Just A Car Wreck

Following the Game Five loss to Vegas, Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness had a fiery response to how his team played in the series and, specifically, in the last game of the 2022-23 season for the Jets. He used words like "disgusted" and "disappointed" repeatedly in response to questions about his team's play, and it seemed Bowness may have been sending shots up the chain towards management as much as he was towards the lethargic and disinterested effort given by the Jets. The players didn't like their coach saying the things he did about them, so it's pretty clear they heard the message that Bowness was delivering despite Bowness walking it back one day later. Today, we'd find out if management heard the message as Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff met with the media.

It would be one thing for the media to sit and chat with Cheveldayoff if there was a clear message as to expectations for this season or any other season. The media could reflect on the expectations set by the general manager with respect to what he hopes to see his team achieve, and there could be discussion on how goals were achieved, how some may have been missed, and what needs to change for next season in order to take steps forward. After all, one of Chevy's most favorite lines is "it's a process", so if you're not moving forward, what does that say about your process?

Officially, after today's press conference, one could be inclined to call it a car wreck. Maybe a tire fire. Perhaps the term "blowing smoke" would suffice. Whatever the case may be, it would appear that Chevy's process is to don the rose-tinted glasses and see nothing but sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows with his team after the disaster they iced against Vegas.

"I'm not sure who predicted we were making the playoffs this year," Cheveldayoff glibly told reporters during his 43-minute word salad. "There's going to be one team that's going to be satisfied with their season this year. There's sixteen teams that would have given anything to be in that same situation as us."

Based on Cheveldayoff's delusional statement above, there are sixteen teams who would wanted to have played two home games - losing both of them as well - and cleaned out their lockers after spending the least time in the playoffs out of any of the teams that qualified. Does he really believe the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Calgary Flames would have been content with that outcome?

"We're not sitting here waving any banners or anything like that," Cheveldayoff said before doubling-down on his rose-coloured view of the team by adding, "But there's a lot of good people in that room that pushed this organization to a good place."

In mid-December, the Jets had the fifth-best winning percentage in the NHL and sat atop the Central Division. When the calendar flipped to January, the implosion that occurred was as inexplicable as it was painful to watch. To his credit, Rick Bowness tried every trick in the coaching playbook to end the bleeding, but the hemorrhaging never really stopped. It was bandaged for about week when the Jets won a couple of games with their playoff hopes on the line, but that wound was exposed by the Vegas Golden Knights once again.

"Good people" are usually more invested in fixing problems when they arise as opposed to waiting until the final week in the season to secure a playoff spot. I won't deny that there will be bumps along the way, but good teams made up of "good people in that room" identify those issues, fix them through practice and video sessions, and get back to playing effective, winning hockey. Rarely do "good people" look lost in their jobs for the better part of two months.

For a team who made a veiled threat about the long-term viability of this franchise in Winnipeg to its season-ticket holders a few weeks ago, it seems particularly odd that Kevin Cheveldayoff is preaching the benefits of simply making the playoffs with a cap-tight team. When Cheveldayoff was asked about accountability in his team, he instead deflected into how sixteen teams would want to be where they were. None of that addresses accountability in his team.

When Cheveldayoff was asked about the core of the team being together since 2018 with respect to the oh-for-five record they have in elimination games and losing seven-straight games on home ice since they went to the Conference Final, Cheveldayoff ignored the statistics and, instead, defended the players who "got us to five of six playoffs". Again, why is the standard simply making the playoffs? At what point does management look at the team and wonder why they can't or won't go deeper into the postseason?

When asked about a lower standard of winning being accepted in Winnipeg, Cheveldayoff spoke about the salary cap and how he's not able to build a dream team, but then blamed injuries for how the season finished. From what I've learned about sports, neither a salary cap nor injuries lead to setting a standard and reaching that standard annually. That's set as part of a team's culture, and it's hard to see that culture when the general manager just keeps blowing smoke.

As Scott Billeck wrote in the Winnipeg Sun, Cheveldayoff's "endless loyalty to certain players in the organization" that either won't be moved due to that loyalty or cannot be moved due to the loyalty shown via the contracts he's handed out "only compounded his team's problems". It was clear that there was a problem in the dressing room when Dustin Byfuglien left this team. It was clear there was a problem when Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic were traded. It was clear when Paul Maurice left unceremoniously. And it's still a looming issue that casts a tall shadow over this franchise.

Normally, culture starts with the man assembling the team. Kevin Cheveldayoff has had twelve years to put some sort of culture in place, but that's never happened. It's always come down to the players and, for a short time, the coaching staff he managed, and the internal friction between some of these factions is what led to big-name players either being traded away or leaving on their own. If there was a defined culture that had been installed by Cheveldayoff, perhaps we're talking about deeper runs than "sixteen teams that would have given anything to be in that same situation as us".

This Winnipeg Jets franchise is a car wreck right now, and I'm not sure if it's worth picking through the wreckage to see if there's anything worth salvaging when it comes to building a team for next season. There are bright spots that one hopes will be part of this team when they're able to take significant steps forward, but any opportunity to convince fans that this season wasn't like the others and won't be repeated next year was killed by the debacle that Kevin Cheveldayoff produced today.

The irony in all of this is that this current car wreck - the lack of standards, the lack of accountability, the inability to objectively judge one's performance - starts and ends with one thing: a Chevy.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!