Well, I hate to start off an article with bad news….but the title probably gave it away anyways. For complete clarity, I have received no official word from the powers that be with confirmation that the end of this website is coming….yet the absence of an account for current photographs to accompany articles for the 2025-26 NHL campaign and the lack of response from the one contact I have from the For Sports Fans leadership paints a bleak picture. While I could follow the route of the band on the Titanic and continue to play my music while the ship slowly goes down….I don’t really feel like going on as normal until eventually one day the site doesn’t exist anymore.
I am really not sure when I first came across the Arctic Ice Hockey site, though I do know that I missed the early years on the SB Nation network. However when I did eventually find AIH during a search for more news on the Winnipeg Jets, I quickly browsed through the comments from the members and determined that they seemed like a knowledgeable bunch, so happily joined up to add my voice to the conversation.
And I have never regretted that choice, even though our little Jets’ site has had its share of ups & downs over the years. The members here have showed their love of our NHL club throughout the years, but perhaps none more impressive than the period when AIH’s existence was in jeopardy after SB Nation cut its funding. With no more money to pay writers for new articles, everyone here refused to give in…carrying on the Jets’ discussions in the Comment section and via FanPosts. What a fantastic group of fans AIH has collected over the years!! From Winnipeg strongholds like the Canadian Prairies (Manitoba/Saskatchewan) & northern Ontario to much more distant locales like sunny California & the Netherlands. All of your contributions have made discussing the shortfalls of the Winnipeg Jets much more enjoyable. I appreciated what each & every one of you brought to the discussion…even if at times I came across as unintentionally argumentative. 🙂
Fortunately, the For Sports Fans network swept in at the last minute to keep AIH going and that eventually led to my joining the site as a writer for the first time on September 30th, 2023. Two years have passed since I penned that article (really 714 days) and in that time my hockey-obsessed alter ego, aka BigOlJetAirliner, has had the pleasure of entertaining you with 413 articles. That is a lot of unpaid typing!! Since everyone knows that I am a “stat guy“, it might be fitting to take a glance at my own performance through that lens. I will leave it to others to judge the quality of my work, therefore instead I will focus solely on my production:
413 articles divided by 714 days = 0.578 articles per day
Since this is a Jets’ site, might as well compare that number to how some of Winnipeg’s players did in their first two full-ish NHL campaigns.
Jonathan Toews 123 pts
Kyle Connor 113 pts
Nikolaj Ehlers 102 pts
Gustav Nyquist 102 pts
BOJA 94 pts (projected)
Nino Niederreiter 73 pts
Cole Perfetti 68 pts
Looks like I’m in pretty good company, if I may say so without increasing the size of my ego too much….not a superstar, but a solid 2nd line option for most NHL teams. If I am a late bloomer, I could even earn top line minutes (though that is highly unlikely since I just turned 53, so it would have to be a very late bloom). 🙂
Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that I will get the chance to reach my full potential here at Arctic Ice….unless there is a last second reprieve from the For Sports Fans network and they appoint a new site admin here. Or someone else comes into buy the site. Otherwise, it appears that it will likely become just another porn site.
Well, about 3 hours before the Winnipeg Jets’ prospects square off versus the Montreal Canadiens’ youth and I have things I want to get done before puck drops at 6 pm Central. If you are interested in checking out the action tonight or tomorrow (Senators), you can find a link at the Jets’ official site at NHL.com or you find it on YouTube via Winnipeg’s official channel.
Official Winnipeg Jets Website | Winnipeg Jets
Will definitely be great to see the True North youth in action this weekend. Here are the expected lines for tonight’s clash versus the Habs: (* drafted in June)
Wagner – Yager – Chibrikov
He – Zhilkin – Barlow
Walton – Julien- Cloutier*
Yoder – Martin* – Newman
Zloty – Salomonsson
Engle* – Fryer
Hamilton – Hartmann
DiVincentiis
Worthington
Time to land this BigOlJetAirliner and put it in the hanger for a bit. Here’s hoping the Winnipeg Jets can provide us another exciting season like the last one. If I had to guess, I am thinking 2nd or 3rd in the Central might be where our club ends up…with a decrease of powerplay production playing a role in the Jets slight fall. For me, I think the Manitoba Moose may be constantly pulling my attention away from the big league club, as I am anxious to witness the development of Winnipeg’s prospects. No idea if I will keep writing elsewhere at this point….though I am considering covering the Moose over at Jets Hockey Forum. We will see….no rush to make a decision. Enjoy the year everyone!!! Go Jets!!!
To end this article with a bit of good news….there doesn’t appear to be any time limit for comments on any of the articles. So members who do want to keep gathering to discuss the Jets can keep doing so in the Comment section. If by some chance AIH is still active when the pre-season and regular season starts, I can post new blank articles for each game to spread out the comments, if you like.
