Note: It may have been the final day of 2021 but it was a busy one for the Jets. Winnipeg reassigned 2020 1st rounder Cole Perfetti from the Moose to the taxi squad and we found out later that he would be celebrating his 20th bday by heading to Vegas with the big club. The team hit the ice for a busy practice. And they ended the year finding out their eighth game of the season would be postponed as the NHL announced the January 16th home game against the Oilers would need to be rescheduled. The team will practice today before jetting off to Nevada so check back for our Practice Report.
Note II: The Moose have another day of practice scheduled for today as they prepare for the first game of the new year tomorrow afternoon when they welcome division rival Iowa to town. They did get some good news as the Jets reassigned talented offensive forward Mikey Eyssimont to Manitoba following yesterday’s practice.
Note III: Be sure to join us on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show today at 9:00 am CT on our YouTube channel and social media platforms. Guest will be Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun
Jets news:
Winnipeg Sun: Perfetti handed early birthday gift with spot on Jets’ taxi squad. While he may be a year too young to be able to truly enjoy Vegas given the reality of life in the NHL right now it seems more likely that he will have to simply focus on the hockey side of things. And while it doesn’t sound like he will be playing (at least early in the road trip) it will be a good opportunity for him to continue his development.
Winnipeg Free Press: Cole Perfetti trades Team Canada colours for Jets jersey. (Paywall). One way to get over the disappointment is to get the call up to the big league, even if he’s on the taxi squad. Given he was practicing with the first power play unit on Friday that is an experience that can only help him develop.
CJOB: Recapping the 5 biggest Jets stories of 2021. Kenny looks back on the year that was and his five biggest stories were: 1) Blockbuster trade with Columbus. 2) Jets sweep Oilers. 3) Habs sweep Jets. 4) Jets acquire Schmidt and Dillon. 5) Paul Maurice resigns.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Jets video:
TSN: Jets’ Perfetti on World Juniors: ‘It’s tough to have an opportunity like that come to an end’. Cole Perfetti describes his whirlwind experience over the last week, where he went from wearing the Maple Leaf for Team Canada to back in Winnipeg with the Jets after the 2022 World Juniors was cancelled due to COVID-19. Perfetti adds that he hopes the tournament can be rescheduled so they can finish what they started.
Sportsnet: Jets’ Lowry seeing ‘maturity beyond his years’ in Cole Perfetti. Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry says Cole Perfetti is extremely mature beyond his years, and says he’s a player that might actually have benefited from the COVID-19 situation.
Sportsnet: Brenden Dillon not ready to give Perfetti World Juniors scoring title after only 2 games. Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon discusses how unfortunate it is that the World Juniors tournament was cancelled, as all eyes were on it and teammate Cole Perfetti, and jokes that they weren’t ready to hand him the scoring title after only two games.
Jets audio:
JetsTV: Ground Control Podcast. Nate Schmidt joins Ground Control for the final episode of 2021! The defenceman touches on an array of topics including his love of dips – healthy & unhealthy, going up against his former team in Vegas for the first time since being traded, playing alongside Josh Morrissey. Plus, Nate talks about how his charismatic personality came to be. Tyler Esquivel is joined by Mitchell Clinton and Jamie Thomas to chat about Paul Maurice stepping down as head coach, the week of practice Dave Lowry has since taking over as interim head coach, the games ahead and much more!
