A well-rested Pavelec appears to play better than workhorse Pavelec

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Is a fresh Ondrej Pavelec the best Ondrej Pavelec?

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2015 (3632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Is a fresh Ondrej Pavelec the best Ondrej Pavelec?

The answer seems obvious, but if that’s the case, surely the Winnipeg Jets would have and could have done more to ensure Pavelec wasn’t worked to the point of near-exhaustion in his first three seasons in Winnipeg.

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Ondrej Pavelec during practice at MTS Centre Thursday.
DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ondrej Pavelec during practice at MTS Centre Thursday.

Perhaps Pavelec’s freshness last March revealed what he’s truly capable of in the NHL.

After all, the 28-year-old goalie was nothing short of heroic for his team from March 14 on, leading the team to its first Stanley Cup playoff berth since the move to Winnipeg.

The final numbers on his season, pretty good start and mid-season struggles included, came out markedly better than anything he’d previously posted in his career — with a .920 save percentage and a 2.28 goals- against average.

This from a healthy workload but the smallest in that category since his first full-time NHL season.

We don’t who will play Friday for the Jets against the team it all started against last March, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s Game 3 of the Jets’ six-game homestand. Pavelec played both games last weekend and four of the first six this season.

“What you’re asking, it’s hard to say because there’s a stretch there where I didn’t play at all,” Pavelec said Thursday after practice. “That was new for me, not playing a game in three or four weeks.

“Could be one of the reasons.”

In the month preceding his 2-1 win in Tampa, Pavelec played just one full game. In the period between Nov. 25 and March 12, he appeared in consecutive games just once as head coach Paul Maurice leaned more Michael Hutchinson’s way.

'Your job is to be ready for all games, every game ... It’s impossible in this league right now for a goalie to play 82 games, I think.': Ondrej Pavelec
'Your job is to be ready for all games, every game ... It’s impossible in this league right now for a goalie to play 82 games, I think.': Ondrej Pavelec

Pavelec said there’s no real way to know.

“Your job is to be ready for all games, every game,” he said. “It’s impossible in this league right now for a goalie to play 82 games, I think.

“Of course, you want to play every game like the other players, but it’s a lot of stress. So if you don’t play 75 games, you’ve got some time to relax your head, your mental approach. That’s a huge part of the game. If you’re not playing every second day, you get time to relax once in a while.

“And if you’re not liking your game, you’ve got time to practise, to work on it. In our schedule, we don’t have that many practices and it’s tough to work on things.

“Maybe I would play the same if I played all the games. Really hard to say.”

Pavelec does have experience in pushing the envelope.

In the team’s first season in Winnipeg, he played 68 times. Only four goalies played more.

In the lockout season, Pavelec led the NHL in appearances, 44, and starts, 43.

Both times, as the Jets pressed to make it above the playoff line, Pavelec was worked to the bone.

From that angle, knowing what it took out of him, would he ever tell Maurice it was too much, that it was tiring him out?

“No,” was his flat response.

Not because he would be hiding anything, he said.

“It’s one difficult question,” he said. “Your job is to be ready for every practice, for every game. Players can do it, so I don’t see any reason why a goalie wouldn’t be able to do it.

“You’d be telling the coach you’re tired and you’re not ready to play the game. You’re basically telling them you didn’t work that hard in the summer to be ready for the season.

“I can’t see that happening. I’ve never seen that before. You get paid big money to get yourself ready. That’s my job. I just can’t imagine a bus driver telling his boss he can’t work today because he’s tired. Anybody. I just don’t see that situation happening.

“And I’ve never had a reason to tell somebody I’m tired. Because I wasn’t. I play hockey to play the game. You’re brought up to handle it and find the energy for the games.

“And the coaches, they’re paying attention. They’re watching you and they know how you are. They’re trying to get the best out of you. It would never come to that situation.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

History

Updated on Thursday, October 22, 2015 9:43 PM CDT: Edits.

Updated on Thursday, October 22, 2015 10:46 PM CDT: changes copy.

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