The high-flying Winnipeg Jets are still not on opponents' radar

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One year, 48 wins and 102 points later, the Winnipeg Jets still lack respect.

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The latest NHL Players' Association poll isn't a testament to the progress the Jets have made over the past 12 months, or their lofty position in the standings.

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For the second straight year, the Jets' lone member is goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, and even that has been somewhat reluctant.

Hellebuyck may be on his way to a second Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the cycle, but he's nowhere near being the guy players want between the pipes in a must-win game.

That honor once again went to Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, as 47% of players polled chose the lightning plug.

Until Hellebuyck does that in the playoffs, he'll continue to pick up the crumbs in that department.

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For the second year in a row, he finished fourth, this time with 5% of the vote, ahead of the Rangers' Igor Shesterkin (6.5%) and the Islanders' Ilya Sorokin (6.2%).

Outside of this annual poll, the Jets continue to be shut down.

Want that one hitter that's sure to win?

Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg's leading scorer, was not mentioned.

The Oilers' Connor McDavid ran away with it, followed by Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov and New York's Artemi Panarin.

It's hard to argue with them.

Defender for that purpose?

No Josh Morrissey in the top five.

More than half of the 622 players cast voted for Colorado's Cale Makar, while Tampa's Victor Hedman, Nashville's Roman Josi, Vancouver's Quinn Hughes and the Rangers' Adam Fox battled for the remaining spoils.

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You'd think Morrissey's ever-expanding toolbox would garner more votes than at least one of them.

McDavid, Detroit's Patrick Kane, New Jersey's Jack Hughes, Kucherov and McKinnon didn't make the cut, but Kyle Connor was one of the best stick handlers on the list.

Categories like most complete player (Crosby), best passer (Makar), best playmaker (Kucherov) and most reliable faceoff player (Nashville's Ryan O'Reilly) also ignored the playoff-bound Jets.

Nor does the friendly Manitoba NHL team have a player their opponents hate playing against.

Boston's Brad Marchand has foul-smelling gloves, Florida's Matthew Tkachuk and the Capitals' Tom Wilson have raised elbows in controversy.

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For a player with a good sense of fashion, there wasn't even a hat to get in Winnipeg's way. Time to break out of that conservative suit box, guys.

Winnipeg's lone remaining top five falls into a category we're all too familiar with: ice making.

So, a nod to the crew preparing the surface of the downtown palace, which ranks third in the NHL behind Montreal and Edmonton.

As for the notion that Winnipeg is one of the hardest places to play due to its raucous fans, we're sorry to report that's ancient history with sellouts over the years.

Ice rinks in Vegas, Raleigh, Boston, Denver and Montreal are warming up their home ice, say their owners.

Unlike last year's poll, this poll did not ask players for their favorite city to visit on the weekend. Maybe “Peg” missed it.

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Yes, that's right.

When the results of that poll came out a year ago, it gave a good indication of where the Jets were at the time: headed for an early exit in the midst of their freefall from clear first-half Stanley Cup contender to playoff wildcard.

The fact that NHLers haven't changed their minds can only mean one thing: The Jets are more than the sum of their parts.

Either that, or an NHL player in Winnipeg is just a little more noticeable than a player in Arizona.

Maybe it's a little bit of both.

Barring the drafting and development of another McDavid, Crosby or McKinnon, there is only one thing that will change all of that: a long Stanley Cup run.

The names in this item form the final survey.

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NHLPA Player Poll

One game, which goalkeeper?
Andrey Vasilevsky, TB, 46.9%
Igor Shesterkin, New York, 6.5%
Ilya Sorokin, New York, 6.2%
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG, 5.0%
Juuse Saros, NASH, 4.9%

One game, which striker?
Connor McDavid, EDM, 48.7%
Sidney Crosby, PIT, 11.6%
Nathan McKinnon, COL, 6.6%
Nikita Kucherov, TB, 5.3%
Artemi Panarin, New York, 2.6%

One game, which quarterback?
Kale Makar, KOL, 56.4%
Victor Hedman, tuberculosis, 10.5%
Roman Josey, NASH, 4.5%
Quinn Hughes, Van, 4.0%
Adam Fox, New York, 2.4%

Best stick holder ever
McDavid, EDM, 35.5%
Patrick Kane, DET, 20.9%
Jack Hughes, NJD, 8.1%
Kucherov, TB, 7.9%
McKinnon, COL, 4.0%
Panarin, New York, 4.0%

The most complete player
Crosby, PIT, 38.4%
Alexander Barkov, FLA, 14.6%
Anze Kopitar, LAC, 8.2%
McDavid, EDM, 7.8%
McKinnon, COL, 6.6%

If you need to win head-to-head
Ryan O'Reilly, NASH, 14.5%
Crosby, PIT, 13.6%
Claude Giroux, OTT, 7.6%
Luke Glendening, TB, 6.0%
Jordan Staal, CAR, 6.0%

The best style
David Pastrnak, BOS, 15%
William Nylander, TOR, 12.2%
Auston Matthews, TOR, 10.5%
Kucherov, TB, 2.5%
Hughes, NJD, 2.5%
Kane, DET, 2.5%

The most difficult arena as a visitor
Las Vegas, 31.4%
Raleigh, NC, 16.3%
Boston, 16%
Denver, 7.9%
Montreal, 4.7%

The best ice
Montreal, 34.5%
Edmonton, 14.5%
Winnipeg, 11.1%
Minnesota, 9.8%
Las Vegas, 5.1%

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