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practice report

Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

After two days off the Jets are back on the ice in Winnipeg to get ready for the Sabres tomorrow night.

The Jets have been off since Saturday when they travelled home from BC and then took Sunday off following their back-to-back games out west. The biggest question mark surrounds the status of captain Blake Wheeler who was injured in the 3rd period of the game on Friday. Also a question is defenceman Neal Pionk who was in concussion protocol and hadn’t made the trip our west. And which player will likely be recalled from the Manitoba Moose (best guess: David Gustafsson).

Skate news:

As per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press ahead of skate formally getting underway Neal Pionk was skating in a regular jersey which would suggest he is done with concussion protocol.  According to Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet they’ve got defenceman Nathan Beaulieu wearing a blue jersey which indicates he’ll be used as a forward during practice. Mike provides the lines and D pairs below as well as the power-play units.

Lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Copp
Stastny-Dubois-Ehlers
Harkins-Lowry-Vesalainen
Beaulieu-Toninato-Svechnikov

Morrissey-Schmidt
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo

Special teams:

PP1(a): Scheifele, Connor, Dubois, Copp, Pionk

PP1(b): Ehlers, Stastny, Lowry, Morrissey, Schmidt

Health news:

Jets head coach Paul Maurice indicated that it will be weeks not days for captain Blake Wheeler during his media availability. He added that it will take 3-4 days for the swelling to come down and then they’ll have a better idea how long it is going to be.

Lineup configuration:

As a result of the Moose dealing with a positive covid test the Jets will run 11/7 tomorrow against Buffalo as per reports from the availability with the Jets bench boss.

Players media availability:

Coach media availability:

Topics:

1) Status of Blake Wheeler.
2) Reason for no recall from the Moose. (:24)
3) Reports on David Gustafsson (:46)
4) He would give them an additional PK option (:55)
5) Does which way they shoot factor into decision? (1:05)
6) Mentality of team after losing Wheeler (1:21)
7) Thoughts on putting Copp back to top line (2:03)
8) What does Copp bring to the line? (2:41)
9) Could they have a Moose callup tomorrow? (3:20)
10) Will it be 11/7 or will Beaulieu play as a forward? (3:45)
11) On opportunity for a player from the AHL to seize a spot (4:39)
12) Does he need to lean on his 4th line more? (5:00)
13) Does he have someone in mind to replace Wheeler on PK? (5:58)
14) How did he decide to put Scheifele on his strong side on PP (6:18)
15) Scheifele’s shot as a threat on the PP (7:04)
16) What are his thoughts about the Olympics and concerns over covid/returning (7:26)
17) More on his players going to the Olympics (8:42)
18) Grey Cup win by the Blue Bombers (9:36) & (9:55)

Up next:

The Jets will begin their three-game homestand against the Sabres tomorrow night. Start your Tuesday with the morning papers at 7 AM, stay with us throughout the day for the latest news and then join us on the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show following the final buzzer.