Brandon boy skates with top guns

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2016 (3355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PENTICTON, B.C. — Jordy Stallard says being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, the team just down the road from his home in Brandon, was a “surreal experience.” Pulling on a Jets jersey at the Young Stars Classic NHL rookie tournament has been a blast, too.

The dream hasn’t come without some turbulence, however.

Stallard, a 19-year-old winger chosen by Winnipeg in the fifth round of last summer’s NHL Draft, was inserted on a line with first-round picks Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor Sunday afternoon against a squad of Vancouver Canucks rookies.

The trio went scoreless in a 3-2 loss to the Canucks and were on the ice for Vancouver’s first two goals at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

“I was fortunate to get a chance to play with those guys — they’re very skilled players,” said Stallard, whose best scoring chance came in the first period when he ripped a shot wide of the net after Connor’s perfect pass into the slot. “It was a slow start, but we definitely got better as the game went on.”

The rest of the Jets got better, too. After going down 2-0 on goals by Danny Moynihan and Cole Cassells, Winnipeg roared back to tie the game 2-2 on goals by Michael Spacek and Jimmy Lodge in the third period.

Spacek’s short-handed goal was particularly nifty as he poke-checked an Edmonton blue-liner at the point and raced untouched before stuffing the puck into the net after an inside-out deke on goalie Michael Garteig.

The goal ended a drought of 92 minutes and 30 seconds for the Jets, who hadn’t scored since Jansen Harkins found the net in the first period of Winnipeg’s 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames Friday night.

Last season, the lightning-quick Spacek was a teammate of Jets rookie defenceman Nelson Nogier with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. Nogier said his friend has come a long way since coming to North America from the Czech Republic in 2015.

“He’s come a long, long ways with the help of (Red Deer coaches) Brent Sutter and Steve O’Rourke,” said Nogier. “It was just him adapting to the North American game.”

Learning the language of hockey was one thing.

“He came here right off the plane and didn’t know a word (of English),” said Nogier. “He’s come a long way in the last year.”

‘I was fortunate to get a chance to play with those guys — they’re very skilled players’– Jets prospect Jordy Stallard (left), on playing on a line with first-round picks Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor

Moose head coach Pascal Vincent, who is guiding the Jets rookies in Penticton, likes Spacek’s potential.

“He’s got tremendous reads,” said Vincent. “Some players have the ability to push the pace. And some guys, they just slow it down with their reads and that’s what he does… He’s got the ability to see what’s open on the ice.”

Vancouver’s Tyler Coulter, a Brandon product and a former Wheat King, scored the winner on a controversial play at 10:47 of the third, appearing to be offside before firing the puck past Jets goalie Jamie Phillips.

Winnipeg made a concerted effort to tie the game with Phillips on the bench for an extra attacker, but to no avail.

Phillips finished with 32 save while Garteig stopped 22 shots.

The Jets have yet to score a power-play goal in the tournament.

“We want to get a win, get ourselves in a positive mindset going into (training) camp,” said forward Brendan Lemieux.

The Jets complete their participation in the Classic with a game against Edmonton Oilers rookies this morning before returning to Winnipeg.

“We were moving the puck faster,” said Vincent. “Probably better puck support, creating 2-on-1s. Overall, it was a cleaner game. We’d like to see a more physical game, finishing checks… Now we have to implement details of the game.”

Vincent has a clear plan in mind for today’s final game.

“We’re gonna focus on the first 10 minutes,” he said. “We want to see our forecheck going tomorrow. We want to bring the puck deep.”

NOTES: Vincent said 18-year-old Russian rookie Mikhail Berdin will get the start in net today against the Oilers. He is expected to play the entire game.

Mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter@ sawa14