IIHF World Hockey championship.

Burmi Staying Put

Or at least he's not going back to "Mother Russia."  Yesterday a rumor out of Edmonton had Winnipeg Jets forward Alexander Burmistrov headed back to Russia for next season after his NHL entry-level contract expires this summer, accepting an offer from Ak Bars Kazan of the Russian Continental Hockey League (KHL) instead of at least a season (or less) of seasoning with the Jets minor-league affiliate, the St. John's IceCaps.  Burmistrov's agent, Mark Gandler said the rumor is not true and the young Russian is expected to re-sign with the Jets and report to training camp next season as expected.

Pavelec's Thoughts on His First Season in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Jets MVP and goaltender Ondrej Pavelec gives his thoughts to jets.nhl.com's Kristi Hennesy about his first season as a Jet in the hockey-mad city of Winnipeg.

Jets Third Jersey?

There's been talk around the rumor mill that Winnipeg Jets co-owner and Tru North Sports & Entertainment CEO Mark Chipman is warm to the idea of having the Jets possibly wear a third jersey next season that would pay homage to the Jets 1.0.  The Manitoba Moose wore the original WHA Jets colours for a game in 2010 I believe it was:

and it seemed to go over well with the fans. As per this rumor, it is being said that Chipman and company may ice the Jets a few times next year with possibly the WHA colour-scheme and the 1979-1990 logo. If done right it would be awesome and look (hopefully) like this:

Pretty cool, me thinks.

Scheifele to Join IceCaps for Remainder of Playoff Drive

After playing in the Jets line-up for seven NHL games, playing in Barrie for the Colts for their season and playoff run and in between being Canada's MVP in the Under-20 World Championships, you'd figure Mark Sceifele would be a tad tired and would appreciate some much-needed time off.  But nope.  The 2011 Winnipeg Jets first-round draft pick is extending his season to head to St. John's to help the Jets minor league affiliate IceCaps in their hunt for the Calder Cup.

You Bet Your Keister!

Winnipeg Jets fans are loud, baby!

Ladd, Kane Named to Canada Men's National Team

Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd and team mate Evander Kane have been selected to represent Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Hockey Championship.

As for Team USA, Jim Slater was named to their national team.

More the Merrier

just before the Winnipeg Jets were rightfully returned to the people of Manitoba, a lot were venturing to guess what the name of the team was going to be. There were many that said there was no way that the new Winnipeg franchise would (or should) be called the Jets for a number of reasons that I won't get into (like they would be called anything other than the Jets)
Guesses ranged from the Falcons to honor the first Olympic gold medal winning team of 1920 that hailed from Winnipeg, to Flood, to the Polar Bears. A small minority thought the name should honor a past playoff tradition, the White Out, that had Jets fans fill the old Winnipeg Arena wearing white t-shirts, dress-shirts, jerseys, what have you. It was a cool effect and quite intimidating for the opposing team.

So when the team was announced that it was indeed returning, one blogger copyrighted the name before anyone else could. I suppose the thinking was that if the team was named the White Out, True North would have to buy the rights for a pretty penny. Either that, or he simply wanted to the name to increase his volume of hits.

anyway, he's been up and running for a while now, but I just checked it out recently. If you want to take a look for yourself, here's a link to WinnipegWhiteOut.co


UPDATE: It appears there is more than one owner to WinnipegWhiteOut.com.
The two men operating the site (with contributing writers) are Jeff Stevenson and Marshall Stevenson. I'm assuming their related.m

Jets Want to Stay, Contract Talks Will Decide; Owner Couldn't Be Happier with Decision to Purchase Team

From what has been coming out of the Winnipeg Jets locker room, it appears, for the time being, that the current crop of players enjoyed their time here in their first year in Winnipeg and would like to be back. General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has a lot to think about on what players to resign as there are a few restricted free agents (Evander Kane, Kyle Wellwood & Ondrej Pavelec) and a couple of non-restricted free agents (Tanner Glass, Jim Slater, and Chris Mason) Some are no-brainers and some may take more thought as the team clearly has to get better.

Chevy says he won't mortgage the future for short-term success, but is willing to trade-up at the Entry Draft this summer.

Coach Claude Noel has stated he is adamant that things will improve next season and Jets fans will see an improved product on the ice.

As for the owners side of things, Jets co-owner David Thomson said he is euphoric about his decision to partner up with Mark Chipman in purchasing the Jets from the Atlanta Spirit group and moving them to Winnipeg and hopes to build a perennial contender for years to come.

And it appears Winnipeg's reputation with players outside the city is improving.

Jets Organization Thanks the Fans

And the Jets first year in their triumphant return to Winnipeg was so successful, financially speaking, they will not be receiving any revenue-sharing help from the NHL.

Fans Salute Jets in Final Game in 4-3 OT Loss

Even when Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the year, the Winnipeg fans instantly gave him a standing ovation. Obviously nobody wanted it to be scored against the Jets in their last game and in their own building, but it was just another example of the class the hockey fans of Winnipeg have shown all season long and yet another reason why, as Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play man and Winnipeg native Dean Brown called Winnipeg Jets fans, "The best and loudest fans in hockey."

Unfortunately, the Jets couldn't give them a win to go away with over the summer as they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime to end the inaugural season of the return of the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets fell behind 3-1 at one point on Stamkos 60th goal, but if it weren't for Ondrej Pavelec making at least three outstanding saves in the third period, after the Jets had taken over the momentum, Jim Slater wouldn't have even had the chance to tie it in the final minute with his second of the game and a career-high 13 goals. I was personally hoping that not only that the Jets would win in overtime, obviously, but that Slater to get the winner. Not only to get the hat-trick, but to get what would have been the first and only hat trick by a Jet all year; and at home to boot. It would have been sublime to see the fans at the MTS Centre raining hats down onto the ice for the first time.

There was a pre-game ceremony to hand out the Jets club awards such as the Staffmax Staffing & Recruiting Community Service Award that went to Jim Slater, the The McDiarmid Lumber Three Stars Award that was won by Ondrej Pavelec to no one's surprise, and the Dan Snyder Memorial award honoring former Atlanta Thrasher Dan Snyder who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2003. It was awarded to Mark Stuart.

I personally really enjoyed the season. There was of course many frustrating moments, but just to simply have a team to cheer for, your own team to cheer for instead of having to adopt a team that may play their home games hundreds of miles away. To get emotionally involved, to get happy, angry and sad with your own team performances is awesome. Even when they lose (and I'll probably never admit this again-once you get over that loss-it's great just to have a team in my own back yard again.

This team is young, but boy, is there some talent on this club. You must remember most of the top talent on this Jets team is under 25 years old. Evander Kane is just 21, Alexander Burmistrov is 20, Zach Bogosian is 21 and they have had more than a few eyes on them this season, especially during the trade deadline back in March. These young Jets have skill and they can only get better. This team can only get better. I believe in the Jets management plan of building this team through the draft and free agency with character players with skill and heart. It will pay off, of that I have no doubt. Like I've said before, I sincerely believe this Winnipeg Jets team will be in the Stanley Cup final by 2016. I don't know if we'll win, but we'll be there. Remember there's still guys like Mark Scheiffele, Ivan Telegan, Spencer Makachuck, Paul Postma and Carl Klingberg still to come.
I don't put any faith whatsoever in the naysayers that say it's still Winnipeg and still the same ol' Winnipeg team that nobody wants to play for. When management builds a class organization and builds a culture of winning, as the saying goes, if you build it they will come.

I hope coach Claude Noel can improve the club (and I have no doubt he will) and keeps his sense of humor with the press corps. I look forward to new stories, such as his anecdotes about his time with the Buffalo Norsemen of the North American Hockey League in 1976 and his team's dealings with the infamous Carlson brothers (aka the Hansons of the legendary Slap Shot film.)

I can't wait for next year and to cheer the Jets onto the playoffs in a wild, decibel-shattering MTS Centre and hopefully have to take the afternoon off of work to see the boys cruise down Portage Avenue with the Stanley Cup on display for all to see.

Hey, one can dream. But it will happen one day soon in Winnipeg.



The Winnipeg Jets inaugural season recap from jets.nhl.com



Go Jets Go!

Just the Beginning

Well, after 15 years out of the biggest, most prestigious professional hockey league on the planet, the Winnipeg Jets returned to the most rabid, intelligent, hockey-sense fans that were so glad to have their team back. The fans of Winnipeg showed their love of their team by committing to them by selling out the MTS Centre for at least the next two years (after selling out their inaugural season this year) and possibly for three after that. They also now have the reputation as being the loudest, most rabid fans in the NHL. So much so in fact that they now have the reputation that make the MTS Centre an intimidating place for opposition teams to play. Add to that, the fans may now be the reason why free agents may want to come here in their search for a championship. I don't know how many times I've heard play-by-play men or commentators mention how Jets fans are talked about "everywhere we go." Winnipeg hockey fans really have been the seventh player on the ice each and every home game for the Jets.

The culture of winning may be a few years off from cementing itself here in the Peg, but players throughout the league know how rabid and knowledgeable the Winnipeg hockey fans are. They know how the passion of fans can influence the outcome of an important game by getting their team pumped up. It's that extra jump rabid fans give their team to overcome a lead by the opposition, to give them that extra oomph to maybe light a fire under them to give them a jump after the opposition gets an early lead, or a power-play goal. Jets fans, you have to remember showed up in the hundreds (if not the low thousands) just to watch the Jets rookies at the MTS IcePlex practice facility back in August.

Whatever the reason teams play better in front of their home crowd, the Jets fans especially, have it. If only the Jets played most or all of their games at home and they would in the playoffs right now...as would most teams I suspect. But as for the Jets not making the playoffs, I'm not going to use the excuse of them "still being the same team as Atlanta." They were good enough to win games they didn't win. They let games go they should have had. Games against the Islanders, Carolina, Edmonton and even Philadelphia should have gotten away from them. A lead in a home game against the Flyers with 10 seconds left that the Jets let get away on Feb. 21 still stings me to this day.

But even though the Jets failed to make the playoffs, I can't view this season as anything other than a success. Sell-out crowds at home, coast-to-coast well-wishing for our team being back, a rabid home crowd at every single game and a general feel-good atmosphere within the city for a prodigal long-lost son's return and not to mention a cool new tradition of the True North "shout out" in the national anthem. I can't wait for next year.

Read on for Eric Postma's take on the Jets first season past.

Mark Chipman Press Conference

Jets owner and True North Sports and Entertainment CEO Mark Chipman spoke to the press on a number of subjects including his opinion on the Jets season, the fans and the Jets future model for success.

See-Saw In Long Island Goes to Islanders

In a game where the Jets never had the lead, they nevertheless battled back on every New York goal, but still came up short falling to the Islanders 5-4.

For the second time on this road trip, the Jets fell behind 2-0, but rallied back to tie it up on goals by Tobias Enstrom and Andrew Ladd. For Ladd, that was his fourth goal in four games. Kyle Okposo put New York up 3-2, before Zach Bogosian scored on a nice play from Chris Thorburn to tie it up again.

Even though a very questionable penalty shot was called on Dustin Bufuglien and Okposo capitalized with a low stick-side shot on Chris Mason for his second of the game, Bufuglien made up for it just 34 seconds later with a blast from the blue line that cleanly beat Islander goalie Al Montoya. It was Bufuglien's second goal of the game. That made it 4-4.

Just as it looked as though the Jets would be in their fourth straight overtime game, Michael Grabner potted the winner with a tip off of a Travis Hamonic point shot with just 44 seconds left.

Even though, the Jets didn't play terrible, coach Claude Noel wasn't accepting any excuses for the loss, saying "You're a professional. This is the profession you've chosen. Show up on time...do your job." After watching this game against one of the lower-end teams in the league, I have to say I concur. This is a team the Jets should have beaten.

The Jets wrap up the 2011-2012 season at home on Saturday in the friendly confines of the MTS Centre against the Tampa Bay Lightning.



A disappointed Claude Noel