Northern Touch: Regression to the Baseline
7 years ago
It is easily described as their worst stretch of hockey so far this season. But should we really be surprised? 21 games into the Winnipeg Jets’ NHL calendar they sit tied for fourth place in the Central at 9-10-2, but have hit a road-trip snag while dropping three straight in convincing fashion in Philly, Boston, and Carolina.
The Jets never seem to play the Flyers well. Boston employs one of the best netminders in the world right now — even though 12 total shots on goal won’t cut it against a team with even the worst of goaltending. And Carolina is heating up right now, winners of four-straight, including wins over Washington, Montreal, and San Jose.
Sure, the Jets are the first team to 21 games played this season. But I don’t buy too much into their hectic schedule to start the season as a valid excuse for their poor play as of late. Maybe it has hit these younger, less-experienced players particularly hard? Absolutely. But every team will ride the rough schedule wave at one point of the season or another. All 30 teams have to play 82 by April 9. The Jets started their year on Day 2 of the NHL regular season, and they play their 82nd on April 8. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I see this recent slide more as a regression to the baseline than anything. As I wrote earlier this month, the Jets will be up and down all year. We’re just seeing it all emphasized by an injury-riddled lineup.
Healthy or not, I’m still firmly in the school of thought that this season is being treated by head coach Paul Maurice and the entire Winnipeg Jets organization as a learning year. Fans won’t want to hear that — I get it. But with a new captain in 30-year-old Blake Wheeler, an average player age of 25.484 years, and a goaltending tandem with a combined starting experience entering the season of 71 NHL games — including Connor Hellebuyck’s 26 total starts entering this season as he has presumedly taken the reigns as the No. 1 in Winnipeg — should expectations really be that high? I think having the NHL’s early-season leading scorer in Mark Scheifele, and leading goal-getter in rookie Patrik Laine has skewed expectations and perspective for some.
What lies ahead for the Jets this week are three games against Central Division opponents. A return to better health is assumedly on the horizon. How the Jets react with more veteran presence in the lineup will be telling as to how they actually rebound through the month of December. Or will the American Thanksgiving playoff-line scenario be telling for the Jets come Turkey Day on November 24?
- It took Dustin Byfuglien 19 games to notch his first goal of the season — well off his pace of nearly 20 goals in each of his last three seasons. Did an injury have something to do with it? One thing is for sure. It definitely did not affect his ice-time. What a workhorse. Can the third-oldest Jet keep it up?
- Drew Stafford has been on the road trip and skating with the team, and is set to return any day now. Where does he fit into the lineup? Paul Maurice broke up the line of Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp, and Brandon Tanev to start the game in Carolina, so it’s clear to me that anything goes. Does Alexander Burmistrov finally come out, allowing Andrew Copp to move back to centre the fourth line? I don’t think Paul Maurice would break too many fans’ hearts with that particular move.
- Now that we’ve had some time to get a good look at some of the young depth the Jets have in the system, this also raises a hypothetical — if the Jets were 100 per cent healthy, who would you like to see stay with the big club? Marco Dano, Andrew Copp, Nic Petan, and Quinton Howden have all been recalled from the Manitoba Moose over the last three and a half weeks. I have an inkling one or two may stick and enjoy that larger paycheque.
- The TSN Hockey panel of Pierre LeBrun, Craig Button and Frank Seravalli foresee the Jets as the only Canadian team to use the 8-skater-1-goalie protection guideline (as opposed to seven forwards, three defencemen, one goalie as the lone other option). I get that new Vegas GM George McPhee is the man who found Mathieu Perreault and used the Washington Capitals’ 177th overall selection in the 2006 NHL Draft to get him, but after signing a four-year deal with the Jets I can see clearly what GM Kevin Cheveldayoff thinks of his versatile and point-producing centre/winger. Still seven months away, and while a trade or two can drastically change how things shake out, the Jets will very likely lose a quality player. I just don’t think they’ll expose Mathieu Perreault. They like him too much.
- A scary and sobering moment occurred Saturday night as the Manitoba Moose were in Arizona to face the Tucson Roadrunners. Tuscon captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice and appeared to convulse moments before the game was scheduled to start and was taken to hospital. Based on comments by Moose players upon returning to Winnipeg Monday, the incident severely shook both clubs. Saturday’s game has been postponed, as well as Tucson’s scheduled games for Tuesday and Wednesday this week. As of Monday, the 26-year-old from Trail, British Columbia was in stable but critical condition at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson. TSN’s Bob McKenzie has an excellent piece on the situation surrounding the incident.
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