Jets’ leadership backing up pre-season tough talk

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2017 (2318 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steve Lyons: Hello. Welcome back from your latest vacation. Oh sorry, you were in Ottawa covering curling — same thing right ha ha

So, I’ve often expressed to you and others — in this space and in general conversation — my skepticism towards the quality of the Jets’ locker-room leadership. I’d said more than once that the core that came with this team from Atlanta needed to be gutted and replaced if the club was ever going to succeed. They cost one coach his job for sure. I also thought it had the potential to poison the new group of leaders the team was drafting.

About half of the old guard has moved on — Ladd; Stuart; Thorburn — while Wheeler; Buff and Enstrom remain. I had been on the fence about Wheeler as captain and having Buff with an A on his sweater, but gotta admit those guys, along with young leaders like Scheifele and Lowry and an old vet like Matt Hendricks now give the Jets above-average locker-room and on-ice leadership and I think that as much as anything will help this team reach its goals.

It really reveals itself when the team struggles for a game or two. Their ability to bounce back and not allow a skid become a slump has been a strong attribute of this team this year. They even do it in-game, when they’re fighting it for a period or two, but then manage to exert themselves and get the win.

Paul Wiecek: Back in late August, Wheeler was asked whether he thought this was a playoff team and he replied, "It’s got to be this year. It just has to be."

It was a bold prediction from the team’s captain and I remember wondering at the time if it was the kind of thing that was going to haunt Wheeler as the season wore on.

Because if "it’s got to be this year," what if it wasn’t? What if the Jets were ten points out of a playoff spot right now? Wheeler would have had a tough time explaining, ‘Well, after further review, it’s actually just fine if it isn’t this year."

That wouldn’t have gone over well with long-suffering fans in this town and Wheeler would have worn those comments for the rest of the season.

But talk is only cheap if you don’t back it up with action and Wheeler has followed up his bold talk with the best season of his career, on and off the ice. I’m not going to pretend to have any insight into what goes on behind closed doors in that Jets dressing room, but I agree with you that this team has all the outward appearances of a group that is fallen in line behind strong leadership.

One other thing: We can debate the wisdom of making a prediction like that so publicly, but Wheeler was absolutely right — it does have to be this year. This team has a unique window this season where they’ve got a ton of remarkable young talent locked down on cheap entry level contracts. That is going to change dramatically at the end of this season when a total of 11 players on the current roster become either restricted or unrestricted free agents, including the likes of Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey, Adam Lowry and Connor Hellebuyck.

And then there’s the elephant in the room that is Patrik Laine, whose entry level deal doesn’t expire until the end of the 2018-19 season, but who is only getting more expensive every day the Jets don’t lock him down to an extension.

In other words, it does have to be this year for the Jets. And with each passing game, it’s looking like it just might be.

Steve: Our old friend Gary Lawless was in town recently, traveling with the Vegas Golden Knights. The ‘Insider’ was asking me if I had budget money set aside for a long Jets playoff run — apparently the back room people involved with that team and a number of others, feel the Jets franchise from top to bottom is the most talented in the league. Add in a little leadership and you’ve got the makings of a Cup run.

I’m not sure I agree it needs to be this year though. I think Chevy has managed to negotiate a number of team-friendly deals — a bunch of guys making $6 million a year instead of two guys making $10 million each — that will allow this competitive window to stay open for several years. Yes, there will be a day of reckoning at some point, but with the cap going up again next season I think it’s still two or three years away.

Since we’re on the subject of salaries, how about the dumping of contracts by your hero Derek Jeter.

Jeter might have won a few more World Series titles for the Yankees this week; gifting them Giancarlo Stanton.

Listen, Jeter’s hand was forced with the Marlins — the contracts he’s dumping were inherited from the mismanagement of your favorite baseball owner Jeffrey Loria.

However, what was with Jeter’s disappearing act — or should we call it the no-appearing act on Monday. Instead of taking a one-hour flight to Orlando, where baseball’s winter meetings are being held, and face the media and make a statement to Marlins fans, he held a conference call and sent out president of baseball operations Michael Hill to deal with it. (Btw, I’ve never even heard of Michael Hill until this week.)

Instead, Jeter got national face time sitting in a luxury box watching the Monday Night Football game between the Patriots and Dolphins. Ok, earlier in the day he also did a charity event for Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery with former teammate Jorse Posada.

His early play off the field is not up to the standard he displayed on it.

Paul Wiecek: The last time I checked, Jeter is the CEO of the Marlins and has a tiny ownership stake. Does Chipman face the media when Chevy makes a deal? It doesn’t work that way, nor should it.

But I get it — Jeter is getting the scrutiny because he’s the public face of the Marlins, whether he wants to be or not. And ducking for cover is never a good look, especially if you’re then caught sitting in a luxury box on national TV.

So having said all that, three things come to mind:

First, I don’t think we’re going to know how good or bad the deal Jeter cut for Stanton is for a long time. Yes, the Yankees inherited the National League MVP, but they also got stuck with a $325 million contract that I think in the long run could end up being an anchor around the Yankees neck even worse than the ill-advised deal they got saddled with on Alex Rodriguez. I think there’s a reason some really good teams — including the Dodgers — took a pass on the Stanton sweepstakes.

Second, Jeter picked up a pretty good second baseman in Starlin Castro plus some elite prospects in the deal, while shedding a Stanton contract that was going to make it impossible for him to ever rebuild the Marlins. Let’s talk again in a couple years and see how Jeter’s end of the deal worked out.

And third, the history of former playing greats who crashed and burned when they moved into the front office is a long one. Gretzky sucked at it too. You can be a great player and still be dumb. But move that same guy into a front office role and there’s no place for him to hide.

Steve: They got #7 ranked prospect Jorge Guzman and 18-year-old Jose Devers, whose cousin Rafael is an excellent prospect with the Red Sox. Castro will never play for them — his contact will be shipped as well.

This was a steal by Yankees GM Brian Cashman and some AL East fans are wondering what kind of pictures he has of his ex-Hall of Fame shortstop. Or perhaps, Jeter is working as a double agent. Conspiring minds want to know.

Btw, got two calls this week from conspiracy theorists suggesting Curl Canada turned a blind eye to Brett Laing’s foot nudging that last rock of Kevin Koe’s — accidentally or accidentally on purpose — to get it into the winning spot in the 10th end of the Roar of the Rings final against Mike McEwen. I looked at the video replay a few times, but didn’t see anything. You?

Also, I thought I thought you let BJ Wozniak off the hook a bit for his gaffes in the 9th end. Is there a tendency to be a little less harsh on an ‘amateur’ curler than a pro hockey or football player?

It looked to me like the McEwen team had things set up for multiple points in the ninth, but then they were forced to take one after two outright misses by Wozniak. The looks on their faces said it all; they knew how big that moment was and how it had gotten away from them.

Paul: Castro has value as trade bait, which again: let’s see in a couple years how all the pieces of this deal fell into place for the Marlins.

As for the AL East, your Blue Jays have a lot bigger problems than the fact the Yankees are one of the only teams that Stanton agreed to be traded to. The last piece of good news we’re going to be reading for a very long time about the sad sack franchise that is the Blue Jays was the revelation that Jays fans will no longer be tortured all summer by the ramblings — and appalling suits — of Sportsnet talking head/serial sexual harasser Gregg Zaun. (How about the revelation that Zaun liked to walk around the Sportsnet offices in an undershirt? What a buffoon, although, in fairness, I’d walk around in my underwear too if those were my suits.)

Same old story though: nerds sitting around watching sports on TV — because they’re not actually capable of playing one themselves — and then running to teacher because they think they saw somebody do something wrong in super slo-mo. Golf announced last week that they’re no longer going to allow TV viewers to report rules infractions from the comfort of their Lazy-boys. Better late than never.

As for "BJ Wozniak" — that’s actually two different guys, McEwen third BJ Neufeld and second Matt Wozniak. Neither of them — and especially Wozniak — was very good in the final and I noted as much in my column after the game. But your point is well taken. And yes, I do go easier on amateur athletes than millionaire hockey players, although Jennifer Jones might give you an argument. And it’s for precisely that reason — if you’re taking down a seven-figure salary and siphoning hard earned money out of the pockets of families in this town so you can adorn your wrists in yet another $50,000 watch, you’d sure as hell better be at least delivering on the ice. And if you’re not, those same fans have a right to expect you to be held accountable.

It’s a completely different deal with curlers. The overwhelming majority of curlers on tour lose money every winter and they owe nothing to anybody. They’re curling for the love of sport and we’re all welcome to watch. But Wozniak doesn’t owe me or you anything. The only people he’s accountable to for what happened on Sunday are his teammates and the guy who shaves with him in the mirror every morning.

Steve Lyons: I was not a fan of Zaun’s ramblings — he had a condescending tone that grated on me. But man, I just loved his suits and shoes.

Blue Jays still have the best starting pitching in the division. We’ll see if Shapiro and Rogers waste that or not.

Bombers released their 2018 schedule today — just in time for Christmas gift-giving. The first regular season home game is June 14 — 10 days earlier than last year. Grey Cup is still the last Sunday in November though.

I see Maple Leafs sports bought the Argos this week. Interesting. Is it finally that time where the centre of the universe gets back to having an interest in the CFL? Tough competition for the three-down game — with the Leafs; the Jays; the Raptors; and now Toronto FC getting most of the attention.

Paul: If you liked Zaun’s suits and shoes, I’m sure there’s a clown supply store in Winnipeg that would be happy to help you replicate the look. Men’s fashion tip: if the first thing people notice about you is your suit, you’re doing it wrong.

The problem with the Argos wasn’t — and isn’t — the ownership. They already had deep pockets in the owner’s box — it doesn’t get much deeper than Bell and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, who were the previous owners. And what did it get them? An average of 13,000 fans in 2017, which is a joke.

The Argos had a great ownership group and a great stadium in 2017 and still nobody cared. I see no reason to believe any of that is going to change in 2018 simply because they have a new great ownership group. People in Toronto aggressively don’t care about the CFL. Apathy would actually be an improvement — my experience in that city is that your average sports fan actively dislikes the CFL generally and the Argos in particular. Good luck turning that around.

As for that Bombers sked, Winnipeg got a big win before the season even begins. Thursday home dates have been an attendance killer for years in this town and the Bombers finally got the CFL to listen — their only Thursday home date in 2018 is the opener, everything else is Friday and Saturday dates. Much more fan friendly.

Steve: I personally prefer Thursday game for our deadlines and our readers, but they didn’t consult me. I know shocking.

And speaking of not consulting the media:

I sometimes get calls complaining we don’t cover enough women’s sports. So, get this: the women’s national hockey team was in Winnipeg recently for an exhibition game against USA. Prior to the game, we wanted to do a story on the four Manitoba women on the team. Mike Sawatzky tried all weekend to get an interview with Bailey Bram; Jocelyne Larocque; Halli Krzyzaniak; or Brigette Lacquette. Finally on Monday, Mike is told he can speak with only Larocque because the other three locals hadn’t played in the game vs USA the Saturday night in Minneapolis and the team has some sort of rule that if you didn’t play in the previous game, you’re not allowed to speak to the media.

Say What?! You’re having a game here in Winnipeg, but the Manitobans aren’t allowed to do an advance interview with the local media. Must be nice to not have to worry about promoting a game and selling tickets when taxpayers and corporate sponsors are funding your program.

Oh, I should mention the Team Canada PR folks did actually have a players availability on Monday prior to the game. They had four players, none of them from here. Stupid. We didn’t go.

And then the day of the game, Mike makes a request to chat with Team Canada GM Melody Davidson in advance of the evening match to discuss how the Manitoba woman are doing; how the team is feeling about itself in advance of the Winter Olympics. Yep, request denied.

Hope you have better luck with these folks in Korea pal.

Meantime, check out this Tweet by Desiree Scott:

Hey Winnipeg!! I am home for the holidays & SO looking forward to being back in the city I love �� It Would be great to get out in the community, schools or clubs to share my experiences & give back! Email dscottbooking@outlook.com for inquiries! #localgal #proathlete

— Desiree Scott (@MsDScott11) December 6, 2017

When the national women’s soccer team was planning games here, they bent over backwards to provide the local media with access to players and coaches, especially Desiree Scott.

So, the next time I get a call asking why she and her team get so much coverage, the answer is simple: they do everything possible to help us make that happen.

Paul: I’m speechless. Honestly, for the first time since we started doing these Say What?! things, I have absolutely nothing to add.

You said it all.

Steve Lyons: So, I win then?

Ok good — back to work now. Gotta get some other things done and get home to watch the Jets vs the Hawks.

Have a good one. Ttys

Paul Wiecek: Everyone wins when I stop talking.

steve.lyons@freepress.mb.ca

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Paul Wiecek
Reporter (retired)

Paul Wiecek was born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End and delivered the Free Press -- 53 papers, Machray Avenue, between Main and Salter Streets -- long before he was first hired as a Free Press reporter in 1989.

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