Krebs better after bubbles

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This article was published 03/03/2021 (1966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The question was absurd but Peyton Krebs took it seriously anyway.

How many days had he spent in quarantine since the end of the 2019-20 hockey season? Krebs considered it for a few moments, did the math and came up with a nice round number.

“About 50,” he said by telephone Wednesday, suppressing a chuckle.

There were times, he admitted, that he felt like a prisoner. “Especially when I was stuck in a hotel for 14 days (in Red Deer),” he said. “That was a hard one.”

Krebs, who has played or practised in the last 12 months with Canada’s world junior team, the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, is going back to his roots this week.

Which means he’s been in quarantine again while preparing to rejoin the Winnipeg Ice for his junior swan song at the East Division hub in Regina. The Ice are slated to open their season on March 13 after an abbreviated training camp.

As per the rules of the NHL-Canadian Hockey League agreement, players in their 18- or 19-year-old seasons must return to the major-junior ranks if they don’t make their NHL club.

Chosen 17th overall by Vegas in the 2019 NHL Draft, Krebs falls under those restrictions even though he made a strong case for belonging in the AHL. Playing top-six minutes, he debuted with a goal and five points in his first four regular-season games with the Silver Knights.

As for the notion his development has been negatively impacted by the pandemic upheaval, Krebs said it has been anything but. He particularly enjoyed his time in Henderson under the guidance of Silver Knights head coach Manny Viveiros but he’s keen to reunite with old teammates.

“It has been a long time but this past eight months, going from the NHL bubble in (Edmonton) to the world junior bubble (in Red Deer and Edmonton) and playing in the AHL, I’ve improved more than I ever have in any year surprisingly,” said Krebs.

“With the time we had off, I was working out every single day. And then once the rinks opened, I was skating every day.”

Ice head coach James Patrick has no concerns about Krebs performing at anything less than top form.

“I think there’s a little frustration (to be sent back) but you know he doesn’t carry it, he doesn’t show it,” said Patrick. “As soon as I talked to him the other day after he left Vegas and got to Okotoks, within a minute of our conversation he asked if he could have the phone numbers of all the new players so he could reach out to them. That’s him.”

Players and other team personnel in the East hub received their second COVID-19 tests Wednesday. If those tests come back negative, teams will be able to hit the ice for practice.

“I’m just gonna do what I do every year and that’s push my teammates,” said Krebs. “I’m not gonna give them an inch in practice. One of the biggest things that Manny told me, (he said), ‘The pace you’re on in the AHL, don’t stop that going to junior. Keep that mentality up.’ And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do — play at that pace so it elevates my teammates.”

Krebs is expected to start the hub season on a line with right-winger Connor McClennon and, with the departure of Czech sniper Michal Teply to the NHL, third-year man Owen Pederson will slide in on the left side.

Patrick expects Krebs’ influence to be felt widely.

“I just think for leadership, mentorship or the culture of our team and the values that he brings and stands for, it’s invaluable,” said Patrick. “It allows him to finish his Western Hockey League career and his legacy but more than anything I just think the impact that he has on other players from Carson (Lambos), Conor Geekie, every young player, Skyler Bruce and Chase Bertholet, is real important.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14