What is going in Winnipeg?

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IsDurbanodoingtime
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What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by IsDurbanodoingtime »

Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season? Their decline is pretty remarkable given that they still have pretty formidable offensive talent in Connor and Schiefele as well as Morrisey and Helly on the defensive side. Chevy basically told the faithful that he has no irons in the fire and threw his scouting staff under the bus. Their next core players like Perfetti and Stanley just have not hit. Hellybuck has been really pedestrian since his return. Team is just in a real funk. Not helpful when there were rumblings about season ticket renewal last season either.
TheJackBurton
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by TheJackBurton »

IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season? Their decline is pretty remarkable given that they still have pretty formidable offensive talent in Connor and Schiefele as well as Morrisey and Helly on the defensive side. Chevy basically told the faithful that he has no irons in the fire and threw his scouting staff under the bus. Their next core players like Perfetti and Stanley just have not hit. Hellybuck has been really pedestrian since his return. Team is just in a real funk. Not helpful when there were rumblings about season ticket renewal last season either.
I didn't expect them to repeat as Presidents Trophy winners, but I also didn't expect this. Just like us however, their season went sideways fast but unlike us they don't seem to be able to get out of it.

They've had that core for a while now, might be time to look at either making some very unpopular trades or dismantling and starting over.

Especially for such a hockey crazy town to have such an issue drawing fans.
Pierre McGuire
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by Pierre McGuire »

Roster is a bit stale…it happens. They need to move a couple of guys. They’ve got two really good dmen on the way in Freij and Boumedienne so they’ve got that to look forward to. They need to acquire some young talent up front though and they have the assets to do it. You can’t be scared to pull the trigger.
PPG
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by PPG »

I still think Winnipeg is good enough to make the playoffs, probably a #8 seed.
They are losing a Lot of one goal games where they outplay and outshooot the opposition but can't get the timely goal. They are Not getting blown out like the Blues have in many of their losses.
I like their odds of making the playoffs more than ours...and if they don't, then expect some major changes in their roster next year.
theograce
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by theograce »

PPG wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:36 pm I still think Winnipeg is good enough to make the playoffs, probably a #8 seed.
They are losing a Lot of one goal games where they outplay and outshooot the opposition but can't get the timely goal. They are Not getting blown out like the Blues have in many of their losses.
I like their odds of making the playoffs more than ours...and if they don't, then expect some major changes in their roster next year.
They lost some games they should have won and when you’re slumping that’s hard t deal with.

They play Vegas tonight … two fragile teams with good players
BalotelliMassive
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by BalotelliMassive »

IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season?
Boston was pretty bad when they let Montgomery loose...
LGB73
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by LGB73 »

Pierre McGuire wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:22 pm Roster is a bit stale…it happens. They need to move a couple of guys. They’ve got two really good dmen on the way in Freij and Boumedienne so they’ve got that to look forward to. They need to acquire some young talent up front though and they have the assets to do it. You can’t be scared to pull the trigger.
I think that staleness was a little of what was plaguing us early in the season. I think getting more new guys in there has helped the team's energy.
callitwhatyouwant
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by callitwhatyouwant »

BalotelliMassive wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:43 pm
IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season?
Boston was pretty bad when they let Montgomery loose...
I mean they were floating at .500 when that happened. There was just very much disconnect up and down the org that stemmed specifically from the handling of the goalie situation, which Monty in the playoffs get's a hand in that. Monty getting fired from Boston was overspill from the early exit the year before.


This Winnipeg situation is multiple years in the making. Before they went on their remarkable regular season run last year, there were rumors floating of the team blowing it up and moving on. Kyle Connor's name was at the front of that list to being traded. They made their run, he signed his extension, and here we are. He is still one of my top 5 favorite players in the league.
theograce
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by theograce »

The Blues biggest collapse in franchise history … was against a team that isn’t very good
Jeff Goldblum
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by Jeff Goldblum »

Uh oh. First 44pronger has a stroke and now she doesn't know what year it is. You need to get to a doctor immediately, ma'am.
TheJackBurton
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by TheJackBurton »

callitwhatyouwant wrote: 06 Jan 2026 14:24 pm
BalotelliMassive wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:43 pm
IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season?
Boston was pretty bad when they let Montgomery loose...
I mean they were floating at .500 when that happened. There was just very much disconnect up and down the org that stemmed specifically from the handling of the goalie situation, which Monty in the playoffs get's a hand in that. Monty getting fired from Boston was overspill from the early exit the year before.


This Winnipeg situation is multiple years in the making. Before they went on their remarkable regular season run last year, there were rumors floating of the team blowing it up and moving on. Kyle Connor's name was at the front of that list to being traded. They made their run, he signed his extension, and here we are. He is still one of my top 5 favorite players in the league.
the goalie issue was 100% Don Sweeney. He traded Ullmark before he had Swayman under contract which gave Swayman all the power in the negotiations.

Sweeney played hard ball expecting Swayman to eventually cave and he didn't. By the time he did finally sign it was far too late and Swayman never performed at the level he needed to because he essentially had no training camp so he was playing catch up the entire year.

Monty had nothing to do with their goaler situation.
dhsux
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by dhsux »

Didn't put Winny where they are but did not expect big things from them this year, I thought last year was an outlier for them as part of that.

2nd half of the season should provide some shifting...maybe they can be one of those teams....maybe not.
callitwhatyouwant
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by callitwhatyouwant »

TheJackBurton wrote: 06 Jan 2026 14:45 pm
callitwhatyouwant wrote: 06 Jan 2026 14:24 pm
BalotelliMassive wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:43 pm
IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season?
Boston was pretty bad when they let Montgomery loose...
I mean they were floating at .500 when that happened. There was just very much disconnect up and down the org that stemmed specifically from the handling of the goalie situation, which Monty in the playoffs get's a hand in that. Monty getting fired from Boston was overspill from the early exit the year before.


This Winnipeg situation is multiple years in the making. Before they went on their remarkable regular season run last year, there were rumors floating of the team blowing it up and moving on. Kyle Connor's name was at the front of that list to being traded. They made their run, he signed his extension, and here we are. He is still one of my top 5 favorite players in the league.
the goalie issue was 100% Don Sweeney. He traded Ullmark before he had Swayman under contract which gave Swayman all the power in the negotiations.

Sweeney played hard ball expecting Swayman to eventually cave and he didn't. By the time he did finally sign it was far too late and Swayman never performed at the level he needed to because he essentially had no training camp so he was playing catch up the entire year.

Monty had nothing to do with their goaler situation.
Well, he didn't have anything to do with what you stated. But, some contend that the 1-2 punch of swayman/ulmark was never utilized and that's what they ran with all year. I don't know why Monty was getting flack as game 5 and 6 proved he was right to stick with swayman. But I guess there's a world where he could have made the switch earlier in game 3 and could have righted the shift in momentum.
hockey jedi
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by hockey jedi »

In all facets of life, it's hard to identify the beginning of your demise. I'm glad for them. I hate Logan Stanley the most.
bluetunehead
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by bluetunehead »

I think they really felt like last year was their year. After that chance fizzled they just ran out of gas mentally. They lost a big piece in Ehlers that they haven’t filled. They brought in Toews for more veteran leadership, but thus far he’s been a shell of his former self. Add to that their former coach went and proved he wasn’t the problem in Florida multiple times over. Just a bad mix for them right now.
TheJackBurton
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Re: What is going in Winnipeg?

Post by TheJackBurton »

callitwhatyouwant wrote: 06 Jan 2026 15:30 pm
TheJackBurton wrote: 06 Jan 2026 14:45 pm
callitwhatyouwant wrote: 06 Jan 2026 14:24 pm
BalotelliMassive wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:43 pm
IsDurbanodoingtime wrote: 06 Jan 2026 12:03 pm Has any team gone from winning the President's Trophy to finishing dead last in the standings the next season?
Boston was pretty bad when they let Montgomery loose...
I mean they were floating at .500 when that happened. There was just very much disconnect up and down the org that stemmed specifically from the handling of the goalie situation, which Monty in the playoffs get's a hand in that. Monty getting fired from Boston was overspill from the early exit the year before.


This Winnipeg situation is multiple years in the making. Before they went on their remarkable regular season run last year, there were rumors floating of the team blowing it up and moving on. Kyle Connor's name was at the front of that list to being traded. They made their run, he signed his extension, and here we are. He is still one of my top 5 favorite players in the league.
the goalie issue was 100% Don Sweeney. He traded Ullmark before he had Swayman under contract which gave Swayman all the power in the negotiations.

Sweeney played hard ball expecting Swayman to eventually cave and he didn't. By the time he did finally sign it was far too late and Swayman never performed at the level he needed to because he essentially had no training camp so he was playing catch up the entire year.

Monty had nothing to do with their goaler situation.
Well, he didn't have anything to do with what you stated. But, some contend that the 1-2 punch of swayman/ulmark was never utilized and that's what they ran with all year. I don't know why Monty was getting flack as game 5 and 6 proved he was right to stick with swayman. But I guess there's a world where he could have made the switch earlier in game 3 and could have righted the shift in momentum.
The Panthers were all but done until about midway through the 2nd period of game 4. The next 80 minutes or however much was left in that game completely changed the direction of a franchise that just eeked into the playoffs and led to 3 finals and 2 Stanley Cups.

So for everyone who goes we aren't a Stanley Cup contender in any given year, the 2019 Blues and the 2023 Panthers are proof that if you get in anything can happen. Does it always work out that way? No of course not, but the only way you can absolutely say you aren't a contender is if you don't make the playoffs.
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