AS I SEE IT COLUMN: The Hellebuyck Conundrum

Connor Hellebuyck deserves a lot of credit – and is full value – for winning his third Vezina trophy (for best regular season goaltender) and his first Hart trophy (most valuable player in the regular season).

But those very impressive accomplishments, when juxtaposed with his performance in the playoffs, are a conundrum wrapped in a paradox.

To his credit, Hellebuyck played well in the last two periods of game 7 against St. Louis and in game 6 against Dallas, but his overall play this postseason was exactly like it’s been the past few years — underwhelming.

Two things that cripple a team’s chances in the playoffs are goals scored on the very first shot of the game, and weak goals let in at the worst possible time. They shatter a team’s ability to play with confidence, because they can’t count on the big save being made when it is desperately needed.

Think of the Jets during the regular season. They could play with a freedom and confidence knowing that if they messed up, Hellebuyck would bail them out and make the save.

The exact opposite continues to happen in the playoffs. Because weak goals are let in at inopportune times, there is a palpable nervousness to the team’s play, precisely because they just can’t count on the big save. They can’t play with the same reckless abandon they did in the regular season.

The argument used to be that Hellebuyck was great in the regular season but for some inexplicable reason, couldn’t play to his potential in the playoffs. It was described as an anomaly, an aberration, an exception to the rule. Now, after a few years of inconsistent play in the postseason, the sample size is big enough that it seems increasingly clear that the opposite is in fact true. Playing well in the playoffs is the exception, the aberration. Playing below his ability is the rule.

The reality that Jets fans have to accept is that he is outstanding when games don’t matter but woefully inconsistent in games that do.

I was hoping Hellebuyck would finally shed his postseason demons and play like he did in the regular season. In previous columns I hoped he would add to his haul of regular season trophies by winning the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, encouraging him to put the Jets on his shoulders and singlehandedly willing his team to the Stanley Cup finals.

Sadly, that didn’t come close to happening; recall that the Jets were 1.6 seconds away from being eliminated in the first round, which would have been an unmitigated disaster for a team that won the President’s Trophy as the best team in the league.

With the reality of his inconsistent play, I hope we can once and for all stop calling him the best goalie in the world. As we all saw, Hellebuyck often wasn’t even the best goalie in Dallas, or on Portage Avenue or in Missouri, where he was pulled three times.

The best goalie in the world should be able to steal games his team has no right winning, perhaps even steal a series. Look at game 6 against Dallas. Hellebuyck wasn’t even able to steal a game his team deserved to win.

Could Hellebuyck lead the Jets to the Stanley Cup finals?

In sport you should never say never, but the harsh reality for Jets fans is that they shouldn’t expect it. If Hellebuyck can ever be the game changer in the playoffs like he is in the regular season, he absolutely could take the Jets on a deep playoff run.

But to keep their sanity Jets fans can’t count on that. They will have to live with the fact the Jets will get outstanding, award-winning, elite goaltending during regular season but probably not in the playoffs.

That’s the Hellebuyck Conundrum.

By all accounts Connor Hellebuyck is a great teammate, a wonderful husband and father, and it is enormously impressive that he has written two children’s book on the important subject of mental health, but for his sake – and ours – we need to stop calling him the best goalie in the world.