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Categories: practice reportWinnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

Photo Credit: Colby Spence

Following the Jets 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in their home opener last night the team will practice in “balmy” Winnipeg today and then depart for Chicago where they will play one game. The two games vs Central Division opponents are their only two in the first 17 games of the season.

Practice Update:

Bryan Little is in a gold non-contact uniform according to Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun so it would appear my theory that this was why Sami Niku was sent down (because Little was ready to come off IR) was incorrect. I still think it is better for Niku’s development to play big minutes with the Moose rather than sitting in the press box. Mitchell Clinton of Jets TV has the lines which you can see below.

Lines & D Pairs:

Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Copp-Ehlers
Bourque-Lowry-Letestu
Perreault-Roslovic-Appleton

Audio:

Mason Appleton

Kyle Connor

Coach Maurice scrum topics: On reassigning Sami Niku to the Moose. Happy with what he is getting from his defence corps? Has he seen anything different in Connor Hellebuyck? Any update/deadline on Dustin Byfuglien? Where are the issues on defence happening? Issue on the breakouts. Difference in Central Division games vs East. Chicago being slightly different. Does he like what he is seeing offensively from the other lines? On Mark Scheifele winning battles. On guys “becoming like Blake” (Wheeler). On whether Mark Scheifele is underappreciated.

All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Dustin Byfuglien news:

No news is the name of the game regarding Dustin Byfuglien as Jets bench boss Paul Maurice indicated that any news will come from Kevin Cheveldayoff. “I’m just dealing with the guys in the room. We don’t have a daily conversation or a weekly conversation. He’ll come in and tell me. I’ve got nothing for you on that front.”

Up Next:

The Jets will head to Chicago for a single road game before they return home for six straight here in Winnipeg. Be sure to keep it locked to illegalcurve.com for the AM Papers which go live at 7 AM followed by our pre-game report at 9:30 AM.

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.