Note: The Jets have secured five of six points in the three games at the MTS Centre of the current four game home stand. The final home game comes on Wednesday against the suddenly red hot Senators.
Note II: In case you were thinking today would be a slow news day it will be anything but for Jets fans. The Jets hit the ice for practice around 11 am which means we will have player and coach audio on site after noon. As well it is the NHL Trade Deadline today at 2 pm cst. While the Jets likely made their final move acquiring forward Lee Stempniak from the Rangers late yesterday, there will be plenty of reaction, including an interview with Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, which I (@icdave) will cover from the MTS Centre. As always be sure to follow @illegalcurve for all the latest news.
Standings watch: Kings lost. Canucks won. The Jets remain in the first wild card spot three points up on Minnesota (2 games in hand) and six points up on Calgary/L.A. (2 games in hand). Winnipeg is also just three points back of Chicago for 3rd in the Central (Hawks have 1 game in hand).
Jets news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Is the Jets GM done? Gary, Ed and Tim will be covering all aspects of the trade deadline day for the Freep on this link. They start with five questions for Gary on the Jets GM.
Winnipeg Free Press: Stempniak adds depth, savvy. It was a move to add some depth to a team that is sorely lacking same. When you need to use a defenceman on the 4th line you don’t have depth at the forward position. Now the team adds a player with almost 700 NHL games under his belt.
Winnipeg Free Press: Captain is leading by darn fine example. The other day the captain said he wants to win now and he is certainly showing that he meant every word that he said to reporters. Another two goals last night as he helped lead his team to a critical two points.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets orchestrate win. Ed breaks down the Jets convincing win over L.A. including Wheeler’s joke about being replaced, Hutchinson being steady and home cooking.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets crown Kings. While it was a chippy affair for the first two periods, with a number of post-whistle scrums, the Jets really controlled the flow of the game.
Winnipeg Sun: Trade winds continue to swirl. While the Jets have added some nice complimentary pieces Ken writes about the one player fans would love to see sign on the dotted line and that is Michael Frolik.
Sportsnet: Scheifele takes exception to McNabb hit (video). I had to do a double take when I saw it was #55 throwing that thunderous open ice hit on the Kings Trevor Lewis. Following the game when speaking to the media he called it “the biggest hit of my entire life”.
Globe and Mail: Jets increase wild-card lead with win over Kings; acquire Stempniak from Rangers. The game had it all. A dominating performance by the home squad as well as a trade that caught everyone by surprise.
L.A. Times: Kings lose third consecutive game, 5-2 to Winnipeg. Coach Darryl Sutter and centre Jeff Carter didn’t hold back in their post-game comments about the loss being on their team. Carter added to the media following the game “we did not play near close to what we should be playing to even come close to getting two points. We need to get going. We are in a tight race and every game for us right now is a playoff game, and we need to get our level up.”
TSN: That’s Hockey 2 Nite (video). The Jets beat the Kings at their own game, using their big strong defence to hold the defending champions to just 20 shots.
CBC: Label or not, Hutchinson proven No. 1 netminder for Jets. While we won’t likely hear the Jets bench boss officially declare a number 1 goalie anytime soon, he is clearly looking like he will continue to ride the rookie Michael Hutchinson down the stretch. Yesterday was the fourth straight start for the goalie fans call Clutchinson and with days between starts being more spread out now it is affording coach Maurice the option to ride one goalie.
National Post: What Canadian NHL teams might do on deadline day. Michael Traikos writes about all seven Canadian teams but you can scroll to the bottom of the article to read about Winnipeg and what he thinks the Jets may do including possibly re-acquiring Olli Jokinen!
Jets 5 Kings 2:
Winnipeg Jets: Michael Hutchinson, Andrew Ladd, Mark Scheifele, Michael Frolik and Tyler Myers.
Los Angeles Kings: Coach Sutter and Jeff Carter.
Coach Maurice post-game presser: Coach Maurice met with the media following the game against St. Louis.
Pressbox Podcast: Host Drew Mindell and analyst Richard Pollock break down the Jets play against the Kings this afternoon.
Jets on a Deadline: Game recaps, post-game audio, video highlights and the NHL.com 3 Stars of the night.
