Postma opening some eyes with blue-line play

By: Tim Campbell Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014

SEVEN games, seven times on Paul Maurice's lineup card.

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SEVEN games, seven times on Paul Maurice's lineup card.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2014 (4033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEVEN games, seven times on Paul Maurice’s lineup card.

Has Winnipeg Jets defenceman Paul Postma arrived as a full-time NHL player?

The coach certainly sounds like he’s leaning that way based on comments after Saturday’s practice at the MTS Iceplex.

“We’re going back to a guy who missed most of last year (due to injury) and in some ways made the team, or gave himself a chance to make the team, with his play at the end of the year,” Maurice said. “Then he missed training camp (also injured).

“There’s going to be some young mistakes and some lack-of-experience mistakes, but his effort is better and his intensity on the puck is better and we like the way he skates and brings the puck up the ice. With more experience and confidence, he can get the puck to the net pretty well. Then, especially on the blue-line, that experience of how to close a guy off, how to separate a man from the puck, when to move it, when to jump in, those just take some time.”

It’s still a case, though, of a “green” NHL defenceman trying to find his way, even at the age of 25.

“I’m hopeful,” the coach said. “I look at him and I see upside and potential in his game. I see big guys that can skate and shoot the puck, you’ve got to be willing to work with other parts of their game because there’s not a lot of them.”

Postma was not inclined to even crack a smile Saturday, though he did say he’s starting to appreciate the confidence being shown in him.

“It’s starting to come,” the native of Red Deer, Alta., said. “Playing this first stretch of games is something pretty big for me, but I can’t be satisfied with just being in the lineup. I have to realize I’m here for a reason and that I have the abilities and talents to play this game. I’ve got to start using my strengths a little more in the offensive zone, being a little more patient with the puck and getting pucks to the net, getting them through.”

Friday marked the first time this season Maurice sent Postma out for some power-play duty.

“It was nice to see a little bit of power-play time but obviously I’d like to get a little bit more, even if it’s just that second unit,” Postma said. “It’s got to start somewhere.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca