News Article: The good, the bad and the ugly of Cheveldayoff’s five-year tenure

[powder88]

http://news.nationalpost.com/sports...-jets-gm-kevin-cheveldayoffs-five-year-tenure

It's starting...the media can only carry TNSE's water for so long before they can't professionally ignore some pretty mediocre management.

Click to read more...

 

[White Out 403*]

I feel like a lot of us at HF Jets are several steps ahead of the media when it comes to this team.

 

[Board Bard]

Read the same story in the Sun this morning (Wyman's the Sun sports editor I believe). This is the first of three parts.

On Sunday, Paul Friesen examines whether the Jets hired the right man for the job from the very beginning and, on Monday, Ken Wiebe evaluates the Jets’ draft and develop model.

I will for sure read Friesen's take on Chevy.

 

[RustyCat]

"The fact is, everyone expected better from the Jets this season."

I did not. Hoped for, maybe, but not expected. When a team swap temporary transition players like Tlusty and Stempniak for players developing through your own draft it should be expected that you will face some adversity. Without question, it is a part of the process.

I have quite a different view than this author. I happen to feel the Jets are right where they need to be right now.

 

[White Out 403*]

"The fact is, everyone expected better from the Jets this season."

I did not. Hoped for, maybe, but not expected. When a team swap temporary transition players like Tlusty and Stempniak for players developing through your own draft it should be expected that you will face some adversity. Without question, it is a part of the process.

I have quite a different view than this author. I happen to feel the Jets are right where they need to be right now.

The point of the article, which you seem to have missed despite being in the end clearly written, is that it didn't have to go this way. If Chevy really did plan for us to have a terrible year that wasn't necessary by letting guys like Fro/Stemp/Tlusty walk... then he should be fired. Season ticket holders should be up in arms.

We're terrible this season because of natural progression?

Give. Me. A. Break.

 

[Evil Little]

I have quite a different view than this author. I happen to feel the Jets are right where they need to be right now.

I've got a wild hunch that you're about to be flamed...

(For what it's worth, I agree.)

 

[Shakey Rustie]

Without knowing how much autonomy he has, I am willing to give Chevy the benefit of the doubt. For all we know Dudley was not going to relinquish some of his control and that caused TNSE to seek someone who would fit what they were looking for.

 

[Dhors]

Agreed with RustyCat, Jets were bound to take a step back this year. It's been a bigger step than I had thought, but hey hopefully that leads to a solid draft pick which will make this 'draft and develop' strategy all the more viable. Ehlers looks good so far and Connor seems very promising. Hellebyuk has taken a big step forward for us this year too which hopefully will address the team's long term goaltending issues. I think Helle/Pavs is a pretty decent combo heading into next year.

Not to mention Copp has stepped into that 4th line center role and while he's has some ups and downs has been fairly solid considering it is a tough role to play for a rookie. He could be a mainstay in that position for us for a long time. Some of our older core seems to be slumping but its a contract year for some and this wasn't going to be our year anyway. Wheeler has certainly taken a step forward, so leadership does not seem to be a problem anytime in the near future. I think the panic is unjustified. If nothing is done at the trade deadline concerning the future of this team then perhaps it will be time to worry about Chevy, but I have faith that he will either get out that pen and/or make a deal.

 

[White Out 403*]

Agreed with RustyCat, Jets were bound to take a step back this year. It's been a bigger step than I had thought, but hey hopefully that leads to a solid draft pick which will make this 'draft and develop' strategy all the more viable. Ehlers looks good so far and Connor seems very promising. Hellebyuk has taken a big step forward for us this year too which hopefully will address the team's long term goaltending issues. I think.........

[mod] This team didn't have to take a step back, but Chevy gambled on the cheap and it came up snake eyes. This is called a miscalculation. Not part of a process. Ludicrous.

 

[KurtG8]

I agree with Rusty Cat, we are right where we need to be, i have zero issues with taking a step back this year. The Future is crazy bright imo, our future top 6 is ridiculous, the Net appears set for the next Decade plus with Helleboy and Comrie. Sure we could use 1 or 2 more D prospects, but with it looking like us Pushing to resign Buff. A top 4 D of Buff/Trouba/Myers/Enstrom certainly isnt garbage by any stretch.

And all this blame and outrage towards Chevy i just dont get, but to each there own. He killed that Big trade last year and it gets worse for them and better for us with each passing game. And the cupboards are overflowing with talent that is starting to now leak its way onto the big club.

A little more patience folks is all that is needed and we will be a perennial contender for years to come. At least thats what i see.

 

[surixon]

[mod] This team didn't have to take a step back, but Chevy gambled on the cheap and it came up snake eyes. This is called a miscalculation. Not part of a process. Ludicrous.

I fail to see how this was a so called miscalculation. The young players who have been brought in have all met expectations except Petan who was quickly sent down.

The issues with this team is lack of discipline and special teams more so than roster composition.

 

[White Out 403*]

I fail to see how this was a so called miscalculation. The young players who have been brought in have all met expectations except Petan who was quickly sent down.

The issues with this team is lack of discipline and special teams more so than roster composition.

You can't have it both ways. You can't say our youth is where we want them exactly, yet, the team is near the bottom of the barrel in the league. If this is how Chevy predicted our kids to produce then he should have known it wasn't good enough. Further, it's our criminal lack of depth that is the major issue at hand. JC Lipon and Andrew Copp aren't good enough to replace Frolik and Stempniak.

 

[cbcwpg]

Agreed with RustyCat, Jets were bound to take a step back this year. It's been a bigger step than I had thought, but hey hopefully that leads to a solid draft pick which will make this 'draft and develop' strategy all the more viable. Ehlers looks good so far and Connor seems very promising. Hellebyuk has taken a big step forward for us this year too which hopefully will address the team's long term goaltending issues. I think Helle/Pavs is a pretty decent combo heading into next year.

Not to mention Copp has stepped into that 4th line center role and while he's has some ups and downs has been fairly solid considering it is a tough role to play for a rookie. He could be a mainstay in that position for us for a long time. Some of our older core seems to be slumping but its a contract year for some and this wasn't going to be our year anyway. Wheeler has certainly taken a step forward, so leadership does not seem to be a problem anytime in the near future. I think the panic is unjustified. If nothing is done at the trade deadline concerning the future of this team then perhaps it will be time to worry about Chevy, but I have faith that he will either get out that pen and/or make a deal.

And to your points I highlighted... neither one of those occurred because of a plan. They both happened or are happening by accident.

Yes, we as fans, can take a positive that we may get a good draft pick by taking a huge step back, but I guarantee that was not Chevy's plan at all. A small step back might have been expected by management, but a jump off a cliff to be with the Toronto's and Buffalo's of the NHL... pretty sure that wasn't the goal. All getting a good pick does is put some positive on what looks to be ending up as being a poor season.

Spinning this season because we get a good pick sounds like Edmonton justification. Edm GM: "See what a good job I did, I got us a first pick in the draft." Long term that might help, and yes I'm all for getting that high pick but only because we are in a situation that allows us to maybe get it, but getting a high pick is actually a failure.

Helley in the net.... thank Shane Doan for that one.

 

[garret9]

They are a broken team, but a fixable team too.

 

[surixon]

You can't have it both ways. You can't say our youth is where we want them exactly, yet, the team is near the bottom of the barrel in the league. If this is how Chevy predicted our kids to produce then he should have known it wasn't good enough. Further, it's our criminal lack of depth that is the major issue at hand. JC Lipon and Andrew Copp aren't good enough to replace Frolik and Stempniak.

Andrew Copp isn't replacing Stempnaik or Frolik. He's replacing Slater. Ehlers is replacing Frolik. Burmie was supposed to replace Stempnaik (failed to)

The team is garbage largely due to the vets not getting it done on special teams and taking stupid penalties.

 

[White Out 403*]

Andrew Copp isn't replacing Stempnaik or Frolik. He's replacing Slater. Ehlers is replacing Frolik. Burmie was supposed to replace Stempnaik (failed to)

The team is garbage largely due to the vets not getting it done on special teams and taking stupid penalties.

You can shuffle the deck chairs until your arms and blue and falling off. We have guys like Slater, Coppy, Peluso, Copp instead of valuable and affordable players like Stemp and Frolik. Dress up the turd all you like.... it's a turd. That's why we're in the bottom of the league.

 

[JetsFan815]

"The fact is, everyone expected better from the Jets this season."

I did not. Hoped for, maybe, but not expected. When a team swap temporary transition players like Tlusty and Stempniak for players developing through your own draft it should be expected that you will face some adversity. Without question, it is a part of the process.

I have quite a different view than this author. I happen to feel the Jets are right where they need to be right now.

The next time someone kills someone while drunk driving, they should just say to the police "Well I was drunk, the accident was an inevitability, what did you expect? Why are you mad?"

Some people here argue in tautologies The fact that the you expected the team to be bad because management let great players like Stempniak, Frolik and Tlusty walk for nothing is not a defence of the "team being bad because of poor management", it just raises more questions about the decisions made by the management prior to training camp

 

[Jimmyjets]

And all this blame and outrage towards Chevy i just dont get, but to each there own. He killed that Big trade last year and it gets worse for them and better for us with each passing game. And the cupboards are overflowing with talent that is starting to now leak its way onto the big club.

A little more patience folks is all that is needed and we will be a perennial contender for years to come. At least thats what i see.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. Chevy didn't go "on the cheap" when Stepniak and Tlusty signed for a million each. He looked at the prospect pool and realized that we needed to start transitioning some of our youth to be NHLers. You can't have an entire team of rookies all at once. With Ehlers, Copp and Petan starting the year and guys like Connor, Roslovic, Armia, Harkins, Morrissey, Helle, Comrie and on and on and on pushing for spots next year or the year after.

There's a huge youth wave coming and you need to plan for that transition. Realistically I don't think they thought they would be among the worst teams in the league, but the 20 games that Stempniak and Tlusty played for the Jets last year sure gets overvalued by some.

The schedule was tough, the youth were learning, the refs were typical and the bounces weren't going our way. Pile on some key injuries and here we are but it could be a bit of a blessing.

Grab another elite talent at the top of the draft, transition a couple more rookies next year and then the talent pipeline is established. Back to the playoffs next year.

 

[JetsFan815]

Andrew Copp isn't replacing Stempnaik or Frolik. He's replacing Slater. Ehlers is replacing Frolik. Burmie was supposed to replace Stempnaik (failed to)

The team is garbage largely due to the vets not getting it done on special teams and taking stupid penalties.

You are presenting false choices, Ehlers did not need to replace Frolik, a player like Frolik doesn't need replacing. Ehlers could have replaced Thorburn on this team.

Burmi didn't have to replace Stempniak. Burmi could have replaced Peluso

These are all false choices- we never had to chose between Stempniak/Frolik and Ehlers/Armia/Burmi.

And before you say "they'd never get rid of Thorbs/Peluso" keep in mind that is a conscious decision made by the management and falls on them, not some inevitability etched into stone by some divine entity.

 

[Dhors]

[mod] This team didn't have to take a step back, but Chevy gambled on the cheap and it came up snake eyes. This is called a miscalculation. Not part of a process. Ludicrous.

I don't really see how anything I said is nonsensical, but hey, I appreciate the different opinion. I was prepared for a step back anyway this year as I hoped to bring up some youth to the lineup. I understand we are looking for a perennial contender, and I saw a team last year that if we kept the same roster would probably be in the playoffs if not at least in the race this year.

But that's not what I want, I want a Stanley Cup coming to Winnipeg and I believe that the team needs an elite core built through our own drafted prospects in order to achieve that. Maybe I will be proven wrong in the next few seasons, but as of right now I think that this team is heading in the right direction. I understand that the team let assets walk at the end of last year, but I wanted roster spots open to begin that push. I don't feel that I am blind to losing these assets for nothing, simply optimistic about what this team has been building.

I just look at Perennial contenders like Ottawa, compare them to a team that has huge swings of ups and downs like Tampa Bay, and think I want a team managed like Tampa Bay has been. There's been some rough times, and some awesome ones. Mostly due to to the patience of management. I was prepared to not make the playoffs this season, and maybe next season we wont make the playoffs either. But I think there will definitely be noticeable improvement in our young players over that time, and then after that we will begin to see the magic.

 

[sipowicz]

"The fact is, everyone expected better from the Jets this season."

I did not. Hoped for, maybe, but not expected. When a team swap temporary transition players like Tlusty and Stempniak for players developing through your own draft it should be expected that you will face some adversity. Without question, it is a part of the process.

I have quite a different view than this author. I happen to feel the Jets are right where they need to be right now.

[mod]

What's entirely shocking is that some in the Winnipeg media are actually starting to talk about and print what actually is true, things a lot of us have been saying for a few years but no one in the media dared print or say for fear of angering the almighty TNSE, the man behind the curtain exposed!

 

[garret9]

Andrew Copp isn't replacing Stempnaik or Frolik. He's replacing Slater. Ehlers is replacing Frolik. Burmie was supposed to replace Stempnaik (failed to)

The team is garbage largely due to the vets not getting it done on special teams and taking stupid penalties.

Special teams I actually blame coaching more than players, in both systems and player selection.

However, I think who the players replaced ignores the fact that the good players added (ex: Ehlers) could have been potentially added to the good players from before (ex: Stemp, Frolik) instead of what they chose.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

Being a season ticket holder, I'd much rather watch a more competitive team that is going to the playoffs, I understand Chevy wanting to have some room for prospects to grow, however, he could have done this without losing all three of those players. Frolik and Stemp could easily have re-signed, and we would still have room for Ehlers to play a top 9 role with solid linemates. Stemp would have been willing to take a short term deal so if Armia/Petan/Connor showed they were ready we could have made room for them next year, plus there are always injury opportunities and not having to play Peluso/Thorburn/Cormier/Halischuk would have been nice.

All this being said, I don't think the Jets are in a bad position. Adding a top prospect to a cupboard that has a lot of potential studs (Ehlers/Helle/Connor/Morrissey/Petan/Roslovic) will not hurt. IMO, we would not be a cup contender with the team we have now and so taking a step back doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother others here. If we can add a top 5 pick it might be worth it in the future

 

[Savardian Spinarama]

I too believe the team is broken, but can be fixed with a fairly quick bounce back. Planned or not (and I personally don't think it was planned), the team could be a contender next year if (IF) the right decisions are made. Chevy might get his redemption yet, or he might fail miserably. We're going to find out soon enough.

 

[surixon]

The next time someone kills someone while drunk driving, they should just say to the police "Well I was drunk, the accident was an inevitability, what did you expect? Why are you mad?"

Some people here argue in tautologies The fact that the you expected the team to be bad because management let great players like Stempniak, Frolik and Tlusty walk for nothing is not a defence of the "team being bad because of poor management", it just raises more questions about the decisions made by the management prior to training camp

And some argue that those decisions weren't crippling like some here think.

The decision was made to go young:

19 Year old Ehlers has forced his way to the top line.

22 year old Helle is playing games like a top 10 goalie.

22 year old Armia is playing a solid possession game in the bottom 6 and

22 year old Copp has been an upgrade over Slater.

Please tell me how any of the above have been the issue with the team this year.

The issue is that a proven quality third line player in Burmie has barely looked NHL calibre this year. Should Chevy be tarred for using a large sample of past data when making a decision to replace an older third line vet with a younger third line player with upside.

Adam Lowry was a good third line centre as a rookie. Once again I fail to see why it was a miscalculation on the org part to think that he would continue where he left off.

Our special teams are poorly coached - that falls on the assistants.

Our vets play the bulk of special teams minutes and have woefully under performed on them so once again I fail to see how Chevy electing to go with a youth movement was the issue here. They are the least of the team's problems imo.