We all have days where we wake up on the wrong side of the pillow, it happens. Some of us take it out on friends and coworkers, some of us internalize it, and some of us write something like this. However you chose to channel your inner Grinch, there are better ways to spend your energy.
In sports, like in life, it’s important to take stock of all the things that you have going for you and take time to appreciate it. The Winnipeg Jets may have had a disappointing season, but I’m here to remind you that it could have been A LOT worse.
Here's how:
- They could have signed David Clarkson. Clarkson has a cap hit of $5,250,000 every year until 2020 and had 5 goals more than Ondrej Pavelec. In 2019 we’ll all have cars that don’t use gas, solved global warming, the Bombers will have found a quarterback and the Leafs will still be paying Clarkson $5,250,000. So the next time you get upset about giving up a second round pick for Devin Setoguchi, be grateful that it wasn’t a big contract to Clarkson. At the end of the end of the day, we probably would have spent our second round pick on this guy anyways.
- There were 1,481 times this season that Ondrej Pavelec faced a shot and did not let in a goal. Could you imagine if he let in all of those? That would be pretty deflating.
- The Jets signed Zach Bogosian, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little to large extensions last summer. Both Little and Wheeler had career best seasons and Zach Bogosian is a face of Little Pizza Heaven. That’s a .666 batting average. Not too shabby.
- Jacob Trouba suffered a terrifying injury in October. Injuries to the head or neck area can be career threatening and could have turned the talented youngster to a “what if” footnote in the Jets season. Instead, he came back better than ever and had one of the best rookie seasons in the NHL. Plus he was able to teach the world a valuable lesson about the boards:
Thanks for the support. If you were wondering, the boards are not edible. I’ll be back soon. #gojetsgo
— Jacob Trouba (@JacobTrouba) October 19, 2013
- Mark Scheifele was able to break through into the NHL this season with 13 goals and 21 assists in 63 games. While his season ended with an injury, he left Jets fans with plenty of reason to hope that he can be a top 6 player in the NHL for a long time. Plus he was able to stay on his feet while he was on the ice! I won’t miss these days:
- While the Jets fired Claude Noel only a couple months after giving him a one year extension, at least it wasn’t longer than that.
- The Jets were able to find their coach of the future in Paul Maurice. Finding a coach that has the respect and the ear of the locker room is a big thing in sports, and in locking up Maurice for the next four years, the Jets hope they can build on the foundation they started to form after the dismissal of Noel. Also, Maurice is pretty fantastic when dealing with the media. It would be fairly difficult to go from Claude Noel to a stoic figure at the podium for Jets fans, so that’s a bonus.
- Tobias Enstrom played in all 82 games this season. For a player that’s had horrible luck with injuries throughout his time in Winnipeg, it was really nice to see him get some luck in that department.
- This is embarrassing:
via pbs.twimg.com
This is worse:
via blog.jedroot.com
- The Jets are still searching for a franchise goaltender. But at least they didn’t trade two of them away in the last calendar year.
- Randy Carlyle will not be coaching this team next season.
- At least Chevy didn’t trade a first round pick for Setoguchi?
- Michael Hutchinson looked very good in a few starts to close out the season. Whenever a young player can experience success it can only help build their confidence. The Jets have a young, promising netminder that will be able to compete for a spot on the team next season.
- This team is in Winnipeg.
So next time you feel down about the Jets, just remember it could be a lot worse and we have plenty of things to be grateful for.
