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Connor Hellebuyck sounds off on his future with the Jets.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Winnipeg Jets had their season come to a disappointing end on Thursday when they fell to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, doing so in just 5 games.

Many believe that the early exit for the Jets could mark the end of an era in Winnipeg, especially after fiery comments from Jets head coach Rick Bowness following the Jets’ elimination in Game 5. In fact, Bowness’ comments about his own players were so harsh that National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman was compelled to say that this current core of the Jets has in fact come to an end.

“If there was any question that it meant the end of this particular core, I think that eliminates it,” said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “I think that ends the question, if there was any doubt.”

It’s one thing to hear these kind of comments from an NHL insider, but it is another matter entirely when members of that very same core also start hinting at a future outside of Winnipeg.

On Saturday, Jets star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made comments that left a great many questions about his future as a member of the Winnipeg Jets. If the Jets are intending to move towards a rebuild, it sounds like Hellebuyck doesn’t intend to be a part of that situation.

“I’m not interested in a rebuild. I just want to compete…” said Hellebuyck on Saturday.

Hellebuyck also added that he wants to win a Stanley Cup, and is cognizant of how much time he has left in his NHL career.

“My main goal is to win a Stanley Cup… I’m starting to run out of time,” admitted Hellebuyck.

As per Murat Ates of The Athletic, Hellebuyck also confirmed that he has not had any discussions about an extension with the Jets as he is set to head into the final year of his current deal.

Hellebuyck had another strong performance in the regular season with a 2.49 goals against average and a .920 save percentage over 64 appearances for the Jets, and he would almost certainly be one of the most highly sought after commodities as either a free agent a year from now or as a potential trade candidate prior to then.

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Devils fan choked unconscious after assaulting Rangers fan.

The opening round series between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers is starting to heat up considerably now that the Devils have punched back and even taken the lead in this series, and unfortunately that can mean things getting a little too emotional at times.

This week we were treated to an example of that when a conflict between a pair of opposing fans was caught on video. In the video we can see what is at first a verbal confrontation between a fan wearing a Devils jersey and another fan wearing a Rangers jersey. Although we don’t know the source of the conflict it’s probably fair to say that the fact that the two people involved were rooting for different teams probably played some factor, but it appears to be the Devils fan that escalates things to the point of violence.

In the video we can see the Devils fan slap the drink in the hand of the Rangers fan, resulting in the Rangers fan grabbing the Devils fan around the neck and quickly putting him to sleep with a chokehold. In something of an ironic twist of fate, the Devils fan spills his own beer everywhere, including on himself, as he falls limp the floor.

The Devils fan had plenty of opportunity to avoid the conflict, including a woman repeatedly trying to pull him away, but instead ended up flat on his back in front of thousands of people both live in attendance and now on the internet as well.

If you’re going to attend a Stanley Cup playoff game this season, don’t be this guy.

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Jim Montgomery addresses the goaltending controversy in Boston.

In what has been a stunning turn of events for many, the Bruins are now staring down the possibility of being eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after a dominant regular season. Making matters even worse, the Bruins are doing so after taking a commanding 3-1 lead in their opening round series over the Florida Panthers and there is now a serious controversy when it comes to the Bruins lineup.

Many have questioned the performance of Bruins starting goaltender Linus Ullmark in these playoffs, a performance that has been uncharacteristically shaky after Ullmark had such a strong campaign in the regular season. In fact many believe that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has erred in his decision to keep going back to Ullmark, especially after how Game 6 came to an end.

On Saturday, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was asked about his goaltending situation and was questioned about who would get the start in Game 7, but the Bruins bench boss refused to give a straight answer. Montgomery did add that he had “no regrets” about his decision to go with Ullmark for 6 straight games to start this series, something that I find very hard to believe at this point in the series.

When pressed on the issue of a potential swap by Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy, Montgomery admitted that if he did make a change in goal for Game 7 that the blame for such a decision would fall on the shoulders of Ullmark himself.

“Linus hasn’t stopped enough pucks,” admitted Montgomery. “Plain and simple.”

A big part of the reason Montgomery’s decision to stick with Ullmark has been questioned is due to the fact that the Bruins have a solid backup in Jeremy Swayman. Swayman had a strong regular season with a 2.27 goals against average and a .920 save percentage, and it sounds like there is at least a chance he may get to showcase his abilities in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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Maple Leafs hint at two major lineup changes for Game 6.

Daniel Lea/CSM/Zuma

The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to break the curse tonight and advance past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning in 6 games. The Lightning have proven to be a resilient foe however and have already staved off elimination, and of course the Leafs have the added pressure of having a gigantic monkey on their back.

It looks like head coach Sheldon Keefe intends to pull out all the stops for Game 6 in his effort to get his team over that hurdle, with the Leafs hinting at a pair of very significant lineup changes on Saturday morning.

The first hint came to us courtesy of TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, who on Saturday morning noticed that forward Michael Bunting did not remain on the ice with the extras during the Leafs morning skate. This appears to indicate that Keefe will be re-introducing Bunting into the series after he earned himself a costly suspension for a hit delivered to Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak.

Perhaps an even bigger change though was the second one hinted at during the Leafs morning skate, with Leafs defenseman Justin Holl taking part in the optional skate. This has led to a belief that he could be a healthy scratch in favor of defenseman Timothy Liljegren, a change that many expected to see Sheldon Keefe make earlier in this series.

Timothy Liljegren has been out of action for 16 days and has not appeared in a single game during this series, so this would be a risk on the part of the Maple Leafs head coach.

When he was questioned about his lineup, Keefe opted not to give any information at all.

“I’m not going to take any questions on the lineup,” said Keefe.

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Blake Wheeler fires back at Rick Bowness on Saturday.

Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler and his teammates were raked over the coals by their head coach Rick Bowness after being eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention, and now Wheeler is firing back.

On Saturday, Wheeler called out Bowness for publicly bashing the Jets players, implied Bowness had been dishonest, and suggested that his comments would have been better received had they been delivered in private.

“I thought Bones had an opportunity to address us as a team,” said Wheeler on Saturday. “He could’ve been honest with us, handled it behind closed doors… I didn’t like how he handled himself after the game.”

Earlier in the week, Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness unloaded on his players after they were eliminated in 5 games at the hands of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Bowness went off on a tirade that you don’t often see from modern day coaches in the National Hockey League, one in which he made no effort to spare the potentially hurt feelings of the players in the Winnipeg Jets’ locker room.

“Overall thoughts? I’m so disappointed and disgusted right now… that’s my thoughts.” said a noticeably irate Bowness after Game 5. “No pushback, but it’s the same crap we saw in February,” said Bowness.

Although Bowness did not specifically call out any players by name during his rant, he made it clear that he wasn’t directing his ire at the team’s fourth liners.

“Their better players were so much better than ours, it’s not even close,” said a genuinely disgusted Rick Bowness. “Their better players were so much better than ours tonight, they deserved to win. They were the better team in the regular season, they were the better team in this series.”

It would come as a surprise to no one if Wheeler was included among the group of players that Bowness was calling out in his tirade and it may even be a sign that Wheeler, who was stripped of the captaincy prior to the start of the season, has worn out his welcome in Winnipeg.

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Rumblings of a huge return for the Kings in Game 4.

Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune

The Los Angeles Kings have already taken a 2-1 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series, and now to make matters even worse for the Oilers it sounds like reinforcements may be on the way for the Kings.

Although there has been no official announcement regarding his status at this time, signs are pointing to the fact that Kings forward Kevin Fiala may be set to make his return from a lower body injury that has kept him out of the series thus far.

Fiala was on the ice for the Kings’ morning skate on Sunday and was in a red no-contact jersey, but indications are he will skate in warmups before tonight’s Game 4. That likely means that Fiala is a gametime decision, but either way this is a sign that he is extremely close to a return to the lineup.

Fiala was an effective offensive player for the Kings during the regular season, appearing in 69 games and recording 23 goals while adding 49 assists for a total of 72 points over that stretch of play. His return would be a big boost to the Kings offense, and would come at a time when the Oilers desperately need a win to even up the series again.

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Wild victims of a brutal call by NHL officials in Game 4.

The Minnesota Wild were the victims of a pretty inexcusable call on the part of the National Hockey League’s officials on Sunday night and, if the veins that were practically bursting from the head of Wild head coach Dean Evason were any indication, it seems very unlikely that they are going to be happy with the outcome of Game 4.

The Wild were battling the Dallas Stars in a hotly contested game, one that was separated by only a single goal in the third period, when Wild forward Marcus Foligno was shaken up on a play after an awkward attempt at a hit on Stars forward Mason Marchment. Marchment managed to avoid the majority of the contact, but in doing so his stick came across the face of Foligno and would in fact result in the Wild forward being busted open on the play.

Although it initially appeared as though the Wild might get a power play out of the whole thing, when Foligno got back up to his feet he was shocked to learn that he was in fact the one headed to the penalty box. The officials on the ice had called Foligno for “tripping” on the play, resulting in outrage from both Foligno as well as the rest of the Minnesota Wild.

Making matters even worse, the Stars would score on the ensuing power play with Stars forward Tyler Seguin notching the power play goal. It was at this moment that Evason appeared to be boiling on the bench, with his face muscles seemingly contorting as he did his best to contain his anger at the NHL’s officials.

Adding insult to injury, the Wild managed to come within a goal by scoring with only a minute left on the game clock. That means that this call from the NHL officials, and the ensuing power play goal, proved to be a deciding factor in tonight’s game.

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Brad Marchand calls out the NHL after Game 4 on Sunday.

Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins earned a huge win on Sunday when they took Game 4 over the Florida Panthers, securing a commanding 3-1 lead in the opening round series between the two Stanley Cup hopefulls.

While you might think that would have put the Bruins in a good mood, Bruins forward Brad Marchand clearly had a bone to pick after the game. Some of the antics that occurred during the game, including all hell breaking loose late in the third period, might lead you to believe that Marchand had a bone to pick with the Panthers, but instead the Bruins agitator’s issues were with the National Hockey League itself.

Following the conclusion of Game 4, Marchand was asked about controversial comments made by Matthew Tkachuk earlier in the series.

Again you might have expected Marchand to use the opportunity to roast Tkachuk for some pretty ugly comments that were caught on a hot mic, but this is where Marchand chose to call out the NHL instead. The Bruins agitator chastised the league, and their media partners, for allowing the comments from Tkachuk to be caught on a mic in the first place.

“I think the NHL and the media outlets have crossed the line to allow those mics …” said an infuriated Marchand.

According to Matt Porter of the Boston Globe, Marchand would go even one step further and called the entire situation “very disrespectful” to the agreement between the NHL and NHLPA.

It certainly sounds like there may be some fallout here, although much of that is likely to occur behind closed doors and away from the prying eyes of fans.

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Tkachuk goes after Ullmark and all hell breaks loose in Game 4!

The Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers are not done with their first round Stanley Cup playoff series just yet, and facing elimination the Florida Panthers attempted to send a message late in the third period of Game 4.

All hell broke loose when Panthers agitator Matthew Tkachuk invaded the Bruins crease and drew the ire of Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, eventually leading to a dogpile on Tkachuk and then a larger brawl between the Panthers and the Bruins on the ice as neither team was willing to give ground.

Tkachuk would attempt to get at Ullmark during all of the chaos and the Bruins goaltender appeared eager to throw fists with the Panthers forward, but the National Hockey League officials on the ice were having none of it.

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Sam Bennett hits a downed Garnet Hathaway in the nether region.

A controversial incident at the end of the first period of Game 4 between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon may have become even more controversial thanks to a sharp-eyed fan.

During the first period of today’s game, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk delivered a cross-check to the back of Bruins forward Garnet Hathaway after the first period had just come to an end.

What everyone seems to have missed however was an extra cheap shot courtesy of Panthers forward Sam Bennett, everyone except a fan that identifies themselves simply as ‘Dale’ on social media. Dale noticed that while Hathaway was down on the ice, Bennett skated over and used the opportunity to give Hathaway a little something extra by giving him a cup check with his stick.

If you pay attention closely, there’s absolutely no doubt about the fact that Bennett hits Hathaway in the groin, and does so quite deliberately as well.

It comes as even less of a surprise now that Hathaway needed a few moments to gather himself before eventually rising back to his feat at the end of the first period.