Every week or two, I have a few thoughts. This week I consider Gary Lawless' call for Alain Vigneault as coach in light of the news that he's available and look at Cory Pronman's newest draft rankings.

Coaching Opportunities

• Gary Lawless is mad. First he wants Byfuglien out, then he wanted Noel replaced by Alain Vigneault. Well, step one  is complete. Alain Vigneault is available. In fact, there are a lot of big-name coaches in play this off-season, and with a somewhat underwhelming free-agent market, a few teams may make their biggest splash behind the bench.
• I think the fan base can afford to be a bit divided on whether Noel is a good coach. He has extensive experience grooming players. He's well spoken and the media likes him well enough. The roster has clear problems from the net out and it's hard to say whether a 9th place finish in the East is evidence of Noel getting a lot or a little out of his group.
• That said, with news that Burmistrov wants out, the epic mystery of his line combinations, and outrageously bad special teams, there is a fair argument that Claude Noel is not be the guy for the job. Certainly that's my opinion.
• I like Alain Vigneault - I think he deserves credit for managing his roster to get the Sedins 100 points, and for turning Bieksa, Kesler, Burrows, and others into exceptional two way players from their humble beginnings as mistake prone bottom-of-the-roster guys. Vigneault boasts a .583 points % over his 800 game Head Coach career. He did very little with a mostly bad Montreal team in the late '90's, and did well with a good Canucks roster lately (6 of his 7 seasons, the Canucks won the Northwest Division). He has two President's Trophies and three Jack Adam's nominations (including 1 win). Impressive resume.
• Still, how about Dave Tippett? He holds a .617 points % through 738 games with less talented teams all in the significantly harder Pacific division. His post-season success is even less than Vigneault's, of course. But he has  one Jack Adams nomination (which he won) and three Pacific Division titles. One of them with the Coyotes, remember. Perhaps he's better suited to squeezing wins out of an under-talented squad with a lot of replacement level bodies on the depth chart?
• The Jets haven't shown a strong sense for windows of opportunity, or at least haven't tipped their hand clearly about when their intended window begins. With that in mind, Claude Noel may be a necessary 'fall man' should the team slide up the draft board for 2014 (intentionally or not). Money - both paying Noel and some of his assistants to go away and paying a big name big bucks - may also be a factor in standing pat.
• This seems like the season to go hard after a difference making coach. They don't come around every year. Were I a betting man, I'd bet the Jets quietly watch as better coaches find jobs before they've made a decision on Noel, trade Burmistrov after the draft for next year's less valuable picks, and then replace Noel next year with an experienced but decidedly average coach (it's Paul Maurice, let's not kid ourselves).
• (Hilarious side note: Patrick Roy to take over the Avalanche?! I'd give so much to play in Conference A next year...)

Draft Rankings

• Cory Pronman came out with his new draft rankings this month. Pronman's work at Hockey Prospectus is a must-read for draft watchers.
• The draft this year is being discussed as perhaps 60 players deep, with top flight talent 10-12 player deep (of course, because the Jets select at 13th). Some are comparing the first round to 2003 - a year with 16 NHL All-Stars to-be selected in round 1 and Marcel Comeau's first draft as Head Scout of the Thrashers/Jets franchise.
• Famously, Corey Perry went 28th overall that year. Less famously, the Kings had two picks at 26th and 27th - taking Brian Boyle and Jeff Tambellini in a bid for the best Fat / Skinny combo seen since 1988. (In reality, of course, it was worse than the combo of Fat Kurri and haven't-played-in-four-years Gretzky at the 2003 Old Timer's Heritage Classic)
• Speaking of the Oilers, everyone's favourite story from that year, of course, is when the Oilers traded down from the 9th ranked North American skater in Zach Parise to take Marc Antoine Pouliot (I've linked to his career stats in case you wanted an extended laugh). Keep that in mind while Craig Button is prattling about how the Jets should trade down in a deep draft. BPA, Marcel Comeau. Please, for the love of wins. 
• Anyway, Pronman's rankings: a lot has changed in the 10-16 area since we last had a look 6 weeks ago. 
• Hunter Shinkaruk still sits at #10. The diminutive scorer was over-looked for the World Juniors this year, but scored 86 points for the WHL's 9th highest scoring Medicine Hat Tigers, and 91 in his 17 year old season. Still, he's a LW and along with the surging Swedish LW Andre Burakowsky, is unlikely to be targeted by a squad with Ladd and Kane written in pen on the portside of the depth chart for years to come. 
• Interestingly, Darnell Nurse slid to #11 in Pronman's rankings. Nurse should remind Jets fans of Marcel Comeau's first ever pick as Head Scout - the sizeable, dependable, tradable Braydon Coburn. Both are left handed, defence first giants at a listed 6'5". Both made waves with their smooth skating and range as large defenders. Though Coburn's scoring was very poor in his draft year, it was for a Winterhawks team with 192 goals and 19 wins. Coburn's four years of junior he had 37, 19, 30, and 44 points (Nurse had 41 this year and just 10 last season). The Jets may see Nurse as a Ron Hainsey replacement down the road. Whether Nurse is available anywhere near #13 is unknown, however, as ISS currently has him ranked at #6 overall. 
• On the opposite end of the scale comes Ryan Pulock - my personal hope for the Jets' first pick. The right handed, offensively gifted defender is all over the map in various draft rankings. Pronman has him at #12 (ISS at 14, if you were curious) and notes that his upside is as a top pairing defenceman with an element of risk in his game. Pulock's elite level shot and keen offensive instincts added to stong gap control and transitional play draws my mind to Washington's John Carlson. Both put up similar numbers in their draft year (Carlson: 59 GP 12-31-43 in the USHL and Pulock 61 GP 14-31-45 in the WHL). Though Carlson is a little taller, both are thick at a playing weight that hovers above 210lbs. Carlson has to be considered a better natural skater, has a little more edge to his game, and was more polished defensively at 18 than is Pulock currently. On the other hand, Pulock's 17 year old season saw him put up a whopping 19 goals and 60 points and his powerplay work is elite as much because of his exceptional decision making as his shot. What do you bet some pro level coaching adds some speed and physicality to his game to complete to comparison? Pulock and Trouba as a top pair could be exceptional in 2018. 
• Pulock may even give the Jets the flexibility to move Byfuglien in time. I think we all want a happy Gary Lawless, and I'm not pinning my hopes on Vigneault. 

Jets fans woke up this morning to some rather concerning reports. Apparently, according to this article by Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press, Alex Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg. Gary later tweeted stating that Alex is yet to ask for a trade, but that the current rift between him and Claude Noel is “untenable”. This tells me that it is very unlikely that Burmi will sign back with the team this offseason.

Why?

Clearly Burmistrov is not happy. Fans love him, bloggers love him, his old coaches love him and he has been told his entire life how valuable he is and can be. Yet, Clause Noel and the Jets coaching staff (as far as I am aware) have a bit of an issue with the young star. We are all aware of his benching and reduced minutes throughout this last season, and Coach Noel was anything but scared of making sure he got his point across. Unfortunately this has led to a hampered relationship, and with Noel apparently sticking around for at least another year, Burmi has had enough.

Short Term Effect

If this is all true, the Jets will be losing a young, albeit rushed, talented player. Although he hasn’t been outstanding offensively, he hasn’t exactly been handed a huge opportunity to succeed in that aspect of his game, yet has played well in a third line roll and has very obviously talents with the puck.

	Relative Corsi	Off Zone Start %
2010-11	-2.8	56.5%
2011-12	7.9	58.7%
2012-13	6.5	52.0%

Over the past two years Burmi has consistently been a positive corsi player, despite his offensive zone start percentages. In fact, his relative corsi rating of 6.5 ranked him fourth on the team (2nd if you dismiss Anthony Peluso and Patrice Cormier) and he has a general tendency to increase puck possession while with the three players he spends the most time with (Kane, Tangradi & Antropov). Not to mention the increased GF%’s of both Kane and Antropov (admittedly, the numbers for both Tangradi and Antropov look a little screwy to me, but none the less he is an effective line mate).

2012-13	Evander Kane	Eric Tangradi	Nik Antropov
Time on Ice	201:02	150:10	146:40
CF% w/ Burmi	48.8%	52.9%	50.7%
CF% w/o Burmi	48.9%	48.5%	46.7%
GF% w/ Burmi	69.2%	14.3%	72.7%
GF% w/o Burmi	43.9%	61.5%	53.8%

Should Burmistrov leave town, the team will have a hole at the center position that needs to be filled. As I mentioned earlier this week in my piece on Kyle Wellwood, he could serve well as a third line centerman should Mark Scheifele not be ready, but it does impair the overall team talent level. It also badly limits the Jets' options for moving Olli Jokinen anytime soon, and puts a LOT more pressure on him to wake up and actually perform next season.

Long Term Effect

Long term, this could really seal the fate of Coach Noel. The Jets are not an organization that can risk losing young players, and cannot afford to gain any sort of negative image for free agents. Claude has spent time in the AHL and working with young players before so this may just be a rare case, but it is still concerning - especially when you consider how impressed Burmi's previous coaches and general managers have been. Consider this to be a big, no, a HUGE strike against Claude Noel in TNSE’s books. Should Burmi leave and the Jets struggle again next year, they will look long and hard at this entire situation alongside Chevy when considering Noel’s future employment within the franchise.

What Could We Get?

This now becomes the big question. If Lawless is correct in his statements that the Jets tried to move him at the deadline and were unable to, that tells me the asking price was too high for many to take seriously. When you look at what some teams spent on sub-par players, this scares me. Ultimately it will come down to what GM’s around the league see in Burmi, as they now hold the position of power and have the option of presenting an offer sheet if need be. In a perfect world, I would be okay with Chevy packaging a second or third round draft pick for this year with Burmi to add another 1st round pick in the draft. Chevy needs to try to sell that Alex is still a talented young player, and that it was nothing more than personality differences that are causing this to occur.

As much as I love Alex Burmistrov and hope that this can all be fixed, it seems as if the harsh reality is coming and he will likely be on his way out. All we can do now is hope Chevy turns this into something positive. I’m already prepared to be completely disappointed.

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Moving into this offseason, a lot has been made of the high number of free agents the Jets have to deal with. In total, the Jets currently have 18 restricted and unrestricted free agents that they must make decisions on, including players such as Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Alex Burmistrov, Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey. One name that has seemed to slip the minds of many fans is Kyle Wellwood. What should the Jets do with Wellwood?

After a highly productive 2011-2012 season with the then newly minted Winnipeg Jets that saw Wellwood post career highs in goals (18) and points (47) the Jets signed him to a 1-year, $1.6 million contract (the highest single season pay of his career) for 2012-13. This year Wellwood’s production did drop and he did find himself in the press box on occasion, but not bringing him back next year (at a slightly reduced rate) would be a huge mistake.

Following is a quick chart highlighting some of Welllwood’s stats over his two seasons with the Jets, including his Corsi, the Jets Corsi with him off the ice, the quality of his competition, and his offensive zone starts & finishes. You’ll notice that in both years the Jets controlled play more often with Wellwood on the ice then off of it, despite his drop off in points this year.

Kyle Wellwood	Corsi On	Corsi Off	Corsi Rel QoC	Off Zone Start	Off Zone Finish
2011-2012	12.65	-3.20	0.105	60.50%	55.50%
2012-2013	2.05	-0.93	0.149	48.00%	52.60%

You might also notice that his offensive zone starts dropped dramatically this year (12.5%), and he played against slightly higher competition. This was likely due to the questionable but constant implementation of Olli Jokinen on the second line. This forced Welly to either compete with Burmistrov for third line center minutes, or move over to the right wing which limited his playmaking opportunities. (Note the drop in point production this year)

Personal production aside, the affect Wellwood had on his line mates is reason enough for Chevy to want him back. This next chart displays the the “goal for” percentage (that is, Goals scored by team / [Goals scored by team + goals scored against]) and the “corsi for” percentage (Corsi for percentage = Corsi for / [Corsi for + Corsi against]) with and without Kyle Wellwood for the five wingers that spent the most time on the ice with him. You’ll see that with 4 of the 5 players listed, goals for percentage increased while on the ice with Welly. Thus, not only were they scoring at a higher rate while playing with him, but they were also keeping the puck out of their own net. You will also see that 3 of the 5 listed saw increases in the time they spent controlling the play while they were on the ice with him.

	Antropov	Kane	Jokinen	Tangradi	Burmistrov
GF% w/ Wellwood	60.00%	58.30%	36.40%	66.70%	50.00%
GF% w/o Wellwood	59.30%	46.60%	30.20%	35.70%	48.10%
Corsi For % w/ Wellwood	46.20%	55.10%	54.30%	47.00%	52.20%
Corsi For % w/o Wellwood	48.60%	47.30%	47.00%	51.50%	51.50%

Interestingly enough three of these players (Antro, Olli and Burmi) predominately play center, meaning that Wellwood was moved to the right wing. The jump in Kane’s GF% is simply astonishing, and the player who may be considered one of the biggest disappointments in a Jets uniform, Olli Jokinen, saw his play improve dramatically when he was on the ice with Kyle Wellwood. Strangely enough, the only player who saw both his GF% and Corsi For % drop with Wellwood, was also the player who spent the most time with him - Nik Antropov. Chalk that one up to some interesting coaching decisions.

Next year, assuming the Jets bring back Bryan Little and Alex Burmistrov, the Jets are looking at the center position likely being composed of Little, Jokinen, Scheifele and Burmistrov. That’s before you factor in players such as James Wright or Aaron Gagnon, or any other free agents that Chevy may look to acquire. Despite this, I still believe that the Jets need to keep Wellwood in the ranks. Offer him ~$1 mil/year, and work from there. Assuming Jokinen is an immovable piece this offseason, I would say start with a second line of Kane - Jokinen - Wellwood, and be ready to move players as needed.

This offseason will be a busy one for the Jets, but one thing is clear to me. They need Kyle Wellwood in a Jets uniform and letting him walk is completely unacceptable.

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This is a tough time of year for Jets' fans, mostly because there's nothing to do. Sure, we all (well, certainly not our own Travis Hrubeniuk) got our kicks watching the Leafs and Canucks flame out spectacularly from this year's playoffs. That was fun. And for those of us playing StreakCred or some other kind of playoff pool, there's still fun to be had and money to won - or in my case, fun to be had while hoping to climb out of what must be last place.

But no matter - this time of year just isn't the same without your team in the race. The Draft is still far away. Free Agency is even further. Teemu has already been eliminated from Cup contention. What to do? 

There's some obvious answers. Drink! Cheer for the Bombers! Forget the pleasant distraction that is professional sports and actually get some productive work done in our own lives!

But, if you're like me, these options don't really fill the void. Luckily, there is still something - the World Championships. Phew. Yes, there's still some WInnipeg Jets out there fighting the good fight, trying to help their country attain (small levels) of glory in what is, at best, the 3rd most important international event on the Hockey calender. So, to help you with your Jets withdrawals, here's a look at how the Jets in the Tournament are doing.

Andrew Ladd - Canada

That's him, all sad on the bench!! Named Assisitant of Team Canada, Ladd was his normal productive self with 3G and 3A for 6 points (in case you were bad at math) in 8 games, which placed him behind only Steven Stamkos and Claude Giroux in the team scoring. Not too shabby. He was also named Player of the Game in their quarterfinal match against Sweden. What was rather shabby, however, was Canada's inability to advance to the Medal round, losing to host Sweden in a shootout in the Quarterfinals. The World Championships are not Canada's tournament, but at least Andrew Ladd didn't suffer some kind of catastrophic injury like Eric Staal might have, so we'll have to consider Ladd's effort a mild success.

Ondrej Pavelec - Czech Republic

That's him sitting on his butt!! When I looked at Pavelec's numbers, my eyes did a double take. A .937sv%? A 1.42GAA? Named player of the game in a battle against their bitter rival Slovakia? What the hell?! Where were these numbers in the NHL? My anger turned into investigative googling. And then everything began to make sense again. Pavelec was the teams 'starter' but only played 5 of their 8 games. The Czechs finished 4th in their pool, and like Canada, lost in the Quarterfinals, with Pavelec in net, to the surprisingly powerhouse Swiss team. Hopefully Pavelec can glean some kind of positive from taking his team to the Medal round and not having a ghastly SV%

Jacob Trouba - USA

That's him smiling at the World Jr's earlier this year!! Young Mr. Trouba has made his way into 5 games so far with Team America, and has faired rather well with a goal and an assist so far. His +/- is Even, and he also had 0 PIM, all while averaging 12:47 icetime per game. Next up for Trouba is a matchup against Switzerland in the Semi Finals. Let's hope the US has some common sense and plays Trouba, allowing me a chance to watch him play live at 4am.

Arturs Kulda - Latvia

That's him, boxing out a Finn!! The on again, off again Jet suited up Team Latvia at the Championships, a team that finished tied with France in their pool, and ahead of noted non-heavyweight Austria. Tied with France? Latvia has some way to go. Anyways, Kulda held his own somewhat, playing 7 games, getting a goal and an assist, all while registering a shocking 23:15/game. Jets fans can rest well knowing than one of Latvia's best players is Jets property. Perhaps Kulda's greatest accomplishment with Team Lativa was helping them avoid relegation, as they finished a strudy 11th in the Tournament. 

So, that's that. There would have been more Jets in the Tournament, but Kane, Enstrom, Bogosian and Slater were/are all nursing injuries. My advice to serious Jets fans is drink a whole lot of coffee, stay up late, and hope to watch Jacob Trouba kick some Swiss ass in the Semi Finals. Enjoy! 

STREAKCRED

We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. We're down to the final category for the 2013 Jets Nation Year End Awards where we reveal your reader picks with our writers' perspectives. We might have tricked you into thinking we were done handing out hardware last week (by lying to you - what a cunning ruse), but how silly do you feel now?! Last and definitely least, the Jets' goat of 2013.

Goat

(The Many) Nominees: Olli Jokinen, Ondrej Pavelec, Ron Hainsey, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Claude Noel, Pacal Vincent, The Injury Bug, The 4th Line

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

Full disclosure - I have a soft spot in my heart for Olli Jokinen. During the years of Jets exile, I was a full-blown Flames fan. Even though he became reviled for not becoming the #1 Center the Flames hoped he would when they initially acquired him, he rebounded, somehow re-signing with the Flames after being discarded coldly at the trade deadline. You gotta love that! In his 2nd tour of duty in Calgary, he re-invented himself as a reliable, all around Centre, capable of scoring and playing hard minutes against tough competition. You gotta love that! When he signed in Winnipeg, I was delighted to see a familiar face in Jets silks who could do some good.

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

Jets Nation at Large

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We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. We're down to the final two categories for the 2013 Jets Nation Year End Awards where we reveal your reader picks with our writers' perspectives. We might have tricked you into thinking we were done handing out hardware last week (by lying to you - what a cunning ruse), but how silly do you feel now?! We still need to crown our Most Valuable Player and name our summer whipping boy! In this article - the missing link! Jets' Most Valuable Player!

Most Valuable Player

Nominees: Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Zach Bogosian, The Fans

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

Andrew Ladd, Andrew Ladd, Andrew Ladd. He really needs no explanation. Led the Jets in almost every basic and advanced statistical category, always showed up, scored shootout winners, led the team in every way possible, is currently representing the Jets and Canada at the World Championships, all while raising a newborn child.  I don’t think that kid is going to have trouble making friends in Winnipeg, as his father Andrew Ladd, is this team’s MVP. 

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

Well, it's anti-climactic now, but Andrew Ladd was my vote too. After seeing the paragraphs above, I tried to come up with another candidate just to be different. Sadly (for you and me), there just isn't another case to be made. Bogosian played tough minutes! So did Ladd. Wheeler scored a lot! Not as much as Ladd. Evander Kane is black and proud! Well, he's got Ladd there, but I think I lost track of my point.

The point is, then, that Ladd is the no-brainer MVP of this team. I worry about his shooting % (14.9 compared to a career 11.4) and his on-ice shooting % (11.4 - the highest of his career by more than 1/10th). Still, his shooting % was high in his first year with Atlanta and he scored 29 goals, it dropped last year and he scored 28 (with 70 more shots), and he was on pace for 31 this year with an elevated % again. So perhaps my hand wringing is for naught. Ladd seems to find a way.

Jets Nation at Large

With a whopping (but maybe not as whopping as I expected) 86%, Andrew Ladd is your MVP! (Imagine the crowd going wild right here)

'The Fans' received a single vote. That poor Jets National. She/He had a really rough season. In order to cheer you up, random anonymous fan, I went to the wikihow page on cheering people up (obviously, because I struggle with psychopathy). It recommended self-depricating humour might lighten the mood. Luckily it gave me some examples of that. Here are the best three:

• They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have. My boss told me a robe and slippers wasn’t a good look for the office.
• I’m on that new “seafood” diet. If I see food, I eat it. 
  
• I walk two miles a day. One to the donut shop, and one home.

#2 works better verbally, which is a bit mean to our sign-language enabled friend Jack Ribchimpski. Still, I hope I've made you feel better, single underappreciated Jets fan.

Streakcred

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We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. All this week Jets Nation will be revealing your reader picks with our writers' perspectives for the 2013 Year-End Awards. Today is the exciting category of Best Young Player Outside the NHL. Some in the Nations Network voted on best Rookie for their team, but the Jets' young talent is mostly bubbling under. The Jets had a lot of good news on the Prospect front, with Scheifele deep in the OHL playoffs, Lowry being named Best Player in the WHL, Eric O'Dell delivering a quality season in bad circumstances, and Trouba turning pro. Who did you like best?

Best Young Player (Outside the NHL)

Nominees: Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba, Eric O'Dell

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

TROOOOOOOOOOOUBA!!!!

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

It was hard to pick just one in this category, but I went with Adam Lowry.  Yes, Scheifele had a great year in the OHL, but he is a man amongst boys down there. He belongs in the AHL.  Jacob Trouba had a great year in Michigan as well, but plenty was expected of him as a first round draft pick.  Adam Lowry though, the Jets third round pick from the 2011 entry draft had one heck of the year.  45 goals and 43 assists for 88 points in 72 games is quite something.  He won the WHL player of the year (in a league with players such as Ty Rattie, Seth Jones, etc.) and had a brief stint with the Ice Caps where he truly fit in.  Lowry will be a long shot to make the Jets out of training camp next season, but he has earned his shot.  In all likelihood he will be an Ice Cap to start the year, but if he can continue to grow and develop at his current pace, he will one day be a valuable contributor for this Jets franchise. 

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

I think Scheifele deserves some more love in these parts. Coaches in the OHL thought this guy was for real - voting him Most Dangerous in the Goal Area, Best Shot, 2nd in Faceoffs, and 2nd in Best Shootout Scorer. Yeah, he was 20, but he wasn't the only one in the OHL (especially because of the lockout), including former Coaches' Poll favourite Ryan Strome, and other 2011 first rounders Ryan Murphy, Noesen, Puempel, and Rickard Rakell. Adam Lowry appears to have made huge strides, but is 14 days older than Scheifele, so was also a 20 year old against mostly 16-18 year olds. The Colts are in the OHL finals in part due to Scheifele's unreal 34 points in 18 games. I think this season Scheifele made a huge jump from talented player to game-changer at the Major Junior level and I'm looking forward to seeing his impact in the NHL.

Jets Nation at Large

Jets Nation agreed with Brett - Jacob Trouba was your choice for Best Young Player with 53% of the vote! Wait, you guys agreed with Brett?! This thing is obviously rigged. Scheifele had 37% and Lowry came in third with 11%. O'Dell got no love.

In fairness to Brett, Trouba deserves our adoration. Scouts named him the 4th best prospect from his draft year in the Hockey News Future Watch feature. He had 29 points in 37 games at University of Michigan, continued his punishing play, and turned pro at the end of his year. Now that he has some Jets Nation hardware to add to his U-18 Gold Medal and U-17 Silver, I think he's got a shot at breaking camp with the Jets in 2013/2014.

We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. All this week Jets Nation will be revealing your reader picks with our writers' perspectives for the 2013 Year-End Awards. Today's award is a victory for the little guys, the underdogs. It's a moment of celebrating the under-represented and under-appreciated. Think Stallone in the 1987 World Arm Wrestling Championships impressing a young David Mendenhall with his never-before-seen turned hat style. Sure, if you don't care that much about the Jets, you might not even know the names nominated. But if you don't care that much about the Jets, I can only assume you came to this site looking for travel deals for the exceptional prose. Relax your abdomen, fold toward your screen, head jutted forward and eyes fixed on the scroll below while you cheer softly to yourself, your exuberance dampened by the social padding your fandom must remain trapped inside.

Unsung Hero

Nominees: Grant Clitsome, Ron Hainsey, Kyle Wellwood, Alex Burmistrov, Charlie Huddy

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

There was no player hated by Jets fans more than Ron Hainsey.  It may have been his presence as the front man for the NHLPA, it may have been his contract, or it may have been his occasional glaring turnover, but I feel that Ron Hainsey was the Jets unsung hero of the season.  Fans may not have liked him, but Claude Noel sure did.  Hainsey was matched up against top lines every night and spent most of the time quietly doing his job.  He didn’t score, he didn’t hit, he didn’t fight, but he (for the most part) played a solid defensive role with an occasional hiccup.  You can’t ask much more from a guy who was forced into playing more minutes than he would be on other teams. 

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

I went with Charlie Huddy. This guy is the best defenceman coach in the league at developing a particular type of defenceman in my opinion. No one can forget how good Jan Slavik looked with the Huntington Blizzard back in '97 under Huddy, but for our purposes, it's his work with Zach Bogosian that deserves the most credit. Bogo was headed for an early career trade on account of not being the player he was expected to be. Pressure was mounting, packages were being offered, Bogo kept getting worse while trying to do too much. Huddy has turned him into a Jets Nation Year-End Awards winner and a cornerstone of the franchise as mean, focused, rangey shut down defender with a great outlet pass (and he brought a heavy shot with him).

I think he also deserves some credit for Clitsome's strong season, and even Mark Stuart becoming a little more capable with Winnipeg than with Boston or Atlanta (in spite of playing through injury with random partners this year). I wouldn't mind if Zach Redmond looked a little more like Charlie Huddy someday too. He's my vote for Unsung Hero.

Jets Nation at Large

This was a tight race in the Nation. Brett went off-board, and votes were given to every nominee.

Your chosen winner is Charlie Huddy with 38%. Way to be, Chuck! 

Your runner-up was Grant "I get votes on my name alone" Clitsome with 29% of your vote. Hainsey got 14%, and Wellwood and Burmistrov tied for 4th with 10% of your popular vote each.

*****

Don't forget to sign up for StreakCred - the new playoff pool game from the Nation Network. For only $20 you can win solid prizes and a portion of the proceeds go to supporting the MS Bike Tour and the Edmonton Down Syndrome Society. Never too late to sign up here. 

We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. All this week Jets Nation will be revealing your reader picks with our writers' perspectives for the 2013 Year-End Awards. We present this article to hand out the virtual hardware, but also to show our discipline as we held ourselves to just one subtle dig at Olli Jokinen. 

Best Defenceman 

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

While I probably would have voted Tobias Enstrom if he would have played even a half-season's worth of games, I'll have to go with Zach Bogosian here.

His offensive game was in solid form - much better than I remember it being last year, even though pro-rated, his numbers actually come out a little lower than the previous season - and defensively, he was reliable, and even at times, nasty. When the Jets went on their late season win streak, Bogosian was at the top of his game. Coincidence, or a case of a really easy schedule?

Perhaps the thing that makes Bogosian's year most valuable to the Jets is the fact that he yet again missed significant time to injury, which may help to drive his cost down a little bit in his contract talks.

When it's all said and done Bogosian is steady and forceful presence on the blueline, and when he's on his game, and healthy, he's the Jets best defenceman.

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

For best defenseman I chose Zach Bogosian.  Bogosian did a little bit of everything for the Jets this year, which I feel really separated him from any other player on the blue line.  Along with Hainsey, he was constantly matched up against the oppositions top line, yet didn't have the same defensive mistakes as Byfuglien, Clitsome, or many others.  He contributed offensively with 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points, which tied him with Jokinen for 10th on the team.  He hit, fought when he felt it was needed, and provided a dimension that was dearly missed when he was out for injury.  Hopefully the concussion he suffered at the end of the year turns out as nothing major, as number 44 was the Jets best defenseman.

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

Either we all know what we're talking about, or writing for Jets Nation is a small cult. I agree - Bogo ftw. I happened to write the nomination paragraph on him, so forgive me for repeating myself a bit. Bogosian played the toughest competition alongside his regular partner (Hainsey), but chipped in more offensively - taking 2nd in goals and shots on goal among defencemen despite playing only 33 games. Given his tough assignment and 45% zone starts (2nd toughest behind Hainsey), his -5 RelCorsi is understandable. As a two-way, rugged defenceman with a tough assignment, it can be hard to quantify his performance. Still, if we aggregate all the way up to wins, the Jets with Bogosian were 18-13-2 this season, while the Jets without him managed to go just 6-8-1. If I were on television, I'd shout that he was a monster until I ruined Mike Commodore's evening.

Jets Nation at large

Consensus reigns, as you chose Bogosian with 64% of your vote. Enstrom (despite playing just 22 games) took second with 27%. Maybe we've explained the Jets' season as easily as that - Bogosian was our best defenceman and missed 15 games. Enstrom was the second best and was out more than half the year. A silver lining to look forward to in 2013/14?

 Your 2013 Best Defenceman, Zach Bogosian:

 *****

Sign up for StreakCred - the new playoff pool game from the Nation Network. For only $20 you can win solid prizes and a portion of the proceeds go to supporting the MS Bike Tour and the Edmonton Down Syndrome Society. Never too late to sign up here. 

We nominated, you voted, and the results are in. All this week we'll be revealing your reader picks with our writers' perspectives for the Jets Nation 2013 Year-End Awards. From the obvious (Claude Noel for Best Hockey Dad) to the obscene ([redacted]), the Nation has spoken on who gets the virtual hardware. Today, we begin with the Jets' Best Forward.

Best Forward

Brett Martin (@brettmartinlive)

Best Forward? It's a no-brainer for me, which is good, because thinking can become tiresome at times. My choice is Andrew Ladd by a country mile, or, rural kilometre for you patriotic readers. 

Andrew Ladd displayed every quality you'd want from a Captain. He was a presence every night - one of the few Jets you could rely on showing up to each game. He's matured to become the kind of player that can and will drag his teammates by the scruff of their neck and take their games to the next level. Blake Wheeler didn't quite mesh with Evander Kane, but when he played with Ladd, they had more chemistry than a meth lab. The not-so-secret ingredient to the top lines success was always the Captain.

Oh, and he was the leading scorer, too. Prior to this year, Ladd had been the kind of player that you could rely on to play 60 minutes of hard hockey all over the ice, while chipping in on the score sheet at a relatively modest pace. But this year, he exploded offensively, which was a wonderful development. With the way he plays, I don't think we'll see too much, if any, regression of his point totals in the years to come.

Best of all? On garbage day, he called not making the playoffs "a failure". That's winner talk, right there. I love this guy. I don't think anybody has higher expectations for the Jets than Ladd does, which is fortunate for all of us. 

He's the Jets' best forward, and we're lucky to have a guy who'll put his all into bringing his 3rd Cup, and our 1st, to Winnipeg in the not so distant future.

Travis Hrubeniuk (@thrubeniuk)

For the top forward category I voted for Andrew Ladd.  It really was no contest in my opinion.  He was a leader of the team both statistically and emotionally all season long, leading the team in points, assists, plus/minus, relative corsi (excluding Peluso’s small sample size) and was second in goals - all while facing the opposing team’s top line night in and night out.  He’s been named an assistant captain for Team Canada at the upcoming World Championship and was a leader all year for the Jets.  No question, it was Andrew Ladd.

Kevin McCartney (@kevinmccart)

Uhhh...

YOU! The reader! (@ the lake, probably)

You get the final say despite our consensus! 

And you say... (drum roll...) Andrew Ladd! with a whopping 89% of your vote.

Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane tied for second, and Bryan Little got zero love from you folks. I trust the Nation has done Jets management a great service in really sticking it to him in the awards voting after a contract year. But I have to admit, it will be hard to look into his innocent blue eyes next year (pictured left). 

Check back all week for your other award winners! Best Defenceman, Unsung Hero, Best Young Player outside the NHL, MVP, and the Goat still to come.

*****

Sign up for StreakCred - the new playoff pool game from the Nation Network. For only $20 you can win solid prizes and a portion of the proceeds go to supporting the MS Bike Tour and the Edmonton Down Syndrome Society. Never to late to sign up here!