Note: The Jets held their first playoff practice on Friday where we heard from captain Adam Lowry (watch here) and head coach Rick Bowness (watch here). The bench boss of Winnipeg confirmed that Morgan Barron would not be available for the first game against Colorado on Sunday but he would not confirm who comes into the lineup to replace him on the 4th line. The Jets are scheduled to practice at 11 AM CDT so stay tuned for the next Playoff Practice Report.
Note II: The Moose were in Texas (where they’ll be for around a week) to finish off the regular season with a game last night and then another tonight. Things were looking good for the home team as the Stars built up a 2-0 lead but then the Moose scored eight, yes eight, straight goals (five straight of which came on the power play) to roll to an 8-3 win. Plenty happened in the game including a five point game from Ville Heinola (1G 4A) and first pro goal and first pro assist for 2023 1st rounder Colby Barlow. The re-match which concludes the regular season for these two teams is at 7 PM CDT.
Note III: Be sure to join us this morning for the Illegal Curve Hockey Show for two hours of Jets talk starting at 9 AM. We will be joined by Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun and Craig Button of TSN.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Sun: Jets’ jam about to be tested. Interesting insight from Jets rugged Dman Brenden Dillon about how this Jets club fits together.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Winnipeg Sun: How the Jets and Avalanche compare at each position. If you want a look at how things are lining up then give this a read.
Winnipeg Sun: Jets looking to lean on strengths to weather Avalanche. Suspect there will be many prognosticators who make big mistakes when it comes to this series which looks pretty, pretty, pretty even (except in net).
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets, Avs hunker down for what could be epic first-round series. (Paywall). This should be an absolutely fantastic series that makes it six or seven games. Mike and Ken break it down in this column.
Winnipeg Free Press: Black ink and Whiteouts. (Paywall). Some dollars and cents insight from Kelly and Ken who collaborated on this piece about the franchise bottom line and the impact of the playoffs.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets’ official photographer captures the passion from the best seat in the house. (Paywall). He’s usually behind the camera so the only pictures you see with him are of Jets and Moose players with his name given credit underneath them. Jon is an absolute pro, a fantastic photographer and an even better person. Nice to see some recognition for the man behind the photos.
The Athletic: Stanley Cup tiers: Anonymous GM, executives and scout rate every playoff team. (Paywall). Not a ton of respect for the Jets even as a Tier 2 team in this article, which is probably suitable given the underdog mentality many love to embrace.
Global News: Excitement builds as Winnipeg prepares for the playoffs. Ironically the city got a dusting of snow to make the whitout a real thing on Friday to kick off playoff mania here in the ‘Peg. But warmer temps are on the way which should make for some fun street parties.
Jets video:
CBC: Streaking Winnipeg Jets feeling good about themselves entering playoff series with Colorado. Sean Reynolds of Sportsnet dropped by to share some of his thoughts ahead of the round 1 series.
TSN: Jets hope to continue recent success against Avalanche. The Jets had their way with the Avalanche this season, beating them in all three meetings quite convincingly. However, counting out the Avs and Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon would be a foolish mistake. Can Winnipeg translate regular season success against Colorado into the playoffs?
TSN: Jets have evolved from a team that relied too much on Hellebuyck. Making life easier on Connor Hellebuyck was one of the Jets’ priorities this season and that came to fruition on a couple of fronts. John Lu explains which new tendencies have become part of Winnipeg’s identity as they evolve beyond a team that relied too much on their world class goaltender.
Sportsnet: Jets’ Bowness on first-round playoff intensity: ‘It’s war’. Jets head coach Rick Bowness talks about the upcoming series against the Colorado Avalanche, saying during the first round, passion and intensity is up which can, at times, lead to penalties and undisciplined play.
