Note:  We are at the conclusion of the first week of the Team Illegal Curve Beard growing competition as Ezra and Drew help support the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba in conjunction with the Festival du Voyageur in the 31st annual beard growing contest.  Every Friday we will be giving readers an update on the beard progress and here you go:

Note II: Don’t forget to tune into the Illegal Curve Hockey Show on TSN Radio 1290 from noon to 3 pm on Saturday. GuestsBobby Holik (former New Jersey Devil, currently Holik on Hockey), Corey Pronman (ESPN).

Jets & Affiliate news:

Winnipeg Free Press:  Lockout tough, but cold weather won’t chill this ScandinavianJokinen has been quiet on the lockout front but has diligently worked out at the IcePlex on a daily basis.

Winnipeg Free Press:  A star in the makingRedmond is having a break out season in the AHL as he is making a lot of the brass take notice of his play.

Winnipeg Free Press:  ProspectsA quick glance at how the Jet draft picks over the last two years are developing.

TSN: Mark Scheifele 1-on-1 (video). The Jets first pick in 2011 talks about playing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the chemistry they’re building.

Illegal Curve:  More Jets games cancelledIn case you missed the news, the NHL cancelled games through January 14th, which will impact 5 Jets home and 2 away gamesThis likely brings us to the final round of game cancellations as the drop dead date is believed to be the middle of January.

Global Winnipeg:  Jets merchandise a hot gift despite lockoutWhile you cannot expect sales to be of 2011 levels, it appears that Winnipeg’s appetite for all things Jets continues to be substantial.

CBA news:

CBC:  NHL’s next cancellation will be the seasonAs expected the final twist in this long winding road has occurred and it is either a cruise straight ahead to a deal or right off a cliff and a cancelled season.

USA Today:  Lockout has chilling effect on businessHere are the real people who are impacted as a result of this lockout.  How can they be ‘made whole’?

TSN:  Holidays won’t be an impediment to labour talksWhy should holidays be any different than any other day of the week when neither side is meeting?

Sportsnet:  Backlash over NHL’s latest cancellationTwitter was a flutter with the latest news of games being cancelled.

World Juniors:

National Post:  Canada taking nothing for grantedA loss, even if a tune-up game, will tend to do that.  If it doesn’t than your team has some significant problems.

Vancouver Sun:  Country-by-country look at the 2013 world junior hockey championshipIn case you’d like a quick refresher on the teams playing in the tournament.

CBC:  Discipline at forefront of Canada’s pre-world junior lossOn a positive note, the Jets Mark Scheielfe scored a goal in the loss.

TSN:  Seth Jones feels USA is team to beatYou like to see confidence in a young gun who is taking the leadership reins of this team.

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.