Page 46 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 143

46 Issue #143 December 2024 www.sportsenergynews.com

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Stories And More About The People In Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry
With a record fourteen wins in their first fifteen games the Winnipeg Jets are off to a record start
to their NHL season. Will the Jets be the first Canadian team since Montreal in 1993 to hoist the

Stanley Cup?
Jake Lapierre - So far this season, the Winnipeg Jets dominating league play is garnering the attention of hockey fans across Canada.
The Jets dominance is attributed to their scoring prowess with the second-best offense at 4.21 goals per game, and they hold the fifth-best
defense allowing only 2.42 goals per game. That strong defensive stat is thanks to Connor Hellebuyck’s excellent 0.923 save percentage
and 2.20 goals against average.
Currently, the Jets have everything potential Stanley Cup champions need; from endless goalscoring to elite goaltending, but there’s
plenty of hockey to play before the playoffs. The Stanley Cup is the toughest trophy to win in league style sports and it would be great to
see the Winnipeg Jets hoist the cup at the end of the 2024/2025 season.

Jim Riddell - The Winnipeg Jets are a very good hockey team. They have one of the best goalies in the NHL in Connor Hellebuyck, who
has played 16 of the first 21 games, winning 14 of them and getting three shutouts. All four lines have been contributing consistently and
the defense has been sound. Luck may have been at least a small factor in the fast start as the Jets have remained mostly injury-free so
far with sixteen skaters having played every game up to the quarter mark of the season. They also caught a bit of a scheduling break, not
having to play a set of back-to-back games until Nov 22nd and 23rd. Last season Winnipeg finished with 110 points, the second most in
the Western Conference. They then lost in the first round to the Colorado Avalanche, getting eliminated in five games . With the relative
parity among the sixteen teams that will make the playoffs, several teams are capable of winning it all, with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton
Oilers being in that group. The Winnipeg Jets will definitely be in the mix, but it’s a bit early to predict them winning the Stanley Cup this year.

Peter Collins - Sports Enthusiast -Canadian NHL hockey fans, aka “real hockey fans,” are desperate to bring the Cup back north where
it belongs. The situation is so dire that many Ottawa and Montreal fans were cheering for the Leafs during last year’s playoffs.
The Leafs have a strong and competitive team, loaded with stars, but their weakness is that their goaltending is suspect. They also cannot
seem to win a playoff series which only adds to their fans frustrations. The Flames, Habs, and Sens are quite a few years away from
contention with a myriad of issues beginning with regarding team depth. Vancouver and Edmonton, like the Leafs, also have potential,
with Edmonton coming oh-so-close last year. It seems almost impossible that Edmonton, with Draisaitl and McDavid, could finish their
careers without a Cup. That leaves the record-setting Jets. The Winnipeg Jets are off to a great start to their season, but there are no guarantees that it will
lead to a Cup win. The one thing in the Jets favour is that they have the most talented goalie among Canadian NHL teams. Since 2018 Connor Hellebuyck
has been on of the most successful goalies in the NHL, and that includes winning the Vezina trophy for the best goaltending twice during that time
period. Hellebuyck is consistently among the league leaders in save percentage and goals against average, two critical metrics in goaltending. Goaltending
aside, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has built a talented team in the Manitoba capital. With a stellar defense led by Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey, and talented
forwards like Connor, Scheifele, and Ehlers, the Jets are one of the most balanced teams in the league. First year coach Scott Arniel’s challenge will be to
get them to perform well in the playoffs, something they haven’t done since the 2017-2018 season. The road to Stanley Cup bliss just may pass through
the coldest and windiest place in Canada, the intersection of Portage and Main. How appropriate!