MAILBAG CALL-OUT
We’re making a list and checking it twice as we get set for our final monthly Jets mailbag of 2025, which will go online this Sunday. Got a question about the hockey club? Simply hit reply to this email and Mike and Ken will be sure to tackle it.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It will never be “just another hockey game” whenever Luke and Brayden Schenn get a chance to share the ice. And while the stakes aren’t nearly as high tonight as they were last spring, both men are looking forward to this latest brotherly battle.
“We don’t take these opportunities for granted,” Luke, the Jets defenceman, told me this morning. “It’s exciting. We push each other throughout our whole careers and talk pretty much every day. Any time we get the chance to play each other, it’s certainly special.”
It was a summer like no other for the Saskatchewan boys, given what went down between their teams in late April. Luke jokingly blamed their father, Jeff, who told them before the series began that he didn’t care who won — but he’d like to see it get to overtime in Game 7 and then “you can figure it out from there.”
“It was so emotional,” said Luke. “It was strange for sure, and we’ll look back at it as a crazy memory.”
Winnipeg Jets’ Luke Schenn (5) checks his younger brother and St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn (10) during Game 2 action in Winnipeg last season. (Fred Greenslade / The Canadian Press files)
One of the highlights of the series was when both men were sent off for dueling misconducts during a verbal sparring match. Luke shared some details of that exchange, which included them essentially threatening to go after each other’s teammates if the other didn’t settle down. As they were being sent off the ice, Luke turned to the referee and said ‘What, are you my mother?”
Jeff sent the boys a text immediately after the game, scolding them for their boorish behaviour.
Recent talk between the brothers has involved their shared struggles, with neither the Jets or the Blues where they’d hoped to be in the standings.
“When you talk about the ups, you talk about the downs as well,” said Luke. “There’s certainly been some adversity throughout the year for both teams. At the end of the day, I think the only thing we can fall back on is continuing to work and compete. That’s the only way to get out of it. There’s obviously a lot of pressure on both teams after what happened last year to do well. Saying that, it’s still early enough in the season you can get on a run and turn things around.”
Winnipeg Jets’ Luke Schenn (right) embraces his younger brother Brayden Schenn after the Jets won their first-round series against the St. Louis Blues on May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade / The Canadian Press files)
Brayden, the Blues captain, knows that better than anyone. His club was dead last in the league during the Christmas break in 2019, then went on an incredible second-half surge all the way to the Stanley Cup.
“I don’t know if that’s the recipe,” Luke said with a laugh. “I was on the ice in Game 7 after they won and that was pretty special to be a part of. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
KEN SAYS: With three games to go before the Christmas break, there are six points available to the Jets. Given the circumstances and the opponents — specifically the Blues and the Mammoth — it’s safe to say at least four points will be required to call this road trip a success. Anything earned against the Avalanche would be considered a bonus at this stage of the proceedings. As Mark Scheifele pointed out on Tuesday, it’s extremely odd the Jets haven’t seen either the Blues or the Avalanche with the season nearly half done.
That playoff series was as physical as it gets, so while this game should feature plenty of intensity and urgency, considering where both teams are in the standings, there probably won’t be any lingering issues to sort through in this contest.
Cole Perfetti wasn’t planning on binge-watching highlights from the Manitoba Miracle as a way to help get him going, but the Jets winger feels like a hot streak could be right around the corner, given the level of scoring chances he’s been able to generate with linemates Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov during the past two games.
Perfetti hasn’t fully hit his stride yet, but he has recorded an assist in three of the past four games, so he’s been contributing to the secondary scoring increase.
Morgan Barron has been leading the charge on that front, with two goals and three points during his past three games. He’s also flourishing on the Jets’ newly-created shutdown line with captain Adam Lowry and Alex Iafallo. Although Barron had done an excellent job in the fourth-line centre role, I’ve been an advocate for increasing his role and ice time. Barron has been using his speed effectively to be disruptive on the forecheck and to get to the net to create scoring chances. He’s on pace for his most productive NHL season, despite the recent drought (zero goals, two assists in 19 games).
It’s been an uneven start for the Blues, who aren’t getting much scoring of their own — in either the primary or secondary departments.
Topline centre Robert Thomas leads the Blues in scoring with seven goals and 23 points in 30 games. Thomas, who entered the season as a candidate for Team Canada’s Olympic roster, has recorded seven goals and 16 points in 19 games in his career against the Jets.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Barron-Lowry-Iafallo
- Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Koepke-Toews-Nyquist
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Stanley-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miller, D Fleury, F Pearson
INJURED: None
ST. LOUIS BLUES
FORWARDS:
- Buchnevich-Thomas-Fabbri
- Stenberg-Dvorsky-Neighbours
- Schenn-Suter-Berggren
- Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Joseph
DEFENCE:
- Broberg-Parayko
- Kessel-Faulk
- Fowler-Mailloux
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Luff, D Tucker
INJURED: F Holloway (lower body), F Kyrou (lower body), F Bjugstad (upper body), F Snuggerud (wrist), F Walker (upper-body), F Dean (NHL player assistance program), D Krug (ankle)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Blues coach Jim Montgomery with some deep thoughts on how quickly things have changed this season for both the Jets and his team, especially in light of lofty expectations created by their successes a year ago:
“I don’t think anyone last year thought Winnipeg would be the Presidents’ (Trophy) winner. Maybe a wildcard team. Maybe third place. But definitely not win this really tough division. And I think this year, coming back, the expectations were they were going to try to get closer to the Stanley Cup. Not about qualifying for the playoffs. And the same thing has happened for us. We had that good run (last year) and a lot of people thought ‘Well, this will be a playoff team.’ And that hasn’t transpired for us. Unfortunately, that breeds negativity. And I’m not talking externally. Who cares externally. Internally.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is on scene in St. Louis and will have a pair of stories. The first reflects on the recent hockey history between the Jets and the Blues and how the clubs will forever be entwined. The second will be the game analysis from inside Enterprise Center. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com and in Thursday’s print edition.
|
