Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

Following last night’s 4-2 loss to the Coyotes the Jets are back on the ice today as they get ready to conclude their season series against the New York Islanders.

Skate Notes:

As per Murat Ates of The Athletic Winnipeg veteran forward Bryan Little has shed the gold non-contact uniform for a regular one as he continues to make progress following a concussion he sustained in the final pre-season game.  Ken Wiebe also of The Athletic Winnipeg indicated that Anthony Bitetto (who didn’t return last night for the 3rd period) and Mark Letestu are both missing from today’s skate.  Ken also provides the line rushes and D pairs below.

Line Rushes& D pairs:

Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Roslovic
Perreault/Bourque-Gustafsson-Appleton

Morrissey-Poolman
Dahlstrom-Pionk
Heinola-Kulikov

Audio:

Kyle Connor

Jack Roslovic

Bryan Little

Coach Maurice:  Update on Bryan Little’s status?  On Little’s role if he plays.  What can he bring to the team?  Comparing Copp and Little.  How much of a factor is fear based for shot blocking?  Injury updates.  What did he know about Anthony Bitetto before the season and what has he learned about him?  What did he think of David Gustafsson’s NHL debut?  What has the coaching staff done to integrate Carl Dahlstrom?  What are some of the biggest (off ice) challenges for a player like Dahlstrom?  What makes Jack Roslovic a good fit with Lowry/Copp?  Is there one thing specific from the Islanders games that he wants to rectify this time around?  Is Ville Heinola back in?  Is his concern regarding shot blocking for 5 on 5 or PK?  What does the PK need to do better?

Audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Health News:

Coach Maurice confirmed that Bryan Little has been cleared but he wouldn’t confirm that he will play tomorrow.  Said he wants to see how Little comes in tomorrow.  Won’t confirm until they’ve had another conversation.

Anthony Bitetto is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.  If the Jets have to go to the farm two players who will not be available are Sami Niku and Logan Stanley (not that I would expect Stanley to be recalled at this point) as they are both dealing with injury.  But he said that Kevin Cheveldayoff will make that decision.

Forward Mark Letestu remains out.  They are waiting for tests to be done.

Nathan Beaulieu remains on track.  He was originally ruled out for a month back on October 1st after he sustained an upper-body injury in the final pre-season game against the Wild.

Lineup vs Islanders:

Rookie Ville Heinola will draw back in tomorrow night and David Gustafsson, after making his NHL debut on Tuesday, will play his second straight game.

Up Next:

The Jets will face the Islanders tomorrow night at Bell MTS Place. 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 10:30 AM.