Newly-signed defenceman Brown brings confidence to Moose roster

Garrett Brown is ready for the next exam, even if this one won’t take place in the classroom.

Salomonsson hopes to be in Manitoba Moose lineup for Game 2 against Milwaukee

Elias Salomonsson isn’t holding a grudge, he’s viewing his time in concussion protocol — and the reason behind it — as a valuable learning opportunity.

As the Winnipeg Jets top defence prospect spoke to the media for the first time since being on the receiving end of a reverse hit that knocked him out of the final seven games of the NHL season, Salomonsson made it clear he had no issue whatsoever with the check Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson delivered in the second period of a game on April 2.

“It was a good hit. I have nothing bad to say about the hit,” said Salomonsson, who was loaned to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League on Wednesday but wasn’t in the lineup for Game 1 of the Calder Cup playoffs against the Milwaukee Admirals. “I just wasn’t ready for it, so it’s a learning lesson for me, for sure.”

This was the first concussion Salomonsson has dealt with during his hockey career and working his way through the symptoms brought some challenges, though he passed his baseline test on Tuesday and was removed from concussion protocol.

Moose forward goes into first AHL post-season campaign with hot hands

Colby Barlow had his patience tested, so naturally, his confidence was occasionally wavering.

But on the eve of his first taste of the Calder Cup playoffs, the Manitoba Moose forward prospect is riding high after regaining his scoring touch.

Barlow, who was chosen 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2023 draft, battled his way through some lengthy dry spells and has been firing on all cylinders as the Moose welcome the Milwaukee Admirals to Canada Life Centre on Wednesday to open a best-of-three series.

“Yeah, it can get frustrating, for sure,” said Barlow, who finished his first full professional season with eight goals and 16 points in 65 games.

Arniel prepared to tackle Jets’ shortcomings over off-season

Scott Arniel was revealing enough to let you know he was planning to make some important modifications, though he wasn’t quite ready to invite you behind the curtain for the full presentation.

The head coach of the Winnipeg Jets made his way to the podium on Monday morning inside the Matt Frost media centre and gave a revealing glimpse into the type of feedback he was seeking from players during the exit interviews that took place over the weekend.

“There’s areas where I did a pretty good job. There’s areas where I’ve got to do a better job,” said Arniel, who spoke for roughly 35 minutes, including an opening statement. “My first question to the players when I had my one-on-one meeting was, ‘How was I different this year to last year? How can I help you this year? If you had something for me, what would you say?’”

As the microphone made its way around the room, Arniel was asked to share some of the feedback he heard from players, but he raised his eyebrows at the questioner before the query was complete and politely declined to go into any detail.

Jets might have been overconfident after 2024-25 success: Cheveldayoff

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets are entering a pivotal off-season burdened by a harsh reality.

Just one year removed from capturing the Presidents’ Trophy, the organization must now prove its aging roster is still good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup, while facing an NHL landscape that no longer views them as legitimate contenders.

Following a 35-35-12 campaign that left them outside the playoff picture, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Scott Arniel addressed the media on Monday. Together, they detailed a season derailed by inconsistency, a lack of overall team speed and a lost defensive identity.

Cheveldayoff also admitted the organization may have suffered from overconfidence following back-to-back Jennings Trophies — awarded each year to the team with the best goals-against average — and a first-place regular-season finish a year ago.

Jets GM appears unconcerned about job security despite club’s nosedive of a season

Kevin Cheveldayoff admittedly felt lucky to be meeting the media on Monday to speak about everything that went wrong this season with his Winnipeg Jets.

And for good reason.

The only general manager the Jets have ever known has just wrapped up his 15th season — one that can fairly be described as landing somewhere between disappointing and disastrous — yet appears to have little concern about his job security the way he likely would in other NHL markets where owners tend to have quicker triggers.

“Very fortunate to be able to stand here today and keep on pushing forward. That’s the game. You sign up for this opportunity, you better be ready, willing, and able to take on all that comes with it,” said Cheveldayoff.

Moose gear up for road to Calder Cup

No, there won’t be Whiteouts and downtown street parties around here this spring. But there will be high-stakes playoff hockey inside Canada Life Centre.

Can the Manitoba Moose help heal some fresh wounds left by the Winnipeg Jets? We’re about to find out.

The Moose, by virtue of finishing fourth in the Central Division with a 35-29-8 record, will have to take a slightly longer road to the Calder Cup. It starts this week with a best-of-three play-in series against the fifth-place Milwaukee Admirals, who went 32-33-7.

All three games — Wednesday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., if necessary — will be held in Winnipeg. Good luck to the winner, who will then take on the powerhouse Grand Rapids Griffins, who ran away with both the Central Division and Western Conference with a stellar 51-16-5 record.

Jets’ Lowry, Perfetti determined for team to come back stronger next season

Adam Lowry was quick to point the finger at himself and is planning to be part of the solution.

The Winnipeg Jets’ captain was both thoughtful and accountable when addressing the media for the final time this season over the weekend.

It was clear Lowry had spent plenty of time processing what had transpired over the course of a long and frustrating season, both for himself and for a Jets team that didn’t get to where it wanted to be.

“Criticism of my game is very warranted and very fair,” said Lowry. “I go from 16 goals to 5. That’s a huge dropoff. I felt like, coming out of the Olympic break, I started to find my game, I started to hold on to pucks more but I know there’s another level I need to get to.

First off-season domino falls for Jets with Koepke signing

The Winnipeg Jets saw enough from Cole Koepke to determine they wanted to keep him around for a couple more seasons.

Koepke, who led the Jets in hits (186) and chipped in eight goals and 17 points in 66 games, agreed to terms on a two-year deal that was announced on Saturday afternoon and has an AAV of US $1.45 million.

The speedy left-winger matched his career-high for points and is someone who made a solid contribution to the penalty kill in his first season with the Jets.

“I feel really good about the communication between both sides,” Koepke said on Thursday after the Jets closed out the regular season with a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks. “Personally, I think it’s a good fit and I’ll just let them do the negotiating and see where it goes.”

Toews mum on hanging up blades

Jonathan Toews insists that he hasn’t made a final decision on his playing future.

But when you listened closely to the words he spoke on Friday morning and saw the number of lengthy embraces he had with teammates who exchanged souvenir signed hockey sticks along with the usual pleasantries, you got the sense that Toews might have played the final game of his memorable NHL career.

Toews was greeted by a large contingent of friends and family members after the game on Thursday, though that was a frequent occurrence, not to mention one of the benefits of spending this season suiting up for his hometown team.

“I don’t know if they need a specific shoutout at this point. They know who they are, but yeah, it was really great,” said Toews. “Even when I signed here last summer, the reception from friends, family, people I hadn’t talked to or seen in years was really special and something that I didn’t think about or didn’t really expect.

Hellebuyck fires shots at club following Jets season exit

Connor Hellebuyck sure sounded like a guy who might not be long for Winnipeg.

The decorated Jets goaltender — and reigning men’s hockey Olympic gold medallist — came out firing on Friday about the current state of the NHL organization following one of its ugliest years on record.

Hellebuyck emerged from what we can only imagine was a fiery face-to-face meeting with the coaching staff and management to speak with the media inside the Jets room, where he lit a few matches before heading into what is now likely to be an extremely newsworthy and unpredictable off-season.

“What we did this year was unacceptable and no one wants to be a part of that. Where do we go from here and what’s the next step?” Hellebuyck began.

Winnipeg Jets Scheifele, DeMelo to wear Maple Leaf at men’s worlds

Mark Scheifele finally got another call from his country — even if it wasn’t the one that he was eagerly waiting for.

While the invitation from Team Canada general manager Brad Treliving to play at the upcoming IIHF men’s world hockey championship in Switzerland won’t take away the sting of missing out on the 2026 Olympics in Italy or the 4 Nations Face-Off the previous February, the chance to extend this disappointing season with the Winnipeg Jets was something he wasn’t about to pass up.

“Yeah, I am going… I’m really excited for it. Any chance you have the opportunity to go and compete for your country, you’ve got to take it with honour and I’m just excited to play more hockey,” Scheifele said on Friday, as the Jets worked their way through exit interviews. “I love this game, I love playing, I love competing. I want to go over there and win a gold medal and do that with some good friends, so I’m really excited for that opportunity.”

There’s been some speculation that the Jets centre might politely decline the opportunity, the thinking being that after being snubbed previously that he might prefer to get a start on his off-season training.

Frustrated Jets say they’re sorry for letting ‘best’ fans, city down

WINNIPEG - Scott Arniel wished he could apologize to Winnipeg Jets fans.

Not just the capacity crowd of 15,225 that watched the team get burned 6-1 by the San Jose Sharks Thursday night and still gave it a standing ovation at Canada Life Centre, but all the fans who won't get to cheer for the Jets in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“You're disappointed that you weren't better and you didn't win those games,” said Arniel, who finished his second season as head coach.

“The other thing for me is that they're not all getting ready for The Whiteout. And that's the big thing, is that I know how much this city and this province loves playoff time.

Jets’ disappointing season ends with 6-1 loss to Sharks

The finish line arrived far too early for the Winnipeg Jets liking.

And though the Jets spoke about not wanting to end the season by laying an egg, the freefall continued with a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks before a packed house Thursday at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets ended the season with four consecutive losses for a record of 35-35-12, good for 82 points. That’s the second fewest points in franchise history (in a full season) since 2015-16, when they had 78.

It’s a stark contrast from the 116 points the Jets collected one year ago when they were first in the NHL to capture the Presidents’ Trophy.

Jets’ Heinola opens up about mental health struggles

Ville Heinola stood in front of the media on Thursday morning, a few hours before suiting up for what likely is his final game as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, and laid his soul bare.

The 25-year-old defenceman, who has essentially become an afterthought for an organization that drafted him 20th overall back in 2019, was as open and candid as you’ll hear from any professional athlete.

“It’s been, mentally, probably the hardest year,” Heinola confessed. “It’s hard, and I struggle a lot, especially mentally.”

The Finnish skater revealed things got so bad at one point this year, in the midst of being a perpetual healthy scratch with the Jets, that he went and got professional help.