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.
2021 MEN’S WORLD HOCKEY CHAMPIONS
CONGRATS to Cole Perfetti on a winning a Gold Medal with Team Canada.
Perfetti had a breakout season in the AHL and also received a Silver Medal at the World Juniors.
1. Jets: They say you’re not in trouble in a playoff series until you lose two home games. Well the Winnipeg Jets are officially in trouble. To make matters worse they were outmuscled and outworked in game three and are now on the brink of elimination. I can’t believe this team completely collapsed just because they’re missing Mark Scheifele and Dylan DeMelo. This team obviously has deeper issues starting with the GM, the coaching, and the players but we’ll look at that in the future.
I had no illusions or delusions about this Winnipeg Jets team winning the Stanley Cup this season, they are a very flawed team but man I really want to win the Scotia North Division and see that banner hanging in the home barn.
The first round sweep of Edmonton will get me through the off-season though.
UPDATE:
The Winnipeg Jets went down in game 4 with barely a whimper. Thanks to 2 goals by Logan Stanley and a stellar effort by Connor Hellebuyck they actually got this game to overtime but it was over within the first two minutes. It was a pathetic display considering the Jets were playing for their lives. In a game where they somehow got to overtime and had a chance to win it was undoubtedly their worst effort in the playoffs. They were outshot 42-16 and were outmuscled and outworked in both ends of the ice.
THE SWEEPERS GOT SWEPT.
2. Jets: The big news this past week was the Mark Scheifele suspension.
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3. Jets: Kyle Connor MIA again. Not only is he lost in the defensive side of the game, he is completely lost without Mark Scheifele. I’ve always said he was line-mate dependent and he earned a juicy $7,142,857 per season riding Mark Scheifele’s coat tails. Ditto, Blake Wheeler with 3 more years at $8,250,000 per season.
4. Jets: FYI: The Winnipeg Jets were 6-3-0 vs the Montreal Canadiens in the regular season and the Habs were 3-3-3 vs the Jets BUT the Jets were 4-1 vs Jake Allen and only 2-2 vs Carey Price.
5. Jets: Poll Question: Should Chevy cut a deal with Seattle GM Ron Francis so the Jets don’t lose a player off their roster in the expansion draft? In the 2017 Vegas expansion draft the Jets and Vegas cut a deal where the Golden Knights would select Chris Thorburn’s expiring contract. In the deal they flip-flopped 1st rounders with Winnipeg acquiring the 24th pick (from Vegas, from Columbus) in the 2017 NHL Draft in exchange for the 13th pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, and the Jets third-round selection in 2019.
FYI: If the Jets don’t cut this deal with Vegas they might have taken Nick Suzuki instead of trading down and getting Kristian Vesalainen. It’s too early to call this deal but the early returns certainly favour Suzuki.
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6. IIHF: Quarter-final – The Team Canada upset win over the heavily favoured Russian team was one of the highlights of the week for me. Canadian hockey players never fail to amaze me how they can band together and do the impossible at times.
7. Jets: Kyle Connor’s fly-by on the only goal scored in game two just magnifies how important every little play is in a game and especially the playoffs. It is quite well documented that KC is not a good defensive player but his lack of commitment to the defensive part of the game is worrisome for me. He reminds me a lot of Blake Wheeler in the early days. Wheeler really changed and improved his 200 foot game so maybe there is some hope for KC but I doubt it.
8. Jets: When Dylan DeMelo is out of the lineup you really notice how important he is to Josh Morrissey and this Winnipeg Jets team. It takes a lot of pressure off Tucker Poolman who looks a lot better in the Jets third defence pairing. Poolman just can’t handle first pairing match-ups and minutes. It also brings Chevy’s big trade deadline acquisition Jordy Benn into the lineup and he is basically useless.
9. IIHF: Semi-final – Team Canada once again pulled off the upset in beating a very good Team USA squad 4-2 and guaranteeing themselves at least a silver medal. Nobody had them in the Gold Medal game after starting 0-3 but here they are. Since the arrival of Andrew Mangiapane this has been a different team.
10. Jets: I’ve liked a lot of Pierre-Luc Dubois’s game, he does a lot of good, subtle things but I’ve reached the point where I need to see more. It’s playoff time and like most Jets fans, I’m running out of patience.
11. IIHF: The women’s world hockey championship will take place this summer in Calgary after the event was cancelled in Nova Scotia earlier this year. The 10-country tournament will take place Aug. 20-31 at WinSport Arena at Canada Olympic Park. I am a big fan of women’s international hockey, this will be much better than that Dream Gap Tour that was played in May. Finally some women’s hockey I can get interested in.
12. NHL: Key dates.
- May 15 – Playoffs begin
- June 2 – NHL Draft Lottery (Buffalo won)
- July 15 – The latest the Stanley Cup can be awarded
- July 17 – Expansion draft protection lists tentatively due
- July 21 – Expansion draft
- July 23-24 – 2021 NHL Entry Draft
- July 28 – Free agency opens
13. Jets: Is Paul Maurice’s or Kevin Cheveldayoff’s job in jeopardy?
UPDATE:
After sweeping the Edmonton Oilers I thought the brain trust probably earned some good will and saved their jobs for another season BUT this brutal showing versus Montreal has put BOTH CHEVY and POMO right back on the hot seat. It is going to be an interesting off-season. I think it’s time to clean house but that’s just me. Please vote on our poll question.
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14. MJHL: Congrats to Niverville on being awarded a MJHL expansion franchise for the 2022-23 season.
15. Jets: Playoff Schedule
1. Wednesday June 2 vs Montreal 6:30 PM (L 5-3)
2. Friday June 4 vs Montreal 6:30 PM (L 1-0)
3. Sunday June 6 at Montreal 5:00 PM (L 5-1)
4. Monday June 7 at Montreal 7:00 PM
5. Wednesday June 9 vs Montreal (if necessary)
6. Friday June 11 at Montreal (if necessary)
7. Sunday June 13 vs Montreal (if necessary)
16. NHL: Watching some of these post-game Zoom press conferences and some of the questions some journalists ask make me shake my head. If you can’t come up with an intelligent question maybe just STFU. My god there are some idiots out there. How do you feel after losing in triple overtime? Really?
17. Jets: Special Teams: Rule of thumb. Have the two red numbers (PK and PP) total at least 100% when added (as your minimum). I also base the movement (up or down) on the % and not the NHL ranking.
Playoff numbers:
After round one:
- PP: 30.00%
- PK: 81.80%
- FO: 54.60%
Current:
- PP: 16.70% …. gave up 2 short handed goals.
- PK: 79.20% …. scored 1 short handed goal.
- FO: 53.20% …. Andrew Copp has had a great playoff in the faceoff circle
18. IIHF: Final – IT IS OVER …. CANADA 3 Finland 2 in overtime … GOLD MEDAL
Ottawa Senators forward Nick Paul with the GOLDEN GOAL.
This may be one of the most unexpected Gold Medals in Canadian Hockey history and Team Canada didn’t take the easy route either. In the quarter-finals they were heavy underdogs versus Russia, in the semi-final the were underdogs versus the Americans, and in the final they were slight underdogs versus Finland. Never, never, never, underestimate Canadian heart. Take note Chevy.
FYI: In game 4 of the Winnipeg/Montreal series the Winnipeg Jets had FIVE Canadians in their lineup and Les Habitants had THIRTEEN.
19. Goaltending:
After round one:
- Conner Hellebuyck: 4-0-0 … 1.60 GAA … .950 SV%
- Laurent Brossoit: 0-0-0 … 0.00 GAA … .000 SV%
Current:
- Conner Hellebuyck: 4-3-0 … 2.23 GAA … .931 SV% Helle can’t do it alone.
- Laurent Brossoit: 0-0-0 … 0.00 GAA … .000 SV%
20. IIHF: Hockey Canada has had a pretty good year to date with one more major event to come in August.
- 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship – GOLD
- 2021 IIHF U20 World Championship – SILVER
- 2021 IIHF Men’s World Championship – GOLD
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In memory of my friend Darryl Manchulenko.
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Thanks, Mitch
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