It’s simple Winnipeg Jets!  Win every 10 game segment and you’re in –

Once again, I will chart and update the Winnipeg Jets in 10 game segments this season.  It’s hard to predict how many points a Western Conference team will need to secure the last “Wildcard” playoff spots because it varies from year to year to year.

Note:  

In 2013-14 the Dallas Starts needed 91 points to secure the last wildcard position.

In 2014-15 the Calgary Flames needed 97 points to secure the last wildcard position.

In 2015-16 the Minnesota Wild need 87 points to secure the last wildcard position.

I think that 88-92 points should do it this year and once again it will more than likely not be decided until the final weekend of the regular season.   

Ten game segments    

• Playing a long, eighty-two game schedule in a tough division and a tough conference can be a daunting task.  So, I, like a lot of NHL coaches, look at an NHL season in ten game segments.  It can help you keep your sanity this way!  I believe this helps keep the highs and lows on a more even keel.  There are eight, ten game segments plus two additional games to make up the NHL’s eighty-two game schedule.  Let’s designate games #81 and #82 as the two extra games.  

Eleven every ten

• My theory is that if you can garner a minimum of eleven points in every ten game segment (on average) and win those two extra games you should be in the playoffs or be in the hunt on the last weekend of the season.  This would put your team on pace for around the ninety-two point mark. 

Not all two points are alike

• Some will say two points are two points and we’ll take it.  For the most part, this is true but all two points aren’t created equal!  A win in regulation sixty minutes is worth two points.  A win in the five-minute overtime is worth two points and a win in the shootout is worth two points BUT you are only gaining one point on the losing team.  The difference is the NHL puts more weight in the regulation and overtime win for tie-breaking situations and have created a column in the standings called “Regulation and Overtime Wins” (ROW). This must be the NHL’s way of admitting even THEY don’t like ending a game with a skills competition!
• The NHL puts more weight in the regulation and overtime win for tie-breaking situations and they created a column in the standings called “Regulation and Overtime Wins” (ROW). This must be the NHL’s way of admitting even THEY don’t like ending a game with a skills competition!

Segment 1: 

• After starting the season with big come-from-behind wins versus Carolina and Toronto the injury bug paid an early visit and the Winnipeg Jets finished their first 10-game segment with a record of 4-6-0.  They really didn’t take advantage of a favourable home schedule, they rarely do.  They need to make the MTS Centre a tougher building to play in for visiting teams.  The good news is they aren’t out of the early season playoff race.  They aren’t the only team in the Western Conference off to a slow start.  
• On a brighter note, the play of rookie Patrik Laine and veterans Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Nikolaj Ehlers have made the Jets a fun team to watch. Brandon Tanev and Joel Armia have been nice surprises early on and Josh Morrissey’s transition to the NHL has taken away a bit of the sting of not having Jacob Trouba in the line-up.  Morrissey and Trouba were to be the Jets future #1 defence pairing but that is in a holding pattern right now. 

Goaltending:

• The goaltending tandem of Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson hasn’t been bad BUT they haven’t been great either, I know their best is still yet to come.

Special teams: 

• The penalty killing has been okay but the power-play is still struggling statistically.  A little bit of bad puck-luck and some great goaltending by the opposition hasn’t helped.  It is still a work in progress but the PP has some interesting dynamics now.
• As each ten game segment passes, it will start to tell a story.  The more points you can bank in the early segments, the better.  There is going to be cold streaks, injuries and although all games are worth two points, those two points come a little harder later in the season.  Maybe the story will be that the Winnipeg Jets are a playoff team or a team in contention or the team that just falls short again. Time will tell so let’s enjoy the ride.

           As of November 2/2016

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