Errant tractor causes Jets’ power outage

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This article was published 24/09/2016 (3280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets experienced some early season power-play problems on Day 2 of training camp.

An overnight hydro outage at MTS Iceplex caused a three-hour delay to the start of Saturday’s on-ice sessions. Officials at MTS Iceplex discovered the power failure around 5:30 a.m. They immediately contacted Manitoba Hydro, who traced the issued to a farmer hitting a pole while doing some overnight plowing.

Power was restored to the building around 9:30 a.m.

“I’ve got a lot of people looking into it. The early reports, the early rumour is that he’s either a Flames or an Oilers fan that’s trying to sabotage our training camp,” general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff joked while speaking at the Jets’ Fan Fest event.

Cheveldayoff added he’s driven plenty of tractors while growing up in rural Saskatchewan but “I never hit any poles.”

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The newest addition to Paul Maurice’s coaching staff has had to jump in with both feet. Jamie Kompon joined the Jets this past summer following two seasons as coach and general manager of the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

With Maurice still tied up at the World Cup of Hockey with Team Europe, Kompon is running the show.

“It was good to get on the ice. I think there was a lot of anxiety just to get out on the ice, a lot of nerves. It was a good day of practice, everyone worked hard. It’s good for me, personally, to see the players in a different light now, I get to see them on the ice, I get to see them up close and personal. I get to see some of their habits and start to build a relationship,” Kompon said Saturday afternoon.

So is Maurice burning up his phone with frequent texts for updates?

“No, he’s got his hands full with what he’s doing. We give him updates, he gives us updates. We’re in regular communication. It’s all good,” he said.

Kompon, who has spent eight seasons as an NHL assistant with Los Angeles and Chicago, said he was impressed by the fitness training results of many young prospects.

“They recognize there’s opportunity. That’s the biggest thing, that’s the message. There’s opportunity here. These kids, they don’t want to get out of shape. They want to make sure they’re putting their best foot forward. Those are things they can control. You come into camp in the best shape possible, you give yourself the opportunity, you give yourself that chance,” he said.

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Jets prospect Brendan Lemieux suffered an injury in the Young Stars tournament last week in B.C. and remains sidelined. Kompon said the team is treating it as a “week to week” situation and “seeing how he progresses.” It’s a tough break for a player expected to compete for one of the bottom six forward spots.

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The Jets used the following forward line combinations in their three groupings Saturday:

GROUP 1

Little-Stafford-Spacek

Perreault-Connor-Burmistrov

Matthias-Armia-Petan-Stallard

* — missing: Laine (World Cup)

GROUP 2

Lowry-Tanev-Lipon

Copp-Thorburn-Howden-Olsen

Cormier-Lodge-Blomqvist-Denham

GROUP 3:

Roslovic-Ehlers-Kosmachuk

De Leo-Dano-Peluso

Harkins-Gennaro-Fronk

* — missing: Wheeler, Scheifele (World Cup), Lemieux (injured)

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Kompon said fans shouldn’t read too much into these early combinations.

“We’re still missing some players, so let’s not get too excited. I know it’s exciting, but let’s not get too excited,” he said. “There’s some veteran leadership and there’s some young players who are vying for opportunities on each team. We put them with some veteran guys to settle them down a little bit and have the veterans show the way.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca