WINNIPEG -- Head coach Paul Maurice has been given a four-year extention to guide the Winnipeg Jets, and he and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff appear to be of one mind on some of the teams upcoming issues. Kendall Fuller Jersey . One of them is keeping Ondrej Pavelec as the teams starting goaltender. Cheveldayoff said it was disappointing not to make the playoffs but he didnt suggest hes deviating in any big way from his draft-and-develop philosophy and that includes sticking with his 26-year-old starting netminder. "Ondrej Pavelec is the No. 1 goaltender going into next season," the general manager insisted. "Hes relatively a young goaltender when it comes to being a starting goaltender and when you give those young players those opportunities to excel theres going to be some bumps along the way." With a save percentage of .901 (70th among all goalies in the NHL) and a goals against average of 3.01 (69th) Pavelec is a frequent target of criticism. Maurice says he wouldnt have a lot to say about who plays for the team, which is a general managers job, but he had no problem at all with Pavelec as his starting netminder. "Were at a stage in our franchise where weve got three or four potentially critical pieces through our lineup that are here that weve got to make better. Weve got to put them in a position to be better then they have to be better. ... "And I think Evander Kane falls into that hole, really good young talented players that need to develop, that need to get better and I think they will get better ... In my mind, with Ondrej Pavelec, we have to do everything we can as a team to give our goaltending the best chance to win us games and that hasnt happened yet." Kane finished with only 19 goals this season, a far cry from the 30 the forward scored in 2011-12, although this season he missed 19 games -- 18 due to injuries and another as a healthy scratch, reportedly for missing a team meeting. Maurice came in as Claude Noels replacement in January and impressed Jets management as well as the players with his skills. "Hes an impressive hockey coach but hes an impressive person as well," Cheveldayoff said. "He walked in and he made a tremendous impact from the moment he walked in and we believe that were just scratching the surface on the impact he can make on this franchise moving forward." Maurice, 47, said on the phone from his current home in Ohio that he made the decision fairly early on that he wanted to stay in Winnipeg. The deal was done Tuesday and he immediately flew home to talk about it with his family and they supported him. "It didnt take much time, I called Kevin and said were in and put a sign on the front steps today," he said. Maurice guided the team to an 18-12-5 record over 35 games after Noels firing, a decision that Cheveldayoff said hurt him to the core. "Claude Noel is a tremendous coach and an even better person," he said. Noel had only part of one season as an NHL head coach on his resume when he was handed the reins of the Jets in 2011. His replacement has a career coaching record of 478-469-172 over 1,119 NHL games with the Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise. Maurice, who also said Wednesday he has accepted an offer to join Team Canada as an assistant coach for the world championship, says the Jets are further along and have a better balance of youth and experience than some of the other teams hes coach in the NHL. He says that means their development should be faster. Whether the goal of making the playoffs can be achieved next year, the answer seems to be maybe, but not initially as a Stanley Cup contender. "Were trying to move to the middle of the pack, I mean the end goal here is to be a contending team, and I think there are six of those teams right now in the Western Conference, I think theres two in the Eastern Conference. . . then theres the other eight teams that are in the playoffs," he said. Winnipeg finished with a 37-35-10 record on the season and settled for an 11th-place finish in the Western Conference with 84 points. It was exactly the same record they managed in their first year in their new home in 2011-12, although the Jets were in the Eastern Conference until this season. It was also the third straight season they have missed the playoffs since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta. The former Atlanta Thrashers made the playoffs only once, in 2007. The Jets have a fairly long list of restricted and unrestricted free agents this season but the only one Cheveldayoff mentioned Wednesday as a player they want to keep for sure was forward and restricted free agent Michael Frolik. He finished with 42 points and met or exceeded the expectations the Jets had when they acquired him from Chicago last year. But the general manager also didnt rule out looking outside the Jets for the right unrestricted free agent or making a trade to strengthen their core group, particularly at forward. He hasnt made a lot of trades since taking on the job three years ago (only 13) and the only two that would even come close to involving higher profile players would be Frolik and Devin Setoguchi. They were also his last, in the summer of 2013. "Some of it might have to come from a trade," he said of his desire to add a winger or a centre. The Jets are still focusing on young players throughout the organization and the role they can play. At the end of the season, for example, they brought in goalie Michael Hutchinson from the AHLs St. Johns IceCaps and he won two of the three final games he played. Cheveldayoff says the core group the Jets have signed to long-term contracts continues to perform. "We like what we have in a lot of different areas here. . . Guys like Blake Wheeler had a tremendous year, Bryan Little had a tremendous year, Andrew Ladd had a tremendous year. . . We havent even touched on (Mark) Scheifele and (Jacob) Trouba." He said Scheifele and Trouba had a big impact and the two rookies are only going to get better. Zach Brown Jersey . He was with the New York Jets in 2011 when the NFL locked out their players after they failed to agree on a new contract. Willy went undrafted but was given a look by four NFL teams before heading north. Cheap Washington Redskins Jerseys . Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night. http://www.cheapredskinslockroom.com/AUTHENTIC-PHIL-TAYLOR-REDSKINS-JERSEY/ .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair.Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Sean Bergenheims goal with 6:52 remaining in the third period lifted the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Jonathan Huberdeau and rookie Aaron Ekblad both scored in the second period for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Roberto Luongo. Florida ended a 10-game losing streak to the Blue Jackets, a six-game home skid and a five-game slide overall. Jack Johnson and rookie Alexander Wennberg had second-period goals for Columbus, which has dropped six of its last nine games. Curtis McElhinney gave up three goals on 31 shots. I thought we had some energy and some jump ... we gave ourselves an opportunity, McElhinney said. Bergenheim deflected in Dmitry Kulikovs wrister from the left point to break a 2-2 tie. The goal proved to be painful as Bergenheim was struck in the face by Johnsons stick. Lucky I got the puck first, then I took the stick on the mouth, Bergenheim said. The Panthers failed to score on the subsequent power play and then withstood a late charge from the Blue Jackets, who lost for the first time in the series since Nov. Darrell Green Jersey. 21, 2007. Cam Atkinson dished to Johnson, who fired a one-timer from the point past Luongos glove for the games first goal 68 seconds into the second period. Huberdeau tied it 1:41 later as he scored off his backhand from in front of the net, and the Panthers grabbed a 2-1 lead when Ekblad scored on a shot from the right point with 8:24 remaining. McElhinney made a right pad save to deny Brandon Pirri on a breakaway two minutes earlier. Columbus pulled even when Wennberg used a cross-checking motion to direct a floating puck into the net with 1:26 left. Game Notes Columbus forward Artem Anisimov returned to the lineup after missing 23 games with a torn triceps muscle ... Florida forward Shawn Thornton was back after a groin injury sidelined him for 20 games ... Blue Jackets rookie forward Josh Anderson picked up his first NHL point with the secondary assist on Wennbergs goal. Stitched Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic ' ' '