Jets bench boss Rick Bowness was likely breathing a sigh of relief today when he was able to have a full contingent of players on the ice for day 15 of training camp in Winnipeg. All the guys dealing with the illness that had passed through the room including Mark Scheifele, Morgan Barron, Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi were feeling better and on the ice this morning at hockey for all centre.
As well Nikolaj Ehlers, who has been dealing with neck spasms since the start of training camp, was skating with Cole Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter getting more reps together as those have been few and far between the last few weeks. He was a full participant today in practice taking part in power play as well.
Following skate Jets head coach Rick Bowness was asked if Ehlers would be a “game-time decision” for tomorrow’s final pre-season exhibition game against the Senators:
“In a perfect world yeah. But we’ll see what he feels like in the morning. If it’s not 100%, he’s going to have to make that call, not us. He knows what he feels, we don’t. He knows where he is. We don’t want a setback. But I would love for him to show up and say ‘Bones I want to play’. I would love to hear that.”
Asked if it’s a medical decision he advised:
“Again, it’s how he feels. He’s the only one who knows how he feels. And if he’s not 100% then he won’t play. But again he knows his body and he knows where the aches are and how he has to feel to play.”
So we shall have to wait and see what happens tomorrow at morning skate.
