The New Jersey Devils will be visiting the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, but the Devils’ goalie will be Jake Allen, not former Jet Connor Hellebuyck. Devils general manager Sunny Mehta announced the news Sunday night; it did not sit well with former Jets coach and former teammates.
The decision to sit Hellebuyck was not the goaltender’s decision but an upper management decision. Hellebuyck stated that he was disappointed in not being able to play against his former teammates.
According to Mehta, “This has been an organizational decision for us that we debated at length; Connor Hellebuyck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg. However, in our estimation, playing in this game would potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability.”
The Devils Made The Wrong Decision With Hellebuyck
Jets head coach Scott Arniel stated his true feelings on the matter of the Devils sitting Hellebuyck as a “dragged-on” situation. Also feeling the fans’ frustration with the decision. Former teammates and fans just want to get closure with the former goaltender, and the Devils organization making a weird decision is beyond disappointing.
The Devils are backing that this decision was based on analytics and that they plan for Hellebuyck to start in back-to-back games against division rival Washington Capitals over the weekend. That explanation does not even make sense for former Jets players. “To be honest, I didn’t even think that was a possibility. I thought he was playing for sure,” said winger Kyle Conner.
Jets Captain Adam Lowrey even stated he was looking forward to playing against his former teammate and goaltender. Even though Hellebuyck is not playing, the Jets fans will show no mercy to their former goaltender when the Devils do play them Tuesday night. There have been multiple occasions of players returning to play against former teams this year, and it is not sitting well with fans.
NHL fans around the league for example, when Brady Tkachuk returned to Ottawa it was a brutal scene with crazy, obscure sayings to the former Senator Captain. When Quinn Hughes returned to Vancouver, fans were rambunctious against him as well. It would have been a quiet outing for the former Jet netminder if he were actually going to play, but he will hear it from the bench as he sits out in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
As for now, the Jets will have to wait to play against the former goaltender, even though it will not be the same environment as this game on Tuesday night. The Jets will visit the Devils on November 28th in New Jersey. Since Connor Hellebuyck joined the New Jersey Devils, he’s been off to a hot start with a 5-0 start, a 1.96 goals-against average, and a .913 save percentage.
End Of My Hellebuyck Rant
This decision that the New Jersey Devils organization has made to not play former goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is beyond ridiculous. Going off analytics is not even a fact; it’s an excuse. Players consistently move around the NHL to different teams and with Hellebuyck not making a return to Winnipeg to play is a slap in the face to all Jets fans, coaches, staff and the organization. This adds another level of high emotions on both sides: the Devils players and Jets players. Sometimes you have to rip the band-aid off and face situations head-on, and the Devils are avoiding the situation.
I’m sure Hellebuyck wants to have closure with the Jets organization and its fans to say one last goodbye in person. He will always and forever be a Winnipeg Jet. He has played for the organization for 15 seasons, and Winnipeg will always have a place in Hellebuyck’s heart. This is a mistake for the Devils organization to have even come to this decision and conclusion for the former goaltender.
