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 and lost two of them, so it looks like the jig is up.
The Jets’ record currently sits at 33-27-10 and they are 5 points behind Dallas and 6 points behind Nashville.
2. Jets: The WHT decision desk is calling it. The Winnipeg Jets are “done like dinner”.
3. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets finally won three games in a row after their shootout victory in Buffalo but lost the next two and even though their record has been very good the past few weeks they haven’t been able to string together enough consecutive wins to catch the final wildcard positions.
4. NHL: Is it just me or does the World Cup Of Hockey really pale in comparison to Olympic Hockey with NHL players in it? For me it does and I think it’s because Olympic Hockey is played during hockey season and the World Cup Of Hockey is played during football season.
5. Jets: I’m not sure if interim head coach Dave Lowry is the guy for the head man’s job but one thing I do like that he does is he has no problem mixing the forward lines as he sees fit.
6. NHL: My weekly analysis (bitching) about NHL officiating.
I’ve seen some games that have been horribly officiated this season but the game in Toronto on Thursday night made my blood curdle. The inconsistency and one-sidedness of this game was an embarrassment to the league.
7. Jets: I find it mind-boggling how often our defencemen turn the puck over and the biggest offender in my eyes this season has been Neal Pionk. The Jets need to make room on this roster for youngsters Dylan Samberg and Ville Heinola and their entry-level contracts next season and in my opinion, two of Nate Schmidt, Dylan DeMelo, or Neal Pionk need to be moved out.
8. Jets: The Jets’ special teams have been a problem for quite some time and even though they have had stretches of positive results (especially the PK) they have been a tremendous disappointment when it really counted. Look no further than this past week. I think it’s time to move on from Jamie Kompon and especially Charlie Huddy. The PP went 1 for 9 and the PK gave up 4 goals on 9 chances. BRUTAL.
9. Jets: Is it just me or does it seem that the Jets have been victimized by a lot of goals that go in off our defencemen that give Helle zero chance to make the save. A perfect example was Sunday versus LA where the winning goal was kicked in by Josh Morrissey.
10 Jets: Connor Hellebuyck is in a stretch where he is playing his best hockey and I feel fairly safe saying that if this Helle showed up a couple of months earlier the Jets wouldn’t be scraping for a wildcard spot. I’m not saying Helle has been awful but he certainly hasn’t been great either. I’ve already documented my theory on Helle’s struggles and I said I had no doubt he’d rebound.
11. Jets: 95 point update: I figured the Jets needed approx 52 points in their final 40 games to have a shot at a wildcard spot. As of today they have earned 33 points in 28 games and are well off the pace for 52 points and although they aren’t mathematically eliminated it would take a miracle to make the playoffs. The Jets need approximately 19-21 points in their remaining 12 games.
12. Ice: The Winnipeg ICE went 2-1 this past week and have improved their overall record to 49-10-3-2 on the season and have all but clinched the top spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Winnipeg ICE are still the #1 ranking in the CHL.
Kia CHL Top-10 Rankings – Week 22
as of Mar. 30
1. Winnipeg ICE
2. Hamilton Bulldogs
3. Edmonton Oil Kings
4. Everett Silvertips
5. Charlottetown Islanders
6. Sherbrooke Phoenix
7. Kamloops Blazers
8. Quebec Remparts
9. Windsor Spitfires
10. North Bay Battalion
13. Moose: The Manitoba Moose got back to their winning ways and went 3-1 last week improving their record to 36-20-4-2 with a .629 winning percentage. The top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs based on winning percentage and the Moose currently sit in second place in the AHL’s Central Division.
Special Teams:
- PP: 19.60 up from 18.80 last week.
- PK: 82.40% up from 81.60 last week.
14. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets have 12 games left in the season and according to moneypuck.com their chances of making the playoffs sit at 0.0 % as of Sunday night. Of course, this number is very fluid and it changes with each win or loss by the Jets and the teams they are chasing. It is fun to watch.
Updated game by game odds:
Monday … no game … 4.4%
Tuesday … no game … 3.9%
Wednesday … after 3-2 win at Buffalo … 6.7%
Thursday … after 7-3 loss at Toronto … 4.1%
Friday … no game … 4.0%
Saturday … after 3-2 loss vs Los Angeles … 1.0%
Sunday … no game … 1.1%
15. Jets: My weekly question for Kevin Cheveldayoff and/or Dave Lowry.
Have you seen enough of these coaches behind the bench to realize that this hasn’t worked for a long time and desperately needs to be changed?
16. Jets: The Good, Better, Best this past week.
- Good: I like that Ville Heinola will shoot on the PP, unlike Josh. I wouldn’t mind seeing Ville getting a turn running the #1 PP unit.
- Better: Mason Appleton scoring his first goal since returning to the Jets.
- Best: The Jets have reversed their luck in extra time by gaining those elusive extra points in their last 4 opportunities albeit too little, too late.
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Maybe giving Pionk that extension and Stanley a regular roster spot based on a season of playing only 6 teams in the worst division last year wasn’t such a great idea.
Until TSNE stops thinking they are the smartest guys in the room this is what we can keep expecting.
Thanks for visiting Dave ….. I would love to be a fly on the wall during some of their discussions.