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ETHAN CAIRNS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets captain Adam Lowry (right) says it\u2019s possible he came back from off-season hip surgery a bit too soon. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cCriticism of my game is very warranted and very fair,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cI go from 16 goals to 5. That\u2019s a huge dropoff. I felt like, coming out of the Olympic break, I started to find my game, I started to hold on to pucks more but I know there\u2019s another level I need to get to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some other levels that, if I expect our team to be a good team, I need to play at. So, disappointed with my season individually, disappointed with where we\u2019re at, but I\u2019ll use this time as motivation to come back next year and have a good season.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is what accountability looks and sounds like.<\/p>\n
Lowry conceded that his offseason hip surgery was a factor in his reduced effectiveness and that the competitor in him likely forced him to come back a little sooner than he should have.<\/p>\n
Although he was cleared medically, Lowry would have benefited from a bit more time in the gym during the ramping up process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe injury itself was 100 per cent. It\u2019s other things around it,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cHindsight is 20-20, but I maybe came back too soon. I could have spent time building myself up. At the same time, we\u2019re competitive people, we want to get out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt all year like the pop in my stride, the strength in it was something that I was working to get back. With how tight the schedule was it was tough to find the extra time in the gym or the practice time to really find that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReflecting on how we handled those things will make us stronger moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowry has mentioned on several occasions that the Jets\u2019 11-game losing streak (0-7-4) was a turning point and left the group with a massive hole to dig themselves out of.<\/p>\n
It also provided a learning opportunity for him and the group as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of the first bit of turbulence that we faced. My first two years went pretty smoothly with how the team played,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cNot many extended losing streaks. Reflecting on how we handled those things will make us stronger moving forward. Sometimes it\u2019s finding the right words at the right time. Sometimes it\u2019s going out there and leading the way with your actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s things I learned. I think there\u2019s things I could have done better that maybe would have gotten us out of that slump earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowry, who signed a five-year extension that kicks in next season, is clearly determined to get back to being a dominant checking line player who consistently wins his minutes and chips in more offence than the 21 points he managed in 70 games.<\/p>\n
Jets forward Cole Perfetti falls into a similar category as Lowry, in that a high ankle sprain during training camp impeded his ability to make an impact immediately upon his return.<\/p>\n
For a team that was lacking secondary scoring when he got back into the lineup on Nov. 9 after missing the first 14 games, Perfetti put some additional pressure on himself to perform.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t KYUSUNG GONG \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti says he\u2019s confident the Jets are still a playoff team and that this season was a one-off.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Rather than build on his 18 goal, 50-point campaign, Perfetti didn\u2019t fully get into the groove until December and beyond.<\/p>\n After producing just two goals in his first 26 games, Perfetti finished with 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games, a far cry from the projections both he and others had for him.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously I didn\u2019t have my finest season, but I\u2019m not going to sit here and blame it all on an injury. But I think it definitely did play a big role into it,\u201d said Perfetti, who was chosen 10th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. \u201cEarly on, I was a little hesitant and wasn\u2019t playing my game. Really after Christmas, it started to get a little bit better. And then really around the Olympic break is when I started to feel full confidence and I felt like my game started to get that chippiness back, get the speed back, get the legs going, started making plays a lot more.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last 30, 35 games is really how I wanted to play. I\u2019m glad I got to that level and got to the level of play that I know I could play at. But it would have been nice to do it from the get-go.\u201d<\/p>\n The timing for the dip in production couldn\u2019t be worse for Perfetti as he becomes a restricted free agent, but this is one of those situations where both sides will zoom out and look at the body of work since he entered the league in establishing his long-term value.<\/p>\n A shorter-term deal is possible, but a one-year deal would leave Perfetti one year away from unrestricted free agency, so there\u2019s risk involved there, especially for the Jets.<\/p>\n Since Perfetti is a homegrown talent and recent first-rounder, the expectation is that the two sides will chip away on a longer-term deal.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be a guy that can help get this team far. You only get one career and you only get one crack at it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to have that. That would be a real honour to have the team show that and express that faith in you as a player and as a person,\u201d said Perfetti. \u201c(That) they want you to be here long term. That they want you to be a player within this organization for the future. But obviously, I can\u2019t speak for their side. I know where I stand, but can\u2019t speak for them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to see how it goes. We\u2019ll cross that bridge when we get there and figure it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n Perfetti, who is now represented by Pat Brisson of CAA, gained some valuable knowledge through the negotiating process a few years back as a restricted free agent, and his objective going into this deal is crystal clear.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to do what\u2019s best for this organization. I want to do what\u2019s best for myself as well. I think it\u2019s every guy\u2019s stand on things,\u201d said Perfetti. \u201cObviously, being in this organization that drafted me and being here for five years now, you feel like you\u2019re a part of this and have been a part of this for a long time and you want to be a solution, a fix.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be a guy that can help get this team far. You only get one career and you only get one crack at it.\u201d<\/p>\n With that being said, Perfetti\u2019s confidence in the group wasn\u2019t shaken by missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs one year after playing a massive role in the Manitoba Miracle.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s extremely high. We know what we have in here,\u201d said Perfetti, who scored the tying goal in the waning seconds in Game 7 of the first-round matchup against the St. Louis Blues last April. \u201cWe showed what we are capable of last year. Obviously, not going as far in the playoffs as we had hoped, but to be the best team in the regular season. Everyone in this group believes it too.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line is this sucks, sitting here and doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that we\u2019re a playoff team and that this was just a one-off. We\u2019re all pretty determined and no one\u2019s very happy right now. So we\u2019re all really going into the off-season making sure that when we come back in September, that this doesn\u2019t happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jets need to have a successful off-season and will be looking to upgrade the personnel to bolster the depth up front and on defence.<\/p>\n Might that bring a further influx of youth, whether it\u2019s more promotions from the Manitoba Moose or from free agency or trades?<\/p>\n \u201cJust looking back to 2018, when a lot of us guys here that are older, we were on entry level contracts coming in. You need that good mix of veteran players and guys coming in and it\u2019s about finding the right timing and the right fits,\u201d said Jets left-winger Kyle Connor, noting those decisions are for management to make. \u201cI\u2019ll embrace winning. If they bring them in and we win, or if it\u2019s somebody else. The bottom line is this sucks, sitting here and doing this. Everybody wants to win and to be playing games in the playoffs. Everybody in this room \u2014 especially the guys that have been here for a long time \u2014 whatever makes us the best team, we\u2019ll fully embrace that.\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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