Note:  The Jets face the Kings tonight at Bell MTS Place as they begin the home portion of the 2018-19 schedule with a 10:30 AM morning skate and a 7 PM puck drop.  Ahead of the skate check out yesterday’s Jets Practice Report which will bring you up to speed including lines and audio.  Keep it locked to illegalcurve.com and on social media including TwitterFacebook | Instagram for all the latest pre and post game news.

Note II:  The Moose are back on the ice today after taking a day off on Monday.  The team will have a few intense days of practice as they try to kick things off on the right skate when the Senators come to town for a pair of games including the home opener on Friday.

Jets news:

The Athletic Winnipeg: On what makes Mark Scheifele such a special passer and why the Jets need him to keep it up. (Paywall).  Murat spoke to the Jets top centre about how he thinks/sees the game.

Sportsnet: Jets poised for big season in 8th year back in WinnipegExternal expectation has finally settled on Winnipeg as folks from across the NHL spectrum pick this Jets squad to do big things this season. 

Winnipeg Sun: Jets Snapshots. Ted covers 1) Little has fond memories of playing with Kovalchuk. 2) Ehlers doesn’t mind being the man on the move as Maurice quickly shakes up lines. 3) Penalty kill and early concern.

Winnipeg Sun: Jets Gameday. Includes: 1) Stay disciplined. 2) Shut down the shooters. 3) Feed off the fans. 4) Best players be the best. 5) Beat the backup. And Ted’s big matchup is Lowry vs Kopitar.

Winnipeg Free Press: Vesalainen calls NHL debut ‘a dream come true’. (Paywall).  The good news for the young rookie is with the focus on players like Laine, Scheifele, Wheeler, etc etc he can focus on learning the fundamentals without having to deal with unreasonable expectations.

Winnipeg Free Press: Hellebuyck back where he left off. (Paywall).  The Jets could go along way if they minimized the amount of rubber their tender is facing.  

Times Columnist: Little, Connor try to rein in expectations ahead of home opener. Unfortunately for the Jets the enthusiasm train has already left the gate and there is no putting it back now.

Illegal Curve:  Which Ilya Kovalchuk franchise records might be broken? I took a look at which Thrashers/Jets 2.0 records Ilya Kovalchuk still possess and which current player on the Jets is most likely to set a new record.

Jets video:

TSN: Jets don’t want team discipline to become ongoing storyline. It’s only been two games, but the Winnipeg Jets want to make sure that team discipline does not become an ongoing storyline for the club like it has in previous seasons. Sara Orlesky has more.

TSN: Jets try to rein in expectations ahead of home opener vs. Kings. The Jets may have given their fans a bit of a reality check to start the season. Expectations are sky high after the team made franchise history by reaching the NHL Western Conference final last season.

David Minuk

Working hard on a daily basis to provide the latest Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose news for our readers and listeners. I also appear on the Illegal Curve Hockey Show every Saturday on our YouTube channel as well as the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show after every single Jets game. And I occasionally jump in the play-by-play booth at Canada Life to provide colour analysis during Manitoba Moose games.

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