Winnipeg Jets

How did you look at this deal? Now that we've had a full weekend to chew on it, I want to get to some of Sonny Mata's comments coming up in a second and also the comments or lack thereof.

And man, did he run into some good luck using the Heritage Classic as a shield as to not have anything to say about the Winnipeg Jets.

Your thoughts on the Connor Hellebuck deal?

My first thought was something that we had discussed on this show for the last month or so, which was at what point does Jack Hughes go to ownership and say,

I watched an entire interview with Jackie Redman and her old friend Elliot Friedman standing next to the rink talking about Connor Hellebuck

right next to where they played the Heritage Classic.

I really think that the Winnipeg Jets organization wanted no part of either having him around Or paying him.

Yes.

They get to cosplay as Molson Brewery workers, I guess.

Or if you're the Winnipeg Jets, you get to be Tom Cruise as you walk in for a game.

So it's kind of a fun deal.

But where would we put it in Montreal?

When Nick Suzuki's out and Demidoff's out, the strength of their team is on the blue line, and they proved that last night in Winnipeg, for sure.

What was the atmosphere around the Jets – in relation to the follow-up from the Connor Hellebuck announcement going into the weekend?

I think there was more relief than anything else, that it wasn't a distraction.

In fact, the conversation became, it's sure good that Connor Hellebuck isn't a distraction.

To that point, it actually became a distraction, if you know what I mean.

I mean, it didn't diminish the amount of conversation about Hellebuck, but it changed the questioning.

And I do think that it had an effect on the Jets on Saturday and Sunday because they still had to answer questions.

They still had to talk about it.

Sports Talk Daily with Andrew Hustler-Patterson and Michael Remis.

We've got a lot to get to coming out of three of the craziest days for the Winnipeg Jets organization that we've seen in the 2.0 era, maybe ever.

Certainly for Winnipeg Sports Talk and for the sports scene.

I mean, this all started.

They're off to the playoffs to take on the Toronto Argonauts.

Taylor Allen will join us a little later on in the program.

And then what was an absolute lovin' on Saturday night for the alumni game with the return of Dustin Bufflin and many of the stars of the early 2.0 era leading into a spectacle that I think we'll all remember for a long time, yesterday's 2026, Tim Horton's Heritage Classic at Princess Auto Stadium, which unfortunately ended... with the Jets on the wrong side of a 2-1 Montreal Canadiens win.

We're going to get into a lot of the weekend overall.

It was perfect.

Obviously, the performance of the Winnipeg Jets left a lot of Jets fans disappointed.

Yeah, and then, of course, there's all these question marks surrounding the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

their consistently inconsistent play all season, and who their starting quarterback will be on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.

They don't know who a lot of these guys are, who a lot of these pieces are, and how they'll be able to contribute to the team in the short term.

and the long-term, right? Nick Bustad is injured right now and will need some time to recover from surgery, I believe.

Alexander Comand, spelled Comand, but I'm told it's pronounced Comand, a young player, 20th overall draft pick this past year, a natural center, something the Winnipeg Jets absolutely need.

He will be a year or two before he's able to be a full-time contributor, I believe, at the NHL level.

I was hoping for a different outcome.

I was hoping that they looked like they looked against Winnipeg and Vegas and But man, there's a humbling experience when you go up against a team that not only is a Stanley Cup champion, but knows their identity and plays it to a tee for 60 full minutes.

And that's what that game was.

I mean, Carolina came in and they were coming off of a very long and aggressive game a couple of nights prior when they went to a shootout against the Oilers and lost to them.

I'd put it at like a seven.

I feel pretty good.

I mean, like the thing about and I love the way the schedule sets up for the Blues because you played a good team in Winnipeg.

You beat them.

I disagree with it is that third line that Carolina had is significantly better than anything Vegas or Winnipeg showcased, which is why I don't want Juracek and Barron playing with each other against that line.

Broberg and Barron were put together against the Winnipeg Jets And not only were one of the best defensive pairings in that game, but offensively, they were driving offense for your top line.

You lost the ability to move pucks out of the zone and create offense when you broke up that pair.

And we're treating Barron like we've got to protect him.

Alexander Mogilny scored 76 with the Sabres.

And as a rookie, Taimou Solani scored 76 goals with the Winnipeg Jets.

Wow.

Well, maybe we'll have one of those kind of years.

I didn't sleep for three days trying to figure out what drills might work.

Claude Noel, the former Winnipeg Jets, the first Winnipeg Jets 2.0 coach back in town with all the alumni, with all the Heritage Classic.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Welcome to the Jim Toth Show, and thank you for joining us on a Monday.