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 went 1-3-0 last week and as bad as it was and it was getting really ugly, the Jets adverted a complete disaster with a much-needed 4-2 in Calgary on Saturday night.  Their record now sits at 10-7-4 on the season.  The Jets now have 4 in a row at home and need to get back on track.   

2. Jets:  The highlight from last week for me was when PLD scored late versus Minny and broke up Cam Talbot’s shutout.  I got one point in my fantasy league and the team right behind me lost his shutout. That was a 3 point swing.  Talk about small victories.  

3. Jets:  When people ask me why Paul Maurice hasn’t been fired, I always joke he is a lifer and will never be fired unless he has completely lost the room or the team hits rock bottom.  He may not have lost the room yet but I would consider Friday afternoon’s loss in St. Paul to be pretty rock bottom.    

4.  Jets:  I hate to admit this because he was once one of my favourite players buy Josh Morrissey is driving me up the wall.  He is now officially my new whipping boy.  He is so overrated it’s sickening.  The other day Craig Button was telling us how great Josh was and he should be on Canada’s Olympic hockey team’s radar.  Holy shit, half the time you need radar to find him after he pinches and gives up another 2 on 1.  Hell, in the Pittsburgh game last Monday he gave up a 2 on 1 in the first 20 seconds of the game AND it was Sidney Crosby to boot.  I’m so down on him right now I cringe every time he’s on the ice.  If you think I’m just being an a-hole, just focus on him for a game or two.  He has some good moments but for the most part, when he doesn’t have the puck he looks lost.

5. Jets:  It looks like Paul Maurice finally has his excuse to keep the Kyle Connor/Mark Scheifele/Blake Wheeler line for good now since they helped end the losing streak when reunited vs the Flames and KC potted a couple of goals.  To be honest, I’m kind of surprised it took this long.       

6. Jets:  Regulars that visit here know how much I hate the NHL’s officiating and on Wednesday I thought I had seen it all when after a scrum seemed to be defused, Blue Jacket’s forward Max Domi wasn’t quite finished with Jets’ Evgeny Svechnikov and started swinging while the linesman ( CJ Murray or Jessee Marquis), not sure which one decided to put Svech in a bear hug while Domi was feeding him right hands. 

Columbus’ Max Domi has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Unsportsmanlike Conduct during last night’s game with the Winnipeg Jets.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 25, 2021

The NHL DPS fined Max Domi which is fine but I’m not even sure it was all his fault.  In my opinion, the league should also be looking at the linesmen involved in that skirmish. 

Another example was on Sunday in Boston when superpest Brad Marchand slew-footed Vancouver’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson,  It was pretty bad and neither referee thought to call a penalty.  I just shook my head and wondered why I was surprised?

UPDATE:

Boston’s Brad Marchand has been suspended for three games for Slew-footing Vancouver’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson. https://t.co/SpI0MVHulW

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 29, 2021

How do 4 sets of eyes miss a penalty that requires a 3-game suspension?  It is time the referees are outed publicly and repremanded.

7. Jets:  How long before we see Riley Nash on the waiver wire?  He’s hasn’t worked out as planned and he’s now being healthy scratched.  I think he would more than likely get claimed and a spot will open up for David Gustafsson.  If the Jets are going to do it, do it now before the Christmas roster freeze.      

8. Jets:  Saturday night in Calgary was a nostalgic night for quite a few Jets fans.  Connor, Scheif, and the captain were back together.  The Jets were outplayed for most of the game.  The Jets’ defensive coverage looked like Swiss cheese.  After giving up a couple of early goals, Helle stood on his head and shut the door allowing his team to come back and steal a win.

All kidding aside, this game was a microcosm of the last 3-4 years.  The names are different but the play looked very familiar.  This hybrid man-on-man system just doesn’t work.  It has too many holes in it and gives up too many grade-A chances.  It’s time to change the system or change to coaches.  I always thought it was guys like Forbort, Beaulieu, Kulikov and Bitetto who were the problem but we have a much better defensive corp and it’s the same old, same old while Forfort and Kulikov are playing just fine with their new teams.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out and although I think I’m pretty smart, my wife will tell you I’m no genius. 

9. Jets:  I’m finally putting the Eric Comrie poll to bed.  After a very slow start trying to win the fans over, Comrie has reversed some of the doubt BUT not all of it.  His numbers are actually pretty good and I think he has played very well overall.  I’m still not a fan of smallish goalies and he still scares me a bit every start but that’s me.