I have a friend in Vegas right now. He's been there for a few days and not for the upcoming Jets game in Vegas although he's seen a few things since the team arrived and that's just one day.
Apparently NHL stars need fake ID too as one, from one of the countries in Europe where drinking culture is resembles a hangover day in Newfoundland, could not get into the the Spearmint Rhino. Do what you want with that.
I'm sure there was a group selfie that will never appear on Blake Wheeler's Instagram account of team mates doing pushups with stacks of money on their backs. I wonder if Wheeler or Buff faked a money phone call to old media friend Gary Lawless?
Then there's former player and Jets' colour analyst Shane Hnidy who had relations with various players. Did he take a few out to some special watering holes and clubs? Maybe they all had slurpee-like 'yard' drinks and went for a ride in Linq ferris wheel?
Whatever mischief the Jets got into last night and perhaps today and tonight I think most fans would say it's a welcome reward for a team that is 8-3-3 heading into their first meeting with the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
This team is not without faults but it's doing (some more than others) whatever it can to overcome those faults. Be honest though and realize that since the dreadful start of two losses with 13 goals against this team has largely been goaltender driven.
That's okay though, until the goaltending isn't. Sorry Jets fans but if you don't have trust issues around goaltending with this team you're not a real fan right? Pragmatically speaking any supporter of the team should be a bit nervous now- the Jets since they relocated from Atlanta have never had this level of goaltending before.
Great goaltending is a wild and intoxicating drug. You want it all the time because the ride and rush when it's hitting your senses at purity of .937 is so, so very good. There's no hangover the next day, the office looks good and so does your boss.
That's what's going on in Winnipeg right now and frankly it's a damn good feeling. However it can stop any time, and it likely will at some point. That's the moment of truth. The Jets apparently face shots from the furthest distance in the NHL as one Scott Billeck told me but I'm waiting to get confirmation. Not that I don't trust Scott, I just want to see it with my own eyes. That may be working for now but there's been enough work done over the years by our friendly analytics community to know that it's hard to know if that strategy of limiting and isolating shot locations will work long term.
It's working now so who cares.
That's the challenge I see with this team that make me nervous. Just because it works now does not mean it will work all season. Hockey is a dynamic game built around strategy, match-ups, players and a whole lot of variables. Coaches adapt, players learn and change tactics and upset the apple-cart of other teams. The Jets might be doing that now against their opposition but will the scales tip in their favour the whole time?
There's the concern, the Jets still have some habits that cause concern and if they can correct them as the season wears on the chance for success becomes greater. Eventually they are going to play teams like Toronto, Carolina, St. Louis and others that are dynamic offensive threats who will prey upon the 'bend but don't break' defence system of the Jets.
While the Jets have beaten teams like that, Dallas x2 and Edmonton, they have also lost games they could have won such as Montreal and Columbus. Again though this is not some harsh criticism as much is reaffirming where improvement has to come from and why.
So the Jets have another two days off before playing on Friday. The Golden Knights will have come back from a long eastern road swing and hopefully will have that return to home disorientation that many teams get. They may also be pumped up too while the Jets nurse a few days in Vegas out their system.
These are the tests that a team, if it has improved, will have to face and pass. Can the group be tight and come out ready to play or will all those travelling fans from Winnipeg be let down like the Montreal game?
A leopard never changes it's spots and for many fans, the cautiously optimistic with a dose of skepticism still in them, the Jets are still a leopard. If they are going to be something else it's likely everyone will know what when the next 6 games are over. That will put the Jets at 20 games played, close to the US Thanksgiving date that seems to mean much to some and little to others, and most importantly an indication of what/who the team is.
Yes it's back to identity talk again but this time it seems a bit different than previous years. I'm still not ready to trust just yet though.