Sbisa a stabilizing force on Jets’ blue line

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This article was published 13/11/2019 (2127 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT’S only been three weeks but Luca Sbisa has become a stabilizing force on the Jets’ blue line, which is a bit of a surprise when you consider the 29-year-old played only nine games for the New York Islanders last season and was a healthy scratch for most of 2018-19.

Winnipeg, facing a defensive corps in an almost constant state of flux, claimed Sbisa on waivers from the Anaheim Ducks Oct. 23. He’s played seven games since, getting solid reviews from the start.

“I’ve always been a guy that takes a lot of pride in being a team-first guy,” said Sbisa, after the Jets practised Wednesday before departing for a four-game, eight-day southern road trip that begins tonight against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. “Do all the little details right first and kinda get the coach’s trust that way. That was my mentality here — don’t try to do anything crazy, be yourself.”

In Winnipeg, he’s stuck to a very simple plan.

“I think I can move my feet pretty well, so I can defend,” said Sbisa, a 12-year NHL veteran who represented Switzerland at the 2010 Olympics. “To me, my only mindset is defend well, win my one-on-one battles and get the puck in the forwards’ hands. And whatever happens offensively, that’s a bonus.”

Sbisa’s defensive partner for the past three games has been another veteran, 26-year-old Nathan Beaulieu, who recently returned from a 15-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

During Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to the visiting Colorado Avalanche, the duo played a regular shift as Winnipeg’s third pairing but also drew a 3:39 chunk of ice time on the penalty-killing unit.

“It’s nice playing with a guy who’s got some experience in the league,” said Beaulieu, who is pointless in four games this season. “We (Jets) don’t have a lot of experience on the back end so for us, being (penalty) killers and trying to be that stable guy back there and helping the younger guys out, it’s been a good thing.

“There’s been a big change on the back end for sure and Sbisa’s played long enough in this league and I consider myself a young veteran — I’ve played enough to know how things work around here. We can bring that common aspect, be vocal on the bench and in the dressing room.”

Post injury, Beaulieu has been scrambling to adjust to the mid-season pace while the left-shooting Sbisa has been reacquainting himself with the intricasies of playing his off side, something he hasn’t done since early in his career.

“It has it’s challenges,” said Sbisa of playing on the right side. “Looking around the league, it’s the norm (to have righties playing on the right side) but it’s been good. We’ve been chatting a lot, which helps obviously, with a new partner.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice likes the Sbisa-Beaulieu tandem and is curious to see if the chemistry will flourish.

Prior to Beaulieu’s return, Sbisa was paired with Anthony Bitetto. Lately, Bitetto and another waiver wire pickup, former Chicago Blackhawk Carl Dahlstrom, have been healthy scratches.

“The constant over that little stretch where we played some good hockey and won some games was Luca played very well with Anthony Bitetto and we liked that an awful lot,” said Maurice.

“We think that Nathan’s game is going to improve, get faster and get more physical as he gets back into the rhythm of things. Luca’s been real important on the penalty kill — when he came in our penalty kill started to get better and that was not by accident…

“We’re still trying to find — is there a better chemistry? We’ve got two guys out of the lineup that we don’t particularly like having out. There isn’t a big separation with… about five or six of those (defencemen).”

 

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14