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GM Kevin Cheveldayoff says Jets' success is rooted in Prairie pride

WINNIPEG 鈥 Kevin Cheveldayoff鈥檚 pride in how well the Winnipeg Jets are playing comes from different perspectives 鈥 as the team鈥檚 general manager, as a hockey fan and as a Canadian who knows all about small markets.
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Kevin Cheveldayoff鈥檚 pride in how well the Winnipeg Jets are playing comes from different perspectives 鈥 as the team鈥檚 general manager, as a hockey fan and as a Canadian who knows all about small markets. Cheveldayoff speaks to media in Winnipeg, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG 鈥 Kevin Cheveldayoff鈥檚 pride in how well the Winnipeg Jets are playing comes from different perspectives 鈥 as the team鈥檚 general manager, as a hockey fan and as a Canadian who knows all about small markets.聽

Cheveldayoff spoke to the media ahead of Thursday night鈥檚 home game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Jets (28-9-4) beat the Blackhawks 2-1 for a franchise-record eight-game win streak.

鈥淚鈥檓 a Prairie boy,鈥 Cheveldayoff said. 鈥淚 grew up north of Saskatoon in a little town called Blaine Lake with 550 people. I played my junior hockey in Brandon (Man.). I鈥檝e spent the most time of my life here in Winnipeg.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of pride. When you come from the Prairies, there鈥檚 always that feeling that you need to punch above your weight.鈥

The Jets have certainly been doing that this season, but while the success feels good, Cheveldayoff is also tempering his emotions.

鈥淲e've accomplished nothing yet,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey've accomplished nothing yet. They know that. But you put yourself in a good situation if you play like that night after night."

Captain Adam Lowry backed up that attitude.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of fun to be doing as well as we are, but at the same time it鈥檚 only halfway through the season,鈥 Lowry said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 really accomplished a whole lot. We鈥檝e been in similar situations before.鈥

The Jets had sat atop the Western Conference in mid-January last season, but faltered and only grabbed the second wild-card spot in Game 81 after finishing 46-33-3. They lost the first round of the playoffs in five games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.

鈥淟ooking at last year, you can take some lessons where maybe we started to believe our own hype or things like that,鈥 Lowry said.聽

鈥淏ut I think this year we've done a really good job of going back and looking at the mistakes we made in the game, whether we won or we lost, and trying to eliminate those for the next game.鈥

Lowry was named captain after the club put Blake Wheeler on waivers last June to buy out his contract. Wheeler then signed a one-year contract with the New York Rangers.

Players and head coach Rick Bowness have talked a lot more this season about the team鈥檚 strong leadership group and a feeling of being part of a family.聽

Cheveldayoff has seen it.

鈥淓veryone feels like this is their team, their contributions matter,鈥 he said.聽

Two other moves also appear to be influencing the team鈥檚 success.

Second-line centre Pierre-Luc Dubois was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in July for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, who have fit in with the group.聽

Centre Mark Scheifele and veteran goalie Connor Hellebuyck then signed equal seven-year deals in October to remain with the club that drafted them.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 huge to be able to retain two superstars in this league,鈥 Lowry said. 鈥淗elle鈥檚 a top-three goalie in this league and Scheif is a No. 1 centre. They don鈥檛 grow on trees.

鈥淭o have that uncertainty (about their futures) gone has been huge. It kind of allows us to know what our team鈥檚 going to look like going forward.鈥

Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 and was a finalist in 2018 and 2023. His play this season has been outstanding. He is 21-6-3 overall and is on the longest unbeaten streak for a goaltender in franchise history (11-0-3). He did not play Thursday.

He and backup Laurent Brossoit are also getting more help in front of them as the players have bought into Bowness鈥檚 emphasis on defence from everybody.聽

Defenceman Josh Morrissey said a second season learning Bowness鈥檚 system has brought improvement, plus he pointed to depth.聽

鈥淥ur depth is really I think the strength of our team along with our system and commitment to playing a good team game,鈥 Morrissey said.聽

鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 what鈥檚 really exciting. I think that鈥檚 a way that you can sustain winning hockey games in this league and it鈥檚 only going to get harder from here.鈥

That depth has been leaned on since top winger Kyle Connor injured a knee Dec. 13. His recovery was pegged at six to eight weeks and he started skating with the team in a non-contact jersey on Thursday.聽

Players also want their success to continue for their fans.聽

鈥淚 ran into one guy at the grocery store and he says he wakes up in a better mood when we win. So he's been in a great mood the month of December,鈥 Lowry said.

鈥淚t's one of those things, being fortunate to play in a market like this, everyone's invested in how the team's doing and where we're sitting in the standings. Just to know that we have their support is awesome.鈥澛

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2024.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

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