Perreault orders quiet Finns to get noisy

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This article was published 07/10/2016 (3263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mathieu Perreault, a grizzled veteran of 28, has some advice for 18-year-old rookie Patrik Laine.

“I try to tell him to talk on the ice because he’s a little bit shy right now, so he’s not talking too much,” said Perreault, who skated on a line with the uber-talented left-winger and another Finn, right-winger Joel Armia, during Friday’s Winnipeg Jets practice at the MTS Iceplex.

“Sometimes if he’s behind me and wide open, there’s a chance I don’t see him. I told him to let me know when you’re open so I can give you the puck and it makes things so much easier. Same with Joel, he’s not a very vocal guy. I try to tell these guys to talk on the ice.”

Helping young players adjust to the grind of the NHL is something Perreault takes seriously. Even though Laine and Armia are unlikely to be his permanent linemates, Perreault is always looking to develop chemistry. And, chances are, they’ll play together again sometime after toight’s final pre-season game in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild.

“We’re just working on the combination right now,” said Perreault. “A little bit like last night (in a 5-2 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton). We’re trying to figure out what (Laine is) all about. He’s a bit of a shooter, so I’ve been trying to give him the puck. But we’ll see more when we play games. Today, in practice, he looked pretty good and with Joel, as well.”

The versatile Perreault has played all over the lineup since signing with the team as a free agent in 2014, but he seems to relish a more long-term assignment at centre. Feeding Laine the puck in scoring situations would be a dream job.

“A guy like that, obviously I’m gonna try to give him the puck,” said Perreault. “I understand he’s a shooter, he’s got a great shot… I’ve always had a pass-first mentality and it’s not really gonna change, especially with a guy like that. I’m definitely going to be looking for him.”

The Jets, who are 4-2-0 in pre-season action, enter today’s final dress rehearsal with 32 players on the roster. Three — forwards Brendan Lemieux, Drew Stafford and Shawn Matthias — are injured and do not immediately factor into a pending roster cutdown to 23. Tonight’s lineup should be fairly close to what the Jets open the regular season with Thursday night against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.

“Reasonably close on three of them,” said head coach Paul Maurice of his projected forward lines. “But don’t read too much into that this is the final (roster). There’s some nicks and bruises. There are guys, for me, that have made the team that aren’t going to be in the lineup tomorrow. There’s some guys that need to have big games to stay in the opening-night roster.”

Perreault, Bryan Little and Mark Scheifele are expected to play and that is an important change for the Jets. But pre-season is always a time for experimentation.

“It’ll be the first time all three centres are in the rotation,” said Maurice. “So that changes everything about who players are playing against and who they’re playing with. It’s actually not about that. I wanted to see Bryan Little play with both of the newer left-wingers that were at training camp. Had we had one more game, you’d see (Scheifele) play with (Kyle) Connor or Patrik (Laine).”

Everyone on today’s lineup sheet should get plenty of playing time.

“You’ll run the bench with a little more of a mindset of matchups, but you’re still running your whole bench,” he said. “I’m not gonna run it like an NHL game where you tighten down a bit early. Just want to give everyone maximum amount of time to get comfortable with the people they’re with.”

Style points

Maurice was asked about the perception his club’s identity has shifted from the physical, power-oriented squad that qualified for the playoffs two seasons ago to the speedier outfit fans are currently watching.

“You change the style fairly easily because it’s totally predicated on the people that you have,” he said. “But the identity of the team doesn’t have to completely shift. The perception of the team from the outside, yeah, we won’t be as physical. Nik Ehlers isn’t going to run people and that’s fine — he’s going to do other things… there’s always an element of excitement in our games, in a good way. I think that’s going to be true. It’s just going to look a little different.

“So, we’re a little faster hockey team, I think, as these young players evolve. There’s a skill level we haven’t had in the past — that’s going to take some time to see the benefits of.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @sawa14