Note: On Tuesday the Jets indicated that captain Blake Wheeler was “symptomatic positive” for COVID and on Wednesday afternoon hockey insider Frank Seravalli indicated that the team was bracing for more positive COVID-19 tests although he updated that with a tweet around 7 pm indicating there may be some good news in that some of the positive tests have since been confirmed negative. Update: Some bad news for the team this morning via JetsPR as Mark Scheifele has now entered NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.
Note II: Of course with the above news in mind today is supposed to be a Winnipeg Jets game day with the local NHL club hosting the Anaheim Ducks for their home opener. Presuming all is well morning skate is scheduled to get underway at 10:30 AM so stay tuned for the pre-game report. Puck drop is at 7 PM and following the final buzzer we want you to join us on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show.
Note III: The AHL club got a big boost when the NHL club announced they had assigned 2020 1st rounder Cole Perfetti to Manitoba although he wasn’t available for last night’s contest. It was the Moose final game of the road trip in Laval which they lost by a final score of 5-4. The positive was that in the last few moments of the game when the team was pressing head coach Mark Morrison had Jets prospects (Gustafsson, Heinola, Chisholm, Gawanke and Kovacevic) on the ice which would provide a goal and ultimately fall short but was also a tremendous learning experience. 2018 2nd rounder David Gustafosson in particular had a strong game with 1G 3A (see his goal here) and 2019 1st rounder Ville Heinola had a beauty blast on the PP as well as an assist in the loss.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Home cooking what Jets need. (Paywall). The Jets haven’t played a regular season game in front of a full crowd in a long, long time. Should provide for an excellent atmosphere and a necessary boost.
Photo Credit: Alexander James (Illegal Curve)
The Hockey News | SI: Which NHL teams should be desperately worried about their poor starts? Steve has the Jets in the definite rebound category.
Jets video:
Global News: John Shannon on the Winnipeg Jets start to the season. John Shannon breaks down what’s gone wrong during the first three games as the team is still looking for their first win.
TSN: Report: Jets are bracing for potential of more positive COVID-19 tests within team. With captain Blake Wheeler already out after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Jets may have some more COVID conerns on their hands. Sara Orlesky has the latest on the situation in Winnipeg ahead of the team’s home opener against the Ducks on Thursday.
Jets audio:
JetsTV: Ground Control Podcast. Cole Perfetti joins the latest episode of Ground Control to talk about his NHL debut in California, his parent’s wild story of how they made it to Anaheim to see him play, life as an NHL’er and what it’s like to room with teammate, Kristian Vesalainen. Plus, Tyler, Mitchell and Jamie chat about the first week of the season, how the team might be able to get things going on the power play, Pierre-Luc Dubois’ play so far and they preview the upcoming games this week.
