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It’s hard to believe my 30th year at the Free Press — and my 11th on the Winnipeg Jets beat — is officially underway as of today.
I joined the paper back in October 1997 (after two and a half years at the Winnipeg Sun), and my passion and excitement for this career have never been stronger.
Yes, the industry has changed greatly — in some ways for the better, in many ways for the worse — but I’ve never taken a single second of this for granted. Nor will I.
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Much of that is because of you, our loyal readers. I was vividly reminded of the community connection last month when, after writing about losing our beloved 12-year-old dog, Bodie, in this weekly newsletter, my email inbox was flooded with kindness and compassion.
I can’t begin to tell you how much that meant to me and my family.
The first two decades of my journalism career were spent covering tragic events on the crime and justice beat, which I think explains why I’ve never treated the sports gig as “life and death.”
I try to have as much fun with it as I can, and I hope that translates into my writing.
We’ve got big plans this year when it comes to covering the Jets, which will include being at every single home game (starting tomorrow night against Boston) and, between myself and colleague Ken Wiebe, the vast majority of road games.
We’ll have our detailed season preview online later today and in Friday’s print edition of the paper, along with an exclusive sit-down interview with Jets head coach Scott Arniel, in which we were able to go into much more depth and detail than the usual media scrum provides.
I hope you’ve enjoyed some of our other fare already through training camp, including my column on how the “butterfly effect” looms large in the Connor Hellebuyck situation, how the Jets are going to be up against the clock this season due to permanent daylight time, a look inside the team’s dressing room makeover and why that’s such a big deal, and my feature on new TSN colour commentator Landon Ferarro.
The Winnipeg Jets off-season renovation is the first major enhancement made to the player facilities since the club returned in 2011. (Luke Vink photo)
Kenny, meanwhile, has had nice reads this week based on one-on-ones he’s conducted with Tyrel Bauer and Stuart Skinner.
Trust me when I say we’re just getting started, with tons more coming your way.
My travel schedule this year includes the following cities: Chicago, Tampa Bay, Sunrise, Raleigh, Montreal, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Minnesota, St. Louis, Buffalo, Columbus, Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Nashville, Denver and Seattle.
I’m not sure how they’re going to perform on the ice — that’s what the next 84 games are for — but I do know one thing about the Jets: they’ve got an all-star roster when it comes to quality talkers.
There’s no shortage of solid options for us scribes to turn to when we’re looking for soundbites.
Here’s my current Top 5 on the team.
1. Adam Lowry: He’s the captain for a reason, and Lowry is not just the best talker on the Jets; he’s among the best in the NHL.
Not only will he answer your question in a thoughtful, detailed, cliché-free way, but he’ll likely answer three or four more you were planning to ask in the process,
2. Stuart Skinner: The team’s new No. 1 goaltender is, by all accounts, a terrific human who lives and breathes accountability.
Bonus — he has no issues doing media on days when he’s going to be making a start in net, which is quite the refreshing change.
Winnipeg Jets starting goaltender Stuart Skinner (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)
3. Kyle Connor: It’s crazy to think this is the same guy who, upon joining the team a decade ago, was extremely shy and reserved.
Now, he wears his heart on his sleeve, isn’t afraid to speak his mind and usually has something interesting and insightful to say.
4. Dylan DeMelo: One of the few players who makes Winnipeg his year-round home, the veteran defenceman is one of this city’s biggest advocates.
He’ll always stand in there and give you his honest take without hesitation.
5. Josh Morrissey: A true student of the game who can break down anything and everything that happens on the ice.
And a quality person who is easy to root for.
Honourable mention: Mario Ferraro, Cole Perfetti, Tyrel Bauer, Gabe Vilardi, Viggo Bjorck.
Like I said, we’ve got it pretty good on the Jets beat.
And on the subject of predictions, here are mine for the 2026-27 campaign:
REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS
CENTRAL:
- Colorado
- Dallas
- Utah
- Minnesota *
- Winnipeg *
- Nashville
- Chicago
- St. Louis
PACIFIC:
- Vegas
- Edmonton
- San Jose
- Los Angeles
- Anaheim
- Seattle
- Calgary
- Vancouver
*wildcard teams
ATLANTIC:
- Florida
- Montreal
- Tampa Bay
- Toronto *
- Buffalo
- Boston
- Ottawa
- Detroit
METROPOLITAN:
- Washington
- Carolina
- New Jersey
- Philadelphia *
- Pittsburgh
- Columbus
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
* wildcard spot
PLAYOFFS
Western Conference Final:
Colorado over Vegas
Eastern Conference Final:
Washington over Florida
Stanley Cup:
Colorado over Washington
Conn Smythe: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS:
Hart Trophy: Macklin Celebrini, San Jose
Norris Trophy: Lane Hutson, Montreal
Vezina Trophy: Logan Thompson, Washington
Selke Trophy: Aleksander Barkov, Florida
Calder Trophy: Gavin McKenna, Toronto
A few more thoughts…
• This season, the NHL is apparently cracking down on players who tuck their jersey into their pants. My question: when are they going to start to do something about players who can’t be bothered to wear their mouthguard properly?
Unlike the harmless fashion fouls, this is actually a legitimate safety issue. And yet officials routinely turn a blind eye. Yes, I’m looking at you, Matthew Tkachuk. You too, Brady. It’s bad enough these guys do it, but you have an entire generation of young kids watching who then think it’s cool to try and emulate their hockey heroes and do the same.
• My two favourite months when it comes to sports — and it’s not even close — are April and October.
April brings the start of both the NHL playoffs and the MLB season (although technically that’s been pushed to late March now), while October brings the start of both the MLB playoffs and the NHL season (although technically that’s been pushed to late September now).
My Blue Jays didn’t make it this year, of course, so I’m now all-in on cheering for the Chicago White Sox. The biggest reason is they employ the pride of Winkler, Tristan Peters, who had a monster rookie season on the South Side.
Unfortunately, I don’t see anyone stopping those Damn Yankees, at least when it comes to the American League and while I’m hoping to see the Milwaukee Brewers come out of the National League and, unless they are facing the White Sox, ultimately win it all.
• Speaking of baseball, a tip of the cap to Trevor Curl, the voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, who just took home the American Association’s top broadcaster award.
It’s a well-deserved honour, which was voted on by general managers, directors and broadcaster personnel by each of the league’s 12 teams. He’s hard-working, passionate and extremely knowledgeable, following in a long line of great Fish announcers including Paul Edmonds and Steve Schuster.
That’s it, that’s all for this week, folks. We’ll chat again in this space in a week.
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