It has been just over five weeks since Jets’ goalie Connor Hellebuyck last saw game action, since the novel coronavirus put the 2019-20 NHL season on ice.
His last game was a brilliant effort, with a 36 save performance in a 4-2 win at Edmonton on March 11 that left the Winnipeg Jets sitting in the No.1 Wild Card spot in the West.
Hellebuyck had been spectacular on many nights, and with the team returning to nearly full health, the Jets were playing their best hockey of the season. Or at least since a 10-3-1 run in November.
Speaking from his offseason home in Michigan during a video conference call, Hellebuyck recalled exactly how it felt after that game in Edmonton.
“As the game finished, I had that feeling that something special was going on and we were peaking at the right time,” the Jets netminder told reporters. “Everyone was starting to believe and feel it in the locker room. After the game, Chevy came into the locker room and explained that he didn’t know exactly what was going on and we were all just kind of in shock and awe.”
The Jets flew to Calgary where they were supposed to play three nights later in what would have been a huge matchup. But it wasn’t long after the players had come down for breakfast the following morning that a text came from management, telling them to head home.
“It was a little bit expected because the NBA had shutdown,” recalled Hellebuyck. “We were hearing rumours around that we were probably next and we probably should have, just for the safety of everyone around us.”
So that brings us to the present, and the sixth-year pro admits the COVID-19-shutdown has been really difficult because no one has ever been through something like this before.
“There’s no right way to do this. Unfortunately, I’m not able to strap on the pads, and that’s the most important part about being dialed-in as a goalie is getting that feel and really getting the workload of being a goalie,” said the 2019-20 NHL shutout leader, who had equaled a career-high with six prior to the suspension in play.
“Going for a run isn’t going to keep me in goaltender shape. The most I can do is keep working out my goaltender muscles, just keep my mind right so when we do go back — I believe that we’ll have a training camp — that I’ll already have the mindset ready to start the camp a little bit ahead of schedule.”
When that happens is still a giant guessing game. Although there have been some promising signs of late that professional sports may resume in the summertime, but very possibly in neutral cities, and without fans, which Hellebuyck says would definitely be crazy.
“Especially with how used we are to having the fans there and how much we feed off of them.”
“Both teams would be experiencing it too so there would be a bit of a negative,” was how Hellebuyck expected it might play out. “But just the fact that we’d get to play again would be awesome. To know we’re sharing our entertainment to the world again, that’d be a good feeling.”
Right now, Hellebuyck is sharing his off-season home with his fiancee Andrea and his brother Chris. And part of the quarantine schedule includes playing the board game, Catan, which Hellebuyck says Andrea has been “whupping up a lot on lately.” The Jets netminder says he’s not big on watching some of the classic hockey games the all-sports networks have been showing, preferring to focus on highlights and some of the saves he has made earlier this season, with the idea that will keep him in a hockey mindset.
Hellebuyck says he is actually not much of a TV watcher, but does admit his brother has converted him into a big fan of the FLW pro fishing series on YouTube. “Man does that make you wanna fish. It’s like the same thing with hockey. You watch some highlights and you just wanna play.”
And, the Jets fifth-round pick from the 2012 NHL entry draft is pondering the idea of teaming up with his brother on an idea to replicate game action. “He can probably shoot on me a little bit. I’m considering playing Slapshot Regatta — I don’t know if you’ve heard of that from the ‘She’s Outta My League” movie — where he (Chris) would just take clappers at me and I would stand against the wall and try to make saves. But I don’t know how that would translate.”
It’s probably not on the list of physical or mental training exercises being suggested by Jets Goalie Coach Wade Flaherty, or Hellebuyck’s personal trainer Adam Francilla. “Flats told me before this all started that he’d be there if I ever needed him. My thought behind that was, once we get a plan or know what’s going on, then I’ll get in contact with him and we’ll get to work,” said Hellebuyck during the video conference call that lasted for about 20 minutes. “Adam has been contacting me more than I’ve been contacting him because he wants me to get on this training regimen. So he’s been on my tail, trying to get me to work out pretty hard. And I have been.”
Hellebuyck admits that other than keeping in touch with some of his fellow Michigan natives like Andrew Copp and Kyle Connor, he has fallen off the map a little bit with the rest of his teammates during the shutdown. “I’ve kinda been worrying about myself and getting the house ready because every year you come back and there’s always stuff to do. I’ve been slightly busy, to say the least.”
One thing Hellebuyck may want to use some of his spare time thinking about is some fresh ideas for his first star, home ice celebrations which have become “must see” moments for Jets fans at Bell MTS Place, or via social media. “At first they were spur of the moment and I was just trying to enjoy every moment. You never know when’s the last time you’ll get that First Star,” said the soon-to-be 27-year-old native of Commerce, Michigan.
“But as they got on, I started running out of ideas. I remember the most recent one, I came into the locker room and asked Bryan Little and Adam Lowry what I should do.
“We bounced a couple of ideas around and that’s when the fishing one came about.”
Jets fans — no doubt — are longing for whenever the next opportunity comes along to see what “celly” Connor Hellebuyck and his partners in crime can come up with.
Comments