"He truly is special"

WINNIPEG – Connor Hellebuyck will be celebrated Friday night when the Winnipeg Jets take on the San Jose Sharks at Canada Life Centre.

Hellebuyck is off to a fantastic start to the 2024-25 season and was named the NHL’s second star for his efforts last week. Thanks to a sparkling 3-0-0 record with one shutout, a 0.66 goals against average and a .976 save percentage. His last start was another 2-1 win in which he stopped 26 of 27 shots, which prompted this comment from teammate Mark Scheifele.

“Phenomenal. He’s amazing. He truly is special,” said Scheifele on Sunday night.

“I am very, very lucky to be on his team this long and another seven years. That’s another guy I am very thankful for.”

The seven years refers to the length of the extensions that both Scheifele and Hellebuyck signed last October with the Jets. Which means seven more years of Hellebuyck’s teammates trying to meet the challenge of finding different ways to describe how good the Vezina Trophy winner is.

“We’ve grown accustomed to him being so elite. A perfect example of that he could get the jacket every night after a game or after a win. He gets a shutout in game one and he’s allowed one goal in the next two games. It’s one of those things that you have to shake off because that’s almost the performance you expect of him now,” said captain Adam Lowry.

“So, it doesn’t get old describing his play generally I benefit from that. That big glove save he made against Chicago (in the home opener). I was out there for that one on the PK. Sometimes it’s hard-to-find new ways to describe his level of play but at the same time we’re pretty lucky that we get to witness his greatness every day in practice and what he’s able to do in games.”

Someone that has witnessed the greatness of Hellebuyck is Jets goaltending coach Wade Flaherty, who has been along for the ride since the very beginning.

“I do remember watching him when the Moose came back (to Winnipeg), and he was playing for the Moose. So, I knew there was something special there,” said Flaherty.

“When he joined us with the Jets, you could just see it in practice. His compete and just his yearning to learn the game and obviously it was a pleasure working with him when he was young because we would do video and work on drills and the dialogue we would have about goaltending. You always knew there was something special, but I don’t think you could ever say ‘I knew he was going to be this or that’ but you knew there was something special there.”

Hellebuyck is closing in on 300 career wins, has two Vezina Trophy’s, a William Jennings Trophy and he’s been to four All-Star games. Despite all he has already accomplished and will accomplish over his career, Flaherty says he is most proud of the fact that Hellebuyck never comes on the ice and goes half speed.

“Every day he comes on the ice and wants to get better at something and honestly that’s something pretty special when you have a goaltender that has accomplished the things that he’s accomplished and he’s a star,” said Flaherty.

“He will play 65 plus games and will come on the ice and battle every day. He’s very competitive and at the end of the day that’s what you want in the position. He’s a little bit low key on the side and obviously winning the Vezina, there’s many, many things.”

During a game, you will rarely see Hellebuyck lose his cool. No matter what the score is or if he lets in a goal, his emotions remain at the same level. That coolness remains through good times and bad times.

“Usually, he’s pretty good if guys make blocks on the PK, clear a rebound out front or tie up a stick. He will acknowledge that between periods, during the period he’s pretty dialled in. Part of what makes him so great if you make a mistake in front of him, he’s not going to hang you out to dry. He’s not going to single you out, make you feel small and kind of belittle you,” said Lowry.

“He will build you up. He’ll say ‘Don’t worry about it, go get the next one. I got your back.’ He’s so good about building up his teammates and more often than not he’s the one we should build up. He bails us out, he plays incredible pretty much every game he plays. He’s had an unbelievable career to this point.”

Josh Morrisey confirmed that Hellebuyck rarely gets mad but admitted the times where the 31-year-old loses his cool.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him really mad unless they take away the chocolate chip cookies on the plane. Those were gone and he was mad. The pizza that we get on the road sometimes was gone the other day, he wasn’t too happy,” joked Morrissey.

“Or when he lets in any goal. Even when that happens it’s usually a scientific thought behind it. ‘Ok, how did that go in and how am I going to figure out how to make that save in the future?’ Just a real humble guy, down to earth person, family man. Obviously with his kids now.”

Morrissey and Hellebuyck have pretty much been together from development camps and now as stars on the Jets. Then there is someone like Alex Iafallo who is entering his second season with the Jets and while he appreciated Hellebuyck’s abilities going up against him as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

“Just a really good goalie and he always made big saves on me. But coming here, he’s awesome from the get-go,” said Iafallo.

“Great guy on and off the ice so it’s pretty cool to get to know him at the level he’s been playing at all these years.”