Writing Posts

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.

Curse of the Winnipeg Jets Bobbleheads

Curse of the Winnipeg Jets Bobbleheads

From IllegalCurve.com

Bobbleheads are a great collectible for sports fans. They can be preserved in the box, or taken out to show it’s bobbling glory.

Unfortunately for the Winnipeg Jets, they haven’t had much on-ice success on bobblehead nights.

Read the full story at Illegal Curve

Additionally, I spoke about a potential curse of the Winnipeg Jets Bobbleheads with Andrew “Hustler” Paterson on the Super Lube Warmup on March 19th

Jets Bobblehead Curse – March 19, 2014

Jets Defence: Mainstays on the IR

I wrote this article for IllegalCurve.com in November 2013 chronicling the injuries that have plagued the Jets defense since 2011.

The sky is blue. Winnipeg is cold in winter. Pizza is delicious. These three constants, deserve a fourth: Playing defence in the NHL is physically taxing. Not only do defencemen log the highest time on ice, but defencemen have to handle the physical demands of playing against burly forwards all the while being tough enough to stand in front of 100 MPH slap shots.

It’s pretty well established in NHL circles that you are best-off building your team form the back-end out, and as a result teams are never shy about paying for defencemen. The Winnipeg Jets are no different, as the current roster sees that three of the Jets top four highest paid players are defencemen.

However, and in-light of the most recent Zach Bogosian injury, what good are high-priced defencemen if they can’t stay in the lineup?

Read the full article at IllegalCurve.com

My Winnipeg: Shaw Park

From the Winnipeg Free Press. Published August 29, 2012.

120726_OurWin_02.jpg

 

“When I was asked to write a piece about my favourite place in Winnipeg, one of the places that came immediately to mind was Shaw Park.

Opened in 1999 as CanWest Global Park, the Goldeyes’ new baseball diamond was a significant upgrade from Winnipeg Stadium.

Shaw Park possesses many amenities that make visiting the ballpark a tremendous baseball experience. While watching one of the finest organizations in independent baseball, fans are treated to some of Winnipeg’s most picturesque views. Over the right-field fence, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Provencher Bridge and The Forks set the scene. The left-field side is highlighted by the Canadian National Railway trains that pass by, adding to the baseball atmosphere…..”

Read the full story at Winnipeg Free Press.ca

Season in Review: The Games That Got Away

From IllegalCurve.com

The Jets season has ended and the goal of making the playoffs wasn’t realized, leading some players to react as if the season was a failure.

The Jets missed the playoffs by eight points, a small margin. Lets take a look back at past games played, and look at “The Great White Buffalo” the games that got away. These were the games where the additional points were within grasp only for them to be squandered. This list includes the games that left Jets fans feeling like they had just received a punch to the stomach. (As detailed in Bill Simmons levels of losing)

Here’s my list of the top five games that got away

Read the full story at Illegal Curve