Connor Hellebuyck – Page 2 – Faxes from Uncle Dale

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Game #32 – Hawks vs. Jets Q&A: Derek Gagnon From Arctic Ice Hockey

By Sam Fels December 11, 2018 1545 0

Derek Gagnon is a contributor at ArcticIce.com. Follow him on Twitter @DerekGagnon1.

Overhanging the Jets season is a sort of “Cap-ocalypse” in the summer. Does this season have a feeling of now or never?

Not so much, though there is a feeling that this group will see some change next year. This team is still young, and players like Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine should only improve as time goes by. The way things are going, the Jets should be a contender for a number of years to come.

With the cap going to $83 million or so, the Jets have something around $27 million in space now, with Trouba, Laine, Connor seemingly the must-keeps, along with a few other free agents. It seems doable, Is it?

I think it’s doable, though some sacrifices will have to be made along the way. Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor look to be Jets long term, and will get paid handsomely on their next contracts. There are some questions on defense though. The Jacob Trouba contract situation has been a concern for years, and with only one more season of restricted-free agent status left after this season, if they aren’t able to sign him long term it may be time to move him in the off-season. Tyler Myers is another situation that needs addressing. He’s being paid $5.5 million this year to play third pairing minutes, and not play them overly well. As an unrestricted free agent, I would expect the Jets to cut ties, but they may not if the Trouba contract isn’t long-term.

The cap being projected to go up to $83 million definitely works in the Jets favor, as that extra room will come in handy. Even then, it might mean more players on entry-level contracts on the team, rather than guys like Brandon Tanev. Mason Appleton and Kristian Vesalainen are a couple of names that could benefit from a cap crunch.

Why hasn’t Jack Roslovic popped more? Huge pedigree, big excitement, is it just the fourth line role he has right now?

Right now, I think it’s a combination of a lack of minutes and the insistence he play center, where he seems to be struggling. While dominant at the AHL level, it just hasn’t clicked at the NHL level yet. Things seemed to be progressing when he was briefly reunited with the former Manitoba Moose (AHL) line of Nic Petan, Roslovic and Mason Appleton, but Petan was dropped from the lineup in favor of Brendan Lemieux and there hasn’t been chemistry. Playing an average of 7:43 per night doesn’t help either.

Is there real worry about Connor Hellebuyck two months plus into the season? Or just negotiating the following season after playing deep into the playoffs for the first time and he’ll bounce back in plenty of time?

I think that it actually might be the change in pads that has plagued Connor Hellebuyck. The smaller chest protector seems to be taking some getting used to for Hellebuyck, which has seen more rebounds and the occasional tentative effort. I have full confidence that he will adapt and overcome, as he has exhibited his ability to be great at every level he has played at, including the NHL. His last three starts have been quite solid, stopping a combined 89 of 92 shots, so perhaps that corner has been turned.

Game #32 Preview Suite

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Game #26 – Hawks 5, Jets 6 – Your Day Breaks, Your Mind Aches

By Rose Rankin November 29, 2018 1879 0

Well, what can you say about this one? We knew it was going to be rough, and right out of the gate it felt doomed. But then for a moment it didn’t…until it did again, until the third, and then… let’s just get to the bullets:

Box Score

Corsica

Natural Stat Trick

– We’ve all been rightfully bitching about a lack of scoring depth, so didn’t we get a treat tonight with five goals coming from the dregs: Marcus Kruger, John Hayden, Jan Rutta, David Kampf, and Artem Anisimov (no, I don’t really think Kruger is the dregs but he’s acting like it right now). Kruger’s and Hayden’s came in the frantic mess that was the first period, where it seemed initially like the Jets were going to run away with it, but these goals exposed how Hellebuyck was already having an off night and the Jets defense wasn’t at their best. Both came from rebounds in scrums right in front of the net, as did Kampf’s late in the third. So I guess there’s a moral victory in that our shitty bottom six and possibly worst defenseman managed five goals against ostensibly one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Honestly I’m shocked we scored five goals at all, so I’m going to take a cue from the sunny disposition of the Canadian announcers whose feed supplanted the dogshit Comcast one, and be pleasantly surprised with our offense tonight.

– The Jets looked beatable at many points tonight, which is contributing to the frustration here. Yes, they have ridiculous scoring (more on that later), but the fucking Hawks were able to tie it up once and come within one whiffed shot of tying it twice. Jonathan Toews had the game on his stick in the final seconds of the third and it looked like he either had some equipment malfunction with the stick, or just missed the puck. He was at the top of the crease and had Hellebuyck moving the wrong way but no dice. Either way, the Jets did not dominate in possession—they best they managed was a 53 CF% at evens in the second, whereas in the third they had a measly 30 CF%. In fact during the third the Hawks had multiple long shifts in the offensive zone with plenty of cycling but not quite enough finish. Connor Hellebuyck finished with an .839 SV%, so he continued his underwhelming ways. But the Jets’ raw talent was enough to overcome suspect defense and goaltending.

– About that…Jesus christ, Patrik Laine is a beast. He only had two goals tonight, which feels like a win right there. In the third he straight-up robbed a hapless Jan Rutta in the defensive zone and walked right in to score easily. This guy has had three hat tricks this month alone—and in three different countries! This is what I learned thanks to Canadian announcers: hat tricks in Finland, Canada, and the US. Just this November. He’s terrifying. And even though Laine had an off night with less than 17 goals, Nikolaj Ehlers did the honors by getting a hat trick instead. He also made our defensemen look pathetic, including picking off a pass from Gustafsson for an easy breakaway that led to his third goal. That was the real difference between the teams tonight: when the Jets needed just enough to get out of a jam, their insanely talented players could do it, regardless of the rest of the team.

– The DeBrincat-Strome-Kane line got split up in the second and brought back together in the third. Their possession numbers didn’t turn out great (about a 29 CF%), yet in the third they turned it around a little and were responsible for a lot of that cycling and puck movement in the offensive zone I mentioned earlier, except there was that no-finish problem too. Personally I think they should be given time to make things work, and I’d rather not see Jeremy Colliton get antsy and start hitting the blender on these guys.

– Hellebuyck had a bad night but Crawford’s wasn’t any better. Granted, Crawford was facing far superior scoring threats and has the shittier defense in front of him. After destroying everything that came his way a week or so ago, I guess a bit of a correction is to be expected. But games like this where a better opponent is caught on an off night are exactly the ones where we need him to be super-human. Help me Corey Crawford, you’re my only hope.

– The broadcast issues were a bit comical, since at least for me it kept cutting out every time there was a goal. Finally they went to the Canadian broadcast and I was not sorry to hear someone other than Pat and Eddie, even if it was a couple of backwoods tundra-dwelling clods drunk on Labatt.

Only another 48 hours until we get to do this again! And it’s against another elite team…aren’t you just counting the minutes?

Beer de jour: Totally Naked by New Glarus

Line of the Night: “Good things happen to good people.” —Random Canadian hockey announcer, with what was the most Canadian thing ever said.

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Game #26 – Hawks vs. Jets Preview – Incalculable Effects

By Matt McClure November 29, 2018 1758 0

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Game Time: 7:00PM CST
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
Connecting Flights: Arctic Ice Hockey, Jets Nation

After getting their asses shellacked by a Vegas team that doesn’t even really have its shit together relative to how they played last year, the Hawks leave the frozen tundra of Chicago for…the frozen tundra of Winnipeg to face a Jets team with legit cup aspirations this year.

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Game #26 – Hawks vs. Jets Q&A: Happy Cara T (She’s Not THAT Happy)

By Sam Fels November 29, 2018 1462 0

We mean, she could be. We’re not exactly sure. But no hockey fan ever is. Anyway, follow her @HappyCaraT.

The Jets sit at 28 points, fourth in the division at the time of writing but only two points off second, and which is a 104-point place. And yet it doesn’t feel like the Jets have truly fired yet. Is that a misconception? What’s been holding them back from a real nuclear run if not?

I recently saw a stat in 31 Thoughts about the Jets and the problem with them is they are not beating teams higher than them in the standings. They can beat up on the Ottawa Senators of the league, but struggle against the Nashville Predators. And their defence is a problem, but I will expand on that later.

Blake Wheeler only has four goals but 23 assists. When did he become Adam Oates?

Wheeler seems to be struggling this year; although I have not looked at his 5v5 stats lately. He is wonderful, but he has looked hurt to start the year and he also has struggled to push the play offensively. However, he is money on the power play with Patrik Laine and that is wonderful unto itself.

What is Jacob Trouba? We’ve always been fans but his playoffs last year were not impressive and the metrics aren’t always kind to him. Is Josh Morrissey the real keeper on the top pair?

I think Morrissey is the better player, but I have a lot of questions around Trouba in general. He was wonderful for a while, but I wonder if something is up there. I have not looked much into the top three defensemen on the Jets as the other three are of greater concern, but I wonder if it has to do with trying to do too much. That pairing gets taxed with a lot.

What’s up with Connor Hellebuyck’s struggles?

Ah Connor Hellebuyck. He plays behind Joe Morrow and Tyler Myers regularly. The Jets defence is seriously missing a third pair and even a number four defenseman. I think this affects Hellebuyck a lot as the defence is very scrammbly. They were not much better at the start of last year, but with the loss of Toby Enstrom to Sweden, the Jets are in a hard place on defence and it is showing with his results. That says, he also seems less set than last year. I dunno. I don’t get the Jets.

Game #26 Preview Suite

Columbus Blue Jackets

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You Share The Same Fate As The People You Hate – ’18-’19 Team Preview: The Warm Jets

By Sam Fels October 2, 2018 1363 0

We wrap up our team previews with perhaps the class of the Central Division. There is no forward group you can love more than the Jets’. They’re big, they’re fast, they’re skilled, and when Paul Maurice finally woke up from his neanderthal nap last season and ceased to have the Jets be the dumbest team in the league and focused on merely skating every team out of their building and into the cold and unyielding Manitoba night, the Jets took off. Didn’t hurt that they finally got some goaltending, as Connor Hellebuyck finally lived up to the billing.

Sadly for the Jets, even though I will argue they were a superior team by some distance than Vegas last year, their seven-game Last Man Standing with the Preds left them softened up for the Knights. They may have outplayed Vegas in four or all five of those games, but Fleury was simply too much. It’s a fate they’ll look to avoid this time around, though it’ll most likely be an even more formidable Sharks team waiting should they escape the torture dungeon of the Central Division.

But they can do it. Let’s do it one last time before we kick this pig for real.

2017-2018: 52-20-10 114 points 277 GF 218 GA 51.5 CF% 52.7 xGF% 8.5 SH% .925 SV%

Goalies: When your goalie last year is 25 and coming off a Vezina-finalist run, there’s little reason to change much. Hellebuyck will look to back up his imperious season of last, and there’s really no reason to think he can’t back it up. His pedigree has always suggested this is what he should be, and the only fear would be fatigue. 67 games isn’ the heaviest load you’ll see, along with 17 playoff starts. He’d made 58 and 56 appearances in the seasons before though, either all in the AHL or splitting time between the bus-league and the plane-league. So it really shouldn’t be too much for him. Obviously, a lot hinges on Hellebuyck, because you can’t go anywhere with bad goaltending. The Jets know, they tried for like five seasons. Still, they’re one of the few teams in the league who can sleep pretty easy about their goaltending.

Laurent Brossoit, which is not a dessert, is going to back him up. Brossoit flashed being a competent goalie at this level in Edmonton two years ago, but with a bit more work last year he was terrible. Then again, being Cam Talbot‘s backup leads to a lot of nights staring at the lights contemplating what existence really means. Clearly, Hellebuyck’s health is paramount.

Defense: If there’s one minor complaint I would have about the Jets, is that their defense just quite isn’t there. It may improve a bit because Jacob Trouba is going to be in fuck-you-someone-will-pay-me mode all year, as he’s in the last year of his deal and previous negotiations with the Jets have been cantankerous. He’ll take on the hard stuff as usual with Josh Morrissey. Which leaves Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Chiarot to get cherry-er starts and opponents, which is a reason why Buff racks up the points he does. And yet you’ll never convince me. I know what the points say. I know what the underlying numbers say. I’ll always think Buff is just dumb and lazy enough to burn you in your own zone, and the only hits he looks for is when someone significantly smaller (which is just about everyone, to be fair) isn’t looking. And he’ll run out of position to get them. Against a fast team in a series this could be a problem, and it was something of one against Vegas but not Nashville.

The third pairing is rounded out by Dimitry Kulikov and Tyler Myers. This is where Myers should always be and Kulikov seems to take more shit than he deserves. Hmmm, wonder why that could be? Certainly not because he’s a good Ontario bo….oh, right.

Clearly, it’s not a bad unit. It’s good, even. Trouba might enter Norris discussion this year, though that would take a leap. It’s just not San Jose’s or Nashville’s. And maybe that’s fine. It was sort of last year.

Forwards: Whatever deficiencies there are are clearly made up by this group. It’s got front-line scoring in Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and his bewildered face, and Kyle Connor hinted at being that last year as well. It’s got defensive solidity in Mathieu Perrault, Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp, and Brandon Tanev. Nikolai Ehlers is on the third line for fuck’s sake. Bryan Little has been underrated for so long. Jack Roslovic moves to center full-time. Kristian Vesalainen, their first-round pick last year who tore up the Finnish league at 18, joins the ranks now. It’s the best crop in the league. They’ll get you from everywhere. There’s not much more to say.

Outlook: Cup or bust, it’s that simple. As the game gets faster and teams move more and more away from asking their defensemen to do the pushing of the play, the Jets can get away with not having a blueblooded blue line. Because if they’re just getting the puck to these forwards as quickly as possible, they’re fine. More than fine. Sure, maybe some teams can throw out a top line better than the one the Jets have, though you can count them with Jason Pierre-Paul’s fingers. Maybe there are teams that can somewhat match the top six. But you can’t do that with the third line, much less the fourth. There’s just too much. Unless Hellebuyck backs up, you’ll probably find them in the West Final at worst again, But anything short of a parade on one of the three warm days Winnipeg has will be a failure.

Previous Team Previews

Detroit Red Wings

Buffalo Sabres

Boston Bruins

Florida Panthers

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning

Toronto Maple Leafs

Carolina Hurricanes

New Jersey Devils

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers

Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals

Vegas Golden Knights

Vancouver Canucks

Colorado Avalanche

Dallas Stars

Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators

St. Louis Blues

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Game #78 – Jets vs. Hawks Spotlight: Paul Maurice And His Changing Stripes

By Sam Fels March 29, 2018 1638 0

If you are or were a fan of the Jets for a while, they have been one of the more frustrating teams to follow. If you haven’t been a Jets fan, then they’ve been a hilarious team to follow. Because the results you’re seeing now isn’t borne out of new talent. Sure, Patrik Laine is only in his second season. Kyle Connor is in his first full one. Ehlers has only been around for three, but most everyone else has been in Winnipeg for years. Clearly, they should have been better than they were, as they’ve been sporting one of the best forward corps at least for years now.

The goaltending, rightly, got a lot of the blame as Ondrej Pavelec, Michael “Something About You Girl” Hutchinson, and Connor Hellebuyck spent most of their time finding more and creative ways to Nickelodeon-slime the rest of their team the previous few years. Hellebuyck cementing the role as his own this year is the biggest factor as the Jets soared to near the top of the conference.

The other is that Paul Maurice is no longer acting like one of the dumber coaches in the league, nor taking his team with him.

The previous three seasons, the Jets finished no lower than 6th in penalty minutes per game. In terms of just minor penalties, the ones you tend to end up on a penalty kill for, the Jets finished 1st, 3rd, and 4th as far as most minors taken. This year, they’re 17th in penalty minutes per game, and 12th in total minors taken. And don’t think it wasn’t an approach. Maurice accentuated the Jets assholic tendencies, and didn’t really mind if they took swipes after whistles or went for hits out of line because of “intimidation” and “grit” and “beer fart.”

Taking a lot of penalties in the previous years was a monumentally dumb strategy for the Jets, because they were a basket case penalty killing unit. The previous three seasons they finished 13th, 25th, and 26th in penalty kill. So not having a good kill, and putting themselves on it a lot was always going to be a major obstacle for them to actually be any good. So they were bad, and didn’t win a playoff game.

The difference is clear. In special teams goals, the Jets are +13 this year. Last year they were -13, including giving up five 5-on-3 goals. A turnaround of 26 goals is a lot of points they’re banking simply by not being so dumb that they didn’t get last year because they were idiotic.

It also helps when your goalies are unconscious when shorthanded. While systematically the Jets were middling-to-clueless on the kill, they’re goalies simply were waving at more pucks than an octopus trying to catch balloons. Their team SV%’s on the PK were .874, .860, and .849. This year it’s .902, which is unholy, and best in the league. That doesn’t really have much to do with Maurice, but at least they’re not asking as much of their goalies. Given the attempts and chances they give up on the kill, which is higher than the previous three seasons in both, it’s not like Maurice has figured out a better way to kill penalties than “hope my goalie isn’t playing like he’s drunk.” And Hellebuyck hasn’t, so that’s worked. But hey, taking way less penalties is a step in the right direction.

Don’t think this won’t make a difference. Unless they really fuck up, the Jets are staring at what should be the de facto Western Conference Final in the 2nd round. And the Predators are one of the most penalized teams in the league, as Peter Laviolette hasn’t done much to corral the snarl and growl and dumbassery that the Preds developed last spring. A huge gap in special teams, given how good both the Jets’ PP and PK have been, could tilt that series.

And we’re certainly here for a series the Preds lose because they were dumber than the Jets.

Game #78 Preview

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Game #71 – Hawks vs. Jets Q&A: Game Time Art

By Sam Fels March 15, 2018 1550 0

Game Time Art is still our Jets weirdo. And he’s happy to be so. Which tells you everything you need to know. Follow him @GameTimeArt.

So the Jets have lost to the Preds twice in the past couple weeks. Does that put any fear into your playoff hopes or does the fact that the Jets (barring something stupid) will win their first playoff game and quite possibly series since being resurrected be enough for everyone?

In a strange way it doesn’t really put fear into most Jets fans because those last two meetings have been with a Jets team with four or more regulars out of the lineup including their top center and top defenseman and really save for a stretch of ten minutes at the end of one game and ten minutes at the start of the other, a depleted Jets lineup hung in ok against the Preds, so I think there is still hope that if the Jets can get healthy, they should give Nashville a good fight. That said, I think everyone expects good things from the first round and then we’ll worry about a potential second round blood bath against the Predators.

Blake Wheeler has 77 points. He shifted to center when Scheifele was hurt. And yet he doesn’t seem to be getting any Hart Trophy love. While it would be hard to make a case for him over say MacKinnon or Hall or Malkin or Kucherov, shouldn’t he at least be discussed?

Maybe a little… If there was an award for most inspiring leader who leads inspiringly – is that the Messier award? – then Blake should get that hands down. As far as most valuable player, I’d say he deserves a brief mention but I don’t even know if he’s the MVP on the Jets as I’d argue Connor Hellebuyck has been far more important to the Jets win totals than anything Blake has done. Then again, maybe I’m just not used to seeing actual good goaltending for my team so I could be biased.

Flying under the radar a bit is Kyle Connor, thanks to Wheeler and Laine and Barzal in the Calder race. What’s most impressive about his game as a rookie?

I love Connor’s ability to weave in and out of traffic when he has the puck, especially when it comes to skating into the offensive zone. He seems to have this ability to find just enough room on the ice to make a move past a defender or at the very least give himself an extra second to move the puck forward or pass it off to a teammate.

How much has Trouba been missed?

A lot and really it’s only because with Trouba out, it has meant Tyler Myers I’d argue has gotten more minutes per game than he can handle and Myers’ game – especially in the defensive zone – has suffered because of it. Byfuglien has done well in stepping up as he does and Josh Morrissey is quietly good as always, but Trouba is kind of the lynchpin that holds the Jets defense together. To put it in a much dumber context, Trouba to the Jets defense is like syrup to waffles. Sure, the waffles are ok without it, maybe even good depending on the quality of the other ingredients you have, but syrup just makes the entire dish so much better. Jacob Trouba is syrup.

With only 12 games to go…what do you foresee for the Jets come the spring?

Increased health going into the playoffs for one thing, a first round series where the Jets have home ice and which should be a win because I think they match up well against Minnesota, Dallas or Colorado and then a second round where the limits of my heart being able to function properly will be severely tested.

Game #71 Preview

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Game #44 – Jets vs. Hawks Preview, Refrigerator Cleaning – Call Before You Dig

By Matt McClure January 12, 2018 2188 0

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Game Time: 7:30PM CST
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
Wanker County: Arctic Ice Hockey, Jets Nation

The second game of the Hawks’ six game homestand that spans their by week takes place tonight, with the seemingly-not-going-away first place Winnipeg Jets paying a visit to Club 1901, and it seems that the Jets might have actually gotten their shit together.

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Game #44 – Jets vs. Hawks: Spotlight – Hellebuyck, Carry This Baggage Out

By Sam Fels January 12, 2018 2547 0

You may feel like you’ve heard Connor Hellebuyck’s name forever now. Some of that is the bloated coverage that Canadian teams get, combined with the vision that Hellebuyck was going to be the final piece to get the Jets over after years of falling short. It didn’t work out that way until this season, with Hellebuyck top 10 in wins, save-percentage, and goals-against. There might be a feeling of, “IT’S ABOUT TIME” with Hellebuyck. But when you look at it, he’s actually come to the fore much quicker than most goalies do.

One of the more perplexing aspects of watching the NHL and how teams are run these days is how it’s pretty clear that no team really understands goalies at the point. There doesn’t seem to be a common theory or process on developing them like there are in other positions. Of the current top goalies by save-percentage, five came from Europe (Vasilevskiy, Bobrovsky, Lundqvist, Rinne, and Andersen). three came up through college teams (Hellebuyck, Quick, and Gibson) and two from juniors (Crawford and Mike Smith). And generally, that’s how it goes. Most from Europe, some from here but no tried and true factory.

We can kind of conclude that coming through college is probably the least likely way to produce a goalie. Starting in 2010, here are the goalies who finished top ten in the nation in save-percentage in an NCAA season and played an NHL game: Ben Scrivens, Carter Hutton, Cam Talbot, Hellebuyck, Aaron Dell. That’s it. Real murderers row, huh?

What the top goalies do have in common is that it took a while before they got where they are now. As you know, Corey Crawford spent five years in the AHL before becoming a starter in the NHL, and it took another two seasons in the NHL before he got a ticket to the luxury suite with the free food and sadly all the Rise Against shows he could go to. Andrei Vasilevskiy had two years in the KHL and then a three-year apprenticeship with Tampa. Bobrovsky had four seasons in the KHL and two seasons in the NHL with the Flyers before he won his first Vezina in Columbus in 2013. Even Henrik Lundqvist had three years as a pro in Sweden. Rinne had two years in Finland and three years in the AHL. Gibson did three years in the AHL.

The list expands beyond that. Tuukka Rask had two seasons in the AHL and three seasons either backing up or splitting starts with Tim Thomas. Cary Price needed three to five seasons in Montreal before he became CAREY PRICE, as you may remember there were a good deal of Habs fans that wanted him shipped out instead of Jaroslav Halak (never let it be said that Habs fans know any more than your average lamppost about hockey, even if they speak French). Price is just about as pedigreed as you can get coming into the league as well. Only Jonathan Quick took less than the five years as a pro before becoming a bonafide starter, and we can have the how-good-actually-is-Quick debate all day.

It may just be that goalies take longer to become ready for the rigors of starting in the NHL than anywhere else. After all, they’re the only players out there for 60 minutes, and they’re the only ones whose mistakes or brilliance decide the outcomes of games alone. Teams that draft goalies, whatever round, probably should know they’re going to have to spend four to five years with their minor league team or backing up an incumbent before they can turn things over to them. You might be seeing that with Malcolm Subban in Vegas now.

Goalies are probably the closest to baseball pitching prospects. Other than the truly special, you better be patient and hope nothing goes wrong.

Game #44 Preview