Mitch Kasprick is now the “Westdale Curmudgeon.“ Odds and Ends, Thoughts, and Questions from this past week in Hockey
I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, the Manitoba Moose, 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, or is it the 8Ps? You’ve been warned.
For a more in-depth look at these Random Thoughts, check out the new WHT YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@WpgHockTalk
Host Harley Friesen and Winnipeg Hockey Talk writer Mitch Kasprick discuss his Random Thoughts on the Winnipeg Jets, Manitoba Moose, and the National Hockey League.
1. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets finished their 5-game road trip with a disappointing 1-3-1 record, and after a week where they went 1-2-1, their record of 14-13-1 still has them hovering around the wildcard position. The good guys now have 4 in a row at home and need to start banking some points.
2. Jets: The lack of scoring, and by that I mean scoring from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines, is a much bigger problem than the lack of Helle. The good news is that the 4th line has scored in the last 2 games, but the bad news is that the 2nd and 3rd lines have completely gone dry.
It’s frustrating watching a hockey game knowing you only have a chance at scoring every 4th shift.
— Winnipeg Hockey Talk (@WpgHockTalk) December 4, 2025
3. Jets: Adam Lowry and Dylan Samberg are not playing their best hockey right now. I think missing games to start the season has impacted both of them more than we would have expected. You can add Cole Perfetti to this list as well and while I’m at it, let’s add Jonathon Toews, who hasn’t played in a couple of years. I’m looking forward to a big second half from all 4 of these players because we’re going to need it. I just hope it’s not too late.
4. Jets: From the “Put that in your pipe and smoke it” file.
I’m not a Chevy hater nor a Chevy apologist, but at what point does the GM have to take responsibility for the fiasco he has created? Under Chevy’s tenure, the Winnipeg Jets have only won 4 playoff rounds in 14 years, and year 15 isn’t looking very promising. It’s time to start holding his feet to the fire, as he is the architect of this old, slow team, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.
5. Jets: After being very hard on Eric Comrie last week, he was incredible on Wednesday night in Montreal. I also thought he was excellent versus Buffalo on Friday night.
We can thank Eric Comrie for guaranteeing us one point. Absolutely his best game as a Winnipeg Jets tender.
— Winnipeg Hockey Talk (@WpgHockTalk) December 4, 2025
6. Jets: Question for Scott Arniel: With your team having to go to Edmonton on a back-to-back, your big roster move was to sit Elias Salomonsson and dress Luke Schenn?
— Winnipeg Hockey Talk (@WpgHockTalk) December 7, 2025
Arniel makes some brain-dead decisions. Makes them even slower, if that’s possible, with insertion of Schenn. And plays Comrie on back to back. And GM calls up no young fresh legs. Dereliction of duties.
— Jason Bell (@JasonBell1966) December 7, 2025
7. Jets: Logan Stanley, Neal Pionk, and Dylan Samberg were taking turns serving up free pizzas in Montreal on Wednesday night.
Jets defenceman serving up more pizzas in Montreal than Little Caesar’s …
— Winnipeg Hockey Talk (@WpgHockTalk) December 4, 2025
8. Moose: The Manitoba Moose went 2-1 last week, making their record 13-9-2-0. The Moose are in 2nd in the Central Division and are in a tie for 3rd in the 17-team Western Conference. The boys now have 6 in a row at home to finish off the month of December. The part that frustrates me about the Moose is that I want to see Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov get called up to the Jets, but if I were being honest, the way they are playing at the AHL level, they don’t deserve a promotion.
Update: Thomas Milic down to the Moose, Dom DiVincentiis up to the Jets.
Watch the WHT YouTube channel live every Monday at 7 pm … @WpgHockTalk
9. Jets: Elias Salomonsson played in two games last week, and his overall play actually looked pretty solid. It will be interesting to see what happens when Haydn Fleury is ready to return. IMHO, he would not be my choice to come out of the Jets lineup.
10. Jets: The NHL has announced that the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens will play in an outdoor game in the 2026 “Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic” at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg. The game will be played on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, and I’m guessing it won’t be an afternoon game where the sun can play havoc like the last time in 2016.
11. Jets: WHT Poll 
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12. Jets: Special Teams: Rule of thumb. Have the power play and penalty kill (PK and PP) numbers total at least 100% when added (as your minimum).
- PP: 12th at 21.30% down from 11th at 22.70% last week (net 12th at 18.80%)*
- PK: 14th at 81.30% down from 6th 84.50% last week (net 12th at 84.60%)*
- FO: 9th at 52.10% down from 6th at 53.00% last week
13. Jets: Goaltending:
- Connor Hellebuyck: 8-6-0 … 2.51 GAA … .913 SV%
- Eric Comrie: 6-6-0 … 3.08 GAA … .898 SV%
- Thomas Milic: 0-1-0 … 3.56 … .871 SV%
- Domenic DiVincentiis: 6-7-0–0 … 2.49 GAA … .915 SV% (Manitoba Moose)
14. Jets: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly this past week.
- Good: The 3rd period versus Buffalo on Friday night looked like last year’s Jets.
- Bad: Adam Lowry should be embarrassed by being outmuscled by the much smaller Matt Savoie on Edmonton’s 3rd goal on Saturday night.
- Ugly: The Jets are 3-6-1 post-Helle surgery.
15. Things that make me go hmmm:🤔
I’ve already heard a lot of Jets fans griping about Montreal being the Jets’ opponent for the Heritage Classic, when Minnesota is our closest rival in proximity and our biggest rival, period. I totally concur, but I don’t know what the criteria are for choosing an opponent. Is it about Canadian Heritage and not necessarily rivalries? I wonder?
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18. Jets: Cole Koepke has NHL speed, but he has AHL hands. If Cole had better hands, he’d have 3 or 4 more goals this season. I love the way he takes the puck to the net and doesn’t live on the perimeter like some of his teammates.
19. Jets: I like Vladdy, but I’m sorry, you can’t have a guy with 0 goals and 1 assist in his last 15 games playing on the 2nd line and second unit powerplay. He’s okay in a pinch, but he is a bottom-six guy on most teams.
20. Jets: Kevin Cheveldayoff’s scorecard has a lot of birdies on it as well as a lot of bogies. He also has a couple of eagles and a few double-bogies too, but after you add up his scorecard, he is a par golfer at best, and par golfers never win a golf tournament and rarely even make the cut. It’s time for Mark Chipman to find a new golfer to back.
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1. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets are halfway through their six-game Western road trip and went 0 for California and looked like crap doing it. The only way they can salvage this road trip is by winning the last 3 games. That won’t happen, only scoring 2 goals in 3 games.
Random Thoughts: October 16 