‘Stabilizing force’: Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck putting up an MVP-caliber season

Sport

‘Stabilizing force’: Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck putting up an MVP-caliber season

2025-04-06 18:10 Last Updated At：18:21

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck will knock on Scott Arniel’s door or pull his head coach aside for a brief chat. The Winnipeg Jets goaltender usually has one specific question before a road trip.

“What days we have off and should he bring his fishing gear?” Arniel said with a smile. “He’s extremely focused there … and then when he gets to the rink, he does not want to get scored on.”

Opponents have once again found that a challenge in 2024-25.

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is on course to secure another nod as the NHL’s top goaltender and firmly entrenched in the league’s MVP conversation with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.

The numbers are impressive. The accolades for a club atop the standings are nice.

The 31-year-old American, however, has just one prize in mind — the Stanley Cup.

“The only goal I have left,” Hellebuyck told the Canadian Press following a recent practice. “All the guys in that locker room feel the same way.”

The Commerce, Michigan, native leads the league with a 43-12-3 record, .924 save percentage, 2.03 goals-against average and seven shutouts going into Monday's game against St. Louis.

The Vezina winner in 2019-20 and again last season has impressed teammates by raising his own bar and injecting his name into the Hart Trophy mix alongside the likes of Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.

“We always think that he’s reached his potential,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “Then he goes out and does something new and proves that he always has more ceiling and areas to grow. We’re so fortunate to have him. A stabilizing force.”

Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said Hellebuyck, whose big-money contract extension signed in October 2023 ties him to the Manitoba capital through 2030-31, hasn’t garnered the attention the netminder has truly deserved throughout his career.

“He’s able to anticipate,” Lowry said. “He’s so positionally sound that he gets to where he needs to be. Other goalies are maybe making desperation saves.”

“Makes it look easy,” Morrissey added. “It’s not easy.”

The Jets have also made crease life less chaotic for Hellebuyck with improved structure. Hellebuyck faced 2,155 shots in 2021-22 before former head coach Rick Bowness, who retired last May, took over in 2022-23. The shot number dropped to 1,964 that season and fell further to 1,798 in 2023-24. Hellebuyck has seen 1,561 pucks fired his direction through 59 games in Arniel’s first campaign.

“We hurt Helly’s stats in the past because he was so good and we played very loose,” Lowry said. “Even the best goalie in the world, the best shooters are going to beat him sometimes, especially from dangerous areas. We’ve really got a huge buy-in from the group and are committed to team defense. He’s the anchor.”

Hellebuyck could become the first goaltender to win the Hart as NHL MVP since Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens in 2014-15.

Lowry sees style parallels with the netminders.

“The game almost looks boring to them,” he said. “It’s smooth. It’s that inner drive where (Hellebuyck’s) working off the ice trying to perfect his movement. I don’t expect his aspirations or his pursuit of perfection to decrease. It’s only going to continue to increase until we reach that ultimate goal.”

“His competitiveness,” Arniel added of what stands out about the netminder’s approach. “His attention to detail about what he does every day.”

Hellebuyck, who backstopped the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, said the group in front of him is playing with a new level of belief despite losing in the first round of the playoffs the last two springs after failing to qualify in 2021-22.

“Every game is a chance to build,” he said. “We’re all playing with a lot of confidence. It’s not just stretches of confidence. It’s locked in.”

Winnipeg is on track to face Minnesota or St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs. And if the Jets, whose last deep postseason run came when the franchise made the 2018 Western Conference final, can get past that test, either Dallas or Colorado — fellow Central Division heavyweights — will be waiting.

Landing another Vezina or capturing a first Hart could be in cards. Hockey’s holy grail, however, is the sole target for Hellebuyck.

“The only thing we want to achieve,” he said. “Feels like we’re gonna go out and get things done.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Justin Rose steals the Masters show and builds 3-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler

2025-04-11 07:47 Last Updated At：07:52

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose managed to steal the attention away from Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the Masters by matching his personal best at Augusta National with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead Thursday in the first major of the year.

Scheffler did his part in his bid to win a third Masters green jacket in four years, playing a bogey-free round of 68.

McIlroy, so desperate to win this major and complete the career Grand Slam, was right there with him until the end. He took a pair of double bogeys late in the afternoon with careless mistakes and had to settle for a 72. It was the seventh straight time he failed to break 70 in the opening round of the Masters.

Rose burst out of the gates with three straight birdies. He added three more around the turn. He was headed for a round nearly 10 shots better than the field average until a poor tee shot into the trees led to his only bogey at the final hole.

No matter. This was a reminder to Rose that his good golf is still very good.

“I'm 44. Golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years, whatever it's going to be,” Rose said. “So your opportunity is less going forward. So you have to make the most of it.”

Rose set one Masters record: The fifth time he has had at least a share of the 18-hole lead, breaking the mark held by Jack Nicklaus. The glaring difference, of course, is Nicklaus has six of those green jackets.

It also was the eighth time Rose has had at least a share of the lead after any round at Augusta National, something only five others have done. All are Masters champions.

“I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament,” said Rose, whose best chance was a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. “I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it. ... But you've got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don't shy away from it.”

Scheffler was 3 under at the turn, including one birdie on the par-5 eighth in which his ball was deep in a divot hole short of the green. He managed to get that out some 20 feet left of the pin and used the slope to bring it back to 15 feet and made the putt.

He was rarely under stress.

“I struggled for what felt like two pars today,” Scheffler said “But other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”

Corey Conners of Canada birdied his last two holes for a 68, and they were joined Ludvig Aberg, the super Swede who was runner-up to Scheffler in his Masters debut a year ago.

U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton carried the LIV Golf flag, both at 69. DeChambeau had seven birdies in his up-and-down day, a show of his scoring power.

“Making some bogeys for me probably frees me up a little bit and says, you know what? Just go out and play some golf,” DeChambeau said.

The roars came early, along with a few shockers.

Fred Couples, who wondered a month ago if at 65 with a creaky back he would still be welcomed to play, became only the second player that age to break par. Couples holed out from the fairway on the 14th with a 6-iron hybrid on his way to a 71. Tom Watson was also 65 — by 28 days he is still the oldest — when he shot 71 in 2015.

The horror show belonged to Nick Dunlap, a 21-year-old who last year won on the PGA Tour as an amateur. This must have felt like amateur hour when he made double bogey on the final hole for a 90. It was the highest score since Ben Crenshaw shot 91 in 2015 at ag 63.

Hideki Matsuyama might have caught the worst break when his approach into the par-5 13th hit the pin and caromed into the tributary of Rae's Creek. The wildest day belonged to Nicolai Hojgaard — one eagle, five birdies, four pars, five bogeys and three double bogeys. Do the math and that comes out to 76.

“It's mentally draining playing a round like this,” Hojgaard said.

And then there was McIlroy, chipping into the water from behind the 15th green for double bogey, and then going long on the 17th and compounding that mistake with a three-putt for another double bogey.

Far more blissful on a warm spring day was Rose, who at one point had it going so well that he felt like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter.

He pitched to 6 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth. He hit wedge to the ninth and used the slope to set up a 5-foot birdie, giving him a career-low 31 on the front nine. That was followed by a 12-foot birdie putt.

“That's when the day felt a bit different. That’s when I felt I was doing something potentially more on the special side,” Rose said.

And then he really began to pull away from the field with a smart pitch away from the water to set up a 10-foot birdie on the 15th, followed by a 20-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. The pins on the final two holes allowed for birdies and Rose was thinking super special. He got par-bogey instead that didn't ruin his mood.

The average score was 73.6. Only six players broke 70, and 20 others broke par.

“Overall, great day," Rose said.. “I played a lot of golf here at Augusta National. So to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me.”

Still three days away is an achievement that so far has eluded him.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf