The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Sara Orlesky on the Jets Winning Streak

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Starting point is 00:00:18 starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. As the Winnipeg Jets, Sarah, I'm guessing did not want this break at all. Thank you very much. You talk about like galloping into a break. That's what the Winnipeg Jets are doing. First of all, I know you're super busy, Sports Mom. Thanks for parking time. You and I are both sports Ubers, so we're simpatico that way. I'm guessing Winnipeg didn't want this break or did they?

Starting point is 00:00:50 Well, I think it comes at a good time for them actually, Jeff. So in terms of momentum, probably not because they've won eight of their last 10 games, they've won eight straight, obviously, they're sitting on top of the NHL standings right now in terms of wins and points but I think that this break comes at a good time in order to try to get some guys healthy you know they've been without Adam Lowry over this eight game win streak they haven't had Morgan Barron they've got some other guys that are dealing with some bumps and bruises and and I think just mentally as well

Starting point is 00:01:23 people need this break. It has been such a grind and I'm sure, you know, it's been that way for every team so far and you've probably heard so many different people comment on it. Just this constant playing every other night schedule that they have had, I think has really taken a lot of them.

Starting point is 00:01:42 I know I was really looking forward to the breaks. I can only imagine how much players were because the every other night games were, you know, we're taxing, I think, on everybody. So, yeah, so I think that in that sense, it comes at a good time. The question will be obviously, can they maintain that momentum, pick it back up when things return

Starting point is 00:02:01 in a couple of weeks? No team is perfect. We all know that. And if I was going to sort of, you know, pick things apart here with the Winnipeg Jets and really try to, you know, sharpen the pencil on what they need, I'd say like, oh, they need a second line center.

Starting point is 00:02:13 And then I say to myself, well, you know what? Nemesekov's been really good. Like he's been really good in that spot. Like Sarah, you're a lot closer to it. You're there, the games, the practices, all of it. The meeting, the talking to the players, the coaching staff, um, based on, you're there, the games, the practices, all of it, the meeting, the talking to the players, the coaching staff. Um, based on what you've seen, heard, uh, and how well, you know, this organization,

Starting point is 00:02:32 uh, put yourself in the brain of Kevin Chevaldayoff here. What do you think he's thinking about perusing, investigating in advance of trade deadline for this team that's not slowing down? No, and I think that Nemesnikov has done a really good job. We've heard him ever since he's arrived in Winnipeg being described as that Swiss army knife that's been able to be utilized in a variety of different spots up and down the lineup.

Starting point is 00:02:58 And he certainly, he's done a good job with that second line. That second line, you know, which typically has had Kolprafetti and Nikolai Ehlers on it has gone through their ebbs and flows certainly this season. Sometimes where they haven't been able to produce offensively and you've been looking more from them. We saw when Nemesnikov went out, Adam Lowry got pushed up into that role. So I wouldn't be surprised and I feel as if every trade deadline, since this team has rarely returned to Winnipeg, we've always said that they're looking for depth down the middle, someone that can fill that second line role.

Starting point is 00:03:31 It wouldn't surprise me if that's something that they are still looking at, but if you're not able to find it, this is a team that has played so well this season as a team. They have gotten contributions across the board and it seems that wherever they've had to put players in to deal with injuries or if they've tried to shake things up just because, you know, in small spurts the offense hasn't been going, guys have been able to step up and fill that void. Do I think that if you're looking at a long playoff run, would you like more depth down the middle? Yes, because if something happens to Nimeshna Khafalauri, Aishaifli,

Starting point is 00:04:09 I don't think that they have the depth there that you would want for a long term, or a long playoff run that they're obviously hoping to have this spring. Okay, let me have a hockey hipster conversation with you here. When the attention turns to the Winnipeg Jets, like listen, Halibuk takes a lot of the oxygen

Starting point is 00:04:26 out of the room, and rightfully so. Like the guy's gonna, fantastic, right? Having a Hall of Fame career. And Mark Shafely takes a lot of the oxygen out of the room as well, and for good reason, and Josh Morrissey, et cetera. But when I get my hockey hipster on, I like talking about Dillon Sandberg,

Starting point is 00:04:41 as like the one guy who doesn't get, you know, we've talked about it, the one guy who doesn't get the headlines, doesn't get it, etc. If you're going to have a hockey hipster conversation about the Winnipeg Jets, who does Sarah Orlesky turn to? Is it Dylan Samberg or is there an even greater hockey hipster conversation to be had on the Winnipeg Jets? The one player that everybody's missing out on, the band that no one's heard. Well, I think that Sandberg certainly, I mean, is a great choice to fill that that role because of what he's meant to this team.

Starting point is 00:05:15 You know, last year, so he was in the third pairing role. There's the questions about what was going to happen with Brendan Dillon when he didn't resign with the Jets and who was going to fill in on that second pairing left side and the expectation was that it was going to be Sandberg that was going to be his spot really to lose but you still don't know exactly how he's going to make that transition because you're not just talking about the additional minutes and I mean they're substantial compared to what he was playing in the you know on that third pairing and he has the penalty kill responsibilities but it's it's not just to me the minutes it's also the the opposition that he's going up against right you're not sheltering him in that third pairing

Starting point is 00:05:57 he's going up against a lot of the top six players on the opposing teams and the expectations were great for him and he has met all of them. I think that he has made such a smooth transition into it and Scott O'Neill has been asked about it throughout the season just is there anything that surprised you about it because even though people felt this was what he was being groomed for to take that next step and it was inevitable it was going to happen it just seems to have gone smoothly and there's sections of the season where he's being

Starting point is 00:06:29 sidelined, you know, he broke a bone in his foot blocking a shot. And so he was out of the lineup for a while. And you just notice the difference in the group, the impact that it had not having him in that lineup on the penalty kill. He will go out there and I mean, he throws himself in front of any puck there and just

Starting point is 00:06:46 that stabilizing piece, because not only did he impact special teams and you had to, again, move players up the lineup and play more minutes than perhaps they're used to. He has been a great pairing with Neil Pionk. Those two, they'd known each other for years. They grew up in the same part of Minnesota and so the same town and so they're Herman town, Minnesota boys.

Starting point is 00:07:11 And so they've known each other forever. And so the chemistry that they've had, they just work so well. So I thought that when Dylan was out of the lineup, not only did it impact the blue line, it specifically impacted what we saw from Neil Peonk too. So he's been great and he is a great character. Sandberg is a funny guy, Jeff. I don't know how much you've had the opportunity to talk to him. Oh yeah. But he's got a great personality.

Starting point is 00:07:38 He's got a great personality with him too. I mean, just even around the room with what he is. But he's one that certainly, I think a lot of people outside this market, or if you don't pay a lot of attention to the Winnipeg Jets yet, then you wouldn't be familiar with what Samberg's done, but he's definitely, to me, he's made the biggest jump this season.

Starting point is 00:07:58 How great is Eric Comrie? Just from a personality point of view, I mean, the netminding off the side, like, it's funny too, whenever I play clips of Eric Comrie, I'm just like, he's gonna take all of our jobs if he decides that he wants to do media when he's done. How about this?

Starting point is 00:08:12 I just did, I was actually, I'm just editing a feature on him right now, and so I had asked him about, he made a comment about one day joining the broadcast, and I said, oh, would you like to get into media when you're finished playing? And he goes, yeah, maybe. I just don't know if I'd have enough to say. And we just, I don't think incredibly, and his wife was with us as well. And his wife goes, I don't think that's an issue.

Starting point is 00:08:39 We should have said, is like, yeah, I don't think you could afford the pay cut is more like it, Eric, for crying out loud. 100% of it. You know what? He has been so, and I've, so he has been so great as well for the room and for years. So Eric Comrie's come and gone throughout this Jets organization many times over, right? Whether it be on waivers or he signed back as a free agent this summer. And every time he comes back, everyone is so happy, not only from the community relations side and the foundation sides because of the work that he does within the community, but in the room, because he doesn't really have a bad day, it

Starting point is 00:09:14 seems in terms of his personality. He's always smiling. He's gregarious. And that was something Paul Maurice used to talk about. It's impossible to not be happy when you're around Eric Comrie and he and Connor Hellebuck are very close friends and they just, they're kind of a yin and yang in terms of personality, at least outwardly what you see, but they complement each other so well. And for he has done, I think he's done a great job under the tutelage of Wade Flaherty. He speaks so highly

Starting point is 00:09:42 of him. And even though his results haven't always been there, I don't put that on Eric. You know, for so long, he went through a stretch of eight games where he was just getting no rent support from the Jets. Oh, so bad. It was so bad. It was just, you know what, with when they would lose when he was a net, it wasn't that they lost. You just look at everyone and they go, oh, poor Eric, because he played well and you just, you know, as the goal, it wasn't that they lost. You just look at everyone and they go, oh, poor Eric, because he played well and you just, you know, as the goal you're going to wear it and he shouldn't have been. And so we also joked around that, you know, with so many close friends, Mark Shieffley and Josh Morrissey are two of his closest friends. And I said,

Starting point is 00:10:19 do you ever go to them and say, hey, just a little bit of help here this week? I mean, we're supposed to be best buds here. Could you, do you think maybe you could put one in the back of the net for me? Nice. Um, just finally, you know, yeah, exactly. You know, you guys are averaging almost four goals a game as a team. When I'm not in that any chance we could help out of it. Uh, but he's back, you know, he's when his last couple starts and no, he's just been an absolute gem and his honesty is incredibly refreshing, whether

Starting point is 00:10:50 you're talking about a netminder or just a player in general. Okay. You've got sports mom duty, but I want to close with this. It wasn't that long ago that everybody in Manitoba was taking back their empties, uh, checking under every cushion to find every quarter to make sure that Barry Trotz was going to be the coach and seeing like Manitoba turned itself upside down they're offering cars and free food and never have to buy a beer and everything the whole province just wanted you know the old Regina Pat defenseman you know Manitoba's own Barry Trotz to join the

Starting point is 00:11:21 mix. Where is the province of Manitoba at? Now you got to go on resigning Kyle O'Connor. Is everyone taking their empties back and making sure there's enough money for Kyle O'Connor because this contract is going to be and should be a whopper here? Well, I think a lot of people are probably pretty happy to see that the salary cap was going to be going up. That was certainly good news. If you're looking at it from a Jets fan perspective and what you're, and I'm sure from Kevin Sheveldayev's too, just in terms of some of the options that you have. Yeah, you definitely want to sign Kyle long-term and as much as there's the talk sometimes

Starting point is 00:11:59 about the Jets and players, you look at the success that Kevin Sheveldayov has had signing, resigning, a number of his big stars, obviously most notably recently, Connor Hellebuck and Mark Schieffle. And the chemistry that that top line has, especially this season with Kyle Schieffle and then Gabriel Velardi, it's been great. And you know what? I think that, yeah, he's certainly someone that you want to see this core remain together. When you've got the players locked up long term that you do, he is obviously the next big piece. And he's one that I think, even though everyone knows

Starting point is 00:12:36 how skilled he is, what he brings to team, I think also he's still someone that flies maybe a little bit under the radar just in terms of overall notoriety just because he's such a quiet guy. You don't see a lot from him out in the media, but you certainly see the highlights from him and what a season he's been having and the Jets are obviously hoping that when they return late February that he's able to pick up where he left off and that that line is because you need your

Starting point is 00:13:05 best players to be at their best and they certainly have been for the Jets so far this season. Pucks on a stick, puck goes in. Okay Sports Mom, your next job awaits. I know you got a hard out. You're the best. Always appreciate your contributions. Be well. Enjoy a break knowing full well that in Sarah Orlesky's world there is no such thing as a real break. You be well. We'll check back soon. Thanks Sarah. Okay. I look forward to it anytime, Jeff. Thanks for having me. The great Sarah Orlesky joining us here at Maiden Voyage on the Sheets. Every day this week, every day this month I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day

Starting point is 00:13:50 Guess I can call it a ride I went to the dark man, he tried to give me little medicine I'm like, nah man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself and Alex gonna be fixing my mind I do wanna break it I turned on the music I do wanna break it I turned on the music Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free.

Starting point is 00:14:47 Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at ZenSurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. The Daily Face-Off Live Crew is hitting the road and going live on location from both Be Zen. biggest stories, key matchups, and covering all the action as it unfolds. And you won't want to miss a second, so make sure you're subscribed to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow us on all our social media platforms to stay locked in. We'll be bringing you insider analysis, on-the-ground coverage, and

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The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Sara Orlesky on the Jets Winning Streak

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