Rap against Winnipeg ‘aggravating’ — Jets owner

Mark Chipman says Winnipeg gets a bad rap.

One of the questions submitted by fans at a centre-ice chat Tuesday, which involved Chipman, the Jets owner, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, involved no-trade clauses being unfair to places like Winnipeg.

We often hear NHL players have the Jets on their no-trade lists, but Chipman downplayed the issue with gusto, calling it “one of those really aggravating misstatements.”

“And it’s not just the free agents you’ve got to focus on,” he said. “It’s your own free agents. If you look at the history of our 13 years, there’s really only been a couple guys that decided they wanted to play elsewhere.”

For every Jacob Trouba, Patrik Laine or Pierre-luc Dubois, Chipman pointed out there’s been two Dustin Byfugliens, Kyle Connors and Mark Scheifeles, players who’ve chosen to re-sign, long-term.

“I don’t look at them differently than I look at a free agent on July 1,” Chipman told the crowd of a few hundred. “Players want to play where they have a chance to win. There was much made about how difficult it was to get Scheifele and Connor (Hellebuyck) re-signed. It really wasn’t. Because they like the team, they like one another.”

Chipman pointed to team chemistry as half the battle in building a winner, calling the current culture “as strong as it’s ever been.”

“Why would those guys want to go somewhere when they have it right there,” he said, pointing across the ice to the dressing room. “You put the two of those things together, the belief that we have in one another and our ability, that’s why we’re having success.”

Bettman took a similar approach to the no-trade clause subject.

“When you look at what happened this past summer, and two of your most important players (Scheifele and Hellebuyck) deciding to stay here when they could have gone anywhere, that tells you everything you need to know.”

Another submitted question asked Bettman to compare the Jets’ situation to that of Arizona, a pet project of his that’s seen the league go through different arenas and different owners, even taking over the franchise itself, in what seems like a fruitless effort to establish roots in the desert.

The commissioner delivered the usual talking points about being committed to the Coyotes and said the two situations have nothing to do with each other.

“Arizona needs a new building,” he said. “You have a great building. You just need to fill it a little bit better. They have a lot of work to do, you have a little work to do. And I’m confident you can do it.”

Bettman drew several rounds of applause during the session, a stark contrast to the boo-birds he often hears when getting behind a microphone in front of a crowd.

“I could get used to this,” he said at one point.