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Nathan Denette \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
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Goalie Connor Hellebuyck makes a stick save for the United States against Canada’s Devon Toews in the men’s gold medal hockey game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun. I feel like I\u2019ve been playing playoff hockey since Feb. 11. So yeah, it\u2019s stressful and I\u2019m not going to be perfect every single night and I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Jets get set to continue a four-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, they find themselves three points behind the Nashville Predators \u2014 while holding a game in hand.<\/p>\n
Hellebuyck had an optimistic response when asked how the Jets have been able to reduce the deficit in the chase from 11 points to three.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been playing playoff hockey since Feb. 11. So yeah, it\u2019s stressful and I\u2019m not going to be perfect every single night and I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you can\u2019t worry about trying to get back in,\u201d said Hellebuyck. \u201cYou worry about yourself every single day and put your best foot forward and let the results happen. The more stress you build up on yourself and put on yourself, the more likely you are going to fail or run into some roadblock along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I\u2019m trying to be even-keeled, worry about myself and worry about stopping that puck as many times as I can and let everything else take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hellebuyck \u2014 who has gone 4-4-2 in his last 10 games \u2014 is quick to recognize his numbers like save percentage (.899) and goals-against average (2.80) are down this season, but he doesn\u2019t view that as cause for concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this game is so results driven. All the media likes to talk about is the stats sheet and the results and you kind of have to, it\u2019s sports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as an athlete, there\u2019s the results part of it and then there\u2019s the, \u2018How do you feel? How are you playing? How is your game?\u2019 This part is what I care about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m at a very high level, so it\u2019s nice to put some results with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t David Zalubowski \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck celebrates his bounce-back win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Hellebuyck is someone who prides himself on keeping fresh despite carrying a heavy workload. And the search to find the perfect balance is a complex equation that requires some tinkering.<\/p>\n \u201cI do very much enjoy the management side of the game,\u201d said Hellebuyck. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not just, you\u2019re playing every single night, get your rest and play. There\u2019s more to it. \u2018When are we going to activate the muscles? When am I going to get a little (weight) lift in? When is rest more important, when is the morning skate important?\u2019 All of that management is really fun to me because that\u2019s where you can make small strides that actually make a big difference.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a bit of an over thinker, so to have something else to think about and not nit pick my goalie game is kind of nice. My mind has got to be somewhere, so I might as well keep it task oriented.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019m at a very high level, so it\u2019s nice to put some results with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hellebuyck turned aside 21 of 23 shots in Saturday\u2019s win over the Colorado Avalanche and he also expressed his frustration to officials during a stoppage in play after Ross Colton knocked him to the ice behind the net after the Jets goalie played the puck.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the slew foot? He said it was incidental contact. The guy took a route between me and the net,\u201d said Hellebuyck, noting the contact was inevitable given the space between him and the net Colton tried to squeeze through. \u201cI don\u2019t think he was doing it on purpose, but he made a dumb decision on a route and that\u2019s what penalties are. Most penalties are accidents. That\u2019s a penalty in 99 per cent of games. I\u2019ve seen it go against us multiple times, whether you like it or not. It is a penalty.<\/p>\n \u201cThey ended up getting a shot down main street and I don\u2019t even know where my stick was.\u201d<\/p>\n It was the second time in just over a week that an opponent made contact with Hellebuyck in and around his crease, the first coming in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins when Egor Chinakhov essentially cross-checked him after he was pushed by Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cHe did that on purpose. He took a bump this way and turned this way,\u201d said Hellebuyck. \u201cYou can tell. He was falling, looked at me and then went like that (in a cross-checking motion). That one was for sure on purpose. I don\u2019t know why. No one even blinked an eye at that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hellebuyck understands that crease crashing is a common occurrence at this time of the year and that opponents are going to try to get in his face and under his skin.<\/p>\n He also realizes the importance of staying poised in intensity-filled environments.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the biggest stage in the world, you play as well as he did, you know what that does for your confidence,\u201d said Jets centre Mark Scheifele, referencing his netminder\u2019s Olympic win. \u201cWe\u2019re so lucky to have him on our team. I think he\u2019s the best goalie in the world and he showed it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Assan Ammar \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Hellebuyck celebrates Team USA’s victory over Team Canada in the men’s Olympic gold medal game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And if opponents continue to see it during the majority of these final nine games, this group might just pull off a Stanley Cup playoff berth on a heater.<\/p>\n \u201cHe always had that belief, but sometimes you don\u2019t really know you\u2019ve got it until you do it \u2014 and he really did it in that gold medal game,\u201d said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. \u201cObviously, he won the game for them and played fantastic. He\u2019s been such a rock for us. We see it on a nightly basis. For him to do it on a stage like that and then get that recognition from everybody outside of Winnipeg, it was great to see.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is soaking it in, as he should. It\u2019s a once in a lifetime opportunity to get that recognition. It\u2019s well deserved. We get to see the confidence on a nightly basis, but it\u2019s good to (have) everybody else see it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/kenwiebe<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Ken Wiebe Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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