Note: Reminder that today’s Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN 1290 Winnipeg goes from 10 am until noon. The show is dedicated to fantasy hockey & preparing you for your upcoming hockey pool. Guests: Justin Goldman (The Goalie Guild), Stephen Laidlaw (Dobber Hockey) and Pete Jensen (NHL.com Fantasy).
Note II: Today is Day 2 of the on ice portion of Jets training camp. The first session (Team Blue) starts at 9 am at the IcePlex and is open to the public. Team White hits the ice at noon. For a look at who makes up Team White and Team Blue and the rest of the times at the IcePlex click here.
Note III: Remember that Jets Fan Fest which goes from 9 am until 2 pm today at the IcePlex and is open and free to the public.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets starting season with fresh slate, says Ladd. There is something in what the captain is suggesting. In fact as our IC poll indicates there seems to be a confidence that some fans have in this team to gel together and make a run for the post-season.
Winnipeg Free Press: Save percentage 1.000. The Jets netminder is hitting the refresh button and is saying all the right things to start the season. Of course we’ve been down this road before and it will be his play on the ice, not his words to media, that will get the Jets goalie judged in this city.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets left-winger happy in the here and now. Personally I really hope we don’t hear one more person ask him “are you happy in Winnipeg” again. It’s gotten painful at this point that he is continually asked the same question over and over and over again.
Winnipeg Free Press: Love potion No. 9. Gary offers up a mea culpa on Kane. As I said above let’s really hope the only Kane talk this season is based on his on-ice play.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets training camp kicks off. Fans got a chance to watch the drills and their favourite players working hard to impress coach Maurice and the rest of the coaching staff.
Winnipeg Sun: Kane thinks he can score 50. The Jets and their fans will be happy to see him play a full season and get his goal total above the 30 goal mark once again (he previously achieved this in 74 games with the Jets during the inaugural season back in 2011-12).
Winnipeg Sun: Mathieu Perreault brings whole different dynamic to Jets third-line centre position. Consistent depth down the middle is something the Jets have been lacking and Perreault brings a level of experience and speed that can only help this team.
Winnipeg Sun: 1st day of training camp ‘one of the hardest skates I’ve had’ says Perreault. Coach Maurice wasn’t kidding when he said players were gonna know from Day 1 that he meant business.
Winnipeg Sun: Perreault gets Selanne’s frustration. It is a shame since the Ducks are visiting twice in a week and I’m sure Jets fans wouldn’t have been upset to get a double dose of Selanne.
Winnipeg Sun: Wheeler gets lettered. He becomes the second Minnesotan to add the ‘A’ to his jersey as he joins Mark Stuart as alternate captain.
CBC: Jets seek big things from Perreault. He may not be the biggest, but the gritty forward will be heavily relied upon in a number of different situations.
Sportsnet: Pavelec says he won’t dwell in the past. Based on what is written about the Jets goalie on a fairly regular basis on the interest it is probably best that he avoids any reading online reading.
NHL.com: Jets hope better conditioning leads to playoff push. In this article Patrick discusses the idea of conditioning and then breaks down the forwards, defence and goalies.
NHL.com: Better pace, fast start key for Winnipeg’s success. It seems to be a proven fact that the teams that earn a lot of points in October and November are the ones that continue playing once the regular season concludes so a fast start will be just what the doctor ordered for this squad in an extremely difficult Central division.
NHL.com: Wheeler focused on playing beyond 82 games. The new ‘A’ is looking to play more than just another regular season for this team and for the Jets to have a hope at the playoffs he is going to have to improve on last season’s impressive performance.
Day 1 of Training Camp audio:
Team White: Nikolaj Ehlers, Matthew Pereault, Andrew Ladd and Josh Morrissey
Team Blue: Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane.
Coach Maurice: Reflections on Day 1 of camp.
