Winnipeg Jets Practice Report

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.