While Connor Hellebuyck's end-of-year comments about a chaotic season may have ruffled some feathers, it appears as though the Winnipeg Jets are on the same page.
Asked about his goalie's comments in his end-of-season media availability on Monday, Jets head coach Scott Arniel said that a lot of the team shares that sentiment, and that at the end of the day, "it's about winning."
"But the frustration, to be sitting here today not playing; he wants to win a Stanley Cup, as does everybody in that room. So for me, we gotta help him do this," Arniel said. "And the part about being here or not here — I've never heard anything like that and that's never come across my desk — it's about winning. It's about getting back to our standards of where we were last year.
"We took a deep breath, and as we took that breath, a whole bunch of teams in the league went right by us. So this is us recognizing it, him recognizing it, and he's not alone. There's frustration from everybody. And it should be, because we need to be playing at this time of year."
Following a Presidents' Trophy-winning 2024-25 season, the Winnipeg Jets crashed down to earth with a 35-35-12 record this year, good for seventh in a crowded Central Division and out of the playoffs.
Hellebuyck spoke last week about his disappointment toward missing the post-season, calling it "unacceptable, and no one wants to be a part of that," and questioning whether his team would be able to return to Stanley Cup contention next season or in the near future — something he made clear is a priority for him at this stage of his career.
But to Arniel, that's just who Hellebuyck is, and it's part of what makes him great, calling it "the fire that's in him to win."
"To me, he spends a lot of his game watching the hockey game, other than the time he comes in onto the rink and has to make saves. He knows how we play, when we're having success, how we need to play. He watches, he sees his teammates, he knows when we're good and he's been around the game," Arniel said. "I think he has an opinion.
"I talk to him lots about different scenarios, and I think that elite players — Connor McDavid sees the game different than other people — superstars ... they kinda see it (differently) and sometimes it's hard to pass on to your teammates. Connor (Hellebuyck) sees it. He sees it and he's one of those guys. And you have to respect that he has an opinion. It's no different than Adam Lowry when he has something to say, or when Mark Scheifele has something to say — you have to take what they say. You can't be stubborn about it."
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff echoed that sentiment in his exit interview, saying, "You don't become an elite player in this league unless you have that kind of emotion, that kind of fire, that kind of drive," and that Hellebuyck is a "very emotional player, as are all of them."
Cheveldayoff also mentioned that it wasn't anything new to him or the Jets' brass, saying that he's had similar conversations with Hellebuyck and the team's leadership group in exit meetings and on a regular basis, trying to figure out the best way forward.
"But as far as putting the organization on notice, that's something that happens each and every day. Doesn't take someone to say it to the public. Each and every day, my job ... is to try to find a way to fill the pieces, fill the gaps, keep building towards something," Chevaldayoff said. "I would not expect any one of these players to come into our exit meetings, come to the exit interviews they had with all of (the media) and say, 'You know what, it's OK. It's all right.'
"I don't think you can question one iota of any player in that room how much it hurts to lose and their desire to win. ... The players want to know what it's gonna take for them to win. That's what players do, they crave information, they crave guidance, they crave all those kinds of things. But then they have to execute."
