Ben Scrivens, thank you!

 

In what has been a disaster of a season with very little to cheer for, I for one would like to thank Ben Scrivens. As a season ticket holder its been especially tough to go to games this winter. More and more empty seats are showing up every night and last night was no different. Facing a wind-chill that seemed like it would peel the skin off your face, Oilers fans bundled up against the cold and filed into their seats yet again. Only this time they got to witness history. For the people that stayed away; sorry you missed a beauty. 

What will the Jets do at this years deadline...AGAIN

So last week I wrote about the upcoming UFA's and who the Jets may unload if they are not realistically in the playoff chase. This week there have been various reports from several sources claiming that Captain Andrew Ladd is now on the block, joining the likes of Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. My question to all three of these rumours would be WHY? 

What will the Jets do at the deadline this year?

 For two years the Winnipeg Jets have done very little at the trade deadline... and by very little I mean one deal. Last year they were in the hunt so they didn't offload Ron Hainsey. Two years ago they traded Johnny Oduya for a 2nd and 3rd round pick in the 2013 draft. The 2nd round pick was traded on draft day to Washington for a 3rd and 4th round pick. The Jets selected Jimmy Lodge, JC Lipon,  and Jan Kostalek as a result. Where am I going with this? JC Lipon is having a decent rookie season for the St. John's IceCaps but he and the other two players are at best "maybes". Trading Mark Stuart and not resigning him is a BAD idea... 

Jets playoff chances - Real or Mirage?

So the Winnipeg Jets are now 4-0 under new coach Paul Maurice and the team feels good about themselves again. The real question is who are the Jets, the team that won four games in a row, or the one that lost five in a row before that? The obvious answer is both because outside of moving Dustin Byfuglien to forward, there have been no roster moves. The biggest single reason for the four game winning streak has been the improved play of Ondrej Pavelec.

In enemy territory, again

 

Tonight the Winnipeg Jets make their return to Alberta for the 4th time this year (including preseason) and I will be in the house. Expectations are that there may in fact be as many Jets fans in attendance tonight as there is Flames fans. The reality of their situation has finally hit home and Flames fans are selling tickets in droves. Historically, it is a very quiet, corporate building in the first place, so if the Jets get off to a great start it could be a "home" game for the Jets in short order. 

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

 

Win game. Check. Improve the goals against average. Check. Score some goals. Check. Look better on the power play. Check. So far so good for new Head Coach Paul Maurice but I don't think he will be taking any credit for that one. That being said, the standing ovation that rained down on the new coach and his team in the third period had to feel very special.

Well that escalated quickly...

The Winnipeg Jet have fired Claude Noel. Not unexpected but a bit quicker than I thought Friday.

More to come on this later!

Dustin Byfuglien at forward? This won't end well...

 

How can you sense when a team or coach is desperate? Well in the case of the Winnipeg Jets, it's when you see arguably their best defenseman playing forward. Is he the most effective D man? No, that would be Zach Bogosian. Is he the best option for the future? No, that would be Jacob Trouba. So what is the problem then? Well, he can't really play forward... 

Who is on your Team Canada?

 

Tomorrow morning is the big announcement for Hockey Canada. Every four years hockey fans in Canada argue for months about who should and shouldn't be on the team. This guy is too old, too slow, not a big game player, etc. etc. are thrown around. I have decided to pick MY Team Canada as opposed to predicting what I think will happen. (For that you can look at the Dreger roster, it will probably be close) Canada made several mistakes in 2006, choosing a roster that was older, slower, and safer. It will be interesting to see if they learn from those mistakes. I'm going to vote "no" to that one and assume they will make several "safe" picks and leave too much offence at home.

Is this rock bottom? Sadly, I don't think so...

When I started this blog I had intended to write about the Oilers, Jets, and hockey topics in general. I have posted exactly one article on the Oilers and other topics, and primarily about the Jets. I'm not sure exactly why that is, some of it is time constraints, but mostly I believe I haven't wanted to write about the Oilers. They have been bad, incredibly bad, discouraging bad. They haven't taken a step back this year, they have fallen off a cliff. I wrote in the pre-season they were in big trouble because of their lack of depth at center, turns out that problem is repeated throughout the ENTIRE roster. 

Olympic snub? Not really

 

Much is being made about the supposed snub of Dustin Byfuglien and the inclusion of Blake Wheeler. Truth is, both were in tough to make the team and the fact that they are in the conversation is a positive about the value of both player. Wheeler is exactly the kind of player you want for international ice. Big, fast, and can score. His problem is and has always been consistency. In a small tournament of 6-8 games, he could score 7 or 8 goals and make you look like a hero. He also could put up donuts and that is the fear that usually keeps decision makers like Brian Burke to look away. These gents are very risk adverse... If Wheeler doesn't produce early, he will be an extra forward before the tournament is over, but great for him that he was included in the first place.