Pav back with big boys

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2016 (3556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ondrej Pavelec had no idea when his return to an NHL crease would be after practice at the MTS Iceplex early Friday afternoon, mere hours before the Winnipeg Jets were to board a plane for Edmonton to take on the Oilers Saturday night in the first of a four-game road trip.

But, while reporters poked and prodded for information — from the state of his mind and body to whether he felt a conditioning stint in the AHL first would best suit him — the answer was already being determined for him. Well, sort of.

“Hellebuyck is going to be assigned to the (Manitoba) Moose for the near term,” said an unprompted Paul Maurice, the Jets coach unwilling to wait for the first question from a crowd of reporters.

Of course, Maurice was speaking of Connor Hellebuyck, the 22-year-old rookie goaltender who just weeks before had seemingly moved his way up from No. 1 prospect to No. 1 goalie, but had since seen his play slip.

In Thursday’s loss to Boston he was pulled after the first period, after allowing three goals on 11 shots; the same thing happening two games earlier when he allowed three on six shots against Carolina.

Ultimately, the move was made to make room for Pavelec, who Maurice, again unprompted, then announced had been activated from the injured reserve list, where he had spent the last 10 weeks with a sprained right knee sustained in a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes Nov. 21.

“Well, first of all, (I’m) really, really impressed with what he was able to do,” said Maurice when asked about the impression left by the young Hellebuyck.

“You go back to the start of the year to where he is right now and where we see his future, he’s done a great job.”

That job included starting 18 of the last 20 games for Winnipeg, in favour of Michael Hutchinson, who a year ago, and in similar fashion, was able to wrestle the starting job away from Pavelec with his stellar play.

Coincidentally, the departure of Hellebuyck makes room on the roster for Hutchinson, who unlike Hellebuyck, would have to clear waivers to be assigned to the Moose, creating the risk of potentially losing the 25-year-old netminder.

In 26 games for the Jets this season, Hellebuyck put up a 13-11-1 record, with a 2.34 goals against average and a .918 save percentage to go with two shutouts.

“He’s played well. His personality and his work ethic is really good, and we know he’s going to get better,” said Maurice.

“He needs to be in a net, he needs to have the full net the entire time to continue that development. We know so much more about him now than we did at the start of the season and I have a lot more comfort going forward, with a better idea of who he is as a player and where he fits.”

Performing

Right now that fit is with the Moose, where Hellebuyck started the season, performing at a level that earned an invite to the AHL all-star game despite a 2-7-1 record in 10 games before joining the Jets.

Pavelec, who before getting injured was 5-6-1 in 15 games, said Friday that after weeks of vigorous training he feels as good as he did before he was injured. Although Maurice wouldn’t say who his starter would be Saturday, he did hint at a quick return for Pavelec.

“I said a few days ago that I am ready and I’m ready now,” said Pavelec, who added a stint with the Moose, currently the AHL’s worst team, would only hurt, not help his return. After all, he’d been down that road before, in 2010 with Atlanta, an experience the 28-year-old made clear was not beneficial then and would be no better this time around.

“That doesn’t make sense to me,” he added. “You want to be on the ice with the NHL players, that’s it.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton