Jets' GM and coach are proud of what players accomplished, but want improvements
When each player met with Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff for season-ending talks this week, they were given verbal pats on their backs.
'The first thing we did was that we complimented them,' Arniel said Wednesday as he and Cheveldayoff held their final media availability.
'We told them how proud we were of the year we had, the things we accomplished as a group. Just the fact that we won the Presidents' Trophy, that we were consistent for 82 games, all those things that we did.'
The Jets won the trophy with a franchise-record 56 wins and NHL-best 116 points in the regular season, but were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 6 of their second-round series with the Dallas Stars by a 2-1 overtime loss last Saturday.
It was one round better than the previous two seasons, but disappointing for a group that was aiming to hoist the Stanley Cup.
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The next steps are something Arniel plans to discuss in-depth with each player during the upcoming two weeks after he gets input from his assistants.
'There's a lot of things for me that happened over the course of this playoffs that are extreme positives,' Arniel said. 'There's some things again that we're going to have to grill our group on to get better at, so that when we hit this again next year that we're better prepared for it to have the outcome fall in our favour.'
Jets captain Adam Lowry is confident players will dig deep to reach another level next season.
'There's a lot of optimism that with another good summer, guys really pushing to get better to work on their game and to find ways to improve, that we can come back next year and put ourselves in a spot to be successful again,' he said.
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'Put ourselves in a spot to go on another playoff run and hopefully this one ends in late June instead of late May.'
Arniel, who's up for the Jack Adams Trophy for the league's top head coach, just finished his first year as Winnipeg's bench boss. He was associate coach the previous two seasons to now-retired Rick Bowness.
'One of the things that came through in our exit meetings in talking to some of the players, there was the accountability that (Arniel) was able to hold the players to,' Cheveldayoff said.
'The fairness. That word came out several times in conversations with the players. Hard but fair.'
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Cheveldayoff said he believes the team can improve again next season.
'We're fortunate we have a real strong core of guys that are going to push, pull and prod,' he said. 'A lot of different guys that are on the good side of (age) 30, I guess, in the sense that there's still capacity for them to grow.
'That's the group of guys that we're going to challenge to help take us to that next level. And again, it can't be underestimated, we have the best goaltender in the world.'
Connor Hellebuyck is likely to win his second consecutive Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie, and third of his career. He's also a finalist for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player.
He boosted his franchise record with 47 regular-season wins and had the league's best goals-against average (2.00) and most shutouts (eight).
But Hellebuyck struggled at times during the post-season, including being pulled in three road games against the Blues. The Jets never won a road game in their series against St. Louis or Dallas.
Winnipeg has eight pending unrestricted free agents, including winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who's playing for Denmark at the men's world hockey championship.
'When we get a chance to talk to him, we'll put our best foot forward with him to try to make our case to be a unique Jet-for-life type player and we'll see where it all goes there,' Cheveldayoff said.
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'The relationship is great and he did contribute to the success of this organization on many fronts and we hope that's something that can continue.'
Ehlers recorded 24 goals and 63 points in 69 regular-season games. He added five goals and two assists in eight playoff games after returning from injury.
'I think I'd echo the statement of everyone in this room, that we'd love to see Nikky back,' Lowry said. 'He's a huge part of our team. He's a game-breaker. He's great in this room.'
Lowry and top-line winger Kyle Connor are both heading into the final year of their contracts and could be offered extensions.
'That's kind of how I picture myself, as a Winnipeg Jet for life,' Lowry said. 'I love the city, love playing in front of these fans and I think that's something that hopefully we can take steps towards getting that out of the way this summer.'
Cheveldayoff wasn't dismissing that possibility – for both Lowry and Connor.
'I believe they're a big part of our success, and want to keep it that way,' he said.
The Jets also have six pending restricted free agents such as defenceman Dylan Samberg and forwards Gabe Vilardi and Morgan Barron.
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Vancouver Sun
27 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Why is the NHL tilted in Florida's favour? Lightning, Panthers hold six-year run on Eastern Conference dominance
Coral Gables, Fla. — It's Sunday night, and the arena parking lot is filled with people lugging hockey bags towards the main doors. But we're not in a small town in Canada. We're in Coral Gables, Fla., where hockey leagues are very much alive and well at the Panthers IceDen. There are three games going on three sheets of ice. But one stands out — the Panthers Warriors are on the wrong end of a 10-3 drubbing, but the team is notable. Its players are all veterans or people who support American vets, and the program is supported by the NHL club. 'It's the hardest sport I've ever played in my life,' said Ryan Teems, a 32-year-old U.S. army veteran. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Three years ago, Teems didn't even know how to properly tie up skates. But, now, he's playing regularly. 'I got out of the army in 2020 and somebody took me to a hockey game,' said Teems, who spent six years in the infantry. 'I'd never been to one. I watched it and fell in love. Then I bought Panthers' season tickets. And then I was going to the bathroom at one of the games, and right above the urinal, it said, $500 to learn to play, full equipment and all that. So that's when I got into it.' That learn to play clinic was sponsored by the Panthers. In 1998, the Panthers moved to what's now known as the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., about a 40-minute ride on the expressway from Miami, if the traffic goes your way. It is the definition of a suburban arena, close to the freeway and surrounded by thousands of parking stalls. The team relocated its training facility to nearby Coral Gables, taking what was a two-sheet community hockey facility, adding a third rink with a dressing room, and re-christening it as the Panthers IceDen. But that wasn't enough. In 2023, construction was completed on a new $65-million dedicated Panthers practice facility in Fort Lauderdale. The team and municipal officials put together a plan for an arena with two ice sheets. The adjoining War Memorial Auditorium was renovated. It's got a food court, stage, and the Panthers even held their 2024 Stanley Cup ring ceremony there. It has a team shop, and Stanley Cup parties are hosted there. Most of the players live close to the IcePlex, and many ride bikes or Vespas to practice. The team also has golf carts on standby for players if they want to zip home and back. And like the IceDen, the IcePlex is open for community hockey and skating. Panthers' general manager Bill Zito has heard the complaints. He's heard sniping from different corners of the league, that Florida teams have unfair advantages over their NHL counterparts. The 2025 Cup final between the Panthers and Oilers marks the sixth consecutive season that a Sunshine State-based team has won the Eastern Conference. The Tampa Bay Lightning took three in a row, and now it's the Panthers' turn to threepeat in the East . These two are divisional rivals to the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, so this is what these Canadian franchises are fighting, year after year. The rub? The fact that Florida has no state income tax. But that's not all. There's no inheritance tax, nor does Florida collect taxes on personal investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and the like. Compare that to Quebec, where the provincial tax rate is 25.75 per cent on those making $129,590 a year or more. Or Alberta, where it is 15 per cent on taxable income over $362,961 a year. Tax is a complicated thing for professional athletes. They pay based on where they play. So, for home games, the Lightning and Panthers players pay no state tax. But, if the Panthers are in Montreal for a day to play the Canadiens, they pay Quebec tax based on one day of their salaries. Still, for the majority of the season, Florida-based players are in the state and take advantage of a tax regime that is favourable. In fact, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly admitted ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final that noise has been made to make the tax disparities an issue for the next collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires at the end of next season . But Daly said there is very little the league can do to mitigate tax differences. 'Certainly it's an issue that some of our franchises have raised as a concern,' said Daly. 'What I'd say at this point is that we don't share the level of concern that they have, and what I'd say on top of that is that these imbalances have existed forever. There's nothing new here.' Zito said the tax issue is 'marginal at best.' That's not to say that Zito doesn't think the Panthers have a competitive advantage, but it has to do with the spending to make the team's facilities the class of the NHL, and not to be afraid to spend on players in order to be a contender year in, year out. He said when management asked owner Vincent Viola to greenlight a new practice facility, it was done. 'And it's beautiful, and it allows us the flexibility to try to do the things that we think are necessary to try to win and to try to have an excellent organization,' said Zito. 'I think the players feed off it. They know that if the chicken isn't right, we're going to get a new chicken. And it all sort of transcends all that we do. It sounds silly, but it's true and it's real.' It has to be noted that Viola is not a stranger to the courts. In 2017, the Panthers reached a confidential settlement with Raphael Estevez, who once wore the Stanley C. Panther mascot costume. He sued for wrongful dismissal and claimed more than 1,000 hours of unpaid overtime. He claimed the job damaged his mental health. Viola and his son, Michael, are also named in class-action lawsuit launched by an iron workers' pension fund. It is alleged that the Violas were part of a scheme to buy back US$400 million out of the company they control, Virtu Financial, and steering it away from other investors. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched legal proceedings against Virtu Financial and its subsidiary, Virtu Americas. The allegations were that Virtu Americas did not adequately protect information about its customers and their trades. 'Virtu Americas' failure to safeguard this information created significant risk that its proprietary traders could misuse it or share it outside Virtu Americas,' states the SEC's complaint. The allegations of security issues with Virtu have also led to a class-action lawsuit. Virtu pleaded to dismiss that case earlier this month. In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Viola to be his Secretary of the Army, but the Panthers' owner later pulled himself out of the running for the job. There is an area where Florida's tax advantage is having an indirect effect on the hockey culture in the state. Since the COVID-19 pandemic got more people working from home, Florida's population has boomed. It is to the United States what Alberta is to Canada, the hotspot for in-country migration. Since 2020, almost one-quarter of America's intra-state migrants are choosing Florida. U.S. census stats show Florida's population is now at about 23.4 million, that's two million more people than lived in the state in 2020. A lot of those domestic migrants are coming from hockey-loving, northern states. Teems said the combination of the Panthers' build-it-and-they-will-come mentality is bringing more people to games, and more rec hockey players to the IceDen and IcePlex. 'Hockey started getting big, and the Panthers started making the playoffs, making those runs, and it got bigger and bigger,' he said. His Panthers Warriors teammate, Keegan Brown, agrees. He learned to play hockey when he was six years old at the IceDen. He's 29, and he started playing again four years ago. 'It's really picking up,' said Brown. 'Back in the day, I feel like no one is talking about hockey. It's really blowing up down here. I like it a lot.' And the Panthers' success is what is galvanizing it all. 'I feel like a lot of people like a winning team. Obviously, the Panthers weren't always like that. It was a tough beginning for them. Going from the roots back in the day, being nobodies where you could pay $30 and sit on the glass. Now, there's no way you can do that. 'They're fighting, they're dogs, they're shooting goals, everyone likes that.' Matthew Tkachuk was the key piece in a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames . It was a deal reminiscent of the NBA's sign-and-trade transactions. Tkachuk signed an eight-year, US$76-million deal with Calgary, and then was sent to Florida. Tkachuk said the pull of the Panthers is that players around the league know the team has a commitment to excellence. 'We've got such great ownership in the Violas,' he said. 'We've got great GM in Bill and the coaching staff, led by Paul (Maurice), is awesome, and it's all about winning. Winning and having fun. So I think that's what creates the culture, but I was just one of the lucky ones. I got to step into it a few years ago.' 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The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
Winnipeg Free Press
36 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Red Sox calling up top prospect Roman Anthony two days after 497-foot grand slam in minors
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Global News
40 minutes ago
- Global News
Top NHL draft prospects meet with McDavid and Marchand at Stanley Cup final
Visiting the Stanley Cup final weeks before hearing their names called early in the NHL draft, top prospects Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, James Hagens and Jake O'Brien got a surprise at the Florida Panthers' practice facility on Monday. Brad Marchand pulled up a chair and joined them for breakfast. The 37-year-old veteran shared some laughs and chatted with them hours before he and the Panthers face the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3. 'You think you're just going to say hi, and then you're sitting at a table with Marchand and he's talking to you,' Schaefer said. 'We were talking about the draft and the (scouting) combine, and he was like, 'I didn't get to go there.' And he's laughing, and I'm like, 'Well, look where you are now: You're in the Stanley Cup final.'' Story continues below advertisement Schaefer, Misa, Hagens and O'Brien also met Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and took in the Oilers' morning skate. Schaefer first met McDavid in January when the three-time MVP returned to Erie, where his No. 97 was retired by the Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy This interaction — in the arena where McDavid was drafted first a decade ago — went a little smoother. 'I didn't think I was going to have to talk at his jersey retirement, and then I ended up talking to him,' Schaefer recalled. 'I ran out of things to say, and I ended up looking at McDavid and go, 'I'm proud of you.' Nobody would say that.' Schaefer is NHL Central Registry's top-ranked prospect, though there is still considerable debate as to whom among Schaefer, Misa and Hagens the New York Islanders will select with the first pick after winning the draft lottery. Story continues below advertisement Hagens grew up on Long Island cheering for them and went to games at Nassau Coliseum. Recently, he saw a bumper sticker that read, 'Bring Hagens home,' but he's also a realist about the possibility of his hometown team not selecting him. 'I just want to be (with) a team that wants me the most — I want to play for any of these teams,' Hagens said. 'It's just a competitive nature that you want to be the first person off the board. It's exciting, so I can't wait.' 'Trading' Barkov Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov did not register a point in either of the first two games of the final and has a minus-4 rating. Leave it to coach Paul Maurice, ever the jokester, to cut the tension. 'We're trading him.' Maurice quipped. 'No, I'm not (worried) at all. There's action at both ends of the ice all the time. I don't think this is a statistical series because it's not relatable to series that you played in the past. Shot attempts, the sheer volume of quality offence driven by both teams and at the same time, both teams are defending very well. He got a minus on the 4-on-4 with a heck of a shot block, but it's in the back of the net.' Barkov recently won the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward for a third time. He played a big role in keeping McDavid off the scoresheet in Game 7 of the final last year when Florida won 2-1 to capture the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. Story continues below advertisement
