True North Sports and Entertainment and the Winnipeg Jets have finally started to recognize and honour Winnipeg Jet players of the past in a new Winnipeg Jets Hall Of Fame. TNSE Chairman and President Mark Chipman had said repeatedly during the last five years that at the right time, the Jets 2.0 would honour key players that wore a Winnipeg Jets jersey between the years 1972, the birth of the original WHA franchise and 1996, the year of the Jets terrible, terrible relocation to Arizona. It has been announced that Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson will be the first inductees into the Hall.
This a total no-brainer. Starting with the 1974-75 World Hockey Association season these three men, known as the Hot Line, put Winnipeg on the international hockey map. Period. The Winnipeg Jets broke the ceiling when they introduced the European style of hockey to North America. Hull, Hedberg and Nilsson (along with another Swedes, defenceman Lars Eric-Schoberg and later forward Willy Lidstrom) showed the hockey world (and with great ease, I might add) the results of what gritty, tough, in-your-face Canadian style of hockey mixed with quick, concise, disciplined European hockey looks like. Goals in the back of the net, that's what.
Not long after, even the NHL noticed and followed suit. Soon came Borge Salming, Inge Hammarstrom, Sergei Priakhin and Veli-Pekka Ketola. In the 1980s came Jari Kurri, the Stastnys, Esa Tikkanen and Hakan Loob. In the 1990s there was Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Mats Sundin and Nikolas Lidstrom. The former Czech Republic gave us Jaromir Jagr and Dominic Hasek, plus numerous former Soviet and Russian players over the years. Of course, the Hot Line wasn't the first European influence in the National Hockey League. There was Ulf Sterner and Lennart Svedberg. But it was Hedberg and Nilsson along with Hull that really anchored themselves to the North American style of play and produced...huge.
The Hot Line produced nothing but offence during their time together. When Hedberg and Nilsson were brought over from Sweden in the fall of 1975, they book-ended Hull for a combined 1287 points until the end of the 1977-78 season. That's 1287 points between three players. One line. One.
Did I mention these selections for induction were a no-brainer?
As a life-long Jets fan, it's awesome to see my heroes of the past being recognized. Not just the Hot Line, but Jets of the 80s and 90s as well. The next class is sure to be Dale Hawerchuck, Teemu Selanne and Thomas Steen.
So it's been almost two full years since I last blogged about my hometown and favourite NHL team, the Winnipeg Jets. That includes the franchise's second-ever playoff appearance in 2014-2015, which saw them have the exact same outcome as their first NHL playoff appearance when the team was located in Atlanta, Georgia, losing to the New York Rangers in four straight, when the team was known as the Atlanta Thrashers. The 2015 outcome was no different, being a first-round 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. That means in 17 years of existence, the Thrashers/Jets have appeared in two playoff series and won 0 games. Not exactly something that instills pride in your team.
But pride is what it was. I hardly cared the Jets were a mediocre team at best throughout their first incarnation in Winnipeg. It didn't matter to this young Jets fan that his heroes didn't hoist hockey's holy grail once in 17 years in the NHL. All that mattered was that I had a team to cheer on. A team to argue with Oilers fans about (that one didn't go too well for very long) A team to compare stats with among other hockey fans, especially Canadian ones. In short, I had an National Hockey League team to adore. That all changed in June 1996. The last ever Winnipeg Jets 1.0 game was played on April 28, 1996. A 4-1 playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings that ended an era.
That blog mentioned above can be found at www.thenewwinnipegjets.blogspot.com. However, I had some personal issues come up which prevented me from posting as much as I wanted, then eventually things got hay-wire enough where I didn't post at all and just let the blog fall into obscurity.
However, that doesn't mean I wanted to lose interest in the team or interest in blogging about the Winnipeg Jets. I was a little too young to appreciate and enjoy the likes of The Hot Line of Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nillsson. I grew up watching Dale Hawerchuck, Thomas Steen, Laurie Boschman, Dave Babych, Dave Ellet and the like. I loved my Jets and was heartbroken and angry when they left to the hockey dead-zone of Arizona in 1996.
Before I go on with the "new" Jets, for the benefit of anyone out there who doesn't know what I'm talking about, like say any 10 to 15-year-old hockey fans, here's a quick look back at what happened.
Then, joy of all joys, a miracle happened:
And here is every moment of "The Return," May 31, 2011. Now, I don't expect anyone to watch every second of this, as it is a lot of regional pride and probably only exciting to Jets fans.
And of course the first draft in 2011 to name the team and the pick of Mark Scheifele.
And just for fun (really fun for me at least) is some of the first game back against the Montreal Canadiens. Not the outcome we were looking for, as the Habs spoiled the party 5-1.
So since a lot has transpired since that day, including being placed in the Thrashers old position in the NHL's south-east division (why not just swap out with the Nashville Predators who were in the central division where the Jets are now and are geographically close to all the teams that were in the south-east anyway. But that's neither here nor there now.) and not making the playoffs until 2015 I'm going to continue from here in the present starting with the 2016 NHL Lottery.
When the Jets went into the NHL Draft Lottery on April 30, they went in with a not very enviable chance of only 7.5 percent of walking away with the top pick. Much was made in Winnipeg and by Jets fans throughout the country that they should have tanked the last week of the season, thereby improving their chances of capturing the number one pick; most pundits assuming it would be the 19-year-old phenom Austen Matthews. But as it turned out, the hockey gods smiled very pleasantly on the Jets as not only did they win their last four games of the season (in doing so, winning their first three or more games consecutively in the whole 2015-2016 campaign) on a very tough California road trip; the points accumulated allowed them to be in the perfect numerical position for those ping pong balls to fall their way and be the lucky team that jumped up no less than four spots in the lottery from sixth to second. Of course this allowed them to select Patrik Laine (pronounced LIE-NAY) and very quickly change the fortunes of the franchise for years to come.
Although only 18 years of age, Laine is expected to carry the Jets into the future along with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba. He has been compared to his idol, Russian superstar and sure-fire Hall-Of-Famer Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. With a comparison like that, one would have to wonder a) is it a fair and accurate description, and b) can Laine not only produce what is quickly being expected of him, but can he handle said expectations. Is he a big fish in a little pond? Or will the small market Winnipeg media not be as unforgiving to a "white night" as say the hockey writers in Toronto, Montreal or New York? Make no mistake, Patrik Laine has the tools. The guy can put the puck in the net as this highlite reel demonstrates:
But he is only 18 after all. He is one of, if not the most talented and NHL-ready 18-year-old on the planet, but he is 18 and bound to make mistakes. The Jets realize this and will not do as their predecessors did in Atlanta and that is rush a potentially game-breaking young player if he's not ready. The Atlanta Thrashers did exactly that with the likes of Evander Kane and Alexander Burmistrov. They were young. talented players that the Thrashers organization rushed into the NHL too quick and it cost them. You can be sure the Jets will do no such thing. I fully expect Laine to crack the Jets roster next season, but I would not be shocked to see him spend a couple of months or more with the Jets American Hockey League affiliate, Manitoba Moose just to get him comfortable with the North American-style game and dimensions of NHL-sized rinks. It may not seem like much on that end, but developing your skills on international-style ice surfaces, then to ply your trade across the pond in smaller ones would take some getting used to I imagine. Not to mention, although he did do very well in Tampara in the Finnish elite league with players older and stronger than he, he still has to get used to the rough and tough style of the National Hockey League where it is a nightly grind. Will he burn out, or will he show Winnipeg fans and the rest of the NHL that he is indeed
the second coming of Teemu Selanne? The knock on Laine is that he may be a tad too arrogant. Some may call that confidence. He did say that he should be the number one pick ahead of Matthews who went to the Toronto Maple Leafs and that he should be able to crack the Jets first line, but ultimately of course, that decision falls to head coach Paul Maurice. Laine will have the opportunity to prove it, as Maurice has said that he will have "the opportunity to excel."
Having said all that, I have no doubt that Patrik Laine will be the player the Jets have been waiting for. Will he be the number one, most productive guy? Probably not at first, but eventually he will carry this team. I predict he will be the Calder trophy winner ahead of Austen Matthews (that's if the media is fair to him and not the typical all Toronto, all the time articles we will no doubt read about)
Along with Laine, the Jets managed to acquire 6'7 defenseman Logan Stanley by trading the 18th (the position the Jets held from the Andrew Ladd trade) and 79th overall picks to the Philadelphia Flyers' for their 22nd and 36th overall picks. The Jets had been in need of another left-shooting defenseman for some time. Stanley is said to have been someone the Jets had coveted since the draft season began a few months prior.
Well, technically the Toronto Maple Leafs won the lottery, receiving the number one pick overall. But it was the Jets who jumped four spots from #6 to #2, giving them a gift from the hockey gods and a chance to select a no-brainer franchise player that equals to an out and out game-changer. The top three candidates for selection as per the NHL's central scouting are Austen Matthews of Arizona who played last year in the Swiss Elite League (National League A) with the ZSC Lions (Zurich), Patrik Laine of Tampara, Finland in the Finnish Elite League (Liiga); and Jesse Puljujarvi of Karpat, Finland in the Liiga.
If you watched the proceedings on television, you may have caught the undeniable smile on Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff's face as he witnessed the card turn over to reveal the Calgary Flames logo, assuring him that the Jets would pick no lower than third. In contrast, sitting to Chevy's immediate right was Flames GM Brian Burke. From that picture, it isn't very difficult to see who got the better pick. Priceless.
The word is there is a substantial drop in the talent level from the top three mentioned and the rest of the draft. After those three, eyes would then shift to Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, Matthew Tkachuck of the London Knights of the OHL and Alexander Nylander of the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the OHL.
But the Jets don't have to worry about that since they stole the number two overall pick (this despite the opinion of many Jets fans that their winning the last four games of the season that presumably ruined their chances for a decent pick) and will get a player that will almost certainly improve the team immediately.
The heavy consensus is the Maple Leafs will select Matthews as he is not only the best player available in the draft (so say the "experts") but he is the center the Leafs have been coveting since the departure of Mats Sundin in 2008. That leaves either Laine or Puljujarvi for the Jets to hedge their bets on taking their franchise into the future. The consensus says Laine as he has been compared to Alexander Ovechkin. Puljujarvi is no slouch either. In fact NHL's central scouting almost had Puljujarvi rated higher than Laine until Laine's performance in the Liiga's post-season. They are so close in fact, the Hockey Newscompared the two in an article that, well, didn't really solve the debate.
So, unless Lou Lamoriello and/or Brendan Shanahan have an embolism, Austen Matthews will be centering their top line come next October. That leaves Kevin Cheveldayoff with the challenging but not tough pick of either Laine or Puljujarvi. I mean, what a conundrum to have. I'm going with Laine. I think he is slightly more NHL-ready than Puljujarvi is and he is seemigly more valuable on the power-play which the Jets so desperately need. Imagine Laine, Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers and their triple-threat of bombs from the blue line? (or off the boards on the left-wing in Laine's case) Plus, if you pass on any player with that shot that Laine possesses, you really should have your head examined.
It's official. The National Hockey League and the Winnipeg Jets have announced that the 2016 NHL Heritage Classic will be played at Investor's Grpup Field in Winnipeg on October 23. Their opponents will be the Jets historical rivals, the Edmonton Oilers. The alumni game featuring past stars of both teams will be played the day before on Oct. 22. Both teams will announce their rosters for the alumni game later on in the summer. The Jets will be captain by former Jets great and Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuck, while the Oilers will be led by the NHL's all-time leading scorer, Wayne Gretzky.
I for one will be looking forward to both games as a life-long Jets fan. Not only because it's the Jets first regular season outdoor NHL game, but the alumni game will have the great Teemu Selanne lacing up for the Jets one final time. It will be such a rush to see the Finnish Flash don the Jets colours one more time since he was unceremoniously traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1996 and never did get his proper send off from Winnipeg.
However, I am prepared to witness yet another loss at the hands of the hated Oilers. Not the regular game, but the alumni game. From 1983 throughout various times until 1990, the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers played a total of six playoff series with the Jets winning exactly zero of those series. That's right, six times the Jets and Oilers met in the NHL playoffs and six times the Oilers defeated the Jets. In fact, I believe the Jets of old only managed to win a grand total of four games in those six series. Four games! In contrast they lost 18! The first three of those series were sweeps by the way. So what makes me think we should fare any better when the alumni Oilers are going to ice the exact same players that skinned the Jets alive every time we met in the playoffs (not to mention a regular-season eighteen-game winless streak of the Jets against the Oilers between 1984 and 1986? Nothing. I expect to lose that Saturday afternoon game. Unless the fix is in and the Jets are "supposed" to win the game "for the fans." I doubt it and it would just make my stomach turn to find later on that to be true, but you never know with Gary Bettman and his cronies.
One more thing. It's probably a really good thing the league scheduled the game in October near the beginning of the season and not in the middle or near the end of it. Could you imagine an outdoor NHL game in Winnipeg anytime between December and February? Brrrrr.
