Hellebuyck Faced the Questions, But Not the Shots: Winnipeg Deserved Better

November 10th at Canada Life Centre will long be remembered by those in attendance, and those watching from afar. It will also be remembered by those watching from the visitors' dressing room.

Fans screamed, cursed, chanted and unleashed months of pent-up frustration on a goaltender who never even showed his face on the ice come game-time. They paid inflated ticket prices, packed Canada Life Centre and created an atmosphere rarely experienced during a November regular-season hockey game. They wanted answers. They wanted closure. Most importantly, they wanted Connor Hellebuyck.

He came out for the only warmup ever to be fully broadcast start-to-finish on TSN with no audio commentary. And the fans certainly delivered. 

But instead of getting what fans believed they deserved during the interconference affair, they got Jake Allen - a goaltender who has now lost a career-high 12 times in Manitoba.

The Winnipeg Jets ultimately prevailed, thanks in large part to the contributions of two of their newest members, but Tuesday's spectacle was always about something much bigger than two points in the standings. Hockey was a big part of the evening, but clarity, solace and closure were others. All of which went without delivery.

A full day removed from the excitement and rigours of Tuesday's circus in downtown Winnipeg, fans, former teammates, new teammates, coaches, managers, owners and even media members are left confused. Hellebuyck is gone. That much is certain. But the opportunity to properly face the music came and went.

And whether the decision belonged to the goaltender himself or the people now signing his cheques, the whole thing came across as cowardly. And that's not entirely on Hellebuyck. Far from it - as far as we now know.

In fact, the former Jets netminder deserves some credit for what he did before the game. He sat down with Winnipeg reporters for 22 minutes inside the Matt Frost Media Centre and answered every question thrown his way. Grievances were most definitely aired, pointed questions were directed at Hellebuyck and the reporters certainly got their airtime.

He could have hidden behind a public relations representative, limited the availability or avoided some of the more uncomfortable exchanges. He didn't. When the questions finally stopped, New Jersey's media representative actually asked if anyone had anything else before the two departed down the hallway.

There was no premature cutoff, no convenient escape and no hiding behind a carefully orchestrated five-minute statement. Hellebuyck gave the media their opportunity, and they certainly took advantage of it.

It took somewhat of a veteran maturity. And despite some of his explanations not quite adding up, he answered every question thoughtfully, albeit dramatically, as usual, with his prototypical lengthy pauses and reflective self-talk.

But answering every question isn't necessarily the same as providing answers.

Hellebuyck spoke about his love for Winnipeg, his connection to the community and the relationships he built over more than a decade with the organization. He also reiterated that certain experiences involving his family ultimately pushed him toward a change of scenery.

"It is more than just online death threats," he said, asking that his family's privacy be respected.

That's a serious allegation, and one that deserves to be treated seriously. But it also leaves significant questions unanswered. What exactly happened? Were authorities contacted? Was the organization made aware? And how much of his decision was driven by those experiences as opposed to the uncertainty surrounding his career?

Hellebuyck wasn't prepared to elaborate. He has every right to protect his family's privacy, and nobody is entitled to the intimate details of another person's safety concerns. But when those concerns become part of the public explanation for a franchise-altering departure, it's hardly surprising that people want to understand what happened.

Particularly in a city that has spent years defending itself against the suggestion that NHL players simply don't want to live there.

Was the greatest player to ever wear the flying Jet ever genuinely interested in returning to Winnipeg? Did the Jets' failure to qualify for the playoffs completely ruin his image of the city? Did his Olympic success and the subsequent attention contribute to his decision? Perhaps all of it played a role. Perhaps none of us will ever know. And that's what makes this entire situation that much more frustrating.

If Hellebuyck's explanations left something to be desired, New Jersey's handling of his return was an entirely different disaster. Since Sunday evening's press release announcing that Hellebuyck would not start, the Devils have spent three days attempting to explain a decision that - to the average hockey fan - still makes very little sense.

General manager Sunny Mehta took responsibility, citing the organization's assessment of its chances of winning and the importance of managing its goaltender's workload. Head coach Sheldon Keefe offered a more detailed explanation.

"We just played four games in six nights, he played three of them," Keefe said, noting that Hellebuyck was still being brought up to speed after missing training camp and the preseason. He pointed to 10 games in 19 days, eight cities and three time zones as reasons for caution.

Fair enough. There is a legitimate argument for managing a veteran goaltender's workload, particularly one who has only been with his new team for two weeks. But here's the problem: this wasn't just another game, and pretending otherwise was an insult to everyone who understood what Tuesday meant.

Keefe acknowledged that Hellebuyck wanted to play, saying the goaltender considered it his duty to face his former team.

"The competitor in me, of course, says hey, let's get Connor out there, let's go, let's get at it," Keefe said.

But the decision had already been made.

"If we were in any other city, there's no chance he'd be playing in this game," Keefe added.

Except they weren't in any other city. They were in Winnipeg. The city Hellebuyck called home for more than a decade. The organization he once pledged to remain with for life. The fans who supported him through his greatest achievements and most disappointing failures.

Surely that deserved consideration beyond a calculated win probability. And if Mehta's reasoning was strictly about giving his team the best chance to win, the result certainly didn't strengthen his case.

Sunny Mehta was wrong. His team's expected win probability didn't pay off, and the Devils lost.

Allen, meanwhile, was left to absorb the hostility intended for somebody else, adding another defeat to a career that has now seen him lose 12 times in Winnipeg. So we beg to ask, what exactly was accomplished through any of this?

Hellebuyck avoided the emotional burden of facing his former team. The Devils lost the game. Their management faced widespread criticism and their head coach spent much of his media availability explaining a decision he repeatedly attributed to somebody above him.

If this was an exercise in protecting an asset, it came at the expense of almost everything else. All in all, it will surely be studied in postsecondary classrooms as a high-profile professional public relations disaster.

And Hellebuyck isn't entirely absolved, either. He says he wanted to play. He says he made his feelings known. He says he respects the decision. Perhaps Mehta's decision truly was final, but for a goaltender of Hellebuyck's stature, the optics remain dreadful. Hellebuyck said that the Devils operate differently, and sure he is still the new kid on the block, but if he had it his way - which he always got in Winnipeg - he would be manning the visitors' crease. 

Hellebuyck faced the questions. He just never faced the shots.

Mark Chipman wanted Tuesday's victory as much as anyone. The Jets' executive chairman celebrated with beverages alongside his players in the dressing room afterward, enjoying a result that undoubtedly carried more emotional significance than your typical early-November win.

The fans got their moment, too. Their chants were relentless, their creativity was on full display and the atmosphere served as another reminder of just how passionate this hockey market can be. Across the country, viewers witnessed a fan base full of mischief, clever tactics and chants capable of turning an otherwise ordinary Tuesday evening into something resembling a playoff elimination game.

But did Winnipeg really get what it wanted?

The Jets collected two points, sure. That's what matters in the standings. Yet there's something unsatisfying about celebrating a victory over a backup goaltender when the entire buildup revolved around facing one of the best netminders in the world.

The anticipated confrontation never materialized. And now Hellebuyck will move on, undoubtedly returning to New Jersey's crease in its next game, while Winnipeg is left wondering what might have been.

Keefe suggested there would be other opportunities for the goaltender to face his former team.

"Connor's not going away. He's going to be in this league a long time," he said.

That's true. But there will never be another first return. There will never be another opportunity to recreate the emotion, anticipation and significance of Tuesday's game.

New Jersey took that away.

And who knows, the Devils could next come to town in mid-April of 2028. That is a full year-and-a-half away. And given his age at that point, the 35-year-old Hellebuyck could be nursing a sore back by then. 

For all the anger, disappointment and unanswered questions, possibly the most encouraging development of the past several days has been the progress made by the players now wearing Winnipeg Jets uniforms.

Nico Daws and Dawson Mercer arrived as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Hellebuyck to New Jersey, and neither had exactly dominated headlines in the weeks that followed. That changed on Tuesday night.

In arguably their biggest test since joining the organization, both delivered when Winnipeg needed them most. Daws handled the pressure of an emotionally charged environment against the organization that traded him away, while Mercer demonstrated why Winnipeg was so interested in acquiring the young forward. Jets fans have quickly become accustomed to The Fables' 'Heave Away,' - a true Newfoundland sound for a product of its own in Mercer. 

And it wasn't just Mercer and Daws sharing the spotlight. 

Kyle Connor - who recently had Hellebuyck serve as as groomsman in his own summer wedding - continued his explosive start to the season with his 14th and 15th goals. 

Viggo Björck has found some newfound success since recording his first NHL point and is excelling in his own right. Brayden Yager has earned his call-up and now has his first NHL goal. Josh Morrissey is back from injury, providing a much-needed boost to Winnipeg's blue line, while some could say that Brad Lambert is back to scoring filthy goals in the American Hockey League.

There are legitimate reasons for optimism surrounding this team, even if its most decorated former goaltender is now playing elsewhere.

Hellebuyck's departure was ugly. His return was uglier. The Devils certainly didn't come out ahead. Hellebuyck didn't repair his relationship with a fan base that once adored him. And while the Jets won the game, even that victory came without the confrontation so many had anticipated.

Nobody received all the answers they wanted, and nobody got the closure they deserved. But Winnipeg did get a glimpse of something that might ultimately matter more: life after Connor Hellebuyck.

And judging by what some of the Jets' newest and youngest players are beginning to accomplish, that life might not be so bad after all.