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: The Winnipeg Jets played three games this past week going 1-2-0 giving them a record of 35-30-11. They are 10 points out of a playoff position with six games left and are DONE LIKE DINNER.
This is embarrassing and unacceptable for a team that was considered a contender by almost every media outlet in Canada.
There is a lot more than one thing that needs to be addressed and there are tons of blame to go around from ownership, management, coaches, and right down to the players.
It is going to be a very critical and interesting off-season for this franchise.
2. Jets: Should the Winnipeg Jets be concerned that Cole Perfetti took what looked like a routine/harmless body check and we haven’t seen him for TWO MONTHS?
3. Jets: The early reviews for Morgan Barron and two second-round picks for pending UFA Andrew Copp are pretty good and I bet the Rangers are very happy with Copp’s play, he’s been very good.
4. Jets: On a personal note, I made a couple of pre-season future bets that Patrik Laine would score OVER 19.5 goals this season and that was done over a month ago BUT the other bet was that Nik Ehlers would score OVER 28.5 goals. This bet looked like it was dead in the water with Ehlers being injured a couple of times and missing TWENTY games but after a terrific hot streak he now has 26 goals and with six games remaining he only needs three more to hit 29. I may have just jinxed him but I don’t care, I have something to help keep my interest in the last six Jets games.
5. Whiteout: I would love to see the Manitoba Moose and the Winnipeg Ice have the WHITEOUT at their home playoff games. It is a Winnipeg tradition not just a Jets tradition.
6. NHL: My weekly analysis (bitching) about NHL officiating.
Saturday night in Tampa:
In the 3rd period, Lightning winger and super pest Corey Perry grabs Josh Morrissey’s stick from him and as Morrissey tries to wrestle it back the two of them get tangled up with Perry on the ice refusing to let go of the stick and Josh gets frustrated trying to get it back. The officials gave Josh Morrissey a 2-minute roughing penalty and Corey Perry gets off scot-free. It doesn’t take much imagination to see what’s going on and even if none of the men in stripes didn’t see what happened (which I doubt), Perry is right there with the evidence in his hands.
7. Jets: Morgan Barron sure looked like he was having fun playing with Paul Stastny and Nik Ehlers on Monday night where he sniped a nice goal and made a beauty play to set up Paul Stastny for a goal.
8 Jets: Nik Ehlers is playing at an unbelievable elite level right now and makes everybody he plays with better. Look no further than Paul Stastny.
9. Jets: 95 point update: It’s over with six games left. We knew it was a tall order and especially with the way this team had been playing. Oh well.
10. Ice: The Winnipeg ICE went 2-0 this past week and they have finished the season with an impressive 53-10-3-2 record on the season and with their 111 points won the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as 2021-22 WHL Regular Season Champions. The Winnipeg ICE have finished #2 in the CHL rankings.
Kia CHL Top-10 Rankings – Week 24
as of April 13
1. Hamilton Bulldogs
2. Winnipeg ICE
3. Edmonton Oil Kings
4. Windsor Spitfires
5. Everett Silvertips
6. Quebec Remparts
7. Charlottetown Islanders
8. North Bay Battalion
9. Saint John Sea Dogs
10. Kamloops Blazers
11. Moose: The Manitoba Moose split their two games with Rockford this past week and now have a record of 38-22-5-2 with a .619 winning percentage. The Moose have 5 games left in the regular season and then it’s time for some playoff hockey.
Special Teams:
- PP: 19.50 down from 19.70 last week.
- PK: 82.40% up from 82.30 last week.
12. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets have 6 games left in the season and according to moneypuck.com their chances of making the playoffs sit at 0.0% as of Sunday night. It has been a disappointing season and what makes it even worse this team has spent right to the salary cap and failed.
Owner, Mark Chipman and his group have some hard decisions to make this off-season and the sooner the better with the draft and free agency only a couple of months away. This franchise needs new leadership right from the top to the bottom before decisions are even made on the players.
Updated game by game odds:
Monday … after a 4-2 win at Montreal … 0.5%
Tuesday … no game … 0.4%
Wednesday … no game … 0.5%
Thursday … no game … 0.3%
Friday … after a 6-1 loss at Florida … 0.1%
Saturday … after a 7-4 loss at Tampa … 0.0%
Sunday … no game … 0.%
13. Jets: It seems like every intangible that can’t be measured by analytics is where the Jets are huge failures. Compete, toughness, leadership, shall I go on?
14. Jets: My weekly question for Kevin Cheveldayoff and/or Dave Lowry.
Chevy, will you be resigning at the end of this year?
15. Jets: Now that the season is over, what would you like to see TNSE do with the Winnipeg Jets?
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16. Jets: The Good, Better, Best this past week.
- Good: Kyle Connor
- Better: Josh Morrissey
- Best: Nikolaj Ehlers
What bugs me are many comment sites in different venues about the Jets, regarding Helly’s play, and he should be traded. I still think he’s an elite goalie, and a little support from the five guys playing in front of him would help. What baffles me is the coaching staff giving him the nod night after night after night…Comrie has been a pleasant surprise and has proven to be capable as a backup. Does Helly have a clause in his contract that dictates to the coaching staff when and how many games he starts? The coaching philosophy seems to defy logic on many fronts, but the goaltending issues have been prevalent for months now. The season of frustration has finally got to me and I tend to rant about anything and everything I perceive is wrong with the inconsistent play we’ve been subjected to. Please pardon my blathering while I try to explain to my wife why I yell at the t.v. so much.
Go ahead and vent …. I’ll join you, I’m so frustrated.
THE JETS ARE IN SERIOUS NEED OF A FULL TRANSFUSION……
At 8 points out of even tying for a wild card spot, the Jets are done. I think it’s time for a clean sweep of all the coaching staff. I’m not saying fhey are bad, I’m saying the message isn’t getting through. We need a new game plan and the same old same old “plan” is stale and needs a new philosophy since the current one has not been working for years. The roster has also been like a revolving door since the start of the season with no team identity or consistency being developed. Let’s get a coaching shakeup done and not just the head coach and I think Chevy also needs a serious evaluation since he’s been in his so called building plan for a decade now and how has that worked out? Maybe it’s time to send Chevy to the Levy and try a new style and new plan. I’m all for drafting and development but it seems like as soon as we draft and/or develop new players, Chevy sends them packing. Maybe it’s time Chevy gets driven to the Levy. Is he a bad GM? Probably no worse than many in the NHL but maybe it’s time for a new front office as well.
Hellebuyck has been far from steller this season and the Jets have been over working him like a plough horse game after game and being put away wet thinking that he would lead them to the promised playoff land. He’s probably trying too hard with the weight of thinking he can save the season. Comrie has been riding the pine most of the year while posting a better record. Helle has developed a tendency to immediately flop onto his knees or sprawls down at the first sight of a shot being directed at him leaving little hope of any lateral movement. There are several bright stars however in Connor, Ehlers, Morrissey and Shief is kind of back to form and others and especially Dubois who has proven himself to be an excellent two way player and a much better fit than Laine was. Sadly, the Jets have not got the necessary grinders and tenacity to last even if they would have made the playoffs. But it happens, look and the Black Hawks and the Habernacs this season who were once the darlings of the league.
The bookies have written the Jets off some time ago.
Hey Hart … thanks for reading and visiting … I completely agree … I know the game is evolving BUT one thing is still a constant ….. DEFENCE WINS ….. this team thinks it can outscore their problems and they can’t … special teams are a mess … we aren’t mean enough … and our man on man hybrid defensive system is to complicated and breaks down too easily … we were out of the race weeks ago.
NOTHING BUT COMPLETE CHANGES IN OUR GM AND COACHES CAN SAVE THIS TEAM.
Now we will be wasting 30-40 games next season for the new regime to evaluate what they have and unfortunately it MIGHT be another lost season. OUCH