Here are a few thoughts and notes from the start of a new National Hockey League season in Winnipeg along with some general news about the sport and its participants from around the city and province.
….Mark Scheifele will play his 1,000th game this season. If he maintains his current pace of games, he’ll hit the 1000-game milestone on Dec. 22 in Nashville – the last game before Christmas. For interest’s sake, here are some notable items about his career entering this season. He’s played more games against the Chicago Blackhawks (50) than any other team in the league. And his goal (24), points (56) and penalty minute (36) totals against the Dallas Stars are the most versus any NHL team.
….Still with Scheifele, entering this season his 961 games are more than any other Jets player in franchise history. Based on last year’s season of 103 points, the 33-year-old would need to average about 95 points-per-season over the next three seasons to become a point-per-game player through his career. For the record, he’s amassed an average of 87 points each year over the last three campaigns, his best three-year average.
….Kyle Connor recently played in his 700th career game. As a member of the 2015 draft class – an extremely deep and rich group that includes Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Zach Werenski and Mikko Rantanen to name a few – he’ll likely stand alone in perpetuity for his remarkable NHL scoring record in season opening games. After scoring on opening night against the Boston Bruins (Oct. 2), Connor has now scored a goal in the Jets’ season opener for nine consecutive years. Among his victims are St. Louis, New York Rangers (2x), Calgary (2x), Anaheim, Edmonton, Dallas and Boston. It’s a league record that may never be equaled or broken and the 29-year-old will presumably have a chance to add to it next season.
….The NHL has mandated that every team this season carry a full-time emergency goaltender. The Emergency Back-Up Goaltender (EBUG) will travel and practice with the team as a full-time member. On standby, the EBUG will be available if the team is unable to dress one of their rostered goalies or if an injury occurs in-game, as the Jets experienced on March 29, 2018 in Chicago when Scott Foster, a financial accountant, finished the game. He turned aside all seven Winnipeg shots in 14 minutes of work in relief of backup Collin Delia, who cramped up in the third period after starting in place of Anton Forsberg, who was hurt in warmups.
Winnipeg’s EBUG is Altona’s Cole Kehler, who prior to accepting the newly created position with the Jets, was working in the family business selling farm implements across the Pembina Valley and into Westman. According to starter Stuart Skinner, the 28-year-old Kehler has fit in seamlessly with the group, especially the goalie fraternity. “He’s incredible,” said Skinner, who admits having an extra goalie in practice and morning skate eases the workload and wear-and-tear on both he and back-up Clay Stevenson. “He’s such a nice guy. We’ve had a couple of dinners on the road. We’ve just had a good time. It’s been great.” Kehler, 28, has over 60 games of professional experience on his resume and last played professionally in the ECHL in 2021-22.
According to PuckPedia, there are some interesting backgrounds to the list of NHL EBUGs this season, including Brandon’s Daren Milard, who is a television host and broadcaster with the Vegas Golden Knights.
….Despite the fact that the Jets finished well short of everyone’s expectations last season the crowds at Canada Life Centre remained strong. Last year, the team averaged 14,228 fans per game, only a one percent drop in attendance from the previous season (14,366) where the team captured the President’s Trophy. In 2025-26 the Jets sold out nine games, where a season prior they amassed 14 sellouts. Last year, Winnipeg played to 93% capacity at Canada Life Centre.
….Staying with crowds, the San Jose Sharks showed the largest increase in attendance last year, jumping nearly 14 percent from 14,219 per game two years ago to 16,173 last year. Obviously, an improved team record and having Maklin Celebrini as your young superstar factors favorably in the attendance boost for San Jose. The biggest drop between the two seasons was shared by the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild, both dipping 2.2 percent. However, that number is skewed because both teams were playing to above capacity crowds the year before and remained at capacity last season. Therefore, the most notable drop in attendance last year was with the New York Rangers, who slouched by 1.6 percent. Overall, the NHL increased its home date attendance (not including neutral site games) by 1.7 percent or to 23,032,329 fans. It will be interesting to see what the additional two games on the schedule this season does to overall league and individual team attendance figures.
….The NHL is cracking down on improperly worn equipment this season. In fact, the league is so stringent in certain areas that they sent out a compliance video to all 32 teams prior to the start of training camp. The focus surrounds items like tucked jerseys, neck guards for rookies and helmets worn in warmup for players that entered the league during or after the 2019-20 season. Another focal point in the crackdown will be tilted visors. And while one of the biggest culprits in the league for not wearing his shield properly is Jets’ forward Nino Niederreter, don’t look for the 16-year veteran to be penalized. Since Niederreiter entered the league prior to the mandatory visor rule coming into effect for the 2013-14 season, he isn’t required to wear one. So, while he does choose to affix a visor to his helmet, he doesn’t need to be compliant with the rule or the crackdown.
….One more point on visors. There now only three current players that don’t wear one across the league. They are Ryan O’Reilly (Nashville), Jamie Benn (Dallas) and former Jets’ defenceman Zach Bogosian (Minnesota). Winnipeg product Ryan Reeves was the latest to fall off the list when he retired last month following a 16-year NHL career and 962 hard-fought NHL games.
….There are many very likeable and unique personalities in the NHL and more specifically inside the Winnipeg Jets dressing room. One of those is forward Alex Iafallo. In addition to being extremely versatile on the ice, the 10-year NHLer is also an avid outdoorsman. Part of his outdoor passion is surfing in the off-season, where he spends most of his days in the Los Angeles area catching big waves in the morning prior to heading to the gym and on-ice workouts. His fervor for the sport started after his rookie season with the Kings and has led him to even fabricating his own surfboards. To date, he’s made three of them with the last one being the six-foot board he currently uses. He calls his off-season hobby an “on-going addiction.”
….Short Shifts: There are four NHLers playing in their fourth decade of life this season. They include Brent Burns (41, Colorado), Corey Perry (41, LAK), Alex Ovechkin (41) and Evgeni Malkin (40, Pittsburgh). The oldest active goalie is Cam Talbot (38, Columbus)….The NHL salary is projected to increase in each of the next three years. It’s currently set this season at $104 million (all figures U.S.) and expected to rise to $113.5 million next year and $127.5 million for 2028-29….Congratulations to Winnipeg’s Ryan Smith on his hiring as an assistant coach with the PWHL’s expansion team in Las Vegas. Smith, 53, had spent the last 11 seasons coaching in the WHL….By the time you read this Jets’ defenceman Dylan DeMelo will have played in his 281st consecutive regular season games. He currently owns the longest active streak within the team and hasn’t missed a game since 2022-23. However, he did miss a playoff game because illness two years ago in Game 3 against St. Louis….Quotable: Jets defenceman Tyrel Bauer on fighting: “It’s not about the action, it’s what it represents.” Also quotable: goaltender Stuart Skinner on coming into a new environment: “What I’ve learned in my four years is my job is my job.”
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