HELLEBUYCK’S THIEVERY KEEPS JETS IN THE RACE
Goaltender’s MVP-worthy performances earn praise from coaches and teammates
Dishing out team MVP awards is often a frivolous endeavour just 25 games into an NHL season, but not every team can boast a goalie that’s put on a master class in thievery quite like the Winnipeg Jets.
It seems fitting that it was here in the heart of Silicon Valley where Connor Hellebuyck delivered his defining performance of the season, up until that point, and one that could stand the test of time throughout the season as it moves forward.
TED Talks are quite popular here in the Bay Area. In fact, the do-not-disturb sign at this particular hotel reads: “Privacy, please. I’m busy watching TED Talks.”
Hellebuyck gave his own rendition of the popular series at the beginning of the month, when he stopped 51 of 53 shots during a record-setting game for the Michigan native.
That night, one day removed from Halloween, was a house of horrors for the Jets, who allowed 27 shots in the second period alone and gave up 17 high-danger chances to a San Jose Sharks team that was stuck in neutral at that point.
Hellebuyck could have landed the starting role in Ocean’s 14. The heist was Oscar-worthy and the Jets won the game 3-2. There’s no real explanation, of course, other than Hellebuyck was unconscious between the pipes.
He was the team’s MVP.
“Of the league, maybe,” captain Blake Wheeler said, taking the notion one step further prior to Winnipeg’s second clash with the Sharks in the same barn where they were thrashed about on Nov. 1. “There’s no question.”
After Game 1 of the 2019-20 season, questions of a down year from Hellebuyck the previous season weren’t immediately answered. Hellebuyck allowed five goals on 31 shots in an opening night loss to the New York Rangers and the angst within the mob began to rise.
“The first night in New York didn’t go his way, but that’s my favourite thing about (Hellebuyck), is that every time he gets challenged, he gets better. We brought in (Steve Mason) a couple of years ago to challenge him and kind of put a chip on his shoulder, and he was, in my opinion, the best goalie in the league that year.
“If we were going to have a chance, we needed him. No question, he’s been our best guy and he’s given us a chance at the start of this season.”
Predictably in a team sport, Hellebuyck deflected questions about his brilliance. For him, it’s a team game, and the team has certainly rallied around him.
“I don’t think about it depending on me,” he said. “I think about it as me being a big part of this team, and I need everyone else, just like they need me. I need to put my part in and I need to do my part to the best of my capabilities.
“I know I’m able to steal a game here and there, just like (our players) are able to come back and win one in OT. We’ve both shown it. It’s a team thing. There’s give and take.”
There are people waiting for Hellebuyck to regress from the lofty standard he’s set for himself through about the first third of the season.
Hellebuyck’s numbers are Vezina worthy at this point, but given how much rubber Hellebuyck sees, statistically speaking, his numbers should come down.
His overall save percentage sits at a .928, while his five-on-five save percentage rests at .938, good for a top-10 spot. No NHL goalie has a better goals saved above average number (9.89) than No. 37.
You get the picture.
But Hellebuyck’s rebuttal to those who wonder when he’ll begin to fall is simple.
“It’s not like I haven’t done it before,” he said, referencing his Vezina runner-up performance from two seasons ago. “I don’t understand what all the doubt is. I just go out and make sure I’m playing my game and that I’m feeling good. At the end of the day, it’s about winning, and you have to do what it takes to win.”
Jets head coach Paul Maurice explained Hellebuyck’s importance to the team this season by using one event and looking at two possible outcomes.
“You get a shot blocked as a defenceman and they go down and you’re digging it out of the back of your net,” Maurice said. “The coach is mad, the defenceman loses confidence, and your team is looking at potentially the greater chance of a loss.
“But with that save, that means the defenceman goes back, taps the goalie’s pads and says, ‘Hey, man. Thanks for bailing me out.’ The coach says, ‘Hey, try not to get the shot blocked next time.’ And then you have a better chance to win.
“So just run that event over and over again, and you’ve got a guy who truly allows especially a younger, in terms of experience, defence time to build confidence.”
Wheeler expressed a similar scenario.
“When you’re playing well and a goalie lets in a leaky one, that kills a team,” he said. “On the flip side of that, when you have a goalie standing tall inside the net, you go into every situation with an opportunity to win a game.
“Going into this year, with some of the unknowns, we kind of needed (Hellebuyck) to be what he is. He’s given us a chance to stay in the race. Without him, we’d have been way behind the 8-ball. Even when our game wasn’t right for most of October, we were still in the thick of it.”