Locker room talk Jets inner-sanctum meticulously planned for bonding and building relationships By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 5:40 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2024 (617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is the place where pep talks are made. Where strategy is mapped out. Where laughs and inside jokes and nicknames and funny fights over the music selection are flying fast and furious. Where post-game victory jackets are handed out. Where media interviews take place. Where friendships are formed. Where success — and setbacks — are shared.

It is the Winnipeg Jets locker room.

Today, the Free Press takes you inside for a tour, moving from stall to stall with several players as your guides. Turns out plenty of planning is involved in who sits where — and why. No details are spared, with Winnipeg’s hard-working equipment staff spending hours every day to make sure their hockey home is a most welcoming place.

“The environment you want to try and create is to be as comfortable as you can,” said veteran defenceman Brenden Dillon.

In the results-oriented business of professional sports, on-ice performance is key. But there are plenty of intangibles in play, including the unity between teammates who have to be willing to lay it all out on the line and battle for each other.

How often have you heard Jets head coach Rick Bowness and many of his players talk about how tight-knit this group is? There’s no analytics to measure the impact, but those involved in the game swear it’s a crucial factor.

“It’s important. They’re talking all the time. So you have to build that chemistry. It starts off ice,” said Bowness.

Once training camp is over and a 23-man roster has been set, the seating chart is approved by Bowness himself. Not unlike a teacher would have a say in where students are placed in the classroom. It’s always subject to change, of course. Unlike school, there’s a lot more movement on a hockey team.

Players get injured. Players get sent down and called up from the minors. Players get added or removed by trade.

“As the year goes on it can become more of a plug-and-play,” said defenceman Nate Schmidt.

That said, there are plenty of constants. Allow us to map it out for you, starting when you first walk into the room and moving left to right.

First up are the goaltenders. Connor Hellebuyck is the undisputed No. 1, so it’s fitting he’s in the first stall. Beside him is an empty space, meant to give him some extra room given all the equipment he’s got to work with. Backup Laurent Brossoit then occupies the next seat, with a bonus space beside him as well.

This is pretty much a staple in any NHL room, having the two netminders sit beside each other. Given all they have in common, it makes too much sense.

In the case of Hellebuyck and Brossoit, this is more than just a job-sharing situation. They are legitimately good friends away from the rink, sharing both the same agent (Manitoba’s Ray Petkau) and offseason trainer (Adam Francilia).

Move past the two masked men and you’ll find something that Bowness insists on — all the defencemen grouped together.

Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Brenden Dillon, Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg and Logan Stanley all occupy the remaining spots along the left wall, in that order. It’s been that way for some time, too.

“Mel uses deodorant, so he smells pretty good,” Dillon jokes about his longtime seatmate. “I’ve been in the same spot all three years I’ve been here.”

Bowness began grouping the blue-line together when he was an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars in charge of the defencemen.

“When you want to go in and make some adjustments, you want them all there, you don’t want to be shouting, ‘Come over here, come over here.’ They’re all sitting together. So that when you want to talk to them they’re all right there,” said Bowness.

There’s no debating the success this season, with the Jets being the best defensive team in the NHL (2.27 goals against per game).

At this point, you may be thinking we’ve missed someone. That would be Schmidt, who is in the second stall (left to right) along the back wall. Ville Heinola had been in the first before he was recently assigned to the Manitoba Moose, but it now sits empty.

“I was told in the past that I was furthest away from the D because my voice projected the most,” Schmidt, who is certainly the biggest personality on the team, said with a laugh. “Guys could still hear me from across the room.”

It’s also not a coincidence he was placed between Heinola (left of him) and young forward Rasmus Kupari (immediately to his right). Those two players aren’t nearly as outgoing, so having Schmidt be their seatmate is a way of getting them out of their shell, so to speak.

“Get those guys to talk a little bit more. That’s the way I looked at it,” said Schmidt. “If you put me next to loud guys, then all of a sudden there’s too many decibels.”

As we move across that back wall, the following players are seated beside Kupari: Nikolaj Ehlers, Nino Niederreiter (Finland, Denmark and Switzerland represent!), Kyle Connor, captain Adam Lowry and Morgan Barron.

Barron is the new arrival, having just been moved to that right corner spot a couple weeks ago. The two spots on the other side of him now sit vacant as Dominic Toninato and David Gustafsson were both sent to the Moose earlier this week.

“Get those guys to talk a little bit more. That’s the way I looked at it. If you put me next to loud guys, then all of a sudden there’s too many decibels.”–Nate Schmidt

“My only complaint so far is (Lowry) is usually in the gym or training room during intermissions. He likes moving around. And KC moves around a lot, too,” said Barron. “And obviously Toni and Gus were here, and now they’re not. So I get a little bit lonely. In the intermissions I don’t have anyone near me to talk to. I just have to talk a little bit louder.”

Moving to the right side of the room, Mason Appleton starts the final segment after the first two empty spots previously occupied by Toninato and Gustafsson (who will be back from his conditioning assignment in a couple of weeks), with Gabe Vilardi, Mark Scheifele, Alex Iafallo, Cole Perfetti, the newly acquired Sean Monahan and Vlad Namestnikov finishing things off.

Monahan actually took Barron’s spot, per a directive from Bowness. A rare in-season seat swap.

“Most guys have been here a lot longer than I have, so they’re comfortable in their spots and I’m not going to fool around with that. But when we bring a guy like Sean in, and I know he’s going to play with a young player like Cole, I want them sitting together,” Bowness explained.

“A young player and a solid pro with lots of experience, just helping him out a little bit. Because we need that second line to click. It goes right back to that. We need some chemistry out of that second line. The more they kind of sit together and talk together, the better the chances are of that happening.”

That’s music to the ears of Perfetti, a true student of the game who is enjoying being a sponge to his new seatmate.

“Sitting beside him, it gives you an opportunity to go over some stuff in the periods, stuff in practice. It’s easier communication with one another,” he said.

“We’re definitely talking between games, between periods, What we saw in the period, what we liked, what we didn’t like, where we think we can help one another and what not. He’s brand new to the system so he’s learning lots and trying to adapt to everyone. And he’s a great guy, so it’s nice to have conversations with him pre- and post-practice. He’s had a lot of success in this league. To be able to just learn from him and play with a guy like that, it’s great fun.”

Namestnikov is also enjoying getting to know Monahan, considering the space on his other side is an empty slot typically reserved for when the Jets bring in local product Jason Kasdorf to be their extra goaltender on days when Hellebuyck doesn’t go on the ice.

“We need some chemistry out of that second line. The more they kind of sit together and talk together, the better the chances are of that happening.”–Rick Bowness

The 31-year-old Kasdorf was drafted by the Jets in 2011, was shipped to Buffalo as part of the Evander Kane blockbuster trade, played one NHL game with the Sabres, then retired from pro hockey in 2019 after stints in the AHL, ECHL and Europe.

“I’m on a bit of an island over here,” said Namestnikov, who now has to talk a bit louder to discuss things with current linemates Barron and Iafallo.

Consistency is key, and the Jets try to keep the same seating alignment when they hit the road. It’s not always possible, however, as the layout of typically smaller visiting rooms sometimes requires a few changes.

At the end of the day, it’s all about bonding and building relationships, something Bowness says has played a pivotal role in Winnipeg’s 32-14-5 start to the season.

“The locker room is important. The player lounge is important, where they hang out. The weight room, where they all hang out. All those things come into play,” he said.

If things go the way they hope, the Jets will be adding one more dressing room ritual at the end of this season, one that would truly provide the type of memories that last a lifetime: Champagne popping and Stanley Cup celebrating.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg