View From the Booth - May 11, 2023

Playing all 82 regular season games during a National Hockey League season doesn't come with an award, but the players that achieve the milestone certainly wear the distinction like a badge of honour. This past season the Winnipeg Jets had four players play in every game: Neal Pionk, Adam Lowry, Kyle Connor and Brenden Dillon. For the last three, it was the second time during their careers that they played in every game. Honourable mention goes to Mark Scheifele this season for playing in 81 games and was eligible to suit-up in his 82nd in Colorado, but elected to sit out that night in preparation for the post-season.

Speaking of Pionk, watch for his younger brother Aaron to have his named called next month at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville. The six-foot-two left shot defenceman scored 12 goals and 36 points in 60 games with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL and is committed to Minnesota State University (Mankato) next season. Pionk, 20, is ranked 117th by NHL Central Scouting.

Still with the draft, the Jets possess five picks in the seven-round carousel. They own picks in the first, third, fifth (2) and seventh rounds. The additional fifth-round pick is part of the 2022 deadline deal with the New York Rangers that netted Winnipeg forward Morgan Barron and draft selections Brad Lambert (first-round) and Elias Salomonsson (second-round) in exchange for Andrew Copp and a 2023 sixth-round pick.

Not sure if many have heard this but Jets' defenceman Dylan Samberg has earned a new nickname. Both his teammates and fans alike have started to call him Slamberg. It's a moniker attributed to his developing physical style of play and was coined by both Mark Scheifele and Nate Schmidt. "I'm OK with it," chuckled the rookie blueliner. "It really doesn't matter to me. I've heard a few new ones this season and that's just another."

After a sterling season with the Manitoba Moose where he led the club with 25 goals and finished second in scoring with 50 points in only 44 games, you wonder if there's a full-time spot for Jansen Harkins back with the Jets next season? Moreover, Harkins also produced four goals and seven points in five playoff games to lead the team. For the record, the 25-year-old is still under contract with the Jets for next season and many are hoping that he can finally translate a pair of excellent AHL seasons over his young career to the next level permanently….It was an interesting year for Jets' veteran Sam Gagner, including playing in his 1,000th career NHL game. He also scored some big goals and at the end of the regular season required double hip surgery. As a result of his "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey" it made him an easy choice as Winnipeg's nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Now, the 33-year-old wasn't one of the final three selections for the award as announced by the NHL recently (Clayton Keller, Kris Letang & Alex Stalock) but his impact in one season to the Jets was certainly felt. For those that don't know, Bill Masterton was born and raised in Winnipeg playing in the MJHL for the St. Boniface Canadiens before attending the University of Denver. He died while playing in a game for the Minnesota North Stars, the result of severe head trauma in 1968. His tragic death sparked a push for players to start wearing helmets and the trophy in his name was created later that same season. To date, no Winnipeg Jets player has ever won the Masterton Trophy.

Still with equipment, it might be time for the NHL to tell players to either wear their mouthguards properly or not use one at all. There are many that choose to have it dangling from their mouths even during play and it provides no protection, thus defeating the purpose. Mouthgaurds are designed to protect player's teeth and to also act as a shock-absorber to mitigate concussions, but for some in today's game it's nothing more than an on-ice pacifier.

Speaking of protection, there are now less than 10 players in the NHL not wearing visors. They are: Jamie Benn, Jordie Benn, Milan Lucic, Ryan Reaves, Ryan O'Reilly, Matt Martin, Zack Kassian and Zach Bogosian. The last Jets player to play without a visor was Dustin Byfuglien.

Prior to his trade back to Colorado at the deadline, Jack Johnson made it a fun challenge in ensuring you were on your name game when the Jets played the Chicago Blackhawks this season. With no less than three Johnsons (Tyler, Jack and Reese - none are related) and the Jones brothers (Seth and Caleb) it made for a certain level of added concentration. The Hawks also employed goaltender Jaxson Stauber, who is the son of former NHL netminder Robb Stauber….Here is a notable quotable from this past season and defenceman Dylan DeMelo supplies the actuality. When asked how a usually defensive-minded rearguard finds his way to a pair of opportunities alone in on the opposition goal he deadpanned: "I've been working on my breakaways this season."

Did you know Mark Scheifele led the Jets this year in scoring first in a game. He opened the scoring on 10 occasions. The Jets were 31-10-2 when scoring first this season.

There are six Manitobans still playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They are: Seth Jarvis (Carolina), Morgan Geekie (Seattle) and Brett Howden, Keegan Kolesar, Mark Stone and Zach Whitecloud (Vegas).