Mitch Kasprick is the “Motown Curmudgeon” aka “Motown Mitch”
Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Questions, from this past week in hockey –
Just so there’s no confusion when I’m spewing my bias, I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg Ice, and all Team Canada Hockey teams.
I am NOT a fan of Gary Bettman or as I call him, Count Chocula. I am a big believer in the 7Ps. You’ve been warned.
1. Jets: I hope Paul Maurice applies for his old job just so I can laugh my ass off at all his haters losing their shit. Yes, I have a twisted sense of humour but that’s why they call me a curmudgeon.
2. Jets: Next, I hope the Jets interview Randy Carlyle for the same reason as above although there is a good chance this could actually happen. Another option out there is Rick Tocchet but he has Philadelphia Flyers written all over him.
3. Jets: On a serious note, a real legitimate candidate became available today when the New York Islanders fired Dauphin, MB native, Barry Trotz. Jets fans have thought he would be the perfect coach for this team and he is now available. GET IT DONE CHEVY.
#Isles News: New York Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello announced today that Barry Trotz has been relieved of his duties as Head Coach.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) May 9, 2022
It has been reported that Barry Trotz might be interested in the management side of the game and that makes me wonder if Chevy has the stones to hire his potential replacement? Did Barry Trotz just fall into our laps or as Jets fans, are we just dreaming? AGAIN.
4. WHT: My mother always said, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Now I will confess I didn’t do a very good job of doing this but I expect more from my readers so keep that in mind when you vote LOL.
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5. Jets: Watching the level of intensity early on in the playoffs makes me wonder how the Jets would have faired? They do have some guys that will battle but I have a feeling our smaller defencemen would get steamrolled.
6. NHL: My weekly analysis (bitching) about NHL officiating.
There was no penalty called on this play but the NHL’s DOPS fined Jared Spurgeon basically the equivalent of his lunch money.
look at this TRASH pic.twitter.com/LB6qjXlMBi
— Tony X (@soIoucity) May 3, 2022
7. Jets: I’m perfectly fine with Logan Stanley in the Jets’ bottom pairing but in saying that I’m also ok with him competing for playing time with the other bottom-end guys. I like having some size on the back-end and especially when the Jets are against teams that play heavier games. After a breakout season, while the Jets were playing in the Canadian Division last year, big Stan has taken a small step backwards this season. Stanley was decent but he was exposed at times in tougher match-ups. Stanley turns 24 later this month and is still inexperienced by NHL standards with only 95 games under his belt. He has lots of time for improvement BUT in my opinion, he needs to get meaner and play tougher if he wants to be a full-time player. If you’re going to be 6’7 you might as well be a scary 6’7.
8 ICE: The Winnipeg ICE made short work of the Prince Albert Raiders, eliminating them in 5 games and are now playing Moose Jaw in the 2nd round. The ICE are off to a good start in round 2 with back-to-back wins on home ice over Moose Jaw.
|
Game |
Visitor |
Home |
Date |
Time |
|
|
1 |
Moose Jaw 1 |
@ |
Winnipeg 6 |
Friday, May 6 |
7:00 |
|
2 |
Moose Jaw 0 |
@ |
Winnipeg 7 |
Saturday, May 7 |
7:00 |
|
3 |
Winnipeg |
@ |
Moose Jaw |
Tuesday, May 10 |
7:00 |
|
4 |
Winnipeg |
@ |
Moose Jaw |
Wednesday, May 11 |
7:00 |
|
5 * |
Moose Jaw |
@ |
Winnipeg |
Friday, May 13 |
7:00 |
|
6 * |
Winnipeg |
@ |
Moose Jaw |
Sunday, May 15 |
4:00 |
|
7 * |
Moose Jaw |
@ |
Winnipeg |
Tuesday, May 17 |
7:00 |
* If necessary
FYI: Clubs advancing to the second round and Conference Championships will be re-seeded each round going forward based on regular-season points. The two Conference Champions will advance to the WHL Championship Series, with the team possessing the most regular-season points getting home-ice advantage
9. Moose: The Manitoba Moose lost two close games in Milwaukee and are down 2-0 in their best of five first-round series. They now head home for the final 3 games (if necessary) and are facing elimination in game 3. I think the boys can get this done at home.
10. Jets: I am going to use the rest of my thoughts in this piece on the minute and a half from the video of ex-Rangers’ defenceman, Tom Laidlaw’s podcast with guests Ron Greschner and most importantly Winnipegger and current Winnipeg ICE Head Coach, James Patrick.
This 1 1/2 minute exchange addresses what has been speculated in Jetsville for quite some time. James Patrick has no reason to bullshit, he’s not censored by TNSE. These might be the most damning statements I’ve heard that are credible and not rumours or speculation.
Silly people. You can’t just delete stuff on the internet and pretend it never happened. pic.twitter.com/HLtcxrzFnX
— Faith (@RyanGJ8) May 10, 2022
11. Jets: Acquiring a 4th line plug like Matt Hendricks for a second tour of duty at the 2019 trade deadline now makes a bit more sense. He was brought in to try and repair a fractured dressing room. He was always said to be a good “in the room” guy but he only played in 4 games so he obviously wasn’t brought in for his hockey prowess. To be fair I believe he was also injured but that’s a moot point.
12. Jets: We’ve all heard the rumours about Blake Wheeler being very hard on Patrick Laine and the captain all but admitted that after the fact. Was this a reason for the Laine trade? I just think of all those cross-ice saucer passes Wheeler sent Laine’s way for his brilliant one-timers. Why couldn’t these guys make it work?
13. Jets: Now, the Dustin Byfuglien early retirement makes a little more sense as well. It wasn’t just ruffled feathers, it was a ruffled room. I never thought trade deadline acquisition Kevin Hayes (UFA) was going to sign here and now we know why.
14. Jets: My weekly question for Kevin Cheveldayoff or Mark Chipman.
This is for owner Mark Chipman. How the hell could you give Kevin Cheveldayoff a 3-year extension knowing what you know about how he handled Paul Maurice and the culture/divided dressing he created. Maurice handed the keys to the dressing room to his captain and now a lot of the rumours make sense. The truth is Chevy knew about it, you knew about it, and yet neither one of you did SFA to try and fix it.
15. Jets: Now that the season is over, what would you like to see TNSE do with the Winnipeg Jets?
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GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has been extended for THREE more seasons as the Winnipeg Jets General Manager so voting for him to be replaced is still on the table but it’s not happening.
I’m guessing some votes might change now after listening to a couple of the comments from James Patrick in the above clip from Tom Laidlaw’s podcast.
16. Jets: James Patrick sort of gave ex-Moose coach Alain Vigneault a bit of an inadvertent endorsement as a candidate for Winnipeg Jets next head coach. Now, this would make sense based on Mark Chipman’s and TNSE’s penchant for hiring people they know.
While I don’t dislike Chevy to any great extent, I wasn’t thrilled with his extension for another three years. I’d have given him another year to fix this mess, but now with three years added to his contract, I fear he might become complacent and not be as aggressive as I think he should be. Having said that, I’m not privy to what goes on behind closed doors, and a G.M. needs to be clandestine to an extent.
My son and grandson went to see the Ice play Moose Jaw in that 7-0 romp. My grandson said Moose Jaw players hit the glass more than the net in warm ups.
With Trotz being fired by New York, its like manna from heaven for the Jets. I trust his ability as a coach to act like a coach, and not give free reign to the dressing room and all the drama. Some of our players need to get over themselves and realize that its a privilege to play in the NHL.
Hi Les … thanks for visiting …. I can’t believe ownership and management let it get this far … I don’t thing any coach can repair the dressing room but Chevy can … now we wait and see.
Yes, I’d be happy if everybody started fresh and made up but I have my doubts. We’ll see soon enough.