Mistakes the Jets Still Regret

[Jets4Life]

I may be mis-remembering this, or confusing it with Buff's boating incident but I have a recollection to the effect that what Pavelec was charged with was not technically a crime in that jurisdiction. So he would still have passed a criminal record check.

The Czech Republic, like most European countries, has harsher drunk driving laws than Canada, so it definitely was a crime, and would have shown up on a record search.

He did not falsify anything. He did not lie on a job application. The question was not asked and he did not volunteer the information.

You have no idea if he did or did not falsify anything on his contract. It's not like the Jets would disclose this to the public. So we are left guessing. The only people privy to that information would be the Winnipeg Jets, Pavelec, and his agent. Evander Kane also had several off-ice issues in Winnipeg. True North went out of it's way to protect Kane from the media. I know first hand of a couple of the issues, but I'm not going to elaborate as it's against forum policy, and it's definitely not the "money phone" incident. True North would be the last people to tell the public about players off-ice discretion's, which is probably a good thing.

 

[ps241]

The departures of Hainsey and Oduya always irked me. They're not superstars but they're steady, and we've been missing that steady bottom 4 for a long time.

I thought we got a fair return for Johnny O considering he was a deadline dump. I think those were both guys that were not interested in continuing on here in Winnipeg and they were both solid defenders but that's the business I guess.

 

[Jets4Life]

I thought we got a fair return for Johnny O considering he was a deadline dump. I think those were both guys that were not interested in continuing on here in Winnipeg and they were both solid defenders but that's the business I guess.

I always thought dumping Hainsley may have had something to do with the lockout since he was the Jets NHLPA rep....lol.

Having said that, hiring Mike Smith as GM from 1988-94 was a bad decision. It may ahve been brought up already though, but Smith said some "interesting" things during his tenure, and before:

-After the 1987 Canada-USSR World Jr brawl in the Czech Republic, Smith walked right up to the players at the airport as all were catching a flight back to Canada. Smith blasted them for making a disgrace of the tourney, and told them all to grow up, even though the Russians were the ones who instigated it by leaving the bench first.
-Smith had stated repeatedly that he drafted so many Russians since they were cheaper, and Winnipeg could not afford good North American players
-Smith manipulated the relationship between GM Ferguson and owner Shankerow, constantly telling Shank that Fergie was old and implying he was becoming senile. Fergie never spoke to Smith for the remainder of his life after leaving the Jets
-Smith berated Hawerchuk for complaining about his reduced ice time, and even stated that if he was GM in 1981, he would ahve drafted Bobby Carpenter (of all people) instead
-Smith told Paddock to deliberately bench Essensa during the 1992 playoffs, even though Essensa was a Vezina finalist, and had a career year, since his contract was coming up, and Smith was afraid if Essensa played well in the playoffs, the Jets would not have been able to afford him, so they went with Tabaracci.
-Smith and Housley nearly came to blows after a New Years Eve party in 1992. Smith yelled that Houssley was done as a Jet once the season ended, and he stayed true to his word by sending him to St.Louis
-

 

[Aavco Cup]

Hainsey wanted to be in the east. He was never re-signing here. I'm not sure why we didn't ship him out at the deadline tho. He wasn't exactly in demand July 1 IIRC, so perhaps nobody wanted him then?

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

The Czech Republic, like most European countries, has harsher drunk driving laws than Canada, so it definitely was a crime, and would have shown up on a record search.



You have no idea if he did or did not falsify anything on his contract. It's not like the Jets would disclose this to the public. So we are left guessing. The only people privy to that information would be the Winnipeg Jets, Pavelec, and his agent. Evander Kane also had several off-ice issues in Winnipeg. True North went out of it's way to protect Kane from the media. I know first hand of a couple of the issues, but I'm not going to elaborate as it's against forum policy, and it's definitely not the "money phone" incident. True North would be the last people to tell the public about players off-ice discretion's, which is probably a good thing.

He signed a Standard Players Contract. It is standard. There are no secret questions about 'have you been drinking and driving'.

You can make as much out of it as you want to. It was 5 years ago. I can barely remember that long. Pavelec is gone. I was over it 5 years ago. I'm done now.

 

[ArizonaCoyotes19]

Burmi is done. He will be 26 by the start of the season, and his best days are behind him. Not sure what happened. Rushed into the NHL too soon? Did Claude Noel undermine his confidence? Did he regress when he left for the KHL? I guess we are left to contemplate what could ahve been...

As a Coyotes fan I liked what I saw out of Burmi last year. Of course there were times when he tried to do too much with the puck and got caught. However, on Yotes team that lacked skill he certainly stood out. I'm just not sure with all the young talent that the Coyotes have coming up that Burmi will keep his larger role. Either way I would like to see AZ resign for another year and go from there.

 

[Aavco Cup]

He signed a Standard Players Contract. It is standard. There are no secret questions about 'have you been drinking and driving'.

You can make as much out of it as you want to. It was 5 years ago. I can barely remember that long. Pavelec is gone. I was over it 5 years ago. I'm done now.

There's not much to an SPC. (Exibit 1 in the CBA) The only part that might have relevance is

2. (e) to conduct himself on and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and to refrain from conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club, the League or professional hockey generally.

But that would have been a stretch IMO. Perhaps if he was a repeat offender there would be grounds to void the contract that could actually withstand a grievance.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

There's not much to an SPC. (Exibit 1 in the CBA) The only part that might have relevance is

2. (e) to conduct himself on and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and to refrain from conduct detrimental to the best interest of the Club, the League or professional hockey generally.

But that would have been a stretch IMO. Perhaps if he was a repeat offender there would be grounds to void the contract that could actually withstand a grievance.

But it doesn't ask what have you done lately - before signing this contract. The offense in question here happened under the expiring contract and might possibly have been grounds for voiding that but since it was being replaced by a new one that wouldn't make much sense.

Should Pavelec have revealed it? Of course. It came out anyway.

Are pro athletes some kind of demi-gods who exist on a higher plane than the rest of us? No. There is a never ending series of scandals involving pro athletes. If you want your kids to have the best role models don't encourage them to emulate people who just happen to be gifted with athletic talent. Pick your role models as individuals who meet high standards of conduct, not high standards of athleticism. Some pro athletes live up to the best standards. Some fall to the worst. Most are like the rest of us, somewhere in between.

 

[mazmin]

I always thought dumping Hainsley may have had something to do with the lockout since he was the Jets NHLPA rep....lol.

Having said that, hiring Mike Smith as GM from 1988-94 was a bad decision. It may ahve been brought up already though, but Smith said some "interesting" things during his tenure, and before:

-After the 1987 Canada-USSR World Jr brawl in the Czech Republic, Smith walked right up to the players at the airport as all were catching a flight back to Canada. Smith blasted them for making a disgrace of the tourney, and told them all to grow up, even though the Russians were the ones who instigated it by leaving the bench first.
-Smith had stated repeatedly that he drafted so many Russians since they were cheaper, and Winnipeg could not afford good North American players
-Smith manipulated the relationship between GM Ferguson and owner Shankerow, constantly telling Shank that Fergie was old and implying he was becoming senile. Fergie never spoke to Smith for the remainder of his life after leaving the Jets
-Smith berated Hawerchuk for complaining about his reduced ice time, and even stated that if he was GM in 1981, he would ahve drafted Bobby Carpenter (of all people) instead
-Smith told Paddock to deliberately bench Essensa during the 1992 playoffs, even though Essensa was a Vezina finalist, and had a career year, since his contract was coming up, and Smith was afraid if Essensa played well in the playoffs, the Jets would not have been able to afford him, so they went with Tabaracci.
-Smith and Housley nearly came to blows after a New Years Eve party in 1992. Smith yelled that Houssley was done as a Jet once the season ended, and he stayed true to his word by sending him to St.Louis
-

Wow. Thread complete.

The answer is Smith. What's he doing these days?

 

[mazmin]

Followed up on the return for Kovy. The trade and subsequent trades of the returns leads to, what we got was Buff and Poolman. The rest was junk that never made any impact.

I'm pleasantly suprised. I think at least 29/31 teams in the league today would take Buff + Poolman over Kovy.

 

[Jets4Life]

Wow. Thread complete.

The answer is Smith. What's he doing these days?

Working as the Assistant Night Manager at a Taco Bell in Scottsdale, AZ.

 

[GJF]

As a Coyotes fan I liked what I saw out of Burmi last year. Of course there were times when he tried to do too much with the puck and got caught. However, on Yotes team that lacked skill he certainly stood out. I'm just not sure with all the young talent that the Coyotes have coming up that Burmi will keep his larger role. Either way I would like to see AZ resign for another year and go from there.

You certainly shouldn't sign him for more than a year though. Give him another solid look. He'll probably keep on "doing too much" way too often though. People will at one point be annoyed and pissed off by it and you understand that you don't really need him on your roster with other players coming up or getting into your roster because at the end of the day, he's not effective enough in what he does on the ice in the long run.

At that point you're exactly in the same scenario we had with him since he came back from KHL.

Oh and no way I'm just "hating" or something like that. I'm a big fan of Burmi. I love his creativity and the fact he's such a different player compared to 95% of the rest of the league and would therefore LOVE to see him succeed - no matter where it would be. IMO the league needs more Burmistrovs and less Lowrys (talking player style comparisons here).

 

[tgo0]

Ya I wouldn't include ufas not re-signing, it's not like the team can control who wants to stay or go.

Trading Selanne instead if Tkachuk.

Came in to post this.


Far and away the #1 biggest Jet regret of my lifetime.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I'm pleasantly suprised. I think at least 29/31 teams in the league today would take Buff + Poolman over Kovy.

If you knew then what we know now, that is that Kovy was going to take his stick and puck and "retire" back to Russia? Yeah, Buff and Poolman.

 

[Jets4Life]

Came in to post this.


Far and away the #1 biggest Jet regret of my lifetime.

I don't really think the Selanne trade could be classified as a "Jets" mistake. Paddock was pressured by the new Phoenix owners to trade either Tkachuk and Selanne. Not sure if the Phoenix owners had any say, but Paddock played it safe, and legitimately thought Selanne would be done by the end of the 90s due to his problems with his knees. In any event, the Jets were gone in two months, so even though it was a slap in the face for Jets fans, it did not have the same impact as the infamous Babych trade, or letting Ducky go to Buffalo.