WINNIPEG – Perhaps it was fitting the topic of resilience was on the plate of Paul Maurice in the hours leading up to puck drop.
The head coach of the Winnipeg Jets couldn’t have predicted his high-scoring team would only be able to generate two shots on goal in the third period of a tie game and 19 overall, forced to hang on for dear life, just to get to overtime and to bank the single point that accompanies it.
Maurice couldn’t have known he would have to dig into his bag of tricks to employ the aggressive three-forward approach to start the bonus hockey portion of the evening – a strategy that has now worked perfectly twice after Saturday’s 2-1 overtime triumph over the Canadiens that came 36 seconds into the extra session.
“It’s a guarantee that adversity is coming and it’s a guarantee that stretches of time, whether it’s a period or a game or a week, that’s going to happen to you in the NHL,” Maurice said after the morning skate. “And your ability to have resilient leaders that come in the next day after a tough day and go back to work and not let themselves slip into despair or worse, disbelief in the fact that you can win. That would be the intangible that I think I value the most.”
Instead of lamenting an off night, the Jets could take a deep breath, knowing they had found a way to win when they clearly weren’t at their best.
That’s ultimately what building resilience is all about.
“You’ve got to go through a little bit of adversity. You’ve got to fail a little bit and you’ve got to realize what it feels like to lose and to lose tight games or big games,” said Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was an essential piece in the process, turning aside 40 of 41 shots on goal that he faced. “You’ve got to remember how bad it feels and maybe that gives you a little boost and a little bit of extra energy when you really need it.”
Although he didn’t reference the specifics in his statement, it seemed clear that part of what Hellebuyck was referencing were the two earlier losses the Jets suffered in the final 10 seconds of regulation time.
Those are the types of heartbreaking moments that can lead to self-doubt if you let them linger.
But that’s not something the Jets have allowed to happen with regularity.
Instead, they’ve made a habit of being able to rally and to put deficits behind them – winning six times when trailing after one period.
That’s a testament to the Jets depth up front and offensive flair, but there is also a correlation to the belief the Jets have in their masked men.
“There’s a lot of confidence in our room,” said Jets centre Andrew Copp. “Like the other night, we’re down two but we feel like we can score on any given shift. I think we have a lot of confidence in our offensive game and are able to come back and a lot of confidence in our goaltender to keep us in it, not let that lead get to three or four. On any given night it can kind of be any line and we’ve kind of proved that over the course of the season so far.”
The only shot to sneak past Hellebuyck on Saturday night was a sharp-angle special, a bank job from behind the goal line by Nick Suzuki.
For many teams that don’t employ a Vezina-calibre netminder, it was the type of marker that can be deflating or even back-breaking.
The kind of goal that potentially opens the floodgates.
For Hellebuyck, it merely heightened his focus.
“It was one of those goals that you could do that 99 out of 100 times and it’s not going to go in,” said Hellebuyck. “I got caught on the one, which seems to be a theme this year, but I felt good in the game and just followed it up on the save to add momentum to me.”
This isn’t a one-off either.
Hellebuyck has built enough of a reservoir of resources to lean on in this department, not allowing a single moment to knock him off track.
“There’s a sense though, in our room, that when Connor gives up a goal like he did, you’re going to have a really, really hard time getting the next one,” said Maurice. “There’s a faith in our goaltender.”
That faith is well-founded and it’s an important part of the Jets success, as they won for a fourth consecutive and improved to 13-6-1 through 20 games of this 56-game schedule.
The Jets aren’t a finished product and they aren’t without flaws as they approach the midway point.
They also aren’t letting the pack run away from them either, they’re actually beginning to create a bit of separation.
At a time that was supposed to start providing a few clues about where the Jets actually stand in the North Division, they’ve found a way to take some important steps forward as they prepare for a two-game set with the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and Tuesday to round out this four-game homestand.
The Jets are tied for third in goals for per game (3.55), eighth in goals against (2.60 goals against per game) and boast a goal differential of plus-16, good for third in the NHL and behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning (plus-30) and Toronto Maple Leafs (plus-23).
Building blocks are being put down and this group is learning how to win – which isn’t necessarily as easy as it sounds.
Especially on a night when the Jets were clearly not clicking on all cylinders against a desperate Canadiens team that made a coaching change earlier this week.
“You’re going to have games like that,” said Jets centre Paul Stastny, who delivered the OT winner on Saturday. “When things aren’t going your way, you’ve just got to find a way. Whether you get a point or two points, sometimes you grind those wins out or sometimes you grind those overtime points out, and (Saturday) was a perfect example of that.”
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
