Jets Forward Pushes Back on False Narrative

In any sport, there's always a lot of talk as to which teams players want to play for, and which ones they don't. When it comes to the NHL, the "attractive" teams usually have some combination of warm weather, a good spotlight that's not too overwhelming and a winning culture. To many outsiders, the Winnipeg Jets fall outside of that group.

While the Jets have generally been pretty good over the past decade, they also play in one of the league's smallest markets that is home to some of the coldest temperatures in North America.

Add in the fact that the Jets have had several key players leave and others avoid them in free agency, and they've unfortunately been branded as a team "no one wants to play for."

However, that's not the case, at least not to the degree some make it out to be. Forward Gabriel Vilardi, who just signed a six-year extension to stay in Winnipeg through 2031, pushed back on the outside reputation of the city.

“I think the perception (of Winnipeg) is tough," Vilardi told reporters. "For me, for example, when I played in L.A. and you come to Winnipeg, you’re staying on Portage, you don’t really leave that downtown area and it’s freezing cold. So you’re like, 'wow, this is kind of dark.' It’s not something that you’re looking forward to going out and enjoying a dinner, kind of thing. But once you get to Winnipeg and you leave the downtown area and go to your neighbourhoods in River Heights and Tuxedo… whatever it is. For me, personally, it feels like home. I like that."

"On the outside for guys looking in, you have to figure out what you want. Do you want to go live in a warm climate and maybe play on a worse team, or do you want to come to Winnipeg and, sure, it’s minus-30, but you’re going to be on a good team. At the end of the day for me, it’s about hockey. I want to win, I want to be a good player. That’s my top priority in life. So it’s easy to overlook the cons and look at the pros for me.”

Compared to L.A. — Vilardi played for the Los Angeles Kings for four seasons — Winnipeg seems very quaint by comparison. However, some players prefer that, and the 25-year-old Vilardi seems to be one of them.

The Jets have been very successful in the regular season, but the playoffs have been a different story. Now that Vilardi is locked up for the long haul, he hopes to help change that very soon.

"I believe in our group," Vilardi said. "I think this past year we obviously showed what we're capable of in the regular season. And obviously the playoffs didn’t end up our way, but I think we competed there and I think just the opportunity of this window we have where I truly believe we have a great opportunity to win and I want to be a part of that and I think we can we can accomplish that.”