Mitch Kasprick is the “Motown Curmudgeon” aka “Motown Mitch”
Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Questions, from this past week in sports –
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 Blue Bombers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Winnipeg Goldeyes, Toronto Raptors, all curlers from Manitoba, and all Canadian athletes competing on the international stage.
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: The Winnipeg Jets had a tough week where a lot of their weaknesses were exposed in a couple of loses but they rebounded with a win on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo. It was a huge win because there were a lot of Jets fans starting to climb out on the ledge. The Jets four-point lead on the Preds is now two points but they still have two games in hand. Their record is still impressive at 35-18-3.
2. Moose: The Manitoba Moose won two of three games this week and started off their six-game homestand with back-to-back wins over the Texas Stars. The Moose are still at the bottom of the AHL’s Central Division with a record of 22-21-3-2 and a winning percentage of .510.
3. Jets: I don’t like the Jets revamped first unit powerplay. Put Scheif back in the middle and Laine back on his off-wing.
4. Jets: After losing their last home game in OT to San Jose and then dropping back-to-back 5-2 loses in the first two games of their three-game road trip there was a lot of angst in Jetsville and I reminded some of my friends on Twitter that it could be worse, we could be the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
5. Jets: I’m really liking what I’ve seen so far this season from Mason Appleton. He is an unexpected surprise.
6. Jets: Don’t hate Brendan Lemieux because he has 9 goals and lots of them are at garbage time. I think it is hilarious. Every time he scores I say that he has just bought himself five more games.
7. Jets: Further to #3. Why would you move Patrik Laine out of his office just when Dustin Byfuglien is returning from his injury? C’mon Pomo!
8. Raptors: Raptors fans should be pretty happy with their latest toy. GM Masai Ujiri made an “all-in” type of deal acquiring Marc Gasol just before the end of the NBA trade deadline. It is obvious the Raptors are going for it in a tough Eastern Conference.
9. NHL Trade Rumours: The Mark Stone to Winnipeg trade rumours are really ramping up but I can’t help wonder if it’s more wishful thinking than actual fact?
NHL Trade Deadline: Feb. 25 at 2 pm local time.
10. Jets: Bryan Little is in a nice little stretch of 16 points in his last 16 games.
11. NHL: Kudos to everyone involved in making Scotia Bank Hockey Day in Canada an incredibly wonderful day. Ron MacLean, as always does a wonderful job hosting the show. I really enjoyed the whole day. Once again, well done.
12: WHT Podcast: Podcast 085 can be found here >>> 085
13: Jets: Question for Kevin Cheveldayoff: If you traded for hometown boy Mark Stone would you treat him as a rental OR try to sign him long-term?
14: AAF: I watched the Alliance of American Football league’s first football game on CBS Saturday night and it was decent upon first look. It’s hard to get too involved when you don’t have a rooting interest yet and you don’t know the players. I will definitely check it out again. It was nice to see ex-Blue Bomber head coach, Mike Riley patrolling the sideline for The San Antonio Commanders.
15: NHL: Great news from Toronto. Auston Matthews has signed a five-year contract extension and now we only have to worry about the daily Mitch Marner contract negotiation updates.
16: Random Thought: I need me some Qdobas.
17: Jets: To the surprise of no one in Winnipeg it is being reported that the two most common “asks” in trade talks with the Winnipeg Jets are Jack Roslovic and Sami Niku. I don’t think, no actually I wouldn’t trade either for a rental at the deadline.
18: Goaltending:
- Conner Hellebuyck: 25-15-2 … 2.86 GAA … .912 SV%
- Laurent Brossoit: 10-3-1 … 2.30 GAA … .934 SV%
19: Special Teams: Rule of thumb. Have the two red numbers total at least 100% when added. (as your minimum)
- PP: 4th at 25.90% down from 2nd at 27.60% last week.
- PK: 14th at 80.50% down from 11th at 81.00% last week.
20: Jets: I got so tired of waiting for Nikolaj Ehlers to return to the Jets lineup that I traded him in one of my fantasy leagues and now I am very sad. What have I done?
If you have any questions for Darryl or myself (Mitch) please give us a shout. You can use the comment section or use the #ASKWHTPOD hashtag on Twitter.
If you like our new format, let us know in the comment section or hit me on twitter at WpgSportsTalk or WpgHockTalk
If you are interested in writing for Winnipeg Sports Talk or if you know somebody interested, please contact us at:
We are looking for writers to cover the Winnipeg Jets, Manitoba Moose, Manitoba Bisons, Winnipeg AAA, MJHL, MMJHL, KIJHL, and Winnipeg High School or any sports team in town.
If you have any thoughts on any of these comments or questions, please let me know. We would love to hear your opinions.
Thanks, Mitch
Loading ...