Kevin Cheveldayoff’s midseason media availability struck me as more passionate, more personal and more Manitoban than I can remember.
“I’m a Prairie boy,” he said when asked about his pride in the Jets’ small market run to the top of the NHL. “I grew up north of Saskatoon in a little town called Blaine Lake, 550 people. I played my junior hockey in Brandon. I’ve spent the most time of my life here in Winnipeg. There’s a sense of pride. When you come from the prairies, there’s always that feeling that you need to punch above your weight.”
It may be the most relatable thing Cheveldayoff has said from his place at the podium; I imagined Manitobans from places like Lac du Bonnet, Steinbach, Winkler, Flin Flon, Virden, The Pas and Deloraine hearing themselves in his words. In Winnipeg, where we are used to being outshone by places like Toronto, Vancouver and New York, we understand the notion that we must outperform our big-market rivals to be seen as their equals. There is a reason that no one in Winnipeg is shocked that it took this long for “the national media” — a phrase whose meaning changes depending on what we need it to mean — to catch on to the Jets’ excellence in 2023-24.
To be clear, Cheveldayoff was also adamant that Winnipeg hasn’t actually accomplished anything yet. The Jets have won a franchise-record eight straight games, bringing their record to an NHL-best 28-9-4 for 60 points in 41 games. They have given up the fewest goals in the league (95) while going the second-longest stretch of games in the expansion era (31) allowing three goals or less. They’ve even done all of this without knowing their full power; Gabriel Vilardi’s recovery from injury was followed by Kyle Connor’s injury and now a potential lower-body injury for Mark Scheifele, who left Thursday night’s game.
But January standings mean squat.
Maybe that’s why parts of Cheveldayoff’s Thursday news conference felt like a call to arms. He referred to the Jets as a family, shared that he absolutely sprinted down the stairs on Tuesday when Scheifele was struck in the head by a puck, and said that, when Rick Bowness left the team to be with his wife Judy after her seizure, Cheveldayoff challenged the team: “We talk about being a ‘family’ but now we’ve got the chance to walk it.”
Winnipeg’s response to its challenges helped Cheveldayoff put his best forward on Thursday. The Jets have skyrocketed from first-round fodder that lacked “pushback” to the top of the NHL. On Thursday night, when Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers scored to steal a game from Chicago’s grasp in its dying minutes, they capped off an exhausted, improbable comeback put together exactly the right way.
The Jets didn’t cheat the game. They didn’t rush up the ice for offence, make hope plays into the middle of the ice or try to take on their opponents all by themselves. With Scheifele out, pulling up hurt during a second-period backcheck, the Jets buckled and then found a way to win. It was the first time in a long time it didn’t feel like the Jets “deserved” to win — and yet, there they were, stealing two points, with everyone in the lineup earning a piece.
Laurent Brossoit’s 20 saves included plenty of quality; Josh Morrissey’s late third-period pinch drew a penalty; Cole Perfetti’s power-play wizardry gained momentum; Adam Lowry’s determined puck protection and pristine centring pass set the table; Vilardi’s finish tied the game; Ehlers’ rocket boots won it with 1:05 left in the third. Despite a horrible second period, the Jets had won a game they “should” not have won and they made it feel inevitable.
So check your expectations at the door. Forget last season’s angst. Forget the snow. This Jets team is in the middle of something special even when down, tired and out.
The last time Cheveldayoff spoke to a group of reporters at the Matt Frost Media Centre at Canada Life Centre, it was to address a first-round playoff exit. He was contemplative to the point of frustration: With major decisions looming on Blake Wheeler, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, the clearest plan he would commit to was the need to evaluate. The need to “assess” was an underwhelming mission statement the day he made it and every day until Dubois landed Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick.
“It’s the nature of this job that you are looked at with a very critical lens,” Cheveldayoff said on Thursday. “You should not get into this industry if you don’t think that that’s part of the equation.”
So what comes next?
Winnipeg has earned the right to be seen as a team that needs minor tweaking as opposed to roster surgery to take the next step. It’s also earned the right to be rewarded by a GM who started the season with cap space. Cheveldayoff will meet with his professional and amateur scouts next week to iron out the team’s needs, wants, and assessment of the market. Cap space will also be a factor; the team is projected to be able to add approximately $5 million worth of contracts on deadline day but that number will change depending on injuries, call-ups and performance bonuses.
The Jets will get an update on Scheifele’s status on Friday, while the now-healthy Kupari has been assigned to Manitoba on a conditioning loan and Ville Heinola has been assigned there as a regular roster player. Every little bit counts, including the $850,000 in performance bonuses that Perfetti is eligible for based on his entry-level contract. The idea of being able to add $5 million in contracts could change at any moment.
“The script isn’t even written yet. All I can say is we’ll be prepared as we always are to make the proper decisions,” Cheveldayoff said.
It was pointed out that Winnipeg is a playoff-calibre team; isn’t part of Cheveldayoff’s job, then, to size up a playoff run and try to shore up any weaknesses with a long postseason in mind?
“I really haven’t had a chance to address a lineup with Vilardi and Kyle Connor in it,” he said. “Things evolve every single day so anybody who makes bold proclamations at 40 games hasn’t really felt the ups and downs and the rollercoaster of an NHL season.”
Scheifele’s Thursday night injury certainly proved that point, yet the Jets still won their eighth game in a row. They carry The Athletic’s best odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Something special is happening here and the fastidious Cheveldayoff, who is on something of a hot streak from the Andrew Copp trade through this fall’s extensions for Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck and Nino Niederreiter, says he’ll be ready.
But that all depends on the market and Winnipeg’s homework, which cranks into high gear at its staff meetings next week.
“I think the swing, if you’re taking one, you want to do something that fits,” Cheveldayoff said. “There’s a lot to say about chemistry and this group has really good chemistry. So if you’re going to add you want to add people to add to that chemistry.”
“Fit” is a vague concept and difficult to plan for; Namestnikov worked because Bowness was so familiar with him. Niederreiter was a player Cheveldayoff had done his homework on for quite some time. Bowness connections include Dickinson, who he coached in Dallas, and Tyler Johnson, who he coached in Tampa Bay. Cheveldayoff’s homework isn’t public business, which is part of what makes the deadline fun to cover in a market like Winnipeg.
Dylan DeMelo hits the ice prior to puck drop against the Blackhawks. (Photo: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI via Getty Images)
Cheveldayoff did say that the Jets have been in touch with representatives for pending UFAs Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo.
“Either myself or Larry Simmons have had conversations with each of their respective agents and those are conversations that are going to continue. I’m not telling you there’s negotiations ongoing or anything like that. When you’re in our situation here, you try to be as transparent as possible, given the different parameters but sometimes you can only be transparent so far. They’re big parts of our team. There’s no question about that. We’re not having the success we’re having here without those guys.”
DeMelo and Dillon are two of many Jets who have bought into the city, the organization, and the idea of punching above their weight. It would be convenient for storytelling’s sake if they were also from the prairies, as opposed to Ontario and B.C., but each defenceman is emblematic of the idea that Winnipeg can get big results from modest places. The Jets paid two second-round picks and one third-round pick for two top-four defencemen and, for this season at least, have the two of them signed for $6.9 million between them. That’s a lot of surplus value. (Talks with RFA’s like Perfetti, Logan Stanley, Declan Chisholm, and David Gustafsson are likely taking a backseat to deadline and UFA preparations for now.)
It’s true that much of what Cheveldayoff says is difficult to code. That’s by design. We know that he’s taken big swings when the team’s performance has warranted it. We’ve seen recent success with smaller swings, too. Ultimately, his trade deadline work will depend on what his current players are able to deliver for the next two months.
To that end, consider what Chicago was saying in its dressing room after Winnipeg came back to win.
“They’re consistent. They don’t cheat the game,” defenceman Connor Murphy told reporters. “I think a lot of their play comes from their defensive game and they just stick with it and try to get pucks and bodies around the net, as simple as that sounds, and win battles and they know if they stick to their game things are going to come. We ended up breaking exactly how they wanted.”
Can you imagine that quote being said about the Jets in recent years?
It’s a point of pride for the Jets’ GM, who cited coaching, depth, star power, and even a bit of luck as reasons for Winnipeg’s ascent to the top of the NHL.
“It’s just important that the players understand that winning just doesn’t happen,” Cheveldayoff said. “There has to be a process. There has to be that buy-in to that certain thing. Adam has done a great job but Josh Morrissey’s done a great job. Mark Scheifele has done a great job. Brenden Dillon’s done a great job. Dylan DeMelo. Those players are all leaders as well. Everyone feels like this is their team, their contributions matter.”
The last word is also Cheveldayoff’s, on family.
“Our organization, it’s a small one as far as our infrastructure, our staffs. We’re a tight-knit group. But as much as the players are a family, our hockey operations is a family as well, our business operations is a family, so there’s lots of those things. You never want to disappoint a family member and I think that we all have that kind of feeling for each other.”
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
