Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers

Jets news:

CBC:  Friedman’s 30 Thoughts.  Thoughts 26 & 27 are Jets related.  Discussing last week’s fan-gate with Coach Noel and how agents might deal with the issue.  Who would have thought a simple meal at Stella’s would result in all of this?

Jets official site:  Renaissance Man.  He appeals to fans both on and off the ice which is probably the reason why he leads all Jets UFAs (in our IC poll) in terms of whom the Jets most need to re-sign.   Jim Slater has been easy to deal with for the media, has developed ties in the community, is the Jets nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and of course puts the S in the fan favourite GST line.

Winnipeg Sun:  Five things the Jets need to improve.  There are a number of areas in which the Jets need to improve next season.  Which of the five listed in the article is the most critical, and of the five listed, which is the most easily solved?

Barrie Examiner:  Colts eliminated in overtime.  It looked like the Colts were done after they gave up a late 3rd period goal to the 67’s.  But Jets #1 draft pick in the 2011 Entry Draft Mark Scheifele tied the game with 8.7 seconds to go in the final frame to send the game to OT.  Unfortunately the Colts, who were missing a number of their star players, including Ivan Telegin who left in the 1st period, just ran out of gas and the 67’s took it in OT to win Game 7.

Waterloo Record:  Randell scores four as Rangers sink Whalers in Game 7.  While it was a bad night for some Jets prospects, Cody Sol and his Kitchener Rangers will move on to play the London Knights in the OHL Conference finals after defeating Plymouth 6-3.  The 6′ 4″ Sol (seen here dwarfing IceCaps forward Carl Klingberg at Jets rookie camp) brings some nice size to a blueline.

Winnipeg Free Press:  Jets fans are loud.  If you have been fortunate enough to be inside the MTS Centre for a Jets game this season, this news should come as little surprise.

Affiliate news – St. John’s IceCaps:

The Telegram:  Proven puckstopper.  Caps coach Keith McCambridge has had a revolving door of goalies all season between former Stanley Cup winner David Aebischer, Peter Mannino and Eddie Pasquale.  Mannino was assigned to the ECHL in January and acquired via loan by the Portland Pirates in March.  This left the veteran Aebischer and rookie Pasquale to seize the mantel of starter.  Pasquale played 27 of 39 IceCaps games down the stretch and was named as the playoff Game 1 starter by coach McCambridge.

Syracuse.com:  Crunch have to turn off St. John’s power in playoff series.  The Crunch have been pretty woeful when it comes to the penalty kill (dead last in AHL), although they have started taking fewer penalties.  Conversely, the IceCaps are 3rd in the AHL in power play percentage (20.6%) and have been quite deadly against Syracuse (9 for 20).

Stanley Cup Playoff news:

Miami Herald:  Power play gives Panthers momentum.  These are not the Devils of the 90’s.  Those Devils knew how to hold a lead.  This game (for the 3rd time in 3 games) saw a team build a 3-0 lead, only to have the team with a goose egg come charging back.  In last night’s case, the Panthers used their power play to storm back and chase Martin Brodeur from the game.  This was after the Devils quick start saw Jose Theodore pulled from the Panthers net.

The Tennessean:  Predators on brink of ousting Red Wings.  The difference in this series has been the play of Pekka Rinne, who last night faced 40 Wings shots and managed to stop all but 1.  Wonder if the Preds motivation last night was Todd Bertuzzi not letting them use the Wings ping pong table?

Arizona Republic:  Boedker’s goal puts Coyotes back in charge.  The Coyotes and Hawks played a pretty even game last night, despite the horrendous hit by Torres on Hossa and no amount of whitewashing will diminish the hit.  The animosity spilled over in the 3rd period, leading to 4 on 4 play which saw 3 goals (2 by Phx, 1 by Chi) scored in just over a minute.

NBC Sports:  Hossa leaves hospital, doesn’t comment.  A brutal hit that went unpenalized (at least during the game) by repeat offender Raffi Torres (ironically a year to the day that he knocked out the Hawks Seabrook).  Good news for Hawks fans is that Hossa left the hospital although the severity of his injury remains unknown.

Chicago Tribune:  Blackhawks livid with officials after game.  You have to wonder how 4 guys on the ice who are paid to watch the game, missed a play that happened 3-5 seconds after the puck left the players in question.

Globe and Mail:  The bad headaches are gone says Daniel Sedin.  I have a sneaking suspicion the headaches are about to get pretty bad for the Canucks if they don’t manage to salvage their season with a win tonight in L.A.  Good news for Vancouver fans if Sedin is truly ready to play.

Montreal Gazette:  Emphasis used to be on skill, not fighting.  We have seen more suspensions in the first round of 2012 then we saw in all of the 2011 playoffs.  That is quite significant.  Has the fighting, increased or decreased or not impacted your enjoyment of the post season?

Suspension news:

NHL.com:  Capitals Backstrom suspended for one game.

NHL.com:  Penguins’ Neal suspended for one game.

NHL.com:  Penguins’ Asham suspended for four games.