Jimmy Pop

I remember Kelvin Anderson well from the 90's - 8 consecutive 1000 yd rushing seasons.

BUT ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH?!

And you're saying you don't know why that is? You are a troll. You provide zero insight and offer nothing to further a conversation. You make a few snide, outrageous posts and then get all snarky and cry when someone gives you a hard time. Personally, I can do without Ripper on this site too, but at least he/she comes here willing to talk football. Good dialogue even with difference of opinion. You come here to make posts that amount to "Riders rule, Bombers drool".

You're looking in the wrong places then. If you're looking for proof that Helle's a surefire starter and elite goalie for the next 15 yrs, you ain't going to find what you're looking for. What a couple of us have been saying is that he's succeeded at every level he's been at, and because of that, he deserves more than 1.5 seasons to show his worth. He's a goalie who's 23 for pete's sake. Because you found 1 example of a highly touted prospect who didn't turn out, here's better, more recent comparables to chew on: Jonathan Quick's first 2 seasons - .914 & .907 Carey Price - .920 & .905 Pekka Rinne - .917 & .911 Freddy Anderson - .923 & .914 Sergei Bobrovsky - .915 & .898 Martin Jones - .934 & .906 Corey Crawford - .917 & .903 Connor Hellebuyck - .918 & .907 Seems to me Hellebuyck is to date pretty well in line with current legit #1's and the start to their careers. .910 isn't good enough, no. But it's miles better than Pavelec. I have no idea whether he pans out or not. If he does pan out, will it even be here? I'm not an expert by any means, but throwing a guy to the curb at 23 because he's been one of SEVERAL inconsistent Jets this year seems wildly irresponsible. Lastly - I think his style throws some people off. He's a self-described "big & boring" goalie. Looking for highlight reel saves where goalie is forced to recover because he was out of position - wait until Pavs signs in the A or the K next season.

And... here's a bit of an ode to the current flicks being shot in town. Stanley Tucci, Nathan Fillion, Henry Cavill & Jennifer Tilley have all been in Wpg recently. My favourite "Wpg on TV" moment, yes this even over the Simpsons references:

Trailer Park Boys Season 11 - the Big Greasy Trailer featuring Nova Scotia's own, Nathan MacKinnon.

100%. and I'd personally take that any day vs. Sportsnet's coverage of Jets games, which rivals that of national spelling bee commentary.

I think 1290 criticizes the Jets when it's warranted, for the most part. Many of their personalities were critical when Pavelec was brought up. Both H & L have brought up Laine being on the 2nd PP unit - and his 0 PP goals in 2017. Rick 'Pepperoni & Mustard' Ralph continually asks why Petan's riding pine when we're a "draft and develop" team. None of the Illegal Curve guys are afraid to question the team, though they are pretty loyal to the brand. Really it's Beyak and Hnidy who are the 2 biggest homers, IMO. And to be expected as far as I'm concerned, they are the closest to the team & have to travel with these guys. I see the media and fans as one in the same boat right now - we're stuck between being sick & tired of 6+ yrs of failure (despite shiny toys in 55, 29 etc) and not wanting to abandon all hope for the franchise (they're good people, trying hard to produce a winner etc) No one can definitively say how you fix this team. I'm not sure anyone employed by TNSE knows either. And that's the scariest part.

Well, you're certainly not a winner.

We need what we should have had this year - a competent #2 who can push for starts and work with Helle in tandem. I don't know goalies particularly well but I can't imagine it's easy being a 23 yr old starter, playing on a poor team without a vet G presence and a questionable goalie coach. Scheifele was sheltered by Little to start his career. Trouba had vets in front of him. Helle gets Hutch and a beer league keeper in Pavs. But sure, season's on him. PS - look at Jake Allen's struggles this year in St.Louis. He's 26 and they're not giving up on him, btw. I imagine having Marty Brodeur there doesn't hurt. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/jake-allen-blues-yeo-brodeur-1.4017722

Giving up on Hellebuyck?!? See, this is what losing does. Makes us crazy. Helle isn't 24 for a few months yet. He's consistently succeeded at every level he's been at so far; 2 stellar NCAA seasons both W/L and save% were fantastic, 2 AHL seasons with poor teams, yet still .922 sv%. And for all the griping about his play this year, he's still a .911 sv% through his first 75 NHL games. Pretty close to league average. Only since Carey Price has already been mentioned - his save% his first 2 seasons (93 games total) = .920 yr1 and .905 yr2. << Kinda looks like some Jet I know....

You posted this for the likes, don't lie!

The only thing that worries me is that all logic says this will go horribly for the Riders. Why is that a problem, Jimmy? Because how often does sports follow all logic? I just hope, nay pray, that this all goes how we all think it will. Regina, the Riders and their fans especially deserve a season that mirrors our opening of IGF.

No, it was dumb enough, thanks. I was just thinking about what else you don't think exists purely because you don't hear anything about it. But I digress. Carry on...

Well, no. If the Leafs make the playoffs, it's Babs who took them there. Matthews is a huge part, but equally so are Marner, Nylander, Reilly & Mr.Anderson. The only awards league's hand out where record should come into play is coach of the year and most VALUABLE player. As the ROY is a "most outstanding" award - team record means bupkis. <IMO anyways.

That is a great write-up, very informative. This piece in particular is encouraging to me. Our bottom pair guys can't do this to save their lives, 'cept for maybe Postma.

Riders fans reacting to the story with all the class and objectivity we've come to expect.

I don't care for the choice of hashtags so I'm going to assume you're a long suffering Houston Oilers fan. TAKE THAT, #OILERSFAN!

First major red flag for me. Avoid this kid at all costs.

Let's go Marko!

No offence taken! Speaking for myself, I hate that I've turned into a naysayer! I've soured on our regime in charge and their "plan", over the last 12 months. They'll ALWAYS be my team, and hey, maybe we do an Oiler-style turnaround next season and *poof* playoffs. I'll be the first one to come back and praise Chevy and Mau for their resolve this season. On one hand, maybe my expectations for this year were too high. On the other hand, I don't think a playoff spot is a high expectation, really.

Im going to ignore all the depth chart chatter because trying to find logic in Maurice's lineup is like trying to find logic in anything Trump does. Hey, at least Winnipeg has a more recent Cup win than St.Louis. #MakeTheJetsGreatAgain

FWIW - I did the Google thing. Read spring 2015 pre-draft articles from Cgy Herald, Cgy Sun, CFL.ca, Sportsnet (via Forde), National Post and a couple post-draft articles, too. Couldn't find one reference to character issues for Durant. Of the reasons I could find that validated his stock dropping were unfamiliarity with the Canadian game and rules, as well as possible NFL interest.