Good things come in 3-on-3s

Guaranteed offence will have fans out of their seats in OT

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 3:42 PM CDT Saturday, Sep. 19, 2015

Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice Saturday got his first extended look of what 3-on-3 sudden death overtime will look like in the upcoming NHL season and he came away sounding both a bit bewildered and a bit excited.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2015 (3698 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Jets used the third period of an afternoon scrimmage to play 3-on-3, which will replace the 4-on-4 five-minute overtime format previously used.

“Three-on-three is going to be both interesting and exciting and there’s a lot to work on,” said Maurice. “And not just plays, but strategies and how you change. I don’t know that you can defend it. I don’t know that you can take your three best defensive players and say shut another group down. There’s just too much ice.

Maurice said he wouldn’t hesitate to use exclusively forwards in 3-on-3 hockey, but noted his team also has some very offensive-minded defencemen who could fit nicely into the format as well. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES)

“So there’s going to be some great chances… This is a completely different animal.”

Maurice said he wouldn’t hesitate to use exclusively forwards but noted his team also has some very offensive-minded defenceman who could fit nicely into the format.

“The only advantage in having a defenceman is he has a lot more experience playing odd-man rushes than the forwards do. But we’re going to find the personnel that fits… We have at least four defencemen you’d consider offensive.

“It will be just like having three forwards because all of those guys will be ahead of our forwards a lot.”

The new format will see teams play a 3-on-3 five-minute overtime period followed, as before, by a shootout if the game is still tied. The NHL is hoping the change to 3-on-3 will mean a lot less shootouts — the AHL used 3-on-3 to decide its games last season and 75 per cent of tied games were decided in the overtime period, compared to 35 per cent the year before when they were still using 4-on-4.

Winger Blake Wheeler is already licking his chops at the prospect of exploiting all that open ice.

“You think I’m going to like 3-on-3?” Wheeler grinned. “I think it’s a great wrinkle. Maybe Game 41 of a back-to-back on the road it won’t be so great, but it’s great for the fans.

“Any time you can put each team’s best players on the ice and eliminate two aside, you create a lot of scoring chances. There’s probably not going to be a lot of fans in their seats for that 3-on-3. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.

“I’m jacked up for it.”

The Jets will get a chance to practise the new format before the regular season begins. Winnipeg will play three pre-season games — two at home — in which a five-minute 3-on-3 period will be tacked on to the end of regulation regardless of the score.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @PaulWiecek

Winnipeg Jets Training Camp

DAY 2

PLAYERS ON CAMP ROSTER: 55

PLAYERS IN CAMP ON SATURDAY: 50.

MISSING: D Tyler Myers, D Grant Clitsome, D Jan Kostalek, C John Albert, G Jussi Olkinoura

NEWS OF THE DAY: With Jets Nation out in full force for the team’s annual Fan Fest, the club held an afternoon scrimmage that included a mix of most of the team’s young prospects and likely AHLers with the fourth line and seventh defenceman veteran types.

What was most notable, however, wasn’t who did scrimmage but who didn’t — youngster Nik Ehlers.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice had Ehlers practice instead in the morning with an otherwise exclusively veteran group that included the team’s top seven forwards (plus Alex Burmistrov), top six defenceman and top two goalies.

That prompted the obvious question about Ehlers — and an obvious answer. “No, he doesn’t have the job yet,” Maurice replied. “All of our American (Hockey) League players ran a similar version to our system so they’ve already seen it a bunch of times.

“But there’s two or three guys that haven’t had a lot of exposure to it and he’s one of them. He and Burmistrov are the two guys. So they were out there today in that environment. With only nine forwards and six D, you can spend a lot more time teaching them.

“We want to get them as much exposure this system and this style of hockey as we can.”

QUOTABLE: “I was driving to get here around 7 o’clock in the morning and there was already a big lineup outside. And I seen Dancing Gabe out there. He was wearing a jersey and he was excited and it’s good to see. We know we have great fans and they’re happy they have a team in this city. They’re excited and you play hockey for the fans.”

—G Ondrej Pavelec on the big turnout at MTS Iceplex on Saturday for what the Jets billed as ‘Fan Fest.’

FYI: Here’s Friday’s top three line combos and defensive pairings:

Ladd-Lowry-Little; Stafford-Scheifele-Wheeler; Perreault-Burmistrov-Ehlers; Enstrom-Harrison; Stuart-Truba; Chiarot-Byfuglien

SUNDAY’S SKED: Group 1: 9-10:30 a.m.; Group 2: Noon-1:30 p.m. At MTS Iceplex.

—Paul Wiecek