LIVE: Postgame vs. Capitals | December 13, 2025

Hey, [Music] hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] Do it. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Do you [Music] feel it? [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Neil, what did you think of the tribute before the end? I mean, it was uh was amazing. It was uh something I will never forget. Always is, like I said, as a little boy, you dream about moments like this and uh top it off with a win like that was uh was amazing. Did you know some of those video messages were coming or any of them surprise you? Yeah, definitely. I mean, when uh one of the president of Switzerland talks to you, it’s uh definitely very special and obviously with Roger and Feder and all my family members, friends. So, it’s uh definitely very special. Got to ask you, have you ever played tennis with Roger? No, never played tennis with him. No, I think it’s better off just playing golf with them. What has your family meant to you through this whole journey and having them here today? I mean, they’re the reason why I’m here. Obviously, the whole support they gave me right from the beginning. We come from a hardworking class family. It’s tough to uh play hockey in Switzerland. It’s an expensive sport. So, I mean, the commitment they did, they sacrificed a lot of uh their free time to make sure I can play hockey and uh so it’s a definitely a big uh thanks to them. You told me once that you won’t even break a hockey stick in anger because you grew up and sticks were expensive. You didn’t want your mom to be upset. So, how delicate will you be with the silver one? It’s I mean, got this one. It’s not going to break. It’s way too heavy. And uh but it’s uh like I said, I mean growing up like that, it’s uh they taught me that I mean things cost a lot to play hockey and I knew that from early on and I didn’t want to. It’s always usually my fault when I play bad not to stick. So it’s something which I learned early on in my my career and tried to do the best to stick that way. How about the I’m sorry. How about how about the game? Um I mean this was one of Winnipeg’s best games of the season, I would think, against a tough team. How where did that happen? How did that happen? Pardon me. I don’t know. I think everybody had a maybe a little extra step for me and wanted to win that game also for me to make it a a special night and they sure did. They played unbelievable right from the get- go. I think we came out and want to make sure we put a put on a good show tonight. Was it like to have Connor back between the pipes for him? I mean obviously he’s a he’s an elite goalending. Obviously uh his patience back there he he’s just very calm and I think he brings a calming calmness into into the group but at the same time it’s I mean com was unbelievable for us as I mean, he was a tough shoes to fill and obviously it’s great to have him back. Did this feel more like the the Winnipeg Jets that we saw more often than not last season? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, tonight is definitely the way we need to play for 60 minutes for uh consider so more than just one game. I think that’s something which we know we got to do and obviously Monday night is another big game for us and uh got to make sure we play some great hockey till Christmas. Thank you guys. Enjoy the night. down. Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Music] Conor, there was a lot of talk heading into this game about how Winnipeg needed to be better, give out fewer grade A’s regardless of who was in net. And I have to think you didn’t face as many great A’s has happened a lot. What went into that? You know, I just think there was a lot of excitement around the room and, you know, the guys really brought it tonight. Uh, they did everything and more tonight. They they blocked shots, they let me see pucks, you know, they really controlled the pace of the game and our execution was real good tonight. So, you know, top to bottom, everyone just works so hard. They talk about the calm that you bring and how it makes them feel calm. Is that something you carry with you on purpose because you know you have that impact? I I mean it’s hard for me to put that into words because I’m just doing my job back there. But uh I think it’s just uh this core has been together for so long and you know I’ve been very grateful to play a lot of games. So you kind of you kind of just have a way of playing with this core and we just meshed a certain way. So you know getting back in there feels great and you know I just felt like I hadn’t missed any time. Describe what the last three weeks been like for you to get back. Oh it’s been it’s been a grind. Uh, it’s been tough, but you know, just a phenomenal job from top to bottom. Pete, great surgeon, you know. Um, Adam just did a phenomenal job with me. Um, Bernad Vancouver, we saw uh couple guys that really, really helped flush the system, get the blood pumping, and, you know, then the staff here was just so great. They were involved in every single way they possibly could. So, you know, top to bottom, everyone just works so hard, and you know, that’s why uh we got back early. I know you probably don’t want to look back, but Scott Arneil mentioned that this is something you were kind of battling through. Just maybe take us through that mindset as you, you know, played and played extremely well with this and then finally making the decision as as tough as I’m sure it was to shut it down. Yeah. Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s kind of where I was for a bit. Um, and then it finally broke, so had to fix it. But uh you know it’s just a little pain, little management. There’s really nothing that doesn’t go into every single day as a hockey player. You just you manage your days and you manage your body, you manage your recovery and you know it was just one of those things that was just on the list of things to manage. You get that the timeline at least presented publicly is four to six weeks. Did you have it in your mind early on that you were going to beat that cuz today’s 3 weeks to the day. So did you think that you could be back before the 4 to 6? Yeah, I said day one it was going to take me 3 weeks. I know I got a great team around me and I know how hard I was going to work and it was a lot of hours, a lot of hours and you know a lot of really dialing some things in and making sure we don’t take any steps back and I mean every day I was taking big steps forward and I felt like I started off ahead of the schedule already. So you know like I said it was just a great job from everyone involved and you know I’m very grateful to have them all in my bubble. as a guy who’s been just remarkably healthy through your career. How unique of a situation was this for you kind of mentally and physically to deal with? Yeah, it stinks. Uh anytime you’re watching your team play and uh you just want to be back in there and you want to do everything you can and and you just can’t. So, you know, uh I feel for the guys over the years that have had those injuries and those long injuries and um yeah, it’s so much more fun playing. And how has it been for you watching the team over the last few weeks without you and not doing so well? Well, I can tell you it’s more fun playing. I had a blast tonight and they played great for me tonight. So, uh, very grateful they really stepped on the gas and made my arrival a lot easier. You weren’t coming back till you were ready, but there’s a heavy schedule here. You know, games every other day right to the Christmas break in your mind like you want to play every game going forward here if you can. Well, I guess I should just play 82 then. No, it’s uh it’s the same thing. We manage it same way. Just because I’m back doesn’t mean we’re going to change our our system here. We uh we have a good mesh. We have a good system and uh a good management and we’re going to take it day by day just like we were before I left. Is there an amount that you’re going to continue to monitor just pain and little things and pay attention just to make sure that it’s in kind of a range that works for you? Uh no, I’m back. I’m back, baby. Let’s play. You know, that’s it’s so much more fun being out there than it is in the gym. What was it like seeing the team pull a full 60-minute effort in front of you for your first game? You know, it was great. I’m just grateful they uh they worked so hard for me and made my job easy. They execution was great tonight and you know, it’s from top to bottom. Everyone brought it. Conor, we know there’s nothing more you want than to win a Stanley Cup. Obviously, you guys, you know, had a a good shot at last year. You’re now in a bit of a hole where you are this year. What’s the mindset kind of looking at these last 50ish games now going forward? No, different. It’s the same mindset as day one. Win every game, you know, one game at a time. We can’t look ahead. Uh we’re here where we’re at. This is the challenge in front of us and got to accept it and move forward. Was any of Was any of your early return had to do with kind of wanting to be ready and show yourself for, you know, possibly the Olympic games? I mean, that’s over a month and a half away. Uh, I think it was just, you know, just top to bottom. Just everyone in my bubble did a phenomenal job and, you know, just pushing every single day and getting better every day and yeah, here we are. Thanks, [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Data. Hey. Hey. [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] You [Music] hey baby hey hey hey. [Music] [Music] That’s my new B. That’s my boss. I that that he’s got to get somewhere. I think he’s taking too long. He’s got a Christmas party. I think we’ll change it after a win. Just want to start with your overall assessment of what looked like your strongest game in a long time. Yeah. No, for sure it was. It was uh 20 guys that was complete uh throughout the lineup. All four lines looking a lot alike. Uh D were real real solid. Um you know, obviously Hely was, you know, good had when he had to be and I just you’re right. It was probably our best our most complete game of the year. Is it overly simplistic to to attribute a lot of that to Connor Halabuk’s return that this No, not simply. You It did have something to do with it. It’s all Nino. It was because of Nino’s night. Um, at the end of the day, this is the very first time all year long. Yeah. That we or we have everybody back from injuries. This is the first game. So, I’d like to think that has something to do with it. So, but at the end of the day, I like I said to you yesterday, you have the heart trophy as a guy back there is there’s a difference there. How big of a role did special teams played for you tonight? Power play got on the board, looked good and penalty. Talked about it. We looked at some stuff. Uh both both units, we uh we talked about our specialy teams winning that specialy team battle. Um you know, it’s too bad we gave up, you know, obviously five on three, but at the end of the day, I thought our our penalty kill did a fantastic job against a very good power play. Um, you know, then our, you know, the zone time with our p our power play, you know, was good and our entries were good. And so, a lot of things that we kind of talked about and looked at, uh, the guys responded in a real good way. Start the game getting two penalties in the first 20 minutes, but you still only allowed three shots on goal. What are some things you can pinpoint as to how that was able to happen? Well, I think like I mentioned there, we we looked at some stuff, some areas that um you know, to be a little bit more uh in in unison kind of one thing about penalty kill when one guys one guy moves, one guy makes a uh you know, decision to either be aggressive or attack the puck or you know that the other three have to be move moving. If they’re not, somebody gets left wide open. So, I thought we did a really good job of reading off each other. I thought we did a good job on entries, getting pressure on them initially. There were some good faceoffs that we won and we got some early clears. So, a little bit of a combination of everything, but you’re right that if you know we had stressed, talked about it, uh you just don’t want those to happen so fast like they did, but at the end of the day, it was a big boost for us as well. Lots of new looks on your line combinations in the last couple games. What seemed to really work tonight was some of the combinations that you tried out. Uh like I said earlier, I think all four lines, um zone time, they all got through the neutral zone. uh you know, Wash does a really good job of clogging up the neutral zone. I thought we got through there, whether that was with possession, making nice plays or whether that was uh you know, chipping it and going getting it back. But the other thing, you know, there was I got to tip my hat to Adam Lowry’s line. They they they were big. They scored a couple of goals, but they did a good job against, you know, some heavyweights in, you know, in ProS and and Wilson’s line. And so, um, you know, at the end of the day, everybody, I thought, you know, like I mentioned earlier, all all 20 guys stepped up and and did what they had to do tonight to help us win. I was going to ask Scott about your captain cuz he he’s talked about the process to kind of get his game back and it looked like he’s maybe moving better than he has at any point this year and you seem like you have something there with Baron and his speed and um that’s a line obviously that uh you could use in all situations. Yeah, again, like I said, being healthy, everybody being there and finally hopefully this is a, you know, the the start of the building blocks that gets us going moving forward here. Um, he’s our leader, he’s our captain. Um, you know, when he’s up and running like that, he’s a force. He’s hard to play against. He can neutralize other people on the opposition. And so, it’s what he did tonight. And, um, I just like that, you know, kind of all four lines, like I mentioned, there was one right after the other. There was momentum that was being built by each line and it carried over. I wanted to ask you specifically about about parents parents goal because it had a little bit of everything you guys have needed starting with the battle one a release and exit and speed. So yeah, it’s going on our uh it’ll go on our you know one of our favorite list or whatever our system video. I’ll be right it started with the battle though uh you know the wall play by Al coming out of the zone but the big thing on the entry was a double drive. if Bear doesn’t push them back with his speed through the middle. Um, you know, then Lao makes a great saucer pass into the middle. But we talk about double drive and against teams that try to be aggressive and hold the line. I thought that uh, you know, that line did a really good job of pushing them back with that and uh, that was a big goal at that moment. You somewhat touched on it, but uh, what about that performance gives you faith that your team’s going to carry that forward? That’s pretty much the me what the message is after the game. It’s it’s we have to do it again. You know, we’ve we’ve talked about this. We’ve done it before, but that’ll be something we’ll bring up on Monday. Again, reminders. See you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate

We’re taking you LIVE to postgame interviews with players and head coach Scott Arniel.

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