Jets news:
TSN: Jets continue preparation for opening round of draft. Lots of work going on at the draft for Chevy and company.
On the Forecheck: How far does your team have to travel? Dirk Hoag puts in some leg work to break down how far each team must travel this season. Not surprisingly the Jets are 2nd on the list, just behind the Dallas Stars. The good news, is the Jets only have 11 back to backs instead of the 14 they had last season.
CBC: Jets open NHL season at home against Hurricanes. Fans are praying for labour peace as the Jets play a glut of good games to open the season. Both the Hawks and Wings visit the Peg in the month of October so you wouldn’t want to miss those games against hometown favourites Jonathan Toews and Darren Helm. Host of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 Drew Mindell gave his own breakdown of the upcoming 2012-13 season.
Winnipeg Free Press: Twists, turns may benefit Winnipeg. It would appear, based on our IC poll, that the majority of readers believe the best bet is to select for best player available when it comes time for the Jets to make their selection 9th overall.
Winnipeg Free Press: Frazzled no more, Noel ready to roll. The Jets bench boss has a pretty good handle on his team. He might have been relatively inexperienced when it came to NHL head coaching at the start of last season, but he is a knowledgeable hockey guy who will use his first full season to move himself and this team forward next season.
Winnipeg Sun: First draft pick difficult to project. Good list of potential picks by Ken. We will have our own list later today as assessed by our prospects expert, Kyle Kosior. Kyle is down in Pittsburgh and will be tweeting from the @illegalcurve twitter account all weekend long.
Winnipeg Sun: Coach Noel hopes this is a draft to remember. Will be nice to see the Jets #1 pick put on an actual Jets jersey instead of the generic NHL one. Will you be watching the first round?
Winnipeg Sun: Byfuglien all in for Jets. Best for the Jets to have Big Buff on board. Also good to know that he and coach Noel are on the same page.
TSN: Jets arrive in Pittsburgh to prepare for NHL draft. If you’re wondering what the Jets day looks like today, here you go.
Note: Last night at the NHL Awards Kevin Smith gave props to Jets fans for their passion.
NHL entry Draft:
National Post: Seven questions ahead of the NHL draft. Lots of questions that will have been answered by Saturday morning. Stay tuned.
Edmonton Journal: Draft day a different experience the year after for No. 1 picks. Always nice for the players once they’ve had to experience the nervousness of waiting to have their name called. Luckily for Hall and RNH, they didn’t have to wait long.
Pittsburgh Business Times: Draft weekend to be profitable in Pittsburgh. The city of Winnipeg has never held an (NHL) All-Star game or draft (although they were slated to back in the 90’s but the move to Phoenix cut those plans short). Hopefully the city can showcase a Heritage Classic in addition to a draft in the near future.
General NHL news:
Globe and Mail: Arena lease injunction the latest obstacle in Coyotes sale. I cannot believe that this is still ongoing. When will the Court battles ever end? While the COG and the potential owners aren’t making money on the Coyotes, at least the lawyers for both sides are able to bill.
NHL.com: Award Winners last night. Lots of hardware handed out last night. Anyone not win that you thought might? Do you care? Did you watch them at all?
Special Edition of the Illegal Curve Hockey Replay:
The guys filled in for Hustler & Lawless yesterday.
Part 1: Intro, Interview with Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada. Interview with Darren Dreger of TSN. Ondrej Pavelec discussion. Evander Kane discussion, NHL Draft discussion.
Part 2: Interview with Tom Lynn former Assistant GM of the Minnesota Wild and currently of Veritas Hockey. Interview with Brian Munz play-by-play voice of the Winnipeg Jets for TSN Radio 1290. Goldeyes, Blue Jays and MLB discussion. Interview with Darrin Bauming, Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat writer. Winnipeg Blue Bombers discussion.
The Illegal Curve Hockey Show regularly airs Saturdays on TSN Radio 1290 from 12pm-3pm.
