Note: The Jets are back in business today as they look sweep this two-game road trip to start the season with a game tonight in Dallas. The team practiced on Friday and will likely boast a similar lineup tonight although both Bryan Little and Patrik Laine didn’t skate yesterday (coach did seem to indicate they would likely be players tnt). We will have your projected Jets lines following the morning skate. Keep it locked to illegalcurve.com and on social media including Twitter| Facebook | Instagram for all the latest pre and post game news.
Note II: The Moose played their season opener last night in Iowa where they dropped the contest 4-1 to the Wild. Manitoba looked to me like a team that hadn’t played any pre-season games (they didn’t this year). Rookie C.J. Suess looked good at both ends of the ice scoring the lone goal for the Moose. They are back at it tomorrow afternoon in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at 3 pm.
Note III: Tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show at 10 am for a replay of NHL This Week Season Preview Show (originally aired on Wednesday) as the guys go division by division, team by team, discussing and previewing the NHL season.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Kyle Connor emerging as a top NHL star. (Paywall). If you watched him at Michigan it was clear that the Jets drafted well when they got him 17th overall back in 2015. A year with the Moose where he popped in 25 goals in 52 games saw his stock rise and this trajectory continues to rise high since his elevation to the NHL.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence
Winnipeg Free Press: Special teams a key factor. (Paywall). The focus is certainly going to be more on the penalty kill with some new faces on it.
Winnipeg Free Press: What’s Laine’s goal-scoring ceiling? Well, 70 isn’t out of the question. (Paywall). It doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.
Winnipeg Sun: Kyle Connor has turned the corner as the speedy winger has earned his spot on top unit. You could see it when he started last season with the Moose and then never looked back. The kid has speed and skill and had certainly earned his spot on the top line.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets plan to keep Connor Hellebuyck sharp and backup Brossoit will need to be patient. While the backup netminder might not get many games when there is decent spacing at the start of the season he will likely be well engaged when the grind of the year kicks in.
Winnipeg Sun: Five keys to Winnipeg Jets vs Dallas Stars. Ken previews tonight’s game.
CBC: Expectations sky high after the Jets flight to the West final last season. The Jets are a sexy pick these days although I suspect the players are tuning out this outside noise.
Jets audio:
TSN 1290 Winnipeg: The chances of the Jets going into a prolonged slump are slim. TSN’s Ray Ferraro joined Andrew Paterson and Rick Ralph on the Afternoon Ride. They discussed the heightened expectations surrounding the Winnipeg Jets heading into this season, the Jets roster depth, line chemistry, how opposing teams can match up with the Jets.
