Mitch Kasprick is now the “Westdale Curmudgeon”
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 big news of the week in Jetsville is that the Winnipeg Jets have decided to go without a captain this season. This came as no surprise to a lot of Jets fans but it did catch Blake Wheeler off guard. Based on what he said during his presser he was informed just a couple of days prior to the Friday presser and he admitted he had no idea this was coming. He was very gracious in saying he was honoured to be a captain in the NHL and especially in a Canadian city. It looks like the Jets will be going with rotating Alternate Captains for this season.
2. Jets. There are whispers out there about Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews trade to Winnipeg brewing. Now I’m not sure this has any legs and it is probably just rumblings in a chat room, or wannabee insiders looking for clickbait but it sure would be interesting.
3. Jets: 
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4. Jets: Remember when Paul Maurice accused Matthew Tkachuk of purposely injuring Mark Scheifele in the play-in series a couple of years ago in the”bubble”? I wonder how their first meeting was in Florida?
5. NHL: Another one of the decent UFA targets is off the board as the Calgary Flames have offered Sonny Milano a PTO.
6. NHL: I guess this season’s slogan is “Tank Hard For Connor Bedard”. Count Chocula is going to just despise this. Ha Ha Ha.
7. Jets: I thought Jets’ prospect Brad Lambert (30th overall in the 2022 draft) showed pretty well in the first game of the Young Stars Tournament. He used his good speed to drive around a defender to the net a scored a pretty nice goal. I’m very curious to see what type of numbers he puts up with Seattle in the WHL this season.
UPDATE:
On Monday, Brad Lambert, Chaz Lucius, and Cole Perfetti all scored in the final game of the tournament giving the Jets a 5-3 win.
8. Jets: My weekly question for Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mark Chipman, or Rick Bowness.
Was the decision to go without a captain this season a Rick Bowness decision or a management decision?
9. NHL: Back to Toews and Kane, the Hawks would have to eat a boatload of salary to make a trade like this with any team but wouldn’t it be interesting to see a trade involving these two players
10. Jets: Cole Perfetti looked very poised in his first real hockey game since his season-ending injury with the Jets last season. He sees the ice at a different level than most players his age. I think Perfetti will have a good second season if Rick Bowness plays him in the top 6. The only thing that concerns me is Cole is a smurf and the hit he took last season that injured him wasn’t much. I fear for him if he is playing on the wing.
11. Jets: What do you think of Chevy’s work this offseason?
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12. Jets: Important Dates:
September 14: Winnipeg Jets rookie camp.
September 16-19: Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.
Game 1: Winnipeg vs Edmonton Fri, Sept. 16 4:00pm PT
Game 2: Calgary vs Vancouver Fri, Sept. 16 7:30pm PT
Game 3: Calgary vs Edmonton Sat, Sept. 17 7:30pm PT
Game 4: Vancouver vs Winnipeg Sun, Sept. 18 2:00pm PT
Game 5: Winnipeg vs Calgary Mon, Sept. 19 11:00am PT
Game 6: Vancouver vs Edmonton Mon, Sept. 19 2:30pm PT
September 22: Winnipeg Jets main camp opens.
September 24: Winnipeg Jets Fanfest.
13. NHL: FYI: In case you were wondering about the salaries of Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane.
Patrick Kane: One more season with a cap hit of $10,500,000 and actual cash money of $6,900,000.
Jonathon Toews: One more season with a cap hit of $10,500,000 and actual cash money of $6,900,000.
14. Jets: I can’t help but wonder if the Jets’ change in leadership has anything to do with making Pierre-Luc Dubois feel like a part of the core leadership going forward.
15. Jets: I don’t know what the Hawks would want for Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane but I wouldn’t give them any of our first-round picks drafted the past couple of years. Taking them off their hands and helping the “Tank Hard For Connor Bedard” sweepstakes should be enough.
16. Jets: A question I get asked a lot by family and friends is “if the Winnipeg Jets prospects are so good why don’t they light it up in these prospect tournaments?”
The answer is simple. In these tournaments, they are playing against a group of their peers, not a bunch of 16, 17, and 18-year-olds from the club teams in their respective leagues. The teams in these tournaments are made up of recent NHL draft picks and the best free-agent players from the CHL, USHL, NCAA, and the top European leagues. The competition is tough and very competitive.
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1. Jets: We’re in the second week of Sept and I’m surprised how quiet it is around the Winnipeg Jets. I think we all sense something will eventually happen, but I guess Chevy is waiting for NHL camps to open and get a feel for other teams’ needs. For me, this is a little risky and it seems like he is playing chicken with the other GMs BUT conversely, it could also lead to a better deal the longer he waits.
It is with a very heavy heart that I write this but I would like to send out my condolences to the family and friends of Scott Campbell. Scott was a Winnipeg Jets 1.0 fan favourite and Twitter legend. Scott always took time to chat with his many followers and really made their days. It’s not often an NHL player interacts with a fan base like Scott did. Scott was a Winnipeg Jet until the day he passed away and he loved the Jets and their fans. I got to know Scott on a personal basis and he was a very modest, fun guy. Scott spent some time writing here at WHT and had quite a following. It seems the good ones leave us too soon and Scott was definitely one of the good ones, he will be missed. I will always be proud to say you were my friend. RIP big guy. 
1. Jets: Well it’s September so it’s back to work. If Chevy can take August off why can’t I? If it’s good enough for Chevy it’s good enough for me. 
1. Jets: The Pierre-Luc Dubois drama is settled for the time being as he accepted the Jets qualifying offer of $6,000,000 although it still doesn’t settle the big picture. It will be very interesting and probably be very frustrating watching this play out. 
