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The kids are alright.

Winnipeg picked up their 2nd win of the SHL season today, beating the defending Western Conference champion Calgary Dragons 3-2. The game was punctuated by a spirited team effort from the Jets through their third line (a source of weakness for the team last season) putting up a combined 6 points, and setting the stage for Lil Manius to continue his early season tear with a game-winner early in the 3rd period.

The game started with some heightened tension in the air. The team's previous outing had gone well; a 5-1 pummeling of the Minnesota Chiefs in their home opener. However, the game was marred by the Jets fans showing hostility to rookie Nick Brain in his home debut, booing him every time he touched the puck.

The tension between Nick and the Jets fanbase stemmed back to the moment he was drafted, as a contingent of Jets fans booed the pick and felt it was a giant reach due to his underwhelming rookie season for his junior team (the Colorado Raptors, where he got 7 goals and 6 assists). A few analysts and insiders disagreed, projecting Nick as a higher-end talent, and implying that the Jets would not have had a 2nd chance to snatch Brain in the draft if they waited, with rumoured interest from Calgary and Tampa Bay.

Brain impressed in a couple training camps with the Jets, but was returned to Colorado twice for extra seasoning (eventually being traded to Detroit in his 3rd year in the J). Speculation of a callup mounted after the trade to Detroit, with the Jets management looking to improve depth and go for a playoff push. With the abysmal performance of Nolan Snipez and Vladimir Vaskov seen as the key factors holding the team down, Winnipeg did indeed bring up their youth to form the new third line: Nick Brain, Commander Shepard, and Noah Gallagher. The Kids.

The Jets fandom was a little more willing to give Brain a chance in a depth role, rationalizing that Nick was improving (especially during his stint with Detroit), and that he couldn't be worse than last years nightmare depth. Brain even got a few cheers during a solid performance against Swiss side HC Davos in an exhibition match, scoring a hat trick in a 10-0 win. Brain made the preseason roster and didn't do terribly, getting 7 goals and 13 assists in 50 preseason games, and showing some grit with 5 fights and 62 hits. Brain also impressed with his work ethic, continuing a transition from a wild power forward to a more reliable and responsible two-way player via a strong training camp.

Unfortunately, the slowly mending relationship had a depth charge dropped into it the form of an article from ZMT Sports. ZMT Sports writer Rip Murdoch penned an article called "A Day in the Life of Nick Brain" claiming to follow the British rookie through a typical day's routine (this particular day being the match against HC Davos). Among many scandalous activities, the article documented unwarranted abuse toward Nick Brain's teammate, former Challenge Cup champion Andrew Hawkins, abuse toward the Winnipeg Arena valet, performing satanic rituals with teammate Ola Wagstrom, creating fake Twitter accounts to troll his critics, and most importantly of all, implying that cultural landmark video game Mass Effect: Andromeda was terrible, despite being critically acclaimed by journalists that are totally honest and are not being paid to say that. Nick in general was painted as a loud and brash frat boy type, with no shortage of arrogance and disrespect for authority.

The backlash from Jets fans over the article was immediate. Calls to Winnipeg GM Gary Grease for a Nick Brain trade amplified, which were flatly refused, with the Jets standing by their man and accusing ZMT Sports of fabrication. A day later sources close to Nick Brain's agent revealed that Nick was planning on suing ZMT for libel, and that ZMT was planning to capitulate and offer a settlement followed by a public apology. The news of the correction did not reach the fans though, who booed Nick Brain every time he touched the puck in the Jets home opener against the Minnesota Chiefs. Eventually the booing ceased as the Jets top line proceeded to steal the show, with Lil' Manius scoring a hat trick while Jason Visser added a pair in a 5-1 win.

Post-game Nick refused to speak to the press, while Gary Grease put the media on blast in a heated interview.

"Look, I'll admit that some aspects of the article were funny. Yeah, we probably should have a statue of Jason Visser to worship, yeah, Nick smacks us around in Street Fighter, and yeah, the Augment getting prank called is something he'd deserve, but so much of the article is just slander and lies. Nick's not the annoying frat boy douche ZMT says he is, he didn't do practically anything mentioned in the article, and he doesn't deserve to be booed off the ice by our own fans during his home ice debut. We'll be taking ZMT to court over this if Nick doesn't. They are a cancer on the world."

Gary Grease also firmly stated that Nick was not on the trade block at this current time, saying that he was seen as a future star and any offer to come get him would have to be "unrealistically lucrative"

News eventually did break out that Nick Brain's attorneys had formally sued ZMT Sports, and then shortly after word broke that ZMT was settling for an undisclosed sum of money (rumoured to be well into seven figures) and planned a public apology to Nick Brain at a later date. ZMT Sports writer Rip Murdoch was fired, with rumours abounding of him resurfacing for either Buzzfeed or the Huffington Post.

With all this in mind, the Jets took to the ice on Day 4 for a fierce rivalry battle with the Calgary Dragons, and despite all the tension in the air they got off to the perfect start. Nick Brain pounced on a bad pass from former junior teammate Chico Smeb, starting a 3-on-2 the other way with his linemates. Commander Shepard lost the handle on the puck, but Noah Gallagher picked it up and shot it. Kata Vilde saved, but the rebound was deposited past him by Brain and the Jets took a 1-0 lead within 90 seconds. Just like that, Nick Brain scored his first SHL goal, with the puck being saved by Dylan Karlsson and tossed towards the Jets equipment manager for later.

Chico Smeb made up for his turnover gaffe later in the 1st with a goal to tie it, but Commander Shepard put the Jets back in the lead, tipping in a shot from Brain on a criss-cross rush that gave Vilde no chance. Lil' Manius eventually scored the winner with a powerplay marker in the 3rd. Despite a Mike Izzy goal with 5 and a half minutes left, Calgary couldn't bring it to a tie and Winnipeg took home the 2 points.

Shepard and Brain were both named as part of the Three Stars, leading some Jets fans, in light of recent news and performances, to reconsider their stance on Nick Brain. The hashtag #TheKidsAreAlright was briefly trending on Twitter in reference to the Jets rookie 3rd line. Even Brain's long-time adversary Dan Curry gave Nick and his Jets linemates praise on "Curry's Corner", extending sympathy towards Nick for the ZMT incident and saying "the only thing wrong with Nick is the country he came from", before being given valium-laced Werther's originals and being put in cryogenic storage by Rogers TV personnel.

Regardless, even though its early days in the season and the flashes of brilliance may end up fleeting, the Jets fandom is certainly hoping the The Kids (Shepard, Gallagher, and Brain), will be alright. Depth was a big weakness for the Jets last year with Nolan Snpiez and Vladimir Vaskov turning in miserable years. With improved depth and some more time, this young core may re-create past glories for the first ever Challenge Cup champions......

The Jets next game will be on the road rematching Calgary, followed by a 4 game back-and-forth with a dangerous opponent in the Edmonton Blizzard.