The 15,004 rabid Jets fans that packed the MTS Centre to the rafters last night tried their darnedest, but even all of their energy couldn’t help will their team to victory in a game they needed to have.
With their fans behind them, Winnipeg put up a valiant effort against the Ottawa Senators Monday night, but it was ultimately their sloppy play that led to a 6-4 loss.
“We chased the game,” said Jets coach Claude Noel after his team fell to 35-33-8. “We were forever chasing the game. We kept coming back … and eventually, there are some moments you could have taken some steps.”
With the NHL trade deadline just about a month away, more and more rumors are beginning to surface regarding some key players. However, due to the fact that the standings are so tight right now in both conferences, we may not see much activity until the final weeks leading up to the Feb. 27 deadline. Nevertheless, here are some of the names that are currently linked to various rumors—some of which may actually be true.
James van Riemsdyk and Luke Schenn
This rumor started running wild last week when a report came out of Philadelphia claiming Flyers director of player personnel Don Luce scouted the Leafs in recent games.
Sunday finally marked the return of hockey to Winnipeg, but the Montreal Canadiens spoiled the party with a 5-1 victory.
However, based on the crowd reaction in the waning seconds of the game, you would have thought the Winnipeg Jets just won the Stanley Cup.
Despite their team coming up short in their season debut, the sold-out crowd inside the 15,004-seat building raised to their feet and furiously applauded the effort of the Jets. The scoreboard became irrelevant as the Manitoba provincial capital reclaimed what it once lost to poor economics.
If the Winnipeg Jets do nothing all year, their fanbase will still be ecstatic that hockey is back in Winnipeg after a 15-year hiatus.
And while the Jets weren’t major players in the free-agent market over the offseason, the organization has been busy since True North Sports and Entertainment Ltd. agreed to a deal to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers on May 31 with the plan of moving the club to Winnipeg.
The last thing the front office personnel of the Winnipeg Jets wanted this offseason was to wake up one day, open the paper and find Dustin Byfuglien’s mugshot on the front of the sports section.
Apparently, Byfuglien likes to enjoy his offseasons a little too much.
The Minnesota native was arrested on Lake Minnetonka and booked on suspicion of boating while intoxicated, authorities said on Thursday. Byfuglien, 26, was arrested at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday on Lower Lake South in Excelsior and refused to submit to a blood or urine test for alcohol consumption, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. Byfuglien was released a few hours after he was brought to jail with his charges still pending.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta have confirmed that Winnipeg Jets forward Rick Rypien, 27, was found dead in his home in Crowsnest Pass, AB, on Monday.
According to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail, RCMP officials confirmed the death was not of a suspicious nature.
When the Winnipeg Jets unveiled their new logo to the hockey world several weeks ago, it was only natural that the emblem—a Royal Canadian Air Force jet atop a maple leaf—was met with both criticism and praise. Some fans dug the new look, others thought the Jets should return to their original logo and some couldn’t have cared less.
However, there was a minority of fans (if they could even be considered such) who were actually—wait for it…offended by the logo.
On Friday, the Winnipeg Jets unveiled their primary and secondary logos for the upcoming 2011-12 NHL season.
Rather than go back to one of the three logos that the Jets had during their first stint in Winnipeg, the team decided to start over with a new logo that was developed in partnership with Reebok and inspired by the logo of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Sorry, Thrasher fans, this was probably the day that all two were dreading when you first heard that the Thrashers had been purchased by True North Sports and Entertainment.
But alas, today Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon—two members of Atlanta Spirit, the Georgia-based partnership that owns (owned) the Thrashers—sent out a public letter to the fans in Thrasherville expressing their sincerest apologies in having “no choice but to explore the investment option presented to us by the NHL in the form of True North Sports and Entertainment” after they were unable to attract other investors in the team.
I am happy to announce a new promotion here at Hockey Tickets Online. Beginning in October 2011, we will giving away way two tickets each month to a regular season NHL game.
To enter, simply leave your name and email address below. Once you are entered into the contest, your will be eligible to win tickets every month.
Congratulations to Eric who is our October ticket winner. Eric gets two tickets to the Panthers v Penguins game in November.
The 15,004 rabid Jets fans that packed the MTS Centre to the rafters last night tried their darnedest, but even all of their energy couldn’t help will their team to victory in a game they needed to have.
