Connor Hellebuyck won his New Jersey Devils debut Tuesday night in Dallas, then gave Winnipeg fans one word to chew on.
A reporter asked him:
“When the national anthem is going and you're moments away from playing, what's running through your mind in that moment?”
Hellebuyck's answer was simple.
“Finally.”
That's it. One word, and now everybody's reading between the lines.
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Was it a shot at the Jets for taking so long to move him? Or was it an American goalie happy to hear his own anthem before puck drop with a U.S. team?
My read? A little of both, and that's exactly why it lands.
Jets lose sixth straight, 5-1 to Florida, the night Hellebuyck wins in Dallas
The Jets lost 5-1 to Florida on Tuesday, their sixth straight loss.
Scott Arniel's group sits at 4-5-3.
Winnipeg has scored only 28 goals all season.
Meanwhile, the goalie wasn't tested much in Dallas. He stopped 17 of 18 shots.
The Devils were in control in front of him all night, rolling to a 5-1 win.
It was the same night Jack Hughes spat out a tooth and went right back to work.
It's like an ex posting “finally” on Instagram the day after the moving truck pulls away. Nobody gets named, but everybody knows who it's about.
Jets fans are allowed to feel some type of way about it. Words like that land differently in a city that's lost six straight.
Sunny Mehta is paying him $8,500,000 to be the answer in net, and the Devils are already 8-4-0.
Before his arrival, Jake Allen had posted an .886 save percentage.
Now it's time to move on, for both sides. The Devils are in Colorado tonight on the second half of a back-to-back.
Winnipeg heads to Tampa Bay on Thursday, still searching for answers. And if the skid keeps growing, that one word out of New Jersey will keep echoing in Manitoba.
Was Connor Hellebuyck's finally a shot at the Jets?
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