Music: {allcanada} Three questions facing Winnipeg Jets

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

{allcanada} Three questions facing Winnipeg Jets

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1. Is Rick Bowness the new voice the Jets need?

When Paul Maurice stepped down as Jets coach with 53 games remining last season, he said they needed "a new voice."

Enter Rick Bowness, who was hired as coach July 3.

The 67-year-old, who was hired as Jets coach on an interim basis in 1988-89, brings a wealth of experience in his second tenure with them. And he knows exactly what identity he expects the Jets to have this season.

"When you're hard to play against, you're skating, you're pressuring them, you're not giving up much, you're in their face, you're in on top of them all over the ice," Bowness said. "Be creative with the puck, keep the puck as much as you can and then when you don't have it, the old hockey cliché; take away time and space. We want to be on top of them. And if you do those things, you're going to spend a lot less time in your zone, you're going to be a lot better defensively."

2. Will they improve defensively?

The Jets have long struggled in defensive metrics and the concerning trend continued in 2021-22. They allowed the 13th-most goals (253) in the NHL, seventh-most shots (33.2 per game) and were 29th in penalty-kill percentage (75.0%).

Bowness has had success implementing solid defensive schemes throughout his 33-year coaching career in the NHL. The Dallas Stars ranked in the top-half of the League in shots allowed (13th; 31.0 shots allowed per game) and goals against (tied for 14th; 2.98 goals against per game) with Bowness as coach last season. In 2019-20, when he began the season as an assistant before being promoted to coach, the Stars had the second-best goals-against average (2.52) in the NHL.

"In talking to Rick and listening, this isn't a 'I think he can implement these things.' I know he can," Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. "I've seen it. I've seen his teams play. I've seen the structure. I've seen the hardness. I've seen the different times. You don't take a team to the [2020] Stanley Cup Final just by luck."

3. Can the Jets take advantage of their window to win?

The Jets have an impressive core of players. Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the NHL in 2019-20 and remains one of the best at his position. The top-six forward group includes Kyle Connor, who set NHL career highs in goals (47) and points (93) last season, Mark Scheifele (70 points in 2021-22), Pierre-Luc Dubois (28 goals), captain Blake Wheeler (60 points) and Nikolaj Ehlers (28 goals).

Add in a talented defense corps led by Josh Morrissey, Nate Schmidt, Neal Pionk, and Brenden Dillon, and the Jets should contend for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season after finishing eight points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card in the Western Conference in 2021-22. But can they make a run at a championship?

With 12 player contracts set to expire in either 2023 or 2024, including Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Scheifele and Dubois, the window for Winnipeg to win is still open.

"Whatever happens in the future, we're focusing on the present here now," Cheveldayoff said. "If you're trying to, in this game, look too far ahead, you're going to fall off the deep end, so to speak. We're focused on right now. Rick is here. He's in with both feet and I think it's going to be good for our organization."

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