Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

Following a tough loss to the Ducks on Tuesday by a final score of 7-4 the Jets took the day off yesterday before they returned to the ice today in San Jose. The biggest question today ahead of skate is the status of Patrik Laine who was listed as day-to-day by his coach on Tuesday.

Pre-Skate news:

Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is in northern California with his team and he addressed a couple of matters in advance of today’s practice.  He was asked about the Dustin Byfuglien situation and he also advised that the team was assigning Ville Heinola to the Moose of the AHL.

Skate news:

Patrik Laine is skating in a regular uniform and Nathan Beaulieu has shed the non-contact jersey according to Ken Wiebe of The Athletic Winnipeg.  As per Mitchell Clinton of Jets TV the following are the line rushes and D pairs (Lowry filling in for Little who left the ice early).

According to Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press forward Patrik Laine left practice early.

D Pairs:

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

Morrissey-Poolman
Kulikov-Pionk
Dahlstrom-Sbisa
Beaulieu-Bitetto

Audio:

Nathan Beaulieu

Coach Maurice:  Status of Patrik Laine?  Status of Bryan Little?  Progress of Nathan Beaulieu?  What did Ville Heinola show him during his time with the Jets?  With Lowry suspended/Laine & Little banged up is this stretch proving to be a challenge?  Is he looking at bringing up players from the Moose?  Would he go 11/7.  Play of Nikolaj Ehlers.  Zone entry element that Ehlers brings to the power play.  Shifting the other parts of the power play.  Any concern with concussion for Little?  What would he like to see different from Kyle Connor?  Goalie plan.  Does he need to have a chat with Poolman after last game?  Any comment on the Byfuglien situation.  What catches his focus regarding the Sharks?

All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Health News:

Coach Maurice has indicated that Patrik Laine won’t be a player tomorrow against the Sharks, while Bryan Little couldn’t get loose so his status for the game is in question and Mark Letestu has been shut down for six months as he deals with a heart issue.  Nathan Beaulieu is getting close.

Starter vs Sharks:

Coach Maurice confirms that Connor Hellebuyck will start against San Jose.

Up Next:

The Jets will continue their practice of going without morning skates as they don’t have anything on the schedule for tomorrow.  Puck drop is at 9:30 pm CDT on Friday although you can expect some audio ahead of the game.  Be sure to keep it locked to illegalcurve.com for the AM Papers which go live at 7 AM.