Some Winnipeg Jets members will use them to supplement their stats and pursue individual goals or milestones. Some will try to lay the groundwork to climb an organizational depth chart, whether that means staying with the Jets or possibly moving to a new club with free agencies or through trade. Others will work to delve into the details, to actually start the process of collecting the pieces from another lost season. The full autopsy report will be available soon enough, but for now, it’s important to see how the Jets react after losing 13-5 during a two-game swing in Florida this weekend, which ended with the Tampa Bay Lightning to score five unanswered goals in the 7-4 victory for the hosts on Saturday night. No matter what the motivation may be for those on the current roster or for others who could be recalled in the coming days or weeks, one thing that can not be overlooked during these last six regular season games is something which could have far-reaching consequences. “Yes, I mean, whether we’re in or out of the playoffs, six games, whatever we have left, I do not think it ‘s too early to start building a culture with that right attitude in the club,” he said. . The Jets’ left winger Kyle Connor, who scored his 42nd goal of the season to give his team one of three different leads that was eventually lost to the two Stanley Cup defenders. “Well, we’ll look to build on that in the next two games.” To be completely clear, Connor is not suggesting for a second that the Jets can wash away the frustration of this campaign, which now holds a 35-30-11 record, leaving them 10 points behind the Dallas Stars in the pursuit of a second wild. But what he says is that it would be foolish to just not show up and accept mediocrity – or worse, let apathy be the dominant emotion in the dressing room or on the ice. By the time the buzzer sounds on May 1 after the game against the Seattle Kraken, the Jets will have completed their 11th season since the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg to become version 2.0 of the franchise. During that time, the Jets have won a total of three playoff series – including a sweep over the Edmonton Oilers last spring. Building blocks have been demolished over the years, but the foundation has some cracks that need repair. Not only have the Jets struggled to secure victories, but they have also lost their identity. They have a lot of skills, at least on paper, but they are not scoring enough – or consistently enough, including the 33 times the Jets have scored two goals or less this season. They miss out on a lot of A-scoring opportunities and do not defend well enough, especially when it comes to clearing the front of the net or allowing too many shots. Their special teams, which once had power, have retreated, whether that means they have a power play in the middle of the pack or a penalty that is one of the worst in the NHL – and 32nd overall since March 10th. When it comes to scoring, you need to look beyond the traditional goal-to-average numbers or save a percentage for your answer. There is no doubt that Connor Hellebuyck was not playing at Vezina caliber level this season, but his season was not as poor as some might suggest. Can Hellebuyck play better? Absolutely – and since then he has been a key player in the 2016-17 season, but his underlying numbers tell a different story. Hellebuyck made his league-leading 64th start to the campaign on Saturday night and despite retiring for the second time in so many days, he says here that the goal is the Jets’ least interest in this important off-season. “We let our goalkeeper dry. “We did it all year,” said Jets striker Paul Stastny, who expressed his disappointment after scoring his 21st goal of the season. “Some games, (Hellebuyck) makes big rebounds or does not score, but … if you continue to miss out on such opportunities for grade A and keep the kids alone in the slot, you will burn out.” That’s a big part of the issue. Hellebuyck’s superhuman game last season allowed the Jets to cover some of the deficiencies associated with the defense zone game. As both the volume and quality of shots fired by Hellebuyck have increased, the flaws have been further exposed this season. The only way to get rid of this trend is to improve both the structure and the commitment to make it a reality. This is an important part of building a culture of victory. The games against the Florida Panthers and Lightning were not-so-subtle reminders that niche teams don’t just focus on the details when they have the elf on their sticks. “Yes, you’re just looking at the best teams of the last two or three or four years,” Stastny said, referring to teams such as Lightning, Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes. “If you watch their game, yes, they have some high quality skills, but these high quality skills do not show up right away. “They play the game the right way, they almost grind you, they force you to do turnovers and then that kind of top skill takes over. You know, that’s how you learn to win. “I think you have to realize that it will not be easy every night.” Again this phrase, playing in the right way, the same as the Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said after Friday’s defeat by the Panthers. Can the Jets build some of those hard-working habits in these last six games when finding motivation could be a little harder? Only time will tell. What we do know for sure is that it is almost impossible to establish a win-win culture without actually winning regularly. It is also increasingly difficult to win without establishing a standard and style that allows teams to hang out in the highly rented area of the NHL elite. The Jets have let this pattern slip away over the last few seasons and the process of repairing this culture needs to start right away, even if some of these pieces are not going to exist to see the final product.
