Revisiting the Jets Bobblehead Curse
Back in 2014 (and updated for 2015), I wrote about the “curse” of the Jets bobbleheads, chronicling the featured player’s poor performance in his bobblehead night. From 2012-2015 The Jets had accumulated a record of 1-3 in bobblehead nights, and 0-3 if the player being honoured with the collectible was playing in the game.
With tonight being Nikolaj Ehlers’ bobblehead night at Bell MTS Place, I had been reminded of the curse by Illegal Curve’s Dave Minuk & TSN 1290’s Andrew “Hustler” Paterson while on “The Warmup”. I thought the curse was over but it appears to have reared his ugly head after the Jets 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
Here are the results from the bobblehead nights since 2015:
March 12, 2019 vs. San Jose – Nikolaj Ehlers bobblehead night.
At 12 seconds left, Just when it looked like the two teams were headed to overtime, Nikolaj Ehlers entered the offensive zone with the puck and attempted a cross ice pass to Andrew Copp. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic tipped the pass to forward Timo Meier who was off on a 2 on 1. Meier fed Joe Pavelski for the game winner with 3.6 seconds left. Sharks 5. Jets 4.
Ehlers ended the night with 0 points and a -4 rating.
March 20, 2018 vs. Los Angeles – Jacob Trouba bobblehead night
Jacob Trouba did not play due to a concussion after colliding with Stars forward Jamie Benn two days earlier. The Jets defeated the Kings 2-1 in overtime.
March 30, 2017 vs. Anaheim – Mark Scheifele bobblehead night
Mark Scheifele is the only Jets player to break the curse. Winnipeg won 4-3, and of course, Scheifele scored the OT winner.
Final line: 1 goal. 1 point. +2. 5 SOG. 26:47 TOI
April 3rd, 2016 vs. Minnesota – Bryan Little Bobblehead night
Jets win 5-1. Bryan Little did not play after fracturing a vertebae in February following a hit from Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman.
After eight bobblehead nights, the Jets record in those games is 4-4. However, when the featured player plays in their bobblehead game the team’s record is 1-4.
Final Stat lines of players who played in their bobblehead game.
2019: Ehlers – 0 points. -4 (Jets lose 5-4)
2018: Scheifele – 1 goal (OT Winner). +2. (Jets win 4-3)
2014: Byfuglien – 0 points. -2 (Jets lose 3-2)
2013: Pavelec – 5 goals allowed, 19 saves on 24 shots, .792 save percentage, one stick smashed into pieces. (Jets lose 6-4)
2012: Ladd – 0 points. -3. (Jets lose 3-2)
Combined skater numbers: 4 games. 1 goal. 0 assists. -7.
