‘Coward!’: Jets fans boo, chant at Hellebuyck during warmups in Winnipeg return

Winnipeg Jets fans gave goaltender Connor Hellebuyck the exact opposite of a warm reaction in his return to the Canada Life Centre as a visitor with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Hellebuyck, 33, orchestrated a trade out of Winnipeg over the course of multiple months following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, his 11th as a Jet. The veteran goaltender failed to report to Jets training camp and forfeited nearly a million dollars in pay over the first four weeks of the 2026-27 regular season before being sent to New Jersey on Oct. 23.

To put it mildly, Jets fans were disappointed and angry to see their franchise goaltender request a trade, and that anger turned to incandescent rage once the Devils announced Sunday that Hellebuyck wouldn’t play in his return to Winnipeg, bizarrely citing a potential reduction in their “expected win probability.”

In that statement, Devils GM Sunny Mehta publicly took responsibility for holding Hellebuyck out of the game, but that didn’t seem to matter to Jets fans, who let loose a barrage of boos and chants directed at the three-time Vezina Trophy winner during warmups.

Since joining the Devils, Hellebuyck has posted a perfect 5-0-0 record with one shutout and a .913 save percentage — understandably casting serious doubt on the Devils’ declaration about their expected win probability. Nevertheless, Jake Allen started in goal for the Devils in a hostile Winnipeg environment, doing his best to maintain focus amidst chants of “Helle sucks!” and “Coward!”

Fittingly, Dawson Mercer — one of the main pieces the Jets acquired in the Hellebuyck trade — opened the scoring for Winnipeg midway through the first period on Tuesday. The Jets also received forwards Alexander Command and Nick Bjugstad, goaltender Nico Daws, and two future draft picks in the deal.

A fifth-round pick (No. 130 overall) of the Jets in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hellebuyck debuted with the club in the 2015-16 season and quickly took over as their starting goaltender. In addition to his three Vezina wins, the Commerce, Mich. product also captured the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP in 2025 and backstopped Team USA to gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics — the latter of which sparked discontent among Jets fans upset to see Hellebuyck meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, whose policies and statements have angered many in Canada.

Speaking with reporters in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Hellebuyck elaborated upon the decision-making process that led to him officially requesting a trade from the Jets earlier this year.

“I’ve alluded to this a little bit,” Hellebuyck said. “This was a complex decision and a very difficult one. There’s no one singular moment that wasn’t important in all of this decision-making, and this is over a span of time. I will say with all the uncertainty I was experiencing, there was some moments and some things that happened to my family that for me crossed the line, and as a husband and a father, I felt made that decision very certain.”

Hellebuyck remains under contract with the Devils through 2031 at a cap hit just shy of $8.1 million per season. Through 630 career NHL games over parts of 12 seasons in Winnipeg and New Jersey, the 6’4″ goaltender has compiled a 350-208-55 record to go along with 46 shutouts and a .916 save percentage; in 58 playoff games with the Jets, he’s gone 24-34 with five shutouts and a .903.