Road to the Stanley Cup set to begin

Is it October yet? You bet it is.

That means a brand-new hockey season is here — full of fresh starts, clean slates and endless possibilities.

The puck officially drops on Tuesday with a trio of games and will keep rolling for more than eight action-packed months until a champion is crowned.

To get you ready, Dump & Chase dives into some of the season’s most compelling storylines and dusts off the crystal ball for some fearless puck predictions.

Stonewall native adds NHL to her long list of officiating milestones

Talk about a “Welcome to the Big Leagues” moment.

Amy Martin, a 30-year-old referee from Manitoba, got one last weekend in Montreal. Invited to help officiate the NHL prospect challenge tournament featuring young stars from four teams, her very first assignment came under the bright lights of the Bell Centre in a clash between the hometown Canadiens versus the Winnipeg Jets.

It didn’t take long before roughly 20,000 fans were chanting “ref you suck” in her direction after what they perceived as a missed infraction.

Offended? Not at all. For Martin, it was a badge of honour.

Scheifele opens up about loss of father, return to hockey at Oly camp

CALGARY — Even as a master of preparation, there was nothing Mark Scheifele could do to brace himself for the phone call he took on the morning of May 17.

The news on the other end of the line was devastating, as Scheifele learned that his father, Brad, had passed away during the night after his battle with cancer.

In a hotel room in Dallas, Scheifele was stunned, left to try and pick up the pieces on a day his Winnipeg Jets were trying to stave off elimination against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

“It wasn’t the easiest of days,” Scheifele said in an exclusive interview earlier this week at Team Canada’s orientation camp in Calgary. “Really, really tough to wake up to that news. It’s tough to put into words actually, how I got through that day. But obviously, I have a lot of amazing people around me.”

Jets’ Morrissey determined to solidify spot on Olympic roster

CALGARY – Josh Morrissey is back to full health and has taken his rightful spot among the best players in the country as Hockey Canada gathers for its Olympic orientation camp.

With folks converging from the men’s, women’s and Paralympic teams this week, Morrissey was proudly sporting Team Canada gear as a media session was held at a downtown Calgary hotel — several months after a knee injury knocked him out of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

During a one-on-one conversation, the Winnipeg Jets defenceman reiterated that he was fortunate the injury wasn’t worse after he got tangled up in Game 6 of the second-round series against the Dallas Stars.

“Everything is great,” said Morrissey, who is one of 13 blue-liners in attendance on the men’s side. “It was bad timing (for the injury to occur), but a good result, in that the injury wasn’t too severe.”

Retired Wheeler reflects on career, fun years with the Jets

Blake Wheeler is at peace with his decision, even if he couldn’t pinpoint the precise time he was ready to make it.

The former Winnipeg Jets captain is on the other end of the telephone line from Connecticut, the place his family has chosen to call home after Wheeler’s longtime NHL career had come to an end.

Earlier this month, Wheeler made it official by putting pen to paper, retiring after 16 seasons in the NHL — with 12 of those spent as a core piece of the Jets.

During his lone season with the Rangers, Wheeler admits he could feel the end was near — even though he was enjoying a Stanley Cup chase with an Original Six franchise.

Former Jets captain officially hangs up blades

He’d been out of the game for a while, and the end came for a Winnipeg Jets 2.0 legend on Saturday. The team’s long-time captain, Blake Wheeler, announced his retirement from the NHL after 16 NHL seasons.

Playing in Winnipeg something Ehlers will ‘cherish forever’

Nikolaj Ehlers insists it wasn’t personal.

The fan-favourite winger, who is moving on from the Winnipeg Jets after signing a six-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, told the Free Press he’s leaving with a heavy heart — a sentiment he made clear in “emotional” conversations with members of the organization this past week.

“Like I told them, they didn’t do anything wrong,” Ehlers said Saturday morning during a Zoom call from Denmark.

“I was there for 10 years. I loved it there. I love the organization, the people in it, the guys. They became family, right? The city of Winnipeg, the fans — everyone that’s played in Winnipeg knows how incredible it is to play there.”

Ehlers bids emotional farewell

It would appear the breakup between the Winnipeg Jets and Nikolaj Ehlers was an amicable one. Emotional, too.

“Nik phoned me (Thursday), almost in tears,” coach Scott Arniel said on Friday.

“He just felt the biggest thing for him was he needed a change of scenery. It wasn’t based on the city or the hockey team. He felt like he had been here a long time and this was his one chance to make a change.”

That change has come in the form of a six-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes which will pay Ehlers US $8.5 million per season. It marks the end of a relationship with the Jets that dates back to 2014 when he was selected in the first round, ninth-overall, by the organization.

Jets set for free agency opening with questions to answer

The expectation is that the biggest splash has already been made by the Winnipeg Jets, but that doesn’t mean the official opening of free agency on Tuesday will be entirely quiet either.

With the services of Jonathan Toews already secured and the contract set to be filed on July 1, the Jets will be turning their attention to augmenting the roster.

The biggest question left to answer is what will happen with pending UFA forward Nikolaj Ehlers, and while Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said last week that discussions will continue until he’s either saying congratulations or thank you, the likelihood of the dynamic Dane remaining in the fold seems to be dwindling.

Should Ehlers depart in free agency, a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes seems to be the most likely destination — though there will be a lengthy line of suitors willing to offer a multiyear deal north of $8.5 million.

Fleury happy with security Jets offer with two-year deal

Haydn Fleury didn’t need to see what was out there on July 1.

The mobile defenceman had already made up his mind that he wasn’t interested in leaving the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night, he received an offer that ensured he didn’t have to lean into unrestricted free agency.

Fleury agreed to terms on Saturday to a two-year deal that carries an average annual value of $950,000, providing a slight bump in pay and some additional security with term as someone with a young family.

“Within the last week or so, we started talking and got to a number at one point (Friday) night where both sides felt comfortable,” Fleury said in a telephone interview on Saturday. “I’m happy to stay in Winnipeg and happy to build on what I did last year.