WINNIPEG - After the Jets wrapped up their victory over Tampa Bay last night, news emerged that Connor Hellebuyck would not be getting the start when the New Jersey Devils visit Winnipeg tomorrow night. Instead, it will be Jake Allen getting the call, meaning Jets fans will have to wait another day for the chance to see their former franchise goaltender back at Canada Life Centre. Given the circumstances of Hellebuyck's departure and the anticipation surrounding his return, the news was bound to leave a few fans disappointed.
“They (the Devils) have their reasons and it’s fine. To me it goes back to ownership, it goes back to fans, it goes back to the core guys that have been with Helle from the very beginning. That’s the part for me that’s hard,” said head coach Scott Arniel.
“He gave up on us. It would be nice to finally be done with this. All this does is drag this out to nine or 10 more games and then we have to talk about it again.”
The Jets will face the Devils again on November 28, but that game will be played at Prudential Center in Newark.
“So there'll be lots of media questions going into that game. It's just pushed it down the road a little bit farther, but you're right. It's been a lot of emotional ups and downs,” said Arniel.
“What I said the other day, so proud of our group, our leadership group especially, how they’ve handled this situation and continued to handle this situation. They're extremely professional.”
Jets captain Adam Lowry admitted he was surprised the Devils opted not to start Hellebuyck tomorrow night, though he acknowledged there were likely discussions behind the decision that he wasn't privy to. Lowry added that, given the choice, he would have preferred to see No. 37 between the pipes on Tuesday night.
“I would have loved to play against him. We’d all be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to the opportunity,” said Lowry.
“Like I said countless times, he’s a good friend of ours and it’s always fun going up against buddies and ex-teammates, you just want to best him and I think the atmosphere would have been great whether fans were upset or they wanted to thank him, whatever. It would have been an emotional night and it would have been a lot of fun.”
Even without Hellebuyck on the ice at Canada Life Centre, the atmosphere should be electric, fuelled by back-to-back walk-off victories and a fan base eager to make its voice heard in whatever way it can.
“Yeah, we just keep continuing to build what we've been doing recently. I think we've been playing some really good hockey, and there's still two points in the line, and when the puck's dropped, you still got to play the game,” said Kyle Connor.
“No matter how much outside noise there is, you got to focus on winning your shift and competing when you're out there.”
