Tough guy Peluso can skate, play

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/12/2015 (3627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There should be very little that’s quiet about Anthony Peluso’s game but somehow, stealthily, his effectiveness for the Winnipeg Jets has become evident.

To start the NHL season, Peluso was an afterthought for the Jets, scratched in eight of the first 10 games.

But since the 26-year-old from the Toronto area battled his way into the lineup and stayed there, it’s valid to wonder now what would cause head coach Paul Maurice to take him out.

 

And it’s not just because he fired his first goal of the season Wednesday night, the cherry on top of a convincing 6-1 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Anthony’s a unique player and he’s got a unique job,” Maurice said Friday as the Jets were preparing to meet the Washington Capitals in an MTS Centre matinee today. “There’s more to it than just occasionally dropping the gloves.

“It’s being able to play a certain game and we’re seeing that more and more out of that line.”

Peluso has been matched of late with centre Andrew Copp and left-wing convert Adam Lowry as the Jets’ fourth line.

“So much more of the game that line has played recently is in the offensive zone,” Maurice said. “We think they can generate some things offensively.

“And there’s a certain maturity we’re seeing in Anthony that it takes a while to learn the job.”

The job is being the muscle, as well as an aggressive forechecker and a physical tone-setter.

Peluso, in Maurice’s estimation, gets high marks for his progress in this area.

“He hasn’t taken penalties trying to stir things up,” the coach said. “He’s just playing physical. He played a real clean game until he needed to stand in for one of his teammates and he really picked the times well to do that.

“There aren’t a lot of guys of that stature that can handle the heavy fellas around the league that skate as well as he does. He gets in on that forecheck real good, and he’s got a good shot.”

The progress Peluso is making hasn’t gone unnoticed among his teammates, either.

“First and foremost, that’s not an easy role to play,” Jets captain Andrew Ladd said. “That’s beyond even what he does physically. Just the mental aspect of not playing very much at times and for him, he’s definitely worked on being more vocal and more engaged in the game from that aspect.

“I’ve seen improvement from him and it keeps him in the game. I think everyone thrives off that. There aren’t too many guys in the league that can challenge him and I think he’s starting to figure that out, too.”

Peluso’s average ice time is creeping higher this season, now to 6 minutes 49 second per game.

‘Anthony’s a unique player and he’s got a unique job. There’s more to it than just occasionally dropping the gloves’

— Jets head coach Paul Maurice

He’s had three scraps in the new year, the latest last week when he battled to a decision over Minnesota’s Kurtis Gabriel.

“And as players and people, we always want more and we’re trying to find more,” Peluso said Friday. “I think we (Copp and Lowry) are all the same way. We’re trying to find more in the game, get involved more. As much as we’re happy, we’re not satisfied.”

Peluso was recently referred to by a local radio host as the Jets’ “nuclear option,” a term he doesn’t care for.

But he knows his job.

“I still think I need to continue to prove it,” he said. “I’m definitely trying to continue to grow my game. That’s a part of my game I’ve always brought. It’s something that I’m definitely known for. The more versatility you can bring to your game the better.”

The vocal aspect of his game was on display in Washington last week and he hopes there will be more of the same today against the Caps.

“I think it’s an element of my game I’ve worked on, trying to be a little chippy and get under teams’ skin,” Peluso said. “Hopefully you guys will get to see a little more of that tomorrow.”

The 2007 St. Louis Blues draft pick still keeps the bigger picture in mind, fights, goals or whatever.

“It felt good,” he said of his Wednesday goal. “It’s been a while. Just to break the goose egg of the year feels good. But what feels better is the win we had as a team.

“We played the right way. Playing good defence is going to lead to offence and I think we’re learning that again. It’s something we definitely learned that last year.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca