Jets add winger Wright; expect game start to be delayed

THE Jets' roster to start the delayed season includes two players who weren't here to start training camp.

Right-winger James Wright was picked up from Florida via waivers on Friday. Right-winger Anthony Peluso arrived the same way, from St. Louis, on Wednesday.

Wright, a 22-year-old from Saskatoon, has 49 NHL games on his chart, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning before they traded him to the Panthers last season.

He signed a new, two-year-contract last summer, one that gives him a one-way deal next season at $650,000. The Lightning selected him in the fourth round of 2008.

Wright, listed at 6-3, 196 pounds, had played 40 AHL games this season with San Antonio, recording 17 points.

To make room for Peluso and Wright and to get to the 23-man roster, the Jets assigned Maxime Macenauer, Spencer Machacek and Derek Meech to the AHL's St. John's IceCaps.

"It's a little unfair for players who didn't get an opportunity for the short training camp and the lack of exhibition games, really," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "It makes it difficult for players trying to show an impression. It's really tough on them."

Winnipeg's roster of 23 is two goalies -- Ondrej Pavelec and Al Montoya; seven defencemen -- Dustin Byfuglien, Toby Enstrom, Mark Stuart, Ron Hainsey, Grant Clitsome, Paul Postma, Zach Redmond; 14 forwards -- Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen, Kyle Wellwood, Nik Antropov, Alex Burmistrov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Chris Thorburn, Jim Slater, Mark Scheifele, Peluso and Wright.

-- -- --

Today, you might want to be at the MTS Centre early to soak in the long-awaited start to the NHL season.

But don't feel the need to rush for puck-drop.

The league has put 2 p.m. CT on its official schedule for the Jets-Senators game but it's more likely it will begin about 2:35 p.m. Television is the main reason for the unofficial delay.

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, for instance, has some elaborate material to present as it kicks off its 60th season, plus the NHL wants the Stanley Cup banner-raising in Los Angeles to be the first event of the day, shortly after 2 p.m.

-- -- --

Noel has alluded to a past lockout crackdown on certain rules.

2005 was notable for its enforcement of obstruction rules.

This time around?

The NHL said this week there are several targets, but three main ones when it comes to penalty calls.

-- Expect to see a more vigilant standard on interference, particularly blocking forecheckers. A one-half- second time has been suggested for hitting a player who no longer has the puck. In its directive, the league did not mention pick plays, something that flares up from time to time.

-- A focus is going to be slashing on the hands. The league detected a greater need for these calls, because such a slash is "increasingly being used as a tactic by defenders to disrupt offensive players. The consensus was that officials no longer had to be certain that contact had been made with the hands (as opposed to the stick) in deciding whether or not to assess a slashing minor," said the NHL memo.

-- More penalties for embellishment are likely on the way in the near future, the league also promises.

The NHL has also implemented two official rule changes.

It will now be a penalty to put your hand over the puck to conceal it from an opponent or prevent him from playing it.

And it's now a minor penalty for delay of game if a player taking a faceoff attempts to, or does bat the puck, with his hand in trying to win that faceoff.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 19, 2013 C5