Laine Appreciates Time At All-Star Weekend

The lone attendee from the Winnipeg Jets (another two should have been there) at this weekend's NHL all-star festivities, rookie sensation Patrik Laine said he really appreciated his inclusion to the Central division roster for the All-Stars and was honoured to be a part of it.

Laine garnered two points for his team during Saturday's skills competition.  He won his "fastest skater" relay against the Vancouver Canucks' Bo Horvat and almost had the title of hardest shot (107.8 mph) but was ultimately defeated by Montreal's Shea Weber who had a velocity of 108.2 mph.

NHL.com has the story.

And the National Post tells of an impressed National Hockey League, when they see what Laine could and probably will become.

Laine Earns Points For Team Central In Skills Competition

Winnipeg Jets rookie sensation, Patrik Laine is in Los Angeles this weekend for the annual NHL All-Star festivities (as I stated in a recent post, he should have been joined by teammate Mark Scheifele) and participated in Saturday's skills competition, in the hardest shot and accuracy contests.

In the hardest shot; Laine posted a 101.7 mph score and held the lead until the Montreal Canadiens Shea Weber surpassed him with a 102.8 mph blast.

In the fastest skater contest, Laine beat the Vancouver Canucks' Bo Horvat with a time of 13.420 seconds, to Horvat's 13.430 seconds.

Unfortunately, the Central division finished fourth in the overall competition.

      

All in all, Laine said he enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to being a factor in the All-Star game on Sunday.

Jets Continue to Dominate Hawks

That headline is a little misleading, as the Jets didn't really dominate the Chicago Blackhawks, as so much as continue their overall domination of their season-series against the Hawks, coming from behind to defeat them tonight at the United Center, 5-3.  The Jets lead the season series 4-0 and are 3-0 at the United Center this season.  Suffice to say the Jets have their number.

As Winnipeg Jets-TSN play-by-play guy, Dennis Bayek said after the play, "He's baaaaack," as Patrik Laine scored on the power-play on a nifty cross-ice pass in the slot from Bryan Little to open the scoring with his 22nd goal of the year, re-taking the NHL rookie scoring lead at 40 points.

Even though Laine still leads all rookies in points, the NHL "experts" are now all over the Maple Leafs center Austen Matthews, to take the Calder trophy for NHL rookie of the year, even though Matthews only leads Laine by one goal.
Laine has scored two points in the last two games since missing the last eight games before that, so essentially, it took Laine to get injured for Matthews to catch up.
So the favors persist for anyone who is deemed the savior of the team that resides in the center of the universe.

But the real story of this game was the continued sizzle of Bryan Little.  Little now has 13 goals in the last 29 games to give him 26 points since his return from his season-opening injury.  He has potted six goals in his last five games and stands with nine points in that span.

Head coach Paul Maurice decided to go with Connor Hellebuyck, as he has a good record against eh Hawks this season and the Jets remain undefeated against them.  The Jets continued good fortunes on United Center ice as they are now 3-0 in the Windy City this year.

No to be out done, Mark Schiefele added an empty-netter to seal the game for the Jets.  In doing so, he keeps pace with Laine for the Jets goal-scoring lead at 22.

So the Jets snap a three-game losing streak and now sit in sixth in the NHL's Central division (recently being passed by the Dallas Stars) with 50 points, three  points behind the Calgary Flames for the last wild card spot in the Western conference.

It's nice to go into the All-Star weekend with a win, isn't it?

               

Ref Helps Sharks Past Jets

A good game by the Jets, especially in the usually dreaded second period, was altogether washed away by one of the supposed NHL referees, when he awarded the Sharks' Melker Karlsson a penalty shot after a legal stick-check by Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba.  Karlsson took his hand off of his stick to which the ref deemed the legally defensive move enough of a sin to warrant a penalty shot.  Karlsson put one over the left shoulder of Pavelec.  That tied it for the Sharks at two. Then Patrick Marleau, with 4:33 to play in the third period, scored to take the lead for the Sharks.

Bryan Little continues to be in the discussion for the Jets MVP this year, as he scored twice to up his goal total this season to 12.  Dustin Byfuglien had two assists, as did Joshua Morrisey.  Patrik Laine added an assist for his first point in his return.

When the Jets pulled Ondrej Pavelec for the extra attacker, it appeared Dustin Bufuglien had tied it with seconds left when their was a pile-up in the crease, but, once again, the refs screwed the Jets for the second time in the game by giving the Sharks a quick whistle.  The final score of this mess was 4-3 for the visitors.

This was injustice.  The Jets played well enough to win and should have.  These chances at desperate points are disappearing fast.

             

Laine Returns Tonight

Coach Paul Maurice says Patrik Laine will be in the roster tonight against the San Jose Sharks, as he is free of concussion symptoms.

Conversely, Mathieu Perreault will not play tonight, as he was injured in the first period against the Ducks.  There is no schedule for his return.

Ducks Slip Past Jets

Well, another chance for a three-game winning streak for the Winnipeg Jets has beaten and killed as the Jets fell to a team that definitely has their number, the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2.

It was a chippy affair and the Jets battled hard, but they came up short against a team I'm starting to believe the Jets simply can't beat.  When your power-play goes 0-5, even against a good team, that power-play is pretty anemic, which I can't understand, given the booming shots the Jets have in Byfuglien, Trouba and Laine.  Tyler Myers is missed as well.

The Jets have had simply no luck against the Ducks, as their record from the last two years (including the 2015 playoffs) is tragic.  In that time, the Jets are 0-15 against the foul from southern California.

This is getting really painful.  Like I said, I think the Jets playoff hopes are already dashed, but to see them play well enough to win, especially when their leading late in a game against the top teams in the league, only to see them lose in the last 10 minutes or less, is demoralizing.

        

Laine Close To Return?

Patrik Laine, who has been out of action since suffering a concussion on Jan. 7, has cleared medical hurdles and was wearing a full-contact jersey at practice this morning.

Head coach Paul Maurice has repeatedly stated that there is no timetable for Laine's return but after an interview with Winnipeg media, (you'll have to scroll down the page to find the video...sorry) Laine himself says he's almost ready to go, but will still listen to the direction of the team's medical staff.

Jets Hand It To Blues

For a while there, I thought the Winnipeg Jets were going to route the St. Louis Blues, when the Jets put in three goals about nine minutes apart behind Blues rookie goalie, Phoenix Copley.  Even though, once again, the second period was the Jets' bane.
The middle frame was so dominated by the Blues that Ondrej Pavelec had to make a franchise-record 25 saves, perhaps in the process furthering his case to stick around the big club; if only to show the other two net-minders on the roster how it's done.  He ended the night with 34 saves.  Again, unbelievably, the Jets walked away from this game with three goals in the third and a final score of 5-3.

Blake Wheeler added to his season goal total with his 15th, as did Mark Scheifele with his 21st (tying him for the team lead in goals with the injured Patrik Laine) and Bryan Little with his ninth and tenth.

The Jets remain three points behind both the Blues and the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card spot in the West with 48 points.  St. Louis and Calgary both own 51 points.  I gotta tell you, through the ups and downs of this season thus far, I still can't believe the Jets are still actually in a playoff hunt.

Just in case I didn't press on how important Pavelec was to the Jets tonight.



         

Laine Skates With Team For First Time

As Paul Maurice has repeatedly stated, Patrik Laine's return to the Winnipeg Jets roster will not be rushed and he will only return when he has fully recovered from his post-concussion symptoms. The team will adhere to "stringent" guidelines.
That having been said, the Finnish phenom practiced with his teammates on Friday wearing a non-contact jersey.

Laine has missed six games since being knocked out of the game against the Buffalo Sabres Jan. 7. from an open-ice hit from Sabres defenceman Jake McCabe.

Jets Snap Four Game Slide With Pavelec's Return

It wasn't exactly the return of the prodigal son, but Ondrej Pavelec, fresh off of his call up from the Manitoba Moose, made some key saves that the Winnipeg Jets goaltenders have not been doing lately, to help the Jets defeat the Arizona Coyotes, 6-3 and snap a four-game losing streak.

When the Coyotes Josh Joorish opened the scoring on their first shot, every single Jets fan in the MTS Centre must have been thinking, "I knew it."  But Pavelec shook it off and played, not brilliantly, but good enough to get two points.  He did however, show flashes of brilliance on saves on Brendan Perlini, sliding across to deny a one-timer-tip; and a last-second paddle-save on Radim Vrbata, who had a wide-open cage.  A goal there by the Coyotes could have been a momentum-switcher.

Blake Wheeler scored his 14th goal of the season, while Nikolaj Ehlers added his 15th.  Jacob Trouba and Joel Armia each scored their third, and Bryan Little picked up his eighth.  Andrew Copp knotted his fifth of the campaign.

This is just one game.  They didn't start well and they did beat one of the doormats of the league this season
The real test for Pavelec and the Jets comes Saturday when the St. Louis Blues come to town.  Then it's the Ducks, the Sharks and off to Chicago.  These next four games are against not only real competition, but four of the best teams in the western conference.  This is where the Jets mettle will be tested.  I'm predicting three out of a possible eight points.

Pavelec Recalled From Moose

The Winnipeg Jets have recalled goaltender Ondrej Pavelec from their minor-league affiliate, Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

As Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press and TSN said (and I normally don't agree with Lawless on most issues) the Jets had no choice but to call up Pavelec.  Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson just aren't getting it done.

  I don't know if Pavelec is the answer.  There's a reason he was demoted at training camp.  I wonder what the fan-base thinks about this decision?  All the Pavelec haters must be blowing their tops.  They got their wish, Pavy was sent down to give the younger guys a chance.  Now, again, it could be that the Jets goaltending coach, Wade Flaherty, doesn't know how to teach young net-minders how to stop a beach ball, or it could be the defence-core simply haven't bought into coach Paul Maurice's defence system.  Whatever the reason, the Jets combined goals-against-average wasn't going to cut it as it was.

Are the Jets going backward instead of forward?  I don't think so.  They have to stop the hemorrhaging some how.  Yes, Pavelec's numbers weren't any better, but I think Kevin Cheveldayoff and company may be thinking about experience right now.

Who knows?  Maybe the Jets will play better in front of Pavelec.  Maybe they miss their little Czech buddy in the locker room.  He is a team player.  He never once complained when Micheal Hutchinson strted consecutive games.  He didn't throw anyone under the bus when he was demoted.  He just did his job.

I see the complaints about Pavy.  He scrambled too much and has been caught out of position waaaay too much.  But, he did have the tendency or ability to steal games himself.  That's what's been missing in net.  A stellar performance once in a while.  That's what Pavelec brings to the table.  Remember, if it wasn't for Ondrej Pavelec, the Winnipeg Jets don't the 2014-2015 playoffs.  Period.

And as a reminder, Pavelec's contract is up at the end of this season.  Will the Jets re-sign him only for trade-bait, or for exposure to the expansion draft next summer?  If he does do well on this call-up, do the Jets re-sign him for regular assignment next season?  That is assuming he beats out anyone else for the top job in Winnipeg.  If he does, will he get a reduction in salary?  Most likely.  The point is, something had to be done.  The Jets are simply letting in too many goals.  Worse yet, they're allowing them at the most inopportune times.

Let's hope Pavs-for himself, as well as the organization (not to mention the half-bald Jets fans from pulling their hair out) that this at least a temporary solution.

And The Beat Goes On

And it sounds like the Death March, to be sure.

Did anyone really expect the Jets to handle the San Jose Sharks this afternoon?
Did anyone really think, with the way the Jets have been playing lately that Winnipeg had any chance of beating a club which currently sits comfortably in second place in the Pacific division (and ninth overall in the league) and boasts the talents of Brent Burns and Joe Thornton?
I didn't even plan on watching this one (at least as best I could at work-sneaking away to catch the score on tsn.ca) as I knew the eventual outcome.  The fool that I am, after seeing the 4-0 score, I actually thought, "wouldn't it be cool if I checked back later and it was 5-4 Jets in overtime?"  Silly rabbit.

I said earlier in the day, the Sharks would decimate the Jets 6-0.  By the end of the first period, I thought it was going to be worse than that, seeing that the score was 4-0 for San Jose.  I wasn't that far off, it turns out, as the Jets bowed down 5-2.
A strong performance by Sharks goalie, Marting Jones, along with a short-handed goal by Joel Ward, made the difference early.  Mark Scheifele got his 20th of the season and Josh Morrisey scored his second.


It's not looking good.  The Jets now sit in sixth in the wild card race, four points behind L.A.  This has nothing to do with the absence of Patrik Laine.  Sure, the Jets may have had a better chance in the last three games, but one man, nay, one kid, cannot carry a team on his back; especially an 18-year-old.  He is a phenom, there's no doubt about that, but even he and his magic had been starting to wane.  The Toronto Maple Leafs' Austen Matthews caught up to Laine for the rookie goal-scoring lead, and he will continue to add to that lead at least until Laine returns from his concussion symptoms.  Until that time, the Jets must learn to win again.

They do it pretty good when they want to and they have been banged up for most of the season.

But, I've already tipped my hat.  I know it's only mid-January and the Central division is probably the weakest this year, very surprisingly, but they're not going to pull it together this year.  I don't know if it's the coaching, the player's not buying into his system, or too much youth (especially in net) or a combination of many things; they're done.

Consider that this Jets squad has to play at least .700 hockey for the rest of the way.  So basically, they have to, at a minimum, go on a Columbus Blue Jackets-type run.  Or at the very least, a Minnesota Wild streak of at least 12 consecutive wins, and then some for the rest of the season.

Ah well.  Let's hope I am the most wrongiest person ever.

Is It Time For Maurice To Go?

Personally, I don't think so.  At least not yet.  Paul Maurice does some things that make me scratch my head, like pulling the goalie in a tied game with two full minutes (or more left on the clock.)  And how has he not gotten through to his players on the finer points of a penalty-kill?  It's simple.  When you get possession of the puck, you get it out of your zone.  You do not pass it to a teammate in front of the net.  Or better yet, you do not put into your own net as the Jets have done twice this season.  

   However, this is the man that took the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup final in 2002.  Yeah, that is a while ago, but he still did it.  He had one or two pieces to his puzzle then that the Jets don't have now, but the potter is the same if the clay may be a little different.

In any event, another article from SB Nation brings up the subject of, is Paul Maurice the wrong coach for the Winnipeg Jets?

All-Star Snubs

Last week, the National Hockey League released their rosters for their divisional all-star rosters, and as with any other year, there were omissions that not only irked some fans of certain teams and players, but this year seems especially egregious, as there are numerous players that have more production than those who were selected.

SB Nation has a good article about this topic.  If you scroll down the page to the Central division coverage, you will see a point about Mark Scheifele deserving to replace say, Jonathan Towes. Now before you get in a snit and say how much  better Toews is, or how he has been a consistently a more productive player (not to mention three Stanley Cups to Scheifele's zero.)
That's all well and good for last year's game, or even the three before it.  The point is, as of right now, and when balloting was open, Scheifele has more points than Toews.  Period.  Toews currently has seven goals and 14 assists for a total of 21 points.  Scheifele has 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points.  yet, Toews is selected as a first-ballot all-star, while Scheifele sits at home and watches the game on t.v.

As far as that goes, Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler also lead Toews in points, but they are nowhere to be found on the All-Star roster either.  The same can be said about Claude Giroux, Max Pacioretty, or even the mighty Alexander Ovechkin.  Now there's no doubt that Ovi, based on his past accomplishments, "deserves" to be there.  The same with Toews.  But why not just send the same players every year if that's the case?  Is it because Scheifele and Ehlers aren't what the NHL classifies as a "superstar?"  Are they too young?  Well, no.  Patrik Laine was selected.  Of course, if he wasn't, there'd be a legitimate case for some sort of conspiracy.

An I the only one (besides Jets fans) who thinks this?

Good Game Gone Bad

With a 2-1 lead in the third period, the Winnipeg Jets found another way to lose last night, as they allowed the Los Angeles Kings to come back tie the game with 5:08 left in the third and win in overtime, 3-2.  Jeff carter scored the winner for L.A.

They had the Kings running around.  They were winning the battle among the boards, and despite an early Kings lead, the Jets did eventually start to reclaim the pace of the game and seemed to be poised to control it.  Alas...

Starting goal-tender, Michael Hutchinson was steady, as was the Jets penalty-killing unit, and they started to use their speed advantage for a much-needed momentum switch; but to no avail as Kings goalie Peter Budaj was rock solid and more than up to the challenge.  A monumental save on a Blake Wheeler breakaway pretty much permanently tilted the ice in the Kings' favour.  He also robbed Bryan Little of a glorious chance at an open net about half way through the first period.

This will not do.  The talk on Winnipeg Jets fan boards and Facebook posts are about bringing back Ondrej Pavelec from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.  That's not going to happen.  Pavelec's contract expires at the end of this season, and the Jets brass have been quite clear about how they are committed to the youth movement in the goalie department.  Moose goalie Eric Comrie is not quite ready for the show just yet.  Maybe two or three more seasons.

Connor Hellebuyck has a problem with the five-hole, that is obvious.  Hutchinson seems to be more stoic in net lately when given the chance.  His lateral movements seem to be more confident.  I don't think either Jets net-minders have done a stellar job, but that's the tandem we have.  The defensive breakdowns in front of both men surely don't help their numbers or confidence.

         
With three losses in a row and the Jets set to take on the San Jose Sharks, who will certainly show the Jets no quarter, it's do or die time for the Jets.  With the NHL All-Star game on the horizon, that marks the halfway point of the NHL season, the Jets better add a few "W's" to their record, or they may as well start planning for the lottery and draft.  So?  Will this summer give us a Top 10 pick?

         

         

No Excuse

What a disgrace.  You can make up some excuse as to how there's a silver lining and they showed some kind of resilience at the end.  Nope.  Not having any of it.  The complete and utter collapse in the first period against the Arizona Coyotes was enough to write this team off.  Remember how I said the loss against the Buffalo Sabres will define the Jets this season?  Nope.  This was that game that did that.  Forget the extinction of the Jets offense against Montreal, this was supposed to be the game where the Jets showed the hockey world, and more importantly their fans, that they are a team of resiliency and could bounce back from an embarrassing shellacking like they did at the hands of the Habs.

Well, no, the Jets and Coyotes had other plans.  After grabbing a first period, 1-0 lead, the Jets showed who they truly are this season and decided to give up again and allow four unanswered goals to the Desert Dogs. Connor Hellebuyck was pulled for the second consecutive game after allowing three goals on six shots.  And for the second game straight, Micheal Hutchinson had to come in and attempt to bail out the flood Hellebuyck and the Jets defense created.  The final was a 4-3 embarrassment.  The fact that head coach Paul Maurice said, "...they didn't quit.  They kept fighting and competing to the very end and that means a lot right now."  They didn't quit?  They barely got started.  You can't keep having to come from behind every night.  And as a head coach, you certainly can't be happy with starting behind the eight-ball almost every contest.

           

But, still, as bad as the Jets are doing right now, believe it or not, they're still in the running for a playoff spot.  As of right now, they sit only three points out of the second wild-card spot currently held by the Los Angeles Kings; the team that the Jets play tonight.  Of course, the Jets still have to wade through the rest of the Central division (and a couple of Pacific division teams) that has three other teams one or two points ahead.


        

       

Jets Destroyed By Habs

I don't know what to say.  It was disgusting.
When your starting goaltender gets pulled after three goals on seven shots, as Connor Hellebyuck did, you can't really find a positive.  Replacement Micheal Hutchinson didn't fare much better.
I'll say it again, Hellebycuk and Hutchinson aren't the guys.  Maybe Hutch hasn't been in enough, especially when Maurice makes the wrong call about who to start, but Hellebyuck seems to have a growing problem with his five-hole.

How else do you explain a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of the Club de Hockey et Canadiens du Montreal.

I am really unable, nor do I want to even discuss this one.

The Jets defense as a whole was non-existent.  Their specialty teams was a joke and their offensive output was anemic.  I really am speechless about this one.  Where do the Jets go from here?  Do they start thinking about next year already?  Is this season a wash?  Every time they start inching toward a playoff spot, they get hit straight on by a side-winder missile and come crashing down to reality.

              
Not only do I have to figure out (along with the entire Jets coaching staff) what went wrong, I have to take some major digs from some Habs fans at work.  This is not going to be pretty.

Jets To Find Out Who They Are

 The only good news in Jetsland today is that they do live another day, they're taking on an opponent "less" than them tonight and they can't do any worse.  Not to mention the Montreal Canadiens fell to the Minnesota Wild 7-1 themselves last night.  So a bit of revenge for the Jets from the hockey gods.

Without getting into Wednesday night's unmitigated disaster, the Jets are in a must-win tonight.  If they want to shake off any cobwebs from the beating at the hands of Montreal and put up any semblance of a hockey club, they must do it tonight.

The Arizona Coyotes are, much like the Jets, a struggling team.  They aren't a very good and the Jets have to take advantage of that.  The Jets beat the Coyotes in almost every category.  Not that the Jets are much better in PPG's, PK's or any other substantial stat, but they are better.  Once again, the Jets find themselves in desperate need of a win and they are going to be staring across at a team, on paper, they should beat and should be able to grab two much-needed points.

Former Jet, Alexander Burmistrov will not be in the Coyotes lineup, as he is waiting on his passport and the final touches on his immigration documentation.

           


         

          

          

Laine Selected To All-Star Team

Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine has been selected to the NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles.  Like there was any doubt.

Laine is tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Austen Matthews for the NHL rookie goal-scoring lead with 21.  Although Laine has more points presently and accumulated his goals in fewer games played-including two hat-tricks-Matthews is the favourite (so far) for the Calder trophy for the NHL's Rookie of the Year.
I guess that's what happens when you play in the centre of the universe. Then again, it took Teemu Selanne and his undeniable 76 goals as a rookie in 1993 to have the NHL take notice of anything Winnipeg. Nothing's changed.

Laine's team-mates are obviously not shocked by his inclusion.  Why Scheifele and/or Ehlers weren't included is also pretty "mysterious."

Hopefully the Finnish phenom will be free of any concussion symptoms for the game on Jan. 29.

Brock Lesnar Visits Jets Locker Room

Former WWE and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, a self-avowed hockey fan was spotted in the press box along with his family enjoying the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Calgary Flames on Monday night at the MTS Centre.

Apparently "The Beast" is now a Jets fan.

Twin Beasts

Jets Blank Flames

The Winnipeg Jets gave a somewhat inspired game tonight as they shut-out the Calgary Flames 2-0, in Heritage Classic jerseys and all at the MTS Centre.

Connor Hellebuyck recorded his third shutout of the season as Dustin Byfuglien and captain Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets.

Drew Stafford seemed to fit right into the top line with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers.  Perhaps I was a little premature in my assessment of his contribution on the line, Let's hope I continue to be wrong about him.

Scheifele, for his part, showed why the Jets brass named him an alternate captain, as he once again defended his teammates by throwing some gloves into the face of a guilty Flame after a scrum beside Hellebyuck.

Defenceman Josh Morrisey was very noticeable tonight, as he had four blocked shots and two shots on goal.

  

Laine In High Spirits

Patrik Laine says he's in "good spirits" after being diagnosed with a concussion after Saturdays loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Coach Paul Maurice has said Laine will be out indefinitely due to the injury.

Laine Has Concussion

The Winnipeg Jets' Patrik Laine has a concussion, reports Tim Campbell, resulting from the hit in the third period of yesterday afternoon's game by Buffalo Sabres defenseman, Jake McCabe.
Sorry I couldn't just embed the following video, there was no option to do so.

He will miss an undermined amount of games, as head coach Paul Maurice said there is no timetable for his return.  Drew Stafford will take his spot on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Now that the official "bloggy-information" part of this post is done, let me now speak like a worried fan.

This is going to suck huge.
The Jets weren't exactly burning the goal light out before Laine went down, now the answer to that from Paul Maurice is to insert Drew Stafford, a player with all of three goals this season, into the top line.  Now, perhaps and hopefully Stafford will benefit from the young, speedy and talented Scheifele and Ehlers.

The Jets players are putting on the typical brave faces and talking about scoring by "committee."

 Maybe Stafford's production will improve slightly from being in the middle of that offensive flare that Ehlers and Scheifele are known to create.  Perhaps Brandon Tanev or Marko Dano would be a better fit, both in terms of skill set and speed.
But make no mistake, although Laine hasn't been scoring like he was when the season started, he is still a great playmaker and his contributions will obviously be sorely missed.  Expect the Jets offensive production to diminish.

Jets Play Disgusting Second Half In Loss To Sabres

Well, maybe my last post commemorating the ol' flip of the bird by Dustin Byfuglien to Evander Kane may have been a little premature, as the Winnipeg Jets lose again in Buffalo to the Sabres by a score of 4-3.

It was actually a little disgusting as the Jets blew a 3-1 lead going into the third period, and allowed two goals by Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons just 26 seconds apart.  Th first Sabres' goal scored by Ryan O'Reilly was scored late in the first period.  Twenty-four seconds left in the frame to be exact.

The really bad news out of this fiasco?  Patrik Laine was injured and will miss an unknown number of games as of this writing.


Good on Mark Scheifele who showed his leadership and went right after Sabres defensemen Jake McCabe who although hit Laine legally, wasn't about to get away with demolishing the Jets star player without retribution.

But, once again, the Winnipeg Jets play to the level of a team that is, allegedly, worse than them (that is if one were to check the standings) and then proceed to lose to said team.  The Jets can play 60 minutes against the likes of the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, but for some odd reason, they can't seem to dominate non-playoff teams (such as themselves).

And yet again, the Jets fail to win three games in a row.  And, they fail to make up any ground in the standings.  The Jets are again under .500 with a record of 19-20-3.  Two points out of the last wild-card spot and fading.  The Jets failed all season to take advantage of teams like Vancouver, Dallas and Nashville trailing in the standings and collectively playing sub-par hockey.

The only bright side to this one is Nikolaj Ehlers scored to keep his streak alive.  He has now scored in four straight games with five goals in that time-span.

I'm going to say it now, and I hope I'm wrong.  But if there is a game during the season where it all falls apart and playoff hopes can be officially dashed.  This is it.  I say this with no malice.  Frustration?  Yes.  But illogical?  Hardly.  If you can't get the points you need, especially against so-called "weaker" teams, you're done.  I doubt if one will be able to go back once April hits and pinpoint this game as the one that dashed the Jets playoff hopes, but I am.  This is the two points that the Jets let get away that will cost them.  I'm sure it'll be more than two points, but this is where the 2017 playoff dream died for the Winnipeg Jets.



Here's some post-game interviews in case you're interested in the excuses:

Hey Evander!

Jets/Sabres tonight.  A little something for the prima donna and ex-Jet Evander Kane.

Big Win In Sunrise

With an almost perfect example of north-south, 60-minute hockey, the Winnipeg Jets handled the Florida Panthers with confidence on Wednesday night.  The Jets handled the Cats, 4-1.  The Wonderkids of Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers each scored a goal, which includes Laine's 21st of the season, Scheifele's 17th and Ehler's 13th.  Shawn Matthias opened the scoring for the Jets when he tipped in Ben Chariot's shot from the blue line.  Laine once again leads all rookies in goals scored.  Ehlers now has six points in in his last five games, including four goals.

Jaromir Jagr collected his 1,136 assist, surpassing Paul Coffey for fifth place on the all-time list in that category when he pushed the puck along the boards to Greg McKegg for his first NHL goal.

The win keeps the Jets in the playoff hunt.  They remain one point out of the second wild-card spot, presently occupied by the Los Angeles Kings.  The Jets are tied at 41 points with the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks.


             

Jets Impress With Win Over Lightning

It got a little scary at the end, with the Jets allowing a late empty-net, six-on-four power-play goal by the Bolts, not to mention blowing a 4-1 lead by the middle of the third period, but Winnipeg managed to grab two points in Tampa with a 6-4 win to improve to 18-19-3 on the season.  Still not in a playoff spot, but still pretty close.

Nikolaj Ehlers was the star of the game , as he knotted two goals, including one on a penalty shot that saw the young Dane go straight up main street on Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.  It's nice to know that NHL referees realize the Jets are an actual NHL club and deserve some justice once in a while as well.  Ehlers also added an assist.

Patrik Laine finally scored his 20th of the season (albeit into an empty net) along with two assists, including a beauty re-direct by Mark Scheifele, and a nice little bonus to go along with it.  It's a shame Laine didn't reach 20 goals before fellow rookie and presumed Maple Leafs messiah, Auston Matthews.

Another Pair Of Losses Have Jets Still Looking Up

Four more points wasted.

The Winnipeg Jets had a two-game home-stand that could have put them in a post-season spot.  Or at least within an eyelash of one.  But after successive losses to both the streaking Columbus Blue Jackets (a 5-3 decision) and the New York Islanders (a 6-2 embarrassment to yet another team that is below the Jets in the oversll standings-albeit by just one point)

I cannot reiterate this enough and I will continue to preach it, you have to beat the teams below you.  These are must-wins.  Not a must-win in the sense that it's the playoffs and you're down 3-1 in the series, but a must win in the sense that that game against the Islanders was an easy two points for a better team and one that is supposed to be better than average at home.  But where was Scheifele, Byfuglien, Wheeler, Little or Laine?  Nikolaj Ehlers scored to represent (yeah, that's right, I said represent.  Big whoop.   Wanna fight about it?)

But where was everyone else?  Especially the defence.  If Jacob Trouba wants to be paid like a star, one would think he would be producing like one.  Kudos goes out to Shawn Matthias for his work on a Jets shot-handed goal.  But with the amount of time Connor Hellebyck was left all alone, I'm surprised that all defensive pairings aren't benched.  I know, that's ridiculous.  But they are really starting to make a rookie goal-tender look even more inexperienced.


But, unbelievably, the Jets, as of this writing, are still only three points out of the second wild-card spot for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Burmistrov Claimed By Coyotes

  Former Winnipeg Jets forward Alexander Burmistrov has been claimed off of the waiver wire by the Arizona Coyotes.

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun has a good take.

After eight NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashes franchise (minus the two seasons and 107 games played on Kazan Ak-Bars of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League between 2013-14 and 2014-15) Burmistrov was placed on waivers on Jan. 1 to, in my own opinion, to make room for a productive player.  Not that I'm trying to shat all over the guy, as he was good on the penalty kill; but Burmi simply hasn't produced in the last two seasons.  This season alone, he only has two points in 23 games played.  Now that could be argued that he hasn't had enough ice-time.  This may be true, but it doesn't account for his lack of production last year or all of his time as a Jet under former head coach, Claude Noel.

The Coyotes are hoping that a new team and a new atmosphere will help Burmistrov find his scoring touch that he does have when he is given an opportunity.  The guy does have a wicked wrist-shot.  And that can happen.  He may very well pick up his production with a new team.  Many have done it before him. Unfortunately for Burmi, and although he's still very young at 25, he may be past his "prime," for lack of a better word.

I wish Burmistrov luck with his new team.  He's a good player, a team player and deserves a chance.