Winnipeg Jets – Page 5 – Faxes from Uncle Dale

Everything Else

Game #32 – Hawks vs Jets: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

By Sam Fels December 11, 2018 1233 0

Game #32 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #32 – Hawks vs. Jets: Lineups & How Teams Were Built

By Sam Fels December 11, 2018 1332 0

Notes: Anisimov didn’t make the trip, which is the reason you’re getting whatever the fuck that Kahun-Kampf-Kane thing is. It’ll be Strome and Top Cat with Kane by the end of the first, you just watch… Ward starts tonight, which means Crow gets the Pens tomorrow…Murphy seemed to flatten out Gustafsson again, as they were the only pairing that Collition kept together for the most part…it’s getting near decision-day on Manning and Rutta, and no one is going to take them off the Hawks’ hands so likely Rutta is headed to Rockford…what was Martinsen doing out there with a minute left on Sunday?

Notes: Perreault is questionable tonight…the second line is one of the few where metrics don’t matter, because Laine will outshoot whatever…we kind of hope Laine ends up with over 40 goals and less than 10 assists and watch HOCKEY MEN lose their mud over it…Sami Niku could replace Kulikov…Connor’s goal against the Flyers on Sunday was his first in the last 10 games…

Game #32 Preview Suite

Everything Else

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

By Rose Rankin November 29, 2018 1926 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.

Everything Else

Game #26 – Hawks vs. Jets Spotlight: Patrik Laine Is In Your Ears And In Your Eyes

By Sam Fels November 29, 2018 1589 0

He might look like something out of a Tolkein novel or a B-movie, but Patrik Laine has the chance to be something we’ve never seen before. And no, we don’t mean those dust bunnies he calls a beard or that vacant, kid-wh0-farted-in-the-pool look on his face all the time (that seems to be common among the Finnish. What goes on over there?). To be fair, Laine might be the freakiest looking all-time great when it’s all said and done. Then again, Alex Ovechkin looks like something out of Warhol’s discard pile. But let’s stick with his goal-scoring for now.

Since he came into the league two season ago, Laine has 99 goals. He’s only bested by Ovechkin’s 100 in that time, and there’s no one else within 10 goals of either of them. Laine has also missed 10 games in that time, so without that he’d be the leading scorer in the league since he stepped in it. And the way he’s going, he’ll probably have that title by the time tonight’s game is over.

The difference between Laine and Ovie is how they go about it, though it feels like they do it the same. Both like to post up at the “Ovechkin Spot,” which one day could be renamed for Laine. But that doesn’t quite cover it. Ovechkin does it through sheer volume. He’s had seasons where’s he’s averaged five shots-on-goal per game, and usually is around four per game. For his career it’s 4.85 shots per game. There’s no one in his stratosphere when it comes to producing attempts on net.

Laine isn’t near that. He’s averaged just 3.02 shots per game. Laine gets there through accuracy. Ovechkin’s career shooting-percentage is 12.5%, and until this season (he’s currently at 20%), Ovie has never come close to Laine’s lowest SH%. Laine has carried a career 18.4 SH%. In the past 20 seasons, when you can just about label as the time goalies no longer were the drunk janitors they had been before, Laine’s career SH% ranks behind only Alex Tanguay and Dmitri Khristich (somehow).

Laine will probably overtake them. His shooting-percentage has improved every season, from 17.6 to 18.3 last year to 20.2 right now. Laine, even if he just holds where he is, will go down as the game’s most accurate shooter in history. Yes, Mike Bossy had a career 21.2% mark, and Laine may get there, but Bossy never had to take down the talent in net that Laine sees every night. Again, the inebriated custodial staff in net in the 80s across the league. Laine and Ovechkin would have put up 150 goals a year in that time…and then taken March off out of sheer boredom.

Which may turn into a headache for the Jets, depending on just how firm Laine and his reps are about getting a contract that’s fair to him. The Jets are inundated with free agents after the season. Brandon Tanev, Andrew Copp, Kyle Connor, Nic Petan, and Jacob Trouba all require new paper when the season is over. The Jets already have $56 million committed for next season. Laine’s agents would have no problem asking for McDavid money, and they’d be right to do so.

When Ovechkin got out of his first contract, the Capitals handed him a max deal. In today’s $, that’s $12.7M. Which would eat up half the space the Jets have to sign the rest of that crew.

There’s no reason for Laine to give the Jets a break, unless he’s just that nice of a guy. Because he’s got a chance to be something unique in league history. That’s not the kind of shit you get at a bargain.

Game #26 Preview Suite

Everything Else

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

By Sam Fels November 29, 2018 1524 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

Everything Else

Game #26 – Hawks vs. Jets Douchebag Du Jour: The Jets Do It To Themselves, Just Them…

By Sam Fels November 29, 2018 1469 0

There was a point last season where it seemed like the Jets had learned. With all their talent, and all their speed, they didn’t need to “assert” themselves every night with idiocy and dick-measuring. It helped lead to their best season, and within some rotten luck of the Stanley Cup Final. The Jets finished 16th in penalty minutes per game last year. That had broken a streak of three seasons under head coach Paul Maurice where the Jets had finished no lower than 6th in penalty minutes per game. They were playing the wrong games at the wrong times. They seemed to have figured that out.

Not so this year. The Jets lead the league in penalty minutes per game, and nine players have racked up 20 minutes or more so far. They’ve racked up five game -misconducts this year, tied for the lead with Vancouver. They’re second in majors.

Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien, and Tyler Myers are the ones who seem to be most unable to get out of their own way, as their penalty-difference are worst on the team. They’re -7, -6. -6 respectively.

It would be infuriating to be a fan of the Jets and see them not want to remain at even-strength as much as they could. While they’re not the even-strength power they were last year, they’re among the bottom teams in drawing penalties and power play time. When you have Patrik Laine, you’d think you’d want to be setting him up in “the post” as often as damn possible on the man-advantage.

You could see this being a problem for the Jets down the road, where they’ll have to negotiate the Predators and possibly Sharks back-to-back, though the Predators aren’t clicking on the power play at the moment. You know what the Sharks man-advantage can do.

The Jets defense is not going to be ever be dominant. Trouba has regressed a touch, Byfuglien has only a tangental relationship with his own end. Tyler Myers just straight sucks. But it doesn’t have to be stupid. If it is, it’ll cost them just about everything.

Game #26 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #26 – Hawks vs. Jets: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

By Sam Fels November 29, 2018 1219 0

Game #26 Preview Suite

Everything Else

Game #21 – Wild vs. Hawks Douchebag Du Jour: If You Need To Tell Everyone, Then You Aren’t It

By Sam Fels November 18, 2018 1536 0

If you watch any number of Wild broadcasts, and you probably shouldn’t if you want to claim any use to society which we gave up on long ago, you’ll get the impression that the production wasn’t hugged enough as a child. Or maybe too much. We can’t tell.

The Wild, or maybe just their media coverage, has this great need to be identified as someone’s “great rival.” A few years ago, it was the Blackhawks that were labeled that. Every visit of the Hawks to The X was labeled as a visit from “the Wild’s great rival.” Except the Hawks only ever noticed the Wild as a rest stop on their way to the next round of the playoffs. Games between the two meant so much to those in St. Paul. The Hawks treated them as, “Who are you again?”

These days, it’s the Winnipeg Jets that the Wild are claiming is their blood feud. We guess by physical proximity it could work. Except the Jets don’t care, because the Jets now see the Wild as nothing more than a rest stop on their way to the next round of the playoffs. And if the Jets have a rival, it’s probably another Canadian team because that’s just how things work up there.

If you have a rival, it means you matter to someone. And that’s been the Wild’s problem. They haven’t really mattered to anyone. You never think about them, and when they pop up on the schedule your biggest reaction is, “Oh right, them.” No one ever circles dates against the Wild on the schedule. Hell, people in Minnesota basically treat them as a pre-show to the Gophers. So perhaps their aching need to bother someone is just a cry for attention. It has to be.

But they’re still not there. Jets fans don’t care about the Wild, especially given the way the Winnipeg turned the Wild into an aioli in last year’s playoffs. And they’re likely to do so again, if the Wild aren’t served up to the Predators instead.

The Wild aren’t even a little brother. They don’t have that kind of connection. They’re the kid down the street who keeps offering to fight you for money while you’re just trying to get to the store. They’re no one’s rival, except for maybe themselves.

Keep stamping your feet, Minnehaha. Maybe you should get a horn like the Vikings. At least then you’d be annoying, which would move the needle in any way. Which the Wild haven’t done ever.

Game #21 Preview Suite