‘I can’t do this alone’: Jets’ Hellebuyck opens up after playoff exit

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Connor Hellebuyck woke up the morning of Game 4 with the intention of stealing a game.

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There was a laser focus, he said Thursday, as the Winnipeg Jets went through their final rounds of medical exams and exit interviews.

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His mentality was similar through the first three games, but with the team down 2-1 in their best-of-seven series against the Colorado Avalanche and already 15 goals behind him, some extra emphasis was added.

On Sunday afternoon, four more were attacked in the first 40 minutes, ending any thought of theft.

“It is heartbreaking not to be able to keep four goals off the board,” said Hellebuyck. “It’s really heartbreaking for me not to be able to put my foot on the ground even in one match. It’s not typical how I do things.”

Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise for himself and the team he signed a seven-year contract extension with last fall.

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It led to a moment of clarity.

“When I was pulled to give me more peace, it was like a flood of emotions that I had been suppressing for the entire series. And that was the realization that I can’t do this alone.”

However, that’s often where Hellebuyck has been left in the past, at least on the ice.

He’s earned a comfortable life on an island, but it certainly seems to have taken its toll.

Or maybe it’s been ingrained over the years. The old mentality: if he doesn’t do it, who will?

“I’m not saying I had to do it alone,” he said. “That was my mentality: I had to do this alone. That was the realization that I have to be more part of this team than I am, and take everything on my shoulders – and that is, I’m talking to me personally, that’s not me talking to the team – it’s just the the way my mentality is. is, I try to put everything on my shoulders.”

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Thursday was rarefied air for the 30-year-old Michiganian.

Sure, his exit interview started by warning people that they might not believe what he was about to say.

“I played the best hockey of my career,” he said. “That’s really how I felt.”

It’s not an easy argument to make considering the 24 goals he allowed in five games, or the sub-.900 save percentage or the negative goals he saved above expectations — stats he led or topped during a regular season season that will surely end with his second Vezina.

Hellebuyck never doubted himself or his abilities.

It has served him well throughout his career. He has said in the past that few believed he could get to where he is today, so he had no choice but to put faith in himself and go from there.

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It also made his honesty about the wrong approach Thursday remarkable.

“I don’t think this is the right way to approach the playoffs,” he said. “What I need to do is dive into team play even more, and hopefully that will bring me peace of mind.”

Jets head coach Rick Bowness didn’t see Hellebuyck as a lesser team member.

He previously saw a player putting too much pressure on himself.

“That he had to make a difference,” Bowness said. “You’re in the playoffs and we watch hockey all the time. There is always a game in a play-off series where the team does not play (well) and the goalkeeper steals a game. I think that’s what he’s getting at.

“The reason, and I explained after we pulled him in Game 4, was we wanted to put a little more pressure on the players: ‘Okay, we’ve got to tighten this thing up here. We’re not going to rely on him every crazy game to keep us there. ”

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Winnipeg’s defensive structure has improved tremendously during Bowness’ tenure.

The team played a stretch of 34 games this season – the second-longest record ever – and allowed three goals or fewer.

Hellebuyck played a big role in that, but so did his team’s ability to relieve the pressure on him.

The Jets escaped that in the second half of the season and lost their way.

The game Hellebuyck learned wasn’t all that consistent, so you could see why he might return to what had been drilled into his head for years and years.

That it was up to him and him alone to keep the ship from sinking.

“What matters now is that we didn’t do it when it matters most, which is when he puts a lot of pressure on himself,” Bowness said.

After a second consecutive first-round exit and five games, there are many lessons to be learned.

This could be one of the biggest.

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X: @scottbilck

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