TORONTO — Sunny Mehta peeked at his hand and opted to fold pre-flop.
Citing a potential "reduction in our expected win probability," the New Jersey Devils general manager and former pro poker player made the executive decision to start goaltender Jake Allen in lieu of Connor Hellebuyck during the club’s only visit to Winnipeg on Tuesday.
“I’m disappointed, but I understand. Selfishly, I want to play, but when you’re looking at the team and what’s best for the team, I understand where they’re coming from,” Hellebuyck said Sunday night inside the Scotiabank Arena visitors’ room, after shutting out the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0.
“Well, I mean, I love Winnipeg, and playing there again and just facing the music and seeing the reaction, it’d be nice. But it’s out of my hands.”
This is a wild decision that, barring an Allen pull, delays Hellebuyck’s return game until 2027-28.
Brady Tkachuk faced the music in Ottawa, as did Quinn Hughes in Vancouver.
But the Devils are using workload and conditioning as the reason (excuse?) for not ripping off the Band-Aid and letting Hellebuyck take the ice against the team he refused to play for despite owing them five more seasons on his contract.
The goaltender — who has jumped to a perfect 5-0-0 start since getting his trade wish — will face the Winnipeg media at a Tuesday morning press conference.
“I mean, it allows me to use my voice, but I think a lot of that's taken out of my hands. It's above me,” Hellebuyck said. “Like I've always said: I'll be ready when my name is called, and this time it's not.
“At the end of the day, I have to listen to them, and I can only push so hard. And like I said, I was adamant I want to play, but it is what it is.”
The three-time Vezina winner and Olympic gold medallist said a conversation with Mehta and head coach Sheldon Keefe on the looming Manitoba trip was held a day or two ago.
“He’s super committed, very focused. Really knows what he needs for himself, and a ton of confidence to be able to speak about how he feels and what's on his mind,” Keefe said.
“I think that's part of why, right away, he very boldly said: ‘I feel it's my duty to play in this game.’”
Asked point-blank why he asked out of Winnipeg, Hellebuyck said he would address that Tuesday. He also declined to imagine how the notoriously vocal Canada Life Centre would greet him.
The tilt was shaping up nicely, with the previously slumping Jets whipping off three consecutive wins and the Devils swiping five in a row and nine of their past 10. Since the trade Hellebuyck helped orchestrate, New Jersey is looking more like a contender.
“I know there’s a pretty sour taste in Winnipeg. I've heard that. But I can only speak to my memories and my cherished moments in the city, and I've loved every part of my career there,” Hellebuyck said.
“However I’m perceived, I’m going to choose love, and I’m going to choose to remember all those moments and the community coming together, and all the relationships I made, and being part of that community, and all the good times I’ve had there.”
Hellebuyck wrote a vague letter to Jets fans last week in which he said that “making a change was the best thing for our family.” He said Sunday that he misses the closeness of the Jets community and locker room, as well as the awesome fans.
“I could speak all night to what we're projecting it's going to be, but until I step foot there and walk the streets, it's probably not going to hit me,” Hellebuyck said.
Keefe leaned on the goalie’s heavy workload as the deciding factor. Were he to start in Winnipeg, Hellebuyck would be playing four games in eight nights after skipping training camp. Moreover, the Devils view Thursday’s divisional tilt versus Washington as more critical to the standings.
"Just not gonna put a guy in that situation," Keefe said. "I understand the sensitivity to the situation when you're hyper focused on that game, as the Jets fans would be, understandably. From our perspective, when you zoom out, this is a goaltender that is not going to play every single game of the season. You're always looking for times to give him a night off. And schedule falling the way that it does, it just made sense.”
And a hostile barn would add to that strain, no?
“He's not quite where he wants to be or where he should be from a conditioning standpoint. So, then, that's another stressor,” Keefe said. “Again, for those reasons, I think that's why Sunny just made it very clear it's not even up for discussion.”
Well, for the sake of Jets fans who are curious why the best goalie to represent their city no longer wanted to live there, hopefully Hellebuyck provides some answers off the ice Tuesday.
“An extremely complex decision, and no one's really nailed it on the head because there's so many things that go into the decision,” Hellebuyck said of wanting out. “But there's also the thought that the media is the one that wins if we come out and just start speaking negatives on each other.”
Now that Hellebuyck needn’t worry about how he’ll play, he can keep thinking about what he’ll say.
“So, I still got some time. Tuesday is where I'll address all that. But I have nothing but respect for the organization and respect for the guys in the Jets locker room and what they're doing there in the city and the communities there,” Hellebuyck said.
“I loved every part of it. I know it's unfortunate that things ended the way they are. But, like I said, we'll talk about it Tuesday."
Fox’s Fast Five
• Morgan Rielly, who suffered a non-contact lower-body injury Saturday, needs further evaluation before a timeline for his return is given.
The Leafs also played without Rielly’s partner, Chris Tanev, whose absence was explained as planned maintenance as he works his way back from an upper-body injury.
Not only did Dakota Mermis slide back into the lineup but Cole McWard, 25, made his Maple Leafs debut. The righty didn’t look out of place at all in his 16-plus minutes of work. No dashes.
• Jack Roslovic got banged up in Tuesday’s loss to Utah and missed Wednesday’s practice, but he did play Saturday. The top-line winger was a late scratch in favour of daytime call-up Vinni Lettieri. He’s ruled day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and coach Hiller’s forward lines remain in flux.
• Ex-Leafs coach Keefe on the joys of beating Toronto at Scotiabank Arena: “Every win feels good. With every season that passes, there's more and more separation. There's far fewer faces in this building on the other side that I know or recognize or have relationships with.
“It was not the greatest hockey game on the ice with two tired teams, but great show by the fans. Unbelievable ceremony for the Hall of Famers. Special to be a part of it that way, and the bonus is I get to say hi to some family and friends.”
• Can’t say we’ve ever seen a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee booed before a ceremonial puck drop. But Keith Tkachuk and his boys aren’t exactly fan favourites in Canada.
• Boyhood Leafs fan Darren Raddysh’s favourite iteration of Toronto’s sweater is the block-logo CCM one from the early 2000s.
“It has to be the old, thick jersey that, like, flaps in the wind when you start skating. That’s probably the coolest one that I think we should get back to,” Raddysh smiles. “But, yeah, it’s cool when you play another team in different jerseys. It’s something you don’t get to see every day.”
Raddysh was excited to debut the cream-coloured Hometown Remix kit on Sunday: “I’m a big fan of the gloves. I like the way the colour is with my CCM ones. But, yeah, the jerseys are really nice.”
Zack MacEwen agrees.
“Super cool. I mean, definitely never seen anything like it. So, I’m pumped. I just think the colour pattern, the different colour of blue with that beige or whatever you want to call it, it is unreal,” MacEwen told me before the game. “Whenever you get to mix it up and wear those cool jerseys, it's just something special.”
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